Being the major media outlets for art and thus culture in the last century, film and music have been at the forefront for homages, references in pop culture and teaching the world ‘naturally’ things like love stories, cliché’s, expressions and different cultures. But being around for a good few decades now, and being as important to more and more children’s lifestyles as they grow up, how do you think videogames are ‘teaching’ kids?

Things like MTV and YouTube sure do cater to the fast food culture of instant gratification and short attention spans of today, and I see more and more kids not being able to take in longer dialogues in movies, or read books. Videogames however, seem to be an attractive outlet for captivating kids, and things like Final Fantasy are able to offer the same insights and give the same messages as films that most young audiences simply aren't able to sit through.

For example, Grand Theft Auto IV (which children shouldn't be playing) offers great homages to modern cinema and ,in a contemporary fashion, tells the story of an individual in a society mirroring ours, struggling for a dream, whilst merging and intertwining the story with many other characters and their stories. Forgetting that the game was developed in Scotland, it offers a similar experience as Trainspotting, which is also uses pop culture and music as references to society.

I’m trying to avoid the ‘videogames are art’ thing, but really, it’s getting ever more harder and harder to. Your thoughts?

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