Do video games belong in public libraries?

[The Mighty Admiral SEAMAN]

I have to say, most video games tend to be works of fiction and most tend to be well written...but I don't think they belong in a library.

I mean, for fuck's sake, HALO is considered an above average plot for an FPS and that is basically just about a genetically-engineered, superhuman armored space marine with a personality so weak calling him two dimensional is a compliment, fighting waves of hostile aliens threatening the survival of the human race...All of which have been sci-fi cliches for nearly as long as the genre has existed.

Oh boy, another frothy mouthed Halo hater who has over-simplified the plot to make some kind of point.

but he has a point, thats all Halo 1/2 and 3 are, theres only one small plot twist, the elites joining the humans, and before you call me a halo hater i owned every halo game before i sold my Xbox 360

 

[Sejs Cube]

I could see the argument for them being included in a library's stacks - they're a body of work, information in one form or another. A lot of libraries keep dvds in stock these days and allow you to check them out. I can't see there being much of an argument against that on lack of merit.

On the other hand.. I can really see the potential for abuse and theft being a problem.

 

[BolognaBaloney]

I have to say, most video games tend to be works of fiction and most tend to be well written...but I don't think they belong in a library.

I mean, for fuck's sake, HALO is considered an above average plot for an FPS and that is basically just about a genetically-engineered, superhuman armored space marine with a personality so weak calling him two dimensional is a compliment, fighting waves of hostile aliens threatening the survival of the human race...All of which have been sci-fi cliches for nearly as long as the genre has existed.

Oh boy, another frothy mouthed Halo hater who has over-simplified the plot to make some kind of point.

but he has a point, thats all Halo 1/2 and 3 are, theres only one small plot twist, the elites joining the humans, and before you call me a halo hater i owned every halo game before i sold my Xbox 360

There's more to Halo than just cliche, there's the entire idea of the flood, the religious sub-text from the Covenant, the mystery regarding the Forerunners, the Spartan program, and such. It's got a great story if you delve into it, it just irks me to see people criticize the story, when it's often because they missed it, or didn't like it.

 

[Magnatek]

That would be awesome if it worked. It would save me $15/mo that I'd otherwise send to GameFly if they started doing that in the U.S. However, it's probably going to fail because people are going to damage/destroy the games in the library's care.

It's been working. They have games in my town's library (for free, under a stricter policy than anything else in my library), and it's a block away from my house(very easy to access). The only types of games they don't have are those rated M by the ESRB, as well as PS3 games, for some reason.

 

[BuckminsterF]

according to our librarian, some books don't belong in a library...

 

[Symp4thy]

We have a few games in our library, but they are always checked out.

 

[Collymilad08]

I would say no.

I love videogames, but a library should really be a place for books or things that are educational. I think that only a few games actually teach you anything that useful and so I don't think that this small number justifies them being in a library.

However I think that big part of the answer to this question depends on what you actually see a library as being, and what you think the purpose of a library is.