Playing video games shouldn't be an excuse to put off reading. Manga doesn't count, because it really isn't complex at all compared to college level literature.
Especially since many games are merely summarized and condensed versions of a much larger context.
I know it isn't, I just have trouble finding good books to read because compared to video games and manga because literature is so damn vast and it's easier to find what I want in the other forms of media.
Some of my lifes important lessons I learned were from video games, manga, and Saturday morning cartoons, as I said before Megaman X taught me the concept of life and death at the age of 5 and I got it right away while Disney didn't really do anything for me since I honestly got turned off from Princesses and talking animals as a kid, except for Rocko's Modern Life and Mickey mouse because they act like people and not animals to me since they own houses and walk on 2 feet even though that is far more unrealistic.
Xiaolin Showdown taught me that true courage is not being fearless but being able to face your fears. Not to mention the ending where Omi realizes that he's not meant to be the leader and that Raimundo is the true leader, that's realizing that sometimes you need to re evaluate yourself to find what you really have to do and that some roles are not fit for you. Not to mention there's always someone better than you. Courage the Cowardly Dog also taught me about the the true meaning of Courage, and he applies that very well I might add, but it's also can deal with Kantian ethics, Egoism, Utilitarianism and stuff like that. It's also a great lesson for being yourself and doing things your way, especially the last episode.
Not to mention the countless Gwen Stacy dilemas of saving one person being just as hard as saving the world, you cannot help every single person in the world, evil triumphing when good men do nothing, and attracting flys with honey rather than with vinegar meaning that being nice to people is better in the long run than being a [sonic slicer]. You should also never expect a reward for being nice, you just do it because it's the right thing to do and you can also apply a number of ethical theories with that.
The thing here is that I really care more about what I get from what I do and how I can apply it, yes I can learn all those things from literature but I learn important concept better from simple things like video games cartoons and the smaller scale of video games and manga fill that need for me better since I can get lost in the wall of text.
That doesn't mean I don't enjoy reading books and don't learn from them I just can get it fast with the other forms of media. I liked reading Shakespeare and Holmes and will probably come back to read some more of them someday, not to mention I need to finish the last book in A Series of Unfortunate events but I just absorb video games better because it's interactive. I mean Romeo and Juliet and Taming of the Shrew taught me about how love is something you can't rush or else everyone you know will freaking regret it. I can apply that to a lot of freaking things, that's why I'm not looking for a relationship and would be fine if I don't get married, it's a huge thing that is so easy to mess up. Also probably one of the reasons I don't want kids, along with the fact that I probably wouldn't be a good mother for various reasons. Hamlet taught me how Batman Gambits work and that people experience and deal with grief differently. Even Julius Ceaser, which I regard as one of the most boring things I have ever read and I seriously hated reading it because of how it dragged even though it wasn't long, taught me that it is actually possible to discredit someone and get people to sick of someone by saying that they are great while pointing out subtle things to make people turn against them. I associate that with how people hype things up and how people respond to that hype.
http://www.ibiblio.org/ais/speechan.htmHell Klaus Baudelaire is probably the character I'm channeling with what I'm saying, learning things and applying things, I just expand the pool of information with more than just books like he does.
The important thing here is not quality or preferance, it's what I can learn, how quickly I can latch on to something, and how I can apply it.
Now the reason there are some books I want to read is because they are not literature books, they are self help and non fiction books that have facts and will teach me how to do and apply things better, not really life lessons but techniques. And I know I can't get that from video games, manga, cartoons, movies or literature, I need those books specifically.