The Masterminds of Video Games

I have never understood why my brother likes to play video games so much. Everything revolves around the game. Finishing his homework early, good behviour, good grades, are all basically done so that he can put on his ear phones, grab the remote and play. 

When Camilo starts playing, its like he has entered another world. There could  be an earthquake and he probably wouldn't  realize it because he's to busy stealing a car. I speak to him and I'm invisible.

 I always thought of video games as a distraction or just a pass time, but after reading what Steven Johnson has to say about playing video games, my perception has changed. My parents always worry that my brother is going to become stupid or develope a criminal mind because of playing Grand Theft Auto, but this wont be the case. As Johnson says, "playing video games is a congnitive challenge" (28)meaning that as Camilo is trying to steal the car, or kill a man, his mind is on a roll. He is analyzing all the possibilities and moves, that sometimes even brings him to do some research online so he can accomplish this mission. It's just like Johnson says, "Your ultimate goal is to rescue your sister. To do this, you must defeat the villain Ganon. To do this, you need to obtain legendary weapons. To locate the weapens you need the pearl of Din. To locate the pearl of Din, you need to cross the ocean." (50) This is an inmense list which demonstrates the analytical perception teens must have to accomplish the game's goal. They don't only have one mission, they have a lot, and in each mission a myriad of things can happen that will change the outcome of the game. 

So now I am actually proud that my brother has passed so many levels, and won games. He is a mastermind just like millions of other teens, that if our world would be a video game, they would take over it. But I still think that if my brother put as much dedication as he does to his video games to school, he could probably take over the school.