We don’t get to choose how we start in the life. Real ‘greatness’ is what you do with the hand you’re dealt.
– Victor Sullivan aka Sully, Uncharted 3
Disbelief. Skepticism.
Those are the typical responses I find when I make the point that video games teach personal accountability. To be honest, I did not really understand this until I learned about John G. Miller, and his QBQ! Question Behind the Question (Listen to my interview with him HERE).
This quote from Sully in Uncharted 3 captures the basis for just about every video game and how personal accountability fits in.
Video games often involve the hero of the story starting out with nothing, at level one; or if you do have items or skills, they are selected by the game designer. In some cases, like Castlevania: SOTN or Metroid Prime, you start out with power ups, only to quickly lose them.
At this point you could give up, sell the game, throw your controller across the room, and swear off video games all together.
But that’s not what we do. We play on. We overcome. We grow and fight to become stronger.
Guess what? The same approach works in your own life.
Sure, others may have it better than you. But if you are reading this on a computer or a smart phone, you are doing a lot better than a million other people in the world today.
What matters most is what you do next. So what will it be? How will you play the hand you have been dealt?
To go further, check out this book, filled with video game quotes, examples, and illustrations to help you apply what you learn in video games to your own life!
