Why game?

Someone once asked me the question of why do I still play video games. It wasn’t “why do you play games”, but instead why still. It irked me, and still does. I’m out of college, usually act like a responsible adult during normal business hours, and yet I felt like since I’m not longer 12 I should have grown out of it. The issue with this person’s full thought process is that they think the hobby is somehow inferior to other ones, and contributes to nothing to personal development. I disagree with the last part of that sentence, but we we will get to that later. I feel that hobbies don’t need to be defined and judged as long as they aren’t illegal. What you do with your free time is supposed to be something personal, something you connect to, and a talking point with others in your social circle that enjoy doing the same activities. Most importantly, AS LONG AS YOU ENJOY IT THEN KUDOS TO YOU. Who cares if people of a different age group also enjoy it?

Gaming as a whole has had a negative stigma attached to it for over two decades. This is evident by people still associating the word “gamer” to an irresponsible and procrastinating slacker whose only desire is to yell profanities at other slackers on Xbox Live. This is mainly the fault of the industry that creates the games themselves, and while I don’t disagree that a large majority of the audience that plays Call of Duty and other popular shooter series can fall into this stereotype, it’s also unfair to say that they are the representative for the rest of us. The fact that “gamer” is a recognized term is also telling; you don’t hear others categorizing their friends as “readers”, “movie goers”, or “shoppers”. I’ve never heard someone speak the phrase “He’s one of those readers, isn’t he?”

This problem is not entirely the government’s or media’s fault, though. It’s still a new medium when compared against the long life that other hobbies have already enjoyed, so it still needs to be accepted… and I think it has been. It is a multi-billion dollar industry, so I imagine that makes some waves. How can it be so bad if it is enjoyed by such a large and diverse audience?

Beep. Boop.

This stigma also affects the ones of us that try to break away from it. I sometimes feel embarrassed when people find out I play video games, but only because I know they will most likely judge me for doing it. I think they are wrong for changing their opinion of me because my version of escapism is different than theirs, but I don’t feel like I can control it because it’s not one individual that needs to be educated. Society as a whole has cast the past time differently in their minds because how it has been portrayed in the media and the advertising machine as a whole. They don’t know that there are dozens of other game genres in the industry that make millions of dollars in revenue a year, and a lot of them take immense levels of skill, knowledge, and time to truly master. There are real life plane simulators, tactical war games, military shooters, and pinpoint precision action games that get swept under the rug because they are not part of a widespread advertising campaign. None of them are “pick up and play” because they take hours of study and trial-and-error to master sometimes even the most basic of concepts. Do you think these games are also played by the ones that are insulting each others’ mothers over a wireless headset? I’d bet on the answer.

I play video games. I’m happy to admit it. It has been one of my hobbies for as long as I have enjoyed
reading books, watching sports, and going to movies. It’s part of me, but it’s not all of me. I will fully
admit that I play video games more than other people of my age group, but I also guarantee you that
I read more books as well. The fact that I would be judged negatively for the former, but praised for the latter is stupid. And something that I will have to just deal with because I’m not changing what I do
when I’m bored and by myself until I no longer enjoy doing it. There’s no time table for this hobby, and
it’s not like I have to turn in my membership at a certain birthday. As long as it doesn’t affect my existing relationships, or put me in financial ruin, I’m going to continue saving the world from the undead horde that threatens our virtual streets.

One day when The Uprising begins, you’ll thank me.