dbsmith's Blogs

The times...they are a changin'

Ahhh remember those long summer days where you used to go outside for hours on end, climb tall trees and jump from one precarious limb to the other? When you and two friends could have 4 hours fun off a tennis ball and a big stick? No? Too young? Staying at home playing XBox instead?

I'm guessing that we're growing up now in an age where gaming is normal. In that you can boast about your Xbox scores at school without getting beaten up. This was not always the case young padawan. *What??* I hear you gasp. *Gaming wasn't always sexy??* Well it's true. Gaming was once on the fringes of mainstream society, encapsulated in seedy arcades and greasy fish and chip stores. One dollar could go a long way if you were good enough. But choice wasn't an option. You could spend hours at a time on ONE game, which amounted to the same repetitive task over and over and over.....

Anyone seen King of Kong? Or Chasing Ghosts? They're documentaries on addicted arcade players back in the 80s.

To me, those were akin to documentaries on Heroin addicts. (Don't get me started on WoW by the way....) Some of them played ONE arcade game for 3 days straight. And lets be honest here, these guys aren't gonna win any bachelor of the year awards. Watch the docos before you take offense - I'm sure they are nice guys, but lets face it: they seem to epitomize the worst case scenario of gamers - pale, bearded, socially awkward guys - the image that often gets (got?) put forward through mainstream media to show gamers.

Fast forward to today. I pose a question (or 4, i cant count). One to which I don't know the answer.

What is gaming's place in today's society? Has it become as normal as say television? Is it "socially acceptable" (as much as I hate bullsh*t terms like that and the ideas behind them) to chat about games as we would any other media?

The other change I have seen over my short life is the ridiculous amount of choice offered to gamers. We have a heap of consoles, thousands of games to choose from, and can even go rent a game at a moment's notice. I think we have become spoilt for choice. At times I feel like I have gamer's ADD, jumping from one game to the next after 15 minutes of play. "Lets play some Unreal Tourny, no wait sick of that, how bout some Mirror's Edge, no wait got sick of that a while ago, maybe some old game like Monkey Island, no I've played that too much"

After much (i.e. 10 seconds) self-analysis and introspection, I think this kind of twitchy can't-be-satisfied feeling comes from an over abundance of choice. If we had just ONE game, as I did in my youth, we would play that to DEATH. And love it. I'm sure that's how many people feel with that crazy WoW drug, but I ain't touchin that.

You know what I've found is the solution to this feeling of dis-satisfaction? Take a break from gaming. Be it an hour or two in the sun, or a entire month away from computers, I guarantee (no money back) that some time away will reinvigorate your gaming spirit.

And, perhaps despite all that,  I still love getting sucked into just one game. I just got back from a long computer-less holiday. Last night, sat down in front of computer and started playing Team Fortress 2. And man did I have a blast. Losing all track of time and place, beard growing longer, skin getting pastier...

So this weekend, I'm gonna go for a run if its sunny, a swim if its not....then probably spend the afternoon playing TF2.

Facebook

Reply

On 3 July 2009, 01:50PM Posted by lexcalibur

I don't think it's ever been "socially unacceptable" to play games, I think there are games that are a little less "cool" then others (e.g. Fighting Games are cooler then Role Playing games), but I think it has more to do with the amount of time you spend on them.

And on the point of socially awkward gamers, it's kinda like the "Guns don't kill people, people kill peole" thing. Games don't make people socially awkward, people make themselves that way (or just are that way).

 

Reply

On 3 July 2009, 08:49PM Posted by shadowbandit

I miss playing outside and losing track of time.

 

Reply

On 3 July 2009, 10:33PM Posted by tnzk

It's not games that make people weird. It's people that make games weird. In fact, some people make games cool. Look at Megan Fox. She casually plays video games. That's badass.

Sure, at one time, there was the stereotypical gamer, but that's what the market catered towards. But now there's games for everyone. Girls playing Nintendogs? That's normal. And, that's kinda appealing =P.

Yeah, go outside. I recently created this account at NZGamer, and that's because I recently got back into playing games from an age long hiatus. Once Street Fighter IV unleashed I came back, but yeah, moderation is the key!

 

Reply

On 3 July 2009, 10:54PM Posted by Srassy

I like the whole mentioning of gaming ADD again. Man, it's so hard to try and just play one game all the way through and finally I've managed to finish 2-3 games. Yay!

Personally, I think gaming started to become more socially accepted when the PlayStation came out (I mean it sold around 100mil units). Heck, even my parents bought one!

 

Reply

On 5 July 2009, 10:38PM Posted by joshklaz

I agree that time off gaming reinvigorates your gaming spirit. I went on holiday once and *gasp* didn't take my PSP. I got home 2 weeks later and gamed for 2 days straight, lol. It was shockingly awesome.

 

Reply

On 7 July 2009, 02:45PM Posted by Rapidity

I've gone right off Megan Fox, she tries way to hard.

 

Reply

On 7 July 2009, 10:59PM Posted by Ruptunex

In my circle of friends gaming has always been a major part of our friendship. A cdommon interest we all share. and it's becoming easier to talk about gaming to casual gamers.

 

Reply

On 10 July 2009, 05:13PM Posted by Shuyin

lol indeed i think i just miss being a little kid in general

 

Reply

On 26 July 2009, 08:31PM Posted by simcharles

My friends lil borhter just turned 9 and he's a twin.
His twin got a nerf gun and he got a Xbox game lol

 

Reply

On 27 July 2009, 01:32PM Posted by Nefarious

Reply to simcharles26 July 2009, 08:31PM
My friends lil borhter just turned 9 and he's a twin. His twin got a nerf gun and he got a Xbox game lol

i wana nerf gun!