Video Games: The Perfect Medium?

Video games have had a much shorter time of development than in comparison to other types of mediums.  Things like the written word and paintings have been around for thousands of years.  Even the movies have had over a hundred years to develop and contribute powerful human emotions and messages to audiences around the world.  These mediums have the potential to challenge the way individuals perceive the world and captivate audiences.  Video games, a newer contender into this field, also has the potential to challenge us as well.  Their evolution from pixeled puzzle solvers like Tetris that have minimal descriptions and storylines to games like The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask which have engaging stories and many life simulation like qualities.   This is not to say that one of these games is better than the other, but that video games encompass a variety of classes.   Perhaps a role playing game (RPG)-hybrid game would be able to achieve this. 

What would a video game need in the modern market to engage the masses?  While gamers cite classics like Castlevania or Final Fantasy VII (FF7), the general public remains ignorant to such titles.  The general public is more familiar with games like Candy Crush or the once popular Farmville.  However, the later has not aged with the times.  A medium must be able to captivates an audience and convey power and emotion.  Movies like Twelve Angry Men (the original of course), have aged well and still convey compelling arguments about things like problems in society or the human experience.  This is not to say that FF7 does not tackled important questions.  However, is it possible to find a game that has the gravity and acclaim like FF7 that every person would be able to recognize.  The closest game that can come close to this are games with Mario (the plumber with blue overalls made by Nintendo).  However, the general public recognizes the difference between books like The Lord of the Flies and Mario.  Mario can be pushed aside as a trivial and childish game.  On the other hand, The Lord of the Flies is a book that questions so many aspects of life such as the state of nature – an issue with famous philosophers like John Hobbes have contributed.  There is a strong advantage that video games consistently and generally have over all other types of mediums; they have active participants and not passive observers.  

Perhaps a RPG would be the most capable to captivate and inspire its participants.  RPGs tend to have a more developed story, which would be familiar to other medium consumers.  However, the biggest challenge for a RPG is the length.  I doubt that most people would not be willing to spend 20 hours to finish a game, let alone 6 hours.  If an RPG would be able to lower the amount of time to about 2 to 4 hours, then they have a chance at finding and captivating the general public.  This is possible as people are becoming more accustomed to casual video games through their smart phones. 

I would like to hear what you guys think.  What do you think is the best medium? Are RPGs the most viable medium to compete with other mediums?