Thursday, April 2, 2009

In Defence of.... Gaming? (He can't be Serious)

Gamers are stereotypically looked down upon as social outcasts who must look to something beyond the realm of human stimulation. They are people who are no longer relevant to the real world. Gamers always catch a bad reputation because their brain functions differently from those of other people. They get caught up in something that isn’t reality in the real world, but what’s so bad about that? Women love to shop. Are they ever given the reputation that gamers are as devoid human beings? What about people who are social butterflies, always looking for the next party to fuel their addiction to human socialization? The fact of the matter is that any type of person that excessively does one thing is unhealthy. Life takes balance and gamers should only be frowned upon when they no longer function in reality and are only a part of virtual reality.

People say games are addictive. Well, to be honest games are addictive. Some games are always on your mind, but only people who have no self-control can be sucked into a pit of no social interaction. People say games end relationships, but again it only occurs in the most extreme cases. Many people who play video games do not play it as if it is their life, but when they are seen playing it they are automatically stereotyped as “that” (please watch this) guy. However, these people are just different. They find something stimulating about video games and where the games they play take them. Ultimately, they find their escape in video games. Video games to gamers are like sports to athletes. Games can be a source of conversation, something to invest time into, and a reason to become the very best at something. It’s like dancing was to Tony. It gave him a reason to look to the future. He always had Saturday night, and no one could take away his time to shine. His investment in the sport was his motivation. Gaming can be viewed in the same way. Some people don’t have a lot to look forward to in life because they have already screwed up a lot, but to condemn them further for turning to the one place where they can escape the fate they know is inevitable is like punching a pregnant woman. It’s just wrong. Sure, you can encourage them to better themselves, but ultimately no one deserves unjust judgment.

Gaming is even thought to be good in some situations. RPGs are good sources of stories for children. If you have a child that is struggling to learn to read and despises books, give him or her a video game that has text. If you read them the story to begin with eventually they will want to be able to read the story by themselves, which will drive them to want to know how to read. Gaming also improves reflexes, as well as eyesight. It was determined in a study that people who play video games can see and react up to 43% faster than people who don’t. Gaming isn’t all bad, it only becomes a problem when excess is involved, much like many other habits.

4 comments:

  1. So the problem is the excessiveness of gaming. Don't you think it's funny how almost all of our problems/addictions are the result of something in excess? Why are we so prone to desire something to the point of excess?

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  2. I once made an argument to Donna that the idea of what makes a gamer is becoming ill-defined and that we need to make sure to keep the definition clear to keep gaming purity. Or something like that... Anyway, she called me a fascist for it.

    For you though, do you think that the defense you make will be needed for much longer? Gaming makes way more than movie or music industries now and it seems like everyone can play fake guitar. Or is there still a subculture in gaming that needs a defense?

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  3. i think you're right to a degree. Gaming has become much more mainstream with party games such as rock band and guitar hero, but i think at the root of everything true gamers still need to be defended. Whether it's halo, call of duty, resident evil, gamers are still out there. They're still playing, but they're still being looked at oddly for playing as they do.

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  4. Although I agree with Logan for the most part, there is also a sub-group of gamers that is usually not accepted by gamers. These people are the type who go beyond popular series like Halo and Rock Band and buy into more obscure series of games (usually Japanese) like Suikoden and Disgaea. However, these people are to gamers what super-trekkies are to Star Trek.

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