Poll: Books vs Video Games

[HiHiHi32123]

I was wondering which one was a better way to pass time, on one hand some books are interesting and you can imagine what happened but Video games are interactable, have multiplayer, and in some games like the gta series you can do whatever you want

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Apples and oranges. Books and videogames are two very different media, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, and can't really be compared. Whichever is 'better' is entirely up to preference.

 

[Hawki]

What the monkey said.

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

I love both books and games...equally but differently.
They can't BE compared to each other.

 

[Bobular]

You can compare books to TV or to films or theatre but it doesn't really work well comparing them to games.

Games have player interaction that changes the entire basis of the media, giving you the front row seat to the story as you are the protagonist. Books are telling you the story from the perspective of someone else, its not you in the driving seat and that gives you a different experience from your own.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Eh, others have pointed to games being interactive, but I'd point out games that are very railroady to the extent you are just watching or reading someone else's story, the latter being very much like reading a book sometimes.

That games are so varied in scope means they can't (as a whole) be compared to books. Now, a totally railroady text adventure, perhaps. Or, a CYOA style gamebook on the other side.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I dunno, which is better, the number 4 or the letter J? My shirt has 4 buttons, but you can't spell Janice without a J.

 

[PureChaos]

As people have said they can't really be compared but if I had to give up playing games or reading books I'd...probably give up books. I love reading and have always got a book on the go but games are more engaging. In a book you're just reading how someone else deals with a situation (the same can be said about watching a film) but, with a game, when something happens, you're the one that has to figure out how to deal with it. You can think the main guy in a book is doing the wring thing and be telling him what he SHOULD be doing but, in a game, you can put your money where your mouth is and see whether or not your bright idea is the way to go.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Basically what Chimpzy said. You're comparing 2 vastly different forms of media and which you think is better comes down to personal preference.

 

[HiHiHi32123]

Ok thanks

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

My two loves! If someone held a gun to my head and said choose one, I would have to go with books. They were part of my life before video games came along.

 

[CaitSeith]

Apples and oranges. Books and videogames are two very different media, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, and can't really be compared. Whichever is 'better' is entirely up to preference.

So true. Although I think comparing games with books is more accurate than comparing games to movies.

 

[COMaestro]

Books win because you can still use them in a power outage.

Seriously though, I like both, both have a place in my life, and they really don't compare well with each other.

 

[Spade Lead]

I have finished 5 books in the time it took me to get to the Outlaw's Rush in NFS Payback, and I have been basically ignoring Forza 7 (the obviously superior game) because I can just play a race or two and get off while my wife is busy, after the kids are in bed, whereas I like to take my time and play the longer races in Forza.

 

[Drathnoxis]

What! Books is winning. On a gaming site! You people disappoint me!

OT: Books are alright. I don't actually read much, but I listen to audiobooks when I'm doing chores. I'd rather play games though. Or watch other people play games. Or read about people's experiences with games.

 

[Saelune]

Meh, books tell stories. Games tell stories, but are interactive. They arent that different. Games are better, cause they can tell stories much the same way as books can, but also different.

What can a book do that a video game cant? All I can think of is the lack of need for electricity, but beyond that?

 

[Hawki]

What can a book do that a video game cant? All I can think of is the lack of need for electricity, but beyond that?

-Better control of pacing (even in the most linear games, intended pacing can be interrupted by the player)

-Better use of introspection (in that it's far easier to get inside a character's head in a book than almost any other medium)

-Generally better written (this includes thematic weight, cultural relevance, etc.)

-Far more accessible (no technological hurdle for instance, nor are mechanical skills required)

 

[Saelune]

What can a book do that a video game cant? All I can think of is the lack of need for electricity, but beyond that?

-Better control of pacing (even in the most linear games, intended pacing can be interrupted by the player)

-Better use of introspection (in that it's far easier to get inside a character's head in a book than almost any other medium)

-Generally better written (this includes thematic weight, cultural relevance, etc.)

-Far more accessible (no technological hurdle for instance, nor are mechanical skills required)

Technically a book's pacing can be interrupted by the player too if you just stop reading.

Nothing is stopping games from letting you inside a character's head. Hearing a character's inner thoughts is the same as reading them.

Now we're getting blatantly subjective. Plenty of shitty books out there that are poorly written.

Give you a point there, though an inability to read doesnt limit a person from enjoying a game. I was playing games before I could read, or even use a toilet.

 

[dscross]

I hate to disagree with other people here, but you can compare any entertainment medium you wish if you are just comparing how you prefer to entertain yourself. It's apples and oranges in one sense I suppose, but in another sense, it's totally fair to compare two kinds of things people use to pass the time.

I feel like people who say this don't to want to admit that they spend a lot more time with video games than books because it seems less intellectual, so they say they are completely different and can't compare. lol. Since this is primarily a video game forum, I would imagine a lot of people here spend a lot of time playing video games.

So, while I'd love to say books to make myself look good (as I write for a living and I do read quite a bit), I'll have to be honest and say I enjoy video games more. Otherwise I'd be lying to myself.

 

[Hawki]

Nothing is stopping games from letting you inside a character's head. Hearing a character's inner thoughts is the same as reading them.

Because that worked so well in Dune.

Character monologues in visual mediums are generally regarded as poor storytelling. They're rarely, if ever executed well.

The opposite holds true as well - monologues in books are generally irritating because there's rarely, if ever a reason for a character to speak their thoughts out loud.

Now we're getting blatantly subjective. Plenty of shitty books out there that are poorly written.

Hence why I said "generally." If we take the aggregate of every book ever written and compare it to the aggregate of every game ever written, games are going to come up short.

Technically a book's pacing can be interrupted by the player too if you just stop reading.

Not in the same manner. If I'm writing a book (and I've written plenty of material and posted it online), I have full control over the flow of the narrative. The reader may jump around in that narrative, or stop reading, but there's a set sequence of events. Games

though an inability to read doesnt limit a person from enjoying a game. I was playing games before I could read, or even use a toilet.

And who doesn't have the ability to read in the developed world?

Also helps that books are far cheaper than games (in general).