To Game Or Not To Game
(Handheld Empire, n.d.)
My first foray into the world of gaming was a handheld game, in the style of Game & Watch, where you were one of the dwarfs out to save Snow White from the evil Queen. Between my siblings and I, we had a couple of these games and remember them fondly. There are a couple of others that I played throughout the years, Mario Bros., of course, Mario Bros., what self-respecting kid of the 80s didn’t play Mario Bros at one time or another. The other game I loved to play, Crash Bandicoot. Crash was released at a time when I wasn’t quite an adult and I wasn’t quite a kid anymore either. I was living out of home in a share house and games were something we used to pass the time. Internet gaming is not something I’ve ever really known about. By the time we had an internet speed you could use for gaming - oh God, who remembers that awful dial-up sound - I no longer had time for games.
(Giphy, n.d.)
Having not been a part of the online gaming world, I’d never really understood how people could sit and play games for hours. I think this is one of the biggest things I have learnt this term (thanks Mellie and Tam), it’s not just about the game. Yes, there is a game to be played but it’s so much more than that. For some, it gives them a sense of belonging when they don’t belong in their physical environment (Ducheneaut, Yee, Nickell, Moore, 2006). The social structure and communities that are created become real, as do the friends, in every sense of the word, even though you may never have met in the physical world. Here, people find like minded people with similar interests. They can share ideas like how they can create their amazing cosplay outfits for the next Comic Con, share tips and tricks around conquering an enemy and even develop team work and management style problem solving and conflict resolution skills (Griffiths, M, Hussain, Z, Grusser, S, Thalemann, R, Cole, H, Davies, M, Chappel, D 2011).
(Bioshock Cosplay, n.d)
So, next time you meet someone that says they’re a gamer, don’t immediately think they are some awkward loner stereotypes have lead you to believe, they put their pants on one leg at a time, just like you and me.
Bioshock Cosplay [image], viewed 30 January, <https://au.pinterest.com/pin/400961173046825453/>.
Ducheneaut, N., Yee, N., Nickell, E., and Moore, R.J. (2006). "Alone Together? Exploring the Social Dynamics of Massively Multiplayer Games." Proceedings of CHI 2006, pp.407-416
Giphy (n.d.), Crash bandioot animated GIF, viewed 2 February, <http://giphy.com/gifs/crash-bandicoot-XBtt4III8mnKM>
Griffiths, M, Hussain, Z, Grusser, S, Thalemann, R, Cole, H, Davies, M, Chappel, D (2011), Social Interactions in Online Gaming, International Journal of Game-Based Learning, 1(4), 20-36, October-December
Handheld Empire (n.d.), Snow White [image], viewed 30 January, <http://handheldempire.com/game.jsp?game=2406>.