CAN A VIDEO GAME CHANGE YOU OR YOUR LIFE?

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I honestly believe it can, because I feel like The World Ends With You changed the course of my life forever. I'll never get the exact same feelings I did when playing it, or listening to the songs for the first time, but this game really made me realise a lot of things and helped me get over problems. I wish there were more games like this (I do think Dangan Ronpa and Persona come close to me) because it would be great to have video games with such powerful messages, to all video game developers out there, you have the power to change people! Use it for good!

Has a video game ever changed you even in the slightest? Do you believe it can?
Red_Nova
Sir Redd of Novus: He who made Prayer of the Faithless that one time, and that was pretty dang rad! :D
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Absolutely.

Tales of Symphonia taught me to never have blind faith in anything, no matter how "righteous" it may seem. Dragon Age: Origins taught me that there's no such thing as a perfectly happy ending.

Dead Space taught me that no matter how bad I think my life is, it could ALWAYS get worse...
Tau
RMN sex symbol
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Well if I made a game & it became a commercial success that would change mine or anyone of our lives significantly. But in terms of an actual game I've played that's impacted my life uhhh Sonic 2 I guess for really getting into games properly I don't know.
BurningTyger
Hm i Wonder if i can pul somethi goff here/
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OH yes; just like any other tale games have power to teach us things and shape and shatter our perceptions. As I've said before, way back when I played the original Woolsey FF6 on SNES I really empathized with Terra, who was not sure quite who or what she was and where she belonged. (I still haven't gotten around to actually playing the new translation.) I too felt disconnected and "out of sync" with the world around me. Like Terra, I was eventually able to understand and accept myself, though it took a lot longer for me; I didn't fully come out until college.
BoFIII shook my faith; Wild Arms inspired and touched me. And Suikoden reminded me that "Even at his most powerless, Man's life is never without meaning."
Corfaisus
"It's frustrating because - as much as Corf is otherwise an irredeemable person - his 2k/3 mapping is on point." ~ psy_wombats
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author=Tau
Well if I made a game & it became a commercial success that would change mine or anyone of our lives significantly.

I know that feel, bro. When I was further fleshing out Dawning of a Dragon's Valor (now Tales from Zilmurik) back in 2007, I reflected on the matters of rage, greed and fear and how it affects our lives; I had to because those were predominate villains in the game. Even today, writing these characters realistically demands that I reflect on the condition of society and the great failings that have come from such emotions. I feel like this "meditation" for all these years has granted me a more open insight into who I can and should be instead of simply living with who I am.

I'm not going to say that this is how others would receive my game as they would just see some monsters named Rage, Greed and Fear and think "Feh! What's next; Chaos?", but I'd like for a spark of what drove me to make this game to brush off on those who experience it. Coincidentally, Chaos is the puppetmaster, but that's beside the point.
Well, without playing and experiencing the original Super Mario Bros. for the NES back in the day, I don’t even think I would even be here or even know what a vidya game remotely is.

Man, I could have devoted my life to something else then, like playing linebacker and making seven million dollars a year playing for the Cleveland Browns of the NFL and protecting Johnny Manziel’s ass! I'd probably have six concussions and a broken arm by now, but I'd be rich!

Oh well. My life still turned out pretty okay.

*secretly weeps*
I typically only give attention to video games that speak to me on an emotional level, so major yes to that question :D I mean, there's always exceptions, like fighting and action games and whatnot, but for the most part, I want my games to hit me right in the feels and make me contemplate shit. I prefer gamesthat are portrayed more as an art form and means of telling a story/message over action (Again, I do love some action games, fighting games are excellent for staying alert and honing skills)

I'd say the biggest so far have been Silent Hill 2, 3, and 4. They made a huge impact on me. Good role models, I know LOL. They inspired and influenced my art and writing, they helped me dig inside myself to confront issues I ignored for the longest time, they just ripped my feels right out of me and made me stare at them until nothing made sense anymore. I loved it XD Of course, i was an awkward introvert in high school at the time so it certainly didn't help me fit in at all, but au contrair, they made me not give a shit about not fitting in.

