On Video Games In Lit

Has there been a novel (or novels) that contained video games as major plot point without it being represented in an abstract manner like Enders Game, or without the novel becoming a self congratulatory circle jerk like Ready Player One?
Is it possible to make an engaging and resonant novel commenting video games/gaming culture without being a pop culture man child?

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The Legend of the Ten Elemental Masters, although it's more of a deconstruction.

The Diamond Age springs to mind, if you count the "ractives" as video games.

And most lit-rpg, if you're into that kind of thing.

>resonant novel commenting video games/gaming culture without being a pop culture man child?

you seem to be implying that video games have any value beyond being pop culture for man-children.
they don't.

*Linkin Park plays in the distance*

video games have fairly wide appeal in that they provide mindless and instantly gratifying experiences to people looking for relaxation

what's the point in being pretentious about it? it 's okay to play video games every now and then, you normie faggot

Linkin Park is for the exact same demographic as vidya

>video games have fairly wide appeal in that they provide mindless and instantly gratifying experiences to people looking for relaxation
>
>what's the point in being pretentious about it? it 's okay to play video games every now and then

nothing you wrote is incompatible with what I wrote. OP is looking for non-superficial lit about vidya, and your post defends vidya as being a nice, superficial diversion.
> you normie faggot
every single household in the western world has a console. video games are for normies.

y'all motherfuckers sure get mad when your fantasy realms are attacked. Maybe you'd be happier in the /sffg/ safespace.

>you seem to be implying that video games have any value
Puzzle games can stimulate the brain. Some dementia patients are treated with certain video games.
Multiplayer games can provide much-needed social interaction to shut-ins.
Flight simulators can help train pilots.
Law enforcement and military also use video games for training purposes.

Apart from all the practical uses, video games CAN legitimately be art. This is unusual, but possible.

Nathan Hill-The Nix
A couple of important characters in it are addicted to a game similar to World of Warcraft, and the descriptions of it, as well as their feelings of playing the game, are not only funny but also authentic it doesn't hurt that the author admitted to being a WoW addict around the time he spent writing the book .

not really, there are lots of subcultures in "video games" and effectively endless types, many areas have yet to be explored. It is the ultimate artistic medium. These days most people under 35 play them to some extent, that usually just means popular AAA stuff. Or to the extent of this autism, a functional civilisation.

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Only You Can Save Mankind (If Not You, Who Else?)

>Apart from all the practical uses, video games CAN legitimately be art. This is unusual, but possible.
By legitimate art you mean lowest kind of low art, right? Every pop/low art form is inherently more artsy than video games.

t. pretentious faggot

you imply that video games being played immediately denounces the player as a man-child

I take issue with that, so I don't think our posts are compatible

my main point is that video games serving as a quick diversion from time to time is socially acceptable and a reasonable outcome that should be accepted even by pretentious cunts like you

>>>reddit

Nice projecting there reddit.

Agreed.

I was thinking more of certain games with good storylines, matched with beautiful, inventive visuals and original music. Those can be just as moving and meaningful as a great film.

Bleeding Edge possibly, depends on how you define video games

Damn, this board really is full of pretentious retards who probably can't even afford to go to the opera.

No, some video games actually are a better art compared to shit literature such as Harry Potter.

Name 10 games you think are the pinnacle of the medium and represent quality art

Also if you have to compare them to some other shitty pop culture to prove there good in comparison, then it's not exactly the best start is it?

...

Refute his point.

I don't think he has any argument.

Explain why you think video games have value beyond being pop cultural entertainment

Not only are more people than simply manchildren (which was never true) are interested in video games now, including women and older generations, video games are a conglomerate of artistic expressions such as art (graphics), music, gameplay (sport), story (books and movies) and some other things. They can have high quality works and pop-culture nonsense just like any creative field. Oregon Trail was a history teaching device as much as it was a video game, and certainly not a pop-culture for man-children.

Not a book per se, but the original story behind "eXistenZ" is the best presentation of video games, their deluded fanbase, the fanatacism that is rife, and ultimately the complete remove and distance from realty being a fate worse than death.

Real art illuminates life, vidya (like trash TV and potboiler novels) is an escape from life. Videogames are not art, they are the opposite of art.

I generally agree with you with very few exceptions (some aspects of the art and story direction in RDR and Dark Souls)

One of Murakami's first books was about an pinball machine. It isn't quite about video games, but is the closer I can think of it. And as far as I know, he is friends with Itoi (the writer from Mother).
If anyone is to write a decent novel featuring video games, I think it would be him.