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I sit here at my computer and write about a question that has been bugging me for many, many years, through many, many games. Whether I'm committing "l33t 0wnage on j00" or simply reaching the next Limit Break, the question always sits at the back of my mind as pest that will not go away. My question is this: why do I play games? What is the point? Why spend £45 on a game that gives me a few cheap frills here and there when it could go to a worthwhile cause, such as towards my future. Why are we compulsive in our approach when we've already experienced this before, in one form or another? Why do we throw away hundreds of pounds a year feeding a habit that may no longer be of interest in 5 or 10 years. I am going to try and unravel the universal answer to the universal question: why?
To cover two subjects at once, it would be safe to say that as human beings, we are born competitive, as if someone, somewhere, had ordained for us to be this way, with males moreso than women a majority of the time. This applies for gaming also, in the sense that players are competitive and that more men play games than women. But where is the competition in single player games? That's where he multiplayer aspect comes in, where people like to prove that they are the very best - better than their friends, better than their family, better than the n00b half-way across the world in Austrailia. It's a fact that there is pleasure to proving your superiority to your fellow man. This is proving that in a way, games are keep us psychologically secure, in that we don't damage our fragile psyche and maintain a fair ammount of self confidence.
Secondly, gaming is an escape. It's an escape from the wear and tear and hard work of everyday life and people like to escape so that they can have time away from their "normal" life. Even if for just a second, just a frag, it is a type of getting away. Also, people can get rid of any marital, personal or financial problems that they may have and instead substitute it for a life where every second counts, you have to be on your toes and your heart skips a beat constantly. For that short time of play, we are free from stress and able to get into an engrossing experience. In this context, gaming is almost like a drug. In the same way that people take cannabis to numb the pain, or mushrooms to feel happy, gaming helps numb the pain by taking your mind off of your problems and you are happy, either by clearing an area of the gamine or beating your friends by 35 frags.
Think about this - why do people support football teams? When Liverpool wins, why do their fans cheer? Supporters have no active part in the game and their only task is to ensure that players can rake in 50k a week. And something I find personally irritating, when people talk about football matches, they talk about the team they support as if they're in the team with "We did well today" or "We got hashed yesterday". I think that this may be a way for people to harbour their lost emotion into something productive, in this case, supporting their team, cheering for their team etc. In other words, they're not football players - they lead a boring life, but why let that stop supporting our favourite players? So they cheer and support teams to feel the empty slot of excitement in their life. This is how I think games will take over football, in that football is not available 24/7 for the cheap thrill here and there, where games are and they allow the feel good factor 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 52 weeks a year.
Feel free to reply with your opinions.
Muddatrucker
To cover two subjects at once, it would be safe to say that as human beings, we are born competitive, as if someone, somewhere, had ordained for us to be this way, with males moreso than women a majority of the time. This applies for gaming also, in the sense that players are competitive and that more men play games than women. But where is the competition in single player games? That's where he multiplayer aspect comes in, where people like to prove that they are the very best - better than their friends, better than their family, better than the n00b half-way across the world in Austrailia. It's a fact that there is pleasure to proving your superiority to your fellow man. This is proving that in a way, games are keep us psychologically secure, in that we don't damage our fragile psyche and maintain a fair ammount of self confidence.
Secondly, gaming is an escape. It's an escape from the wear and tear and hard work of everyday life and people like to escape so that they can have time away from their "normal" life. Even if for just a second, just a frag, it is a type of getting away. Also, people can get rid of any marital, personal or financial problems that they may have and instead substitute it for a life where every second counts, you have to be on your toes and your heart skips a beat constantly. For that short time of play, we are free from stress and able to get into an engrossing experience. In this context, gaming is almost like a drug. In the same way that people take cannabis to numb the pain, or mushrooms to feel happy, gaming helps numb the pain by taking your mind off of your problems and you are happy, either by clearing an area of the gamine or beating your friends by 35 frags.
Think about this - why do people support football teams? When Liverpool wins, why do their fans cheer? Supporters have no active part in the game and their only task is to ensure that players can rake in 50k a week. And something I find personally irritating, when people talk about football matches, they talk about the team they support as if they're in the team with "We did well today" or "We got hashed yesterday". I think that this may be a way for people to harbour their lost emotion into something productive, in this case, supporting their team, cheering for their team etc. In other words, they're not football players - they lead a boring life, but why let that stop supporting our favourite players? So they cheer and support teams to feel the empty slot of excitement in their life. This is how I think games will take over football, in that football is not available 24/7 for the cheap thrill here and there, where games are and they allow the feel good factor 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 52 weeks a year.