Followed up by Breath of Fire V, cause Ryu is one honorable heroic mofo and I will not ramble any further cause I don't know if I could stop myself once I start X3

Ahhhhhhhhhh vidjo games <3 <3 <3
author=Shadski
I honestly believe it can, because I feel like The World Ends With You changed the course of my life forever. I'll never get the exact same feelings I did when playing it, or listening to the songs for the first time, but this game really made me realise a lot of things and helped me get over problems. I wish there were more games like this (I do think Dangan Ronpa and Persona come close to me) because it would be great to have video games with such powerful messages, to all video game developers out there, you have the power to change people! Use it for good!


Everything you just said, I sold all of my DS games at one point except for TWEWY...i just couldn't part with it, it became a memento, an artifact...couldn't let anyone have it even if I could re-purchase it in the future. No my 1st copy will be the last & only. The World Ends With You is my guide to life.

I would have to say not only TWEWY, but I take Kingdom Hearts into such deep literal context. Vagrant Story & A Link To The Past made me into who i am.
author=Shadski
I honestly believe it can, because I feel like The World Ends With You changed the course of my life forever.


I swear, when I read the title of this thread, The World Ends With You is the first game that popped into my head!

Others that I think of are Suikoden II, Alundra, Bastion, and possibly even Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. I try not to play a game with out taking something of worth from it.
The N64 and PS1 changed my life forever. They made me become a game designer. In terms of specific games I'm gonna thank Paper Mario and Banjo-Kazooie/Tooie, but the big fucker is Final Fantasy 7.

When I first saw my older cousin play FF7 I knew instantly what I wanted to do for a living. I have never been in so much awe since back then.
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
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It was the wonder of being able to step into an impossible fantasy and being able to interact with it. I've always wanted to make video games ever since I first played Space Rogue when I was 9, but it was when I was 17 and played Final Fantasy VII for the first time that I realized that video games were a story-telling medium that truly offered no limits; something no book or film could ever accomplish. A video game could be a book like A Mind Forever Voyaging, or a movie like Metal Gear Solid 4, but you can never interact with a movie or a book.
Scribblenauts taught me how to spell "raisin" properly. For some reason, I always thought it was "raisen."

I can't really pinpoint any exact moments that truly changed my life, though, I know that over the course of my years, video games have undoubtedly played a large part in shaping the person I've become. It's been an evolution, I suppose.
A manga did for me so I see no reason why a video game couldn't.
I think any media has the chance to do this for you. No games have changed my life, but a few have definitely gotten an emotional response out of me.

The only thing to really affect my life was a movie called Gattica; after watching that I decided immediately after to start getting fit before I lost my old physical capabilities forever. It filled me with purpose, something a game or two has come awfully close to, so I'd say yes.
ff7 probably caused me to get into rpgs and rpg maker itself and then game development in general. im not sure if it changed my world view or anything but I wouldn't be here without it.
Nightowl
Remember when I actually used to make games? Me neither.
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The Fallout series turned me into a huge lore grump. Fallout 1 and 2 in particular also made me realize how much better WRPGs are than JRPGs and now I can't enjoy games like FF7.
slash
APATHY IS FOR COWARDS
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Certainly video games (and other media) motivated me to get into creating my own stuff, so there's that, for sure. Plus, I also think that games, art, writing, music and other creations are ways of expressing an opinion, an emotion, or a feeling in ways that are sometimes easier to understand than simple words. I've cried after reading manga, been reminded of my past by movies, and been inspired by a hero in an action show... So, yea, of course!
If I hadn't played Phantasy Star IV on a emulator back in 2001, I wouldn't be making RPGs, let alone playing them. It was also the game that made me fall in love with strong, kick-ass female characters ( and all the female leads in my games are somewhat based off that character). A nice little homage. Alys the 'Eight-Stroke Warrior' Brangwin still remains my 2nd favourite video game character to this day XD.
I so relate to all you guys stories!
In my case...

"What I do... I do with no regrets." -Yuna

I think the tale of Final Fantasy X was probably the one that got the most impact on me from all forms of media ever. It really played a humunguous part on shaping the person that I am. Persistant, ever-smiling, iron-willed, pessimistic but filled with unsurmountable hope... Another one that had a heavy weight on shaping me was Final Fantasy Tactics. Together with FFX, they shaped up my current religious point of view, which is that I don't need religion to be happy and a good person. As such I'm completely free from any sort of religion, and I just sort of do what my heart tells me, filtered by what I've learnt from life, other people's failures and my own as well. In a more negative light, I'm extremely skeptical and reluctant in relation to churches and religion now, and whenever someone spits the word "salvation" I feel like punchin'em in da guts lololo
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