sad geeks who hide in the corner of their rooms, covered in spots
The first thing I will say in this article is that I am totally into video gaming as a hobby, whatever image that brings to mind of sad geeks who hide in the corner of their rooms, covered in spots, I do not really care, as it's wrong. With that said, gaming seems to be unable to gain an acceptance in modern-day culture and this puzzles me; with the advent of Sony and its PlayStation, gaming is now very much in the mass media and is a part of the entertainment industry, whether the general public like it or not. Now, the public assume that games are for kids, but these people profess to hate something which they have no experience of. I'm kind enough to soaps to only criticize them because I have seen them, and they bore me rigid – I'd rather play an engrossing RPG (role-playing game) such as Suikoden or Final Fantasy VII, over watching some boring soap such as EastEnders or Emmerdale.
Fun for little girls
People criticize gaming as being sad and geeky, yet both these activities, watching soaps and playing games, involve the self same thing – watching a TV screen. So how can people criticize gaming when they probably spend just as much time in front of a TV as any gamer? Majorly hypocritical in my opinion. So if I were to make as bold a statement that watching TV is even sadder than playing games, I would get laughed at and possibly take a lot of abuse; however, I will stand by that statement. My reasoning behind this is interaction – at least when you are playing a game you are affecting the outcome of what happens on screen and take part within the activity; this is especially evident in certain examples I will come to soon. Whereas, when you are watching your soap, there is no interaction – you sit there doing absolutely nothing; so gaming is at least a little more involving, thereby making it less sad than watching the TV.
The special cases I mention then – games where interaction is the key to the game – the example you will all know is Dance Dance Revolution, a game popular the world over. “Fun for little girls,” I hear you say? Then I challenge you to try out one of these machines; I enjoy them a lot and find them to be a great source of fun as well as exercise. In Japan, however, people get hardcore with Dance Dance Revolution – nationwide arcade competitions with serious dollars to be won ($30,000+). Now, I profess that I love Japan – a place where gaming is culturally accepted. This is my nirvana and will probably be where I live when I grow up. But this cultural acceptance is what I would love over here. Before I go onto my next point I will finish off the special cases: light gun games such as the Virtua Cop series and Samba De Amigo, a game played with maracas, are to other examples of extended interaction.
a lot of name calling and ‘your mum’ insults being flung across the room
Right, back to this cultural acceptance: it's not that I care so much that I am judged for playing games; it's that those people who criticise when they have no knowledge are missing out on a world of fun, interactive entertainment which is ultimately more rewarding and intellectually stimulating than the world of TV (I am not criticising TV – indeed I'm a big movie fan – I'm just stating my preferences). You see, these people annoy me – they know nothing about games, and this is what I hope to educate you on: games are a beautiful thing, the interaction and thought used by a skilled player of a game is a wonder to behold, and to see someone really play a game well makes you wonder how the hell they do it.
Also, gaming is very competitive – often I have friends round to play a game called Halo on the Xbox, this is a FPS (First Person Shooter), which is amazing – a novice can pick this game up and still reach some level of skill and accomplishment; the game is easy to learn and hard to master. The premise of the game, at least in the multiplayer I am talking about, is to kill one another; the person who is the first to reach a certain number of kills or other objectives, wins. The game is very fun and every player gets very competitive with a lot of name calling and “your mum” insults being flung across the room – this adds to the enjoyment of the game. Now, these same four people interacting and having a laugh could never happen from a TV programme, not in the same way, with taunts and insults being flung around for fun. The whole multiplayer gaming atmosphere is people at their very best.
racing modified Japanese cars along public passes
Although the example I cite is about all the people being in the same room, this need not be. Online gaming can be just as enthralling, if a little less personal, and then there is another way. I shall use a racing game called Initial D (only available for the Japanese PS2, if you're wondering why you have never heard of it) to show this: the game is single-player, and based on racing modified Japanese cars along public passes. You can't play this against someone in your home, however you can compete with people via time attack; the fastest person on a track is the target to beat, and to be competitive in this way with people is very satisfying, to shave tenths off your time to nick the top time from a mate is pure elation; then your friend has to try and beat you again, this can get very competitive. Essentially there can be no argument of luck – whoever is fastest wins – the only errors come from the person, not circumstances in the game, as the settings are always the same.
Anyway, gaming is pure magic and I hate that it gets no acceptance in modern culture.
Published 2004-01-15
© The Twaddle MMIV