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| Zork |
Video games have become increasingly popular throughout the years. They can be played on the computer, gaming consoles, handheld devices, and more. Users interact with video games by using many possible devices such as a mouse, touchscreen, joystick, and controllers. With the large advances in technology, there are more ways to play video games. A recent addition to the video game world is
virtual reality games. This requires a device that goes over your head so that you can see and put yourself in the video game. The headset uses motion tracking and sometimes other units to put your every move into the game. It feels like you’re actually there in the game’s environment.
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| Almost Goodbye |
Many people think about games as a fun pastime, and not so many people would even think to wonder if they are a form of art.
Do video games count as art? Do they deserve the attention that individuals give to literature, art, and films?
They do deserve to be called art. A lot of thinking and details go into video games. In order for it to be a good game, there has to be a plot, good graphics, a challenge, plus more. There may be
critics, but we feel that the meaning that the developers put into a game makes it art.
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| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 |
An example we bring to your attention is
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The dialog in the game keeps the plot moving well, and it is an intense game. This music is paired with heart-pumping music that keeps someone on the edge of their chair to see what kind of surprise is around the next turn. Then there is the imagery that is just incredible. The small details that are taken into account are amazing. You can see the other characters breath in the cold weather. You are crawling through a field, and it seems like you are in the field yourself. The attention to details that go into every game just like MW2 is why it should count as art. Other examples of video games that are very different from MW2 include Zork and Almost Goodbye. Zork is an early form of an interactive fiction game. In Zork, the user types in basic verbs as commands. It is text-based, so there are not any images while playing. Almost Goodbye is a game in which the user makes choices. Conversations are generated based off of the choices that the user makes. It is also mostly text-based, but it is more colorful. Regardless of the type of video game, there is a lot of time, effort, and work put into the games. The creators of text-based games must produce multiple scenarios and conversations in response to what the user inputs.
As an artist paints a scene in their mind, the individual who makes the graphic is doing the same only with a moving image. The individual who makes the conversations and scenarios is also doing the same thing.
Video games most definitely should count, and they do deserve the attention that we give to literature and art pieces. The creators of video games put in the same, if not sometimes more, work than authors, artists, and filmmakers.
Ray Kurzweil is known as an author, entrepreneur, futurist, and inventor. He is well known for his views and predictions he made about future technology. Some of his predictions have come true, such as when he predicted that a computer would be able to defeat a world-class chess champion by the year 2000. He predicted this in a book that he wrote between 1989- 1989 and in 1997 this occurred when Deep Blue beat Kasparov. 
One of his main thoughts is about Singularity. He wrote a book which later was turned into a movie called Singularity Is Near. The concept behind singularity is that the growth of technology is at an exponential rate. Kurzweil believes at some point the technology and machines intelligence will be greater than the capacity of a human being. At this point, he believes human intelligence and machine intelligence will merge. There will be technology such as nanobots which would be in your body and be able to fight off any diseases which inevitably make a person live longer. At the singularity, a person would have the ability to download their consciousness and technically never cease to exist. 
This is a pretty interesting idea of being able to be almost half machine and have the capability of doing anything you want. It also creates a huge problem in the world. At this point, the human race is overpopulated as is. If we get to this point where people are expected to live well into their 200-300s, then all environmental issues we have today are going to skyrocket. The issues of global warming and air pollution will be a major issue. It will come to a point where people will need to die. Then, who is to choose who lives or who dies. They can upload their consciousness into a machine, but am I the person I was before. The parts that make up a person is not only their consciousness but their physical traits like their talk, laughter, and smiles. The singularity does provide a chance for humans to do great things. It also will lead us to make some tough decisions and answer some questions so that life will also prosper along with technology. 
