Shamefully, i am a self confessed gamer. And to add a twist to the knife of douchebagery, I'm a PC gamer; the worst kind . There is something so desperately infectious about the fastest growing section of the media. Gaming, in essence, provides you with the opportunity to fulfill childhood thoughts that have had the benefit of having a script, a storyline and sensory enhancement all injected into it so as to not strain your already vegetable like brain. I have always played games, since the days of the legendary Nintendo '64, through the distinct averageness of the the ps1, into reign of the triumphant ps2 and out the other side into the equally impressive years of the xbox 360.
Now and again a game comes along that shakes the four-eyed, virgin world; the Grand Theft Auto series, the Halo series, and most recently the Call Of Duty series. Although it's been going since 2003, its popularity has soared since it's modern edition to the series in 2007. Unlike most games, 'COD' is one of the few that one can get obsessive over playing because of its near faultless online facility. COD is essentially a war game, with scope stretching from WW2 to fictional (perhaps foreseeable) modern warfare. In caveman terms, you go around with guns, shooting other people.
For the un-initiated, online gaming is where you can play the game with people all over the world, provided they have internet, and the game of course. Who ever said gamers didn't have friends! They don't. This online gaming is one way to incite hatred, over nothing. Never in all my life have i heard so many hypothetical things going in to and violating someone else's mum whilst their dad embarks on equally distressing acts. I've seen death threats and racial abuse.
The gaming community is impressive in size. They have their own language, personas and hierarchy; Starting, as everyone must, at the 'Noob' who can only dream of being part of a 'Clan'. Again, for those who may not be familiar with gaming terminology, this will seem like I'm speaking in Hebrew. A 'Noob' is someone who displays incomprehensible ineptitude, one that jeopardizes victory or just deserves highlighting and segregating. It's the lowest of the low. A 'Clan' is a collection of players who have earned respect enough to enter an official team, of course, Clans vary in both size and skill, they all, however, are gimps.
I have spent around a fortnight of my life on the COD series alone, counting only online play . A fortnight doing the same mind-numbing thing over and over. Even if you're playing like you're using your feet, you find your self dying over and over like some poorly funded, modern take on the Somme, you persist, for hours, but you find yourself slowly winding up with rage until you want to just hammer your testicles to the desk out of frustration. (I don't even want to begin thinking about how long, in total, i have spent playing games or why i have done so, I'd just cry, a lot.)
Despite having the ability to foster such rage, create hatred towards someone you have never met and will never meet and to ruin a persons social standing if widely known about, i genuinely believe gaming has worth. It allows the venting of taboo feelings, feelings of violence. A lot of reports and studies show violent games leading to the expression of violent behaviour, especially amongst children, i think it's the opposite. Whilst perhaps not healthy for the pacifist within children, if an adult can exhibit a behaviour that's not socially acceptable in actual life, even if it's within the gaming realm, it allows relief of this desire, it allows the feeling to be played out. After all, games are certainly moving towards the teaching of morals, violence is not being glamorised but instead discouraged.
Gaming is something to be ashamed about, there is no question. The way to get around this is to keep your gaming presence completely separate from your social life. Keep it hidden from people that might judge you but never forget it. Others will play, they just need to be discovered, you just need to locate and overturn their rock. It's a complex game of knowing your target audience, of sussing people out. Once initiated, a gaming chat will last, covering the days of the N64 up to the most recent of games and you will discover something about every game on the way. If you value peoples perceptions of you, the trick is to be discreet... why not write a blog on it?
Now and again a game comes along that shakes the four-eyed, virgin world; the Grand Theft Auto series, the Halo series, and most recently the Call Of Duty series. Although it's been going since 2003, its popularity has soared since it's modern edition to the series in 2007. Unlike most games, 'COD' is one of the few that one can get obsessive over playing because of its near faultless online facility. COD is essentially a war game, with scope stretching from WW2 to fictional (perhaps foreseeable) modern warfare. In caveman terms, you go around with guns, shooting other people.
For the un-initiated, online gaming is where you can play the game with people all over the world, provided they have internet, and the game of course. Who ever said gamers didn't have friends! They don't. This online gaming is one way to incite hatred, over nothing. Never in all my life have i heard so many hypothetical things going in to and violating someone else's mum whilst their dad embarks on equally distressing acts. I've seen death threats and racial abuse.
The gaming community is impressive in size. They have their own language, personas and hierarchy; Starting, as everyone must, at the 'Noob' who can only dream of being part of a 'Clan'. Again, for those who may not be familiar with gaming terminology, this will seem like I'm speaking in Hebrew. A 'Noob' is someone who displays incomprehensible ineptitude, one that jeopardizes victory or just deserves highlighting and segregating. It's the lowest of the low. A 'Clan' is a collection of players who have earned respect enough to enter an official team, of course, Clans vary in both size and skill, they all, however, are gimps.
I have spent around a fortnight of my life on the COD series alone, counting only online play . A fortnight doing the same mind-numbing thing over and over. Even if you're playing like you're using your feet, you find your self dying over and over like some poorly funded, modern take on the Somme, you persist, for hours, but you find yourself slowly winding up with rage until you want to just hammer your testicles to the desk out of frustration. (I don't even want to begin thinking about how long, in total, i have spent playing games or why i have done so, I'd just cry, a lot.)
Despite having the ability to foster such rage, create hatred towards someone you have never met and will never meet and to ruin a persons social standing if widely known about, i genuinely believe gaming has worth. It allows the venting of taboo feelings, feelings of violence. A lot of reports and studies show violent games leading to the expression of violent behaviour, especially amongst children, i think it's the opposite. Whilst perhaps not healthy for the pacifist within children, if an adult can exhibit a behaviour that's not socially acceptable in actual life, even if it's within the gaming realm, it allows relief of this desire, it allows the feeling to be played out. After all, games are certainly moving towards the teaching of morals, violence is not being glamorised but instead discouraged.
Gaming is something to be ashamed about, there is no question. The way to get around this is to keep your gaming presence completely separate from your social life. Keep it hidden from people that might judge you but never forget it. Others will play, they just need to be discovered, you just need to locate and overturn their rock. It's a complex game of knowing your target audience, of sussing people out. Once initiated, a gaming chat will last, covering the days of the N64 up to the most recent of games and you will discover something about every game on the way. If you value peoples perceptions of you, the trick is to be discreet... why not write a blog on it?
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