Honoring the code

de Matt Barton

"Honoring the Code. If you're reading this book, then I'm guessing you feel like I do about videogames. They're fantastic, awesome, great, amazing, spectacular, the best damn thing in the universe. They have just as much (if not more) cultural importance to me than any book, movie, or album. Videogames aren't a waste of time. Time is a waste of videogames. I encourage you to adopt a similar attitude. Next time someone scolds you for all the time you spend gaming, please thank them sincerely for wasting theirs. Are videogames art? Considering some people still ask the same of a Picasso or a Pollock, I really don't think I'm going to be changing anybody's mind about Pac-Man. Fortunately, I don't need to do that here. I can already tell you're on my side about all this. We can appreciate videogames because we've been playing them since were old enough to roll a quarter into a slot or press play on a tape. But I want you to take one further step, and go from being a simple consumer of videogames and metamorphose into a connoisseur. As with any field of creative endeavor, there are those who wish to do more than simply experience the art. We want to know something about how it was made, and by whom, and for what reason. We wish to get into the head of the artist; understand the confluence of energy, passion, and craziness that somehow results in a masterpiece. No normal person has ever created a great videogame. Just talk to them. They think we're nuts for actually paying them to make these things. Now, that's not to say they wouldn't like more money. Then they could make more games! Oh, and eat!"--