Derided as the ultimate brain-rot, vilified as a precursor to violent and antisocial behavior, dismissed as a fad doomed to go the way of pogs and disco, video games built the controversy that defined our cultural transition into the new millennium. 

Despite the slew of allegations leveled at video games, they did not become the cultural poison legislators in the 1990’s warned they would. And not only did video games fail to doom society, but their quick evolution from computerized curiosity into a prolific medium of entertainment has proven that video games are here to stay. Coming a long way from thin rectangles paddling a digital ball from one side of a television screen to another, video games continue to grow more visually vibrant and deeply narrative. With the backing of big-budget studios or the care and passion of indie developers, the world of video games is now as diverse…