Throughout our history, great actions have spoken to all of humankind. While great thoughts also speak to some, it is the actions that truly define someone. Whether its walking on the moon or just being kind to others, your actions show others who you are. The difference between having great thoughts and doing something great is simply what is actually being accomplished. If you only think, then you never get anything done. But I think it works the other way to; you must think about your actions first. In order to do something great, you have to be able to think. Great thoughts and great actions go hand in hand. If you truly want to speak to all humankind, your actions should come from great thoughts.

A good design is one that combines form and function. It must not only look good and be appealing to people, but it must perform and serve a purpose. For that reason, if I were to design a product, it would be a video game. While most think that video games are purely a waste of time, many of them do serve a purpose. By combining almost every form of media imaginable, they can make a statement in ways that nothing else can. People play games because they are entertaining, but they could be getting more out of it without even knowing it. Games can make political statements, have strong and unique visual styles, and contain story lines and dialogue on par with some of the greatest novels. It is easy to combine form and function into a game because the form is in the entertainment value while the function is in the statement you make with it.

Many agree that the most important thing in designing a game is the entertainment value. Some games can survive solely on being fun and nothing else. This is the form of designing a game. To get anyone to play a game, it has to be entertaining. While a game may be able to survive without a great story line, it is almost guaranteed to fail if it is not fun. But a lot of different things go into making a game fun. From basic gameplay elements to how visually pleasing the game is, everything is taken into account when playing a game. A single flaw could ruin the game for some people. But you’ve made a fun game, you can make any statement you want with it.

Games can be used to make statements in many ways. While some games have surface level political statements and such, others hide hundreds of hidden symbolism and messages in every aspect of the game. Games can make a statement like no other media can by combining every form of media. Games are graphical, interactive, story driven and often have great musical scores. With a combination of all of these things, developers have more than enough tools to make themselves heard. While before game development required a large team and massive amounts of money on top of years of training, anyone can now learn to develop games and have the tools to make them. Average people can develop and publish a game to the world. In fact, indie games are becoming more and more popular due to developers being able to distribute them over the internet. Having complete control over the gameplay and being able to make statements through a game allow developers create a completely unique product.

One of the greatest things about video games is the nearly endless possibilities developers can create. While many perceive all games as violent shooters, this is far from the truth. Some people play games based entirely on how much action and violence is packed in, most would agree that some of the greatest games have little to no action or violence. Indie game Passage is a game that let you do nothing but walk across a narrow screen, but it is still an amazing experience. The game allows you to go through the developers interpretation of life, and the entire game last only five minutes, but even in its simplicity you can look into every aspect of the game and find meanings and symbolism. Shadow of the Colossus had only sixteen enemies in the game, and most of the time you were riding across a massive and beautiful landscape on horseback. But each of the sixteen enemies you faced were massive colossi, and you fought each one as if it was puzzle. The game had very few characters and little dialogue, but it still managed to create a truly epic and emotional story line. These are just two examples of games that broke away from the average action game to create a truly unique experience.

Games are a product that are not only improved by combining form and function, but the almost require it. An art game that isn’t fun is not a good game, and although some may disagree, a fun game with no art isn’t a good game, or at least not as good as it could have been. Some argue that games are not art, but in my opinion they can by one of the greatest forms of art. Games like Okami look like their out of a painting, and other games like The Legend of Zelda have massive and well written story lines. Elements from movies, books, and even paintings are all blended together to create an experience unlike any other. And developers are just now realizing how their games can be art. With new technology, games can advanced and do things that were previously not possible. Back when games were short and two dimensional, the story wasn’t as important as the gameplay, if there even was a story. But now for a game to be truly great, it must successfully blend form and function together and create a unique experience.