Feel free to reply with your opinions.
Muddatrucker
I sit here at my computer and write about a question that has been bugging me for many, many years, through many, many games. Whether I'm committing "l33t 0wnage on j00" or simply reaching the next Limit Break, the question always sits at the back of my mind as pest that will not go away. My question is this: why do I play games? What is the point? Why spend £45 on a game that gives me a few cheap frills here and there when it could go to a worthwhile cause, such as towards my future. Why are we compulsive in our approach when we've already experienced this before, in one form or another? Why do we throw away hundreds of pounds a year feeding a habit that may no longer be of interest in 5 or 10 years. I am going to try and unravel the universal answer to the universal question: why?
To cover two subjects at once, it would be safe to say that as human beings, we are born competitive, as if someone, somewhere, had ordained for us to be this way, with males moreso than women a majority of the time. This applies for gaming also, in the sense that players are competitive and that more men play games than women. But where is the competition in single player games? That's where he multiplayer aspect comes in, where people like to prove that they are the very best - better than their friends, better than their family, better than the n00b half-way across the world in Austrailia. It's a fact that there is pleasure to proving your superiority to your fellow man. This is proving that in a way, games are keep us psychologically secure, in that we don't damage our fragile psyche and maintain a fair ammount of self confidence.
Secondly, gaming is an escape. It's an escape from the wear and tear and hard work of everyday life and people like to escape so that they can have time away from their "normal" life. Even if for just a second, just a frag, it is a type of getting away. Also, people can get rid of any marital, personal or financial problems that they may have and instead substitute it for a life where every second counts, you have to be on your toes and your heart skips a beat constantly. For that short time of play, we are free from stress and able to get into an engrossing experience. In this context, gaming is almost like a drug. In the same way that people take cannabis to numb the pain, or mushrooms to feel happy, gaming helps numb the pain by taking your mind off of your problems and you are happy, either by clearing an area of the gamine or beating your friends by 35 frags.
Think about this - why do people support football teams? When Liverpool wins, why do their fans cheer? Supporters have no active part in the game and their only task is to ensure that players can rake in 50k a week. And something I find personally irritating, when people talk about football matches, they talk about the team they support as if they're in the team with "We did well today" or "We got hashed yesterday". I think that this may be a way for people to harbour their lost emotion into something productive, in this case, supporting their team, cheering for their team etc. In other words, they're not football players - they lead a boring life, but why let that stop supporting our favourite players? So they cheer and support teams to feel the empty slot of excitement in their life. This is how I think games will take over football, in that football is not available 24/7 for the cheap thrill here and there, where games are and they allow the feel good factor 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 52 weeks a year.
Feel free to reply with your opinions.
Muddatrucker
To cover two subjects at once, it would be safe to say that as human beings, we are born competitive, as if someone, somewhere, had ordained for us to be this way, with males moreso than women a majority of the time. This applies for gaming also, in the sense that players are competitive and that more men play games than women. But where is the competition in single player games? That's where he multiplayer aspect comes in, where people like to prove that they are the very best - better than their friends, better than their family, better than the n00b half-way across the world in Austrailia. It's a fact that there is pleasure to proving your superiority to your fellow man. This is proving that in a way, games are keep us psychologically secure, in that we don't damage our fragile psyche and maintain a fair ammount of self confidence.
Secondly, gaming is an escape. It's an escape from the wear and tear and hard work of everyday life and people like to escape so that they can have time away from their "normal" life. Even if for just a second, just a frag, it is a type of getting away. Also, people can get rid of any marital, personal or financial problems that they may have and instead substitute it for a life where every second counts, you have to be on your toes and your heart skips a beat constantly. For that short time of play, we are free from stress and able to get into an engrossing experience. In this context, gaming is almost like a drug. In the same way that people take cannabis to numb the pain, or mushrooms to feel happy, gaming helps numb the pain by taking your mind off of your problems and you are happy, either by clearing an area of the gamine or beating your friends by 35 frags.
Think about this - why do people support football teams? When Liverpool wins, why do their fans cheer? Supporters have no active part in the game and their only task is to ensure that players can rake in 50k a week. And something I find personally irritating, when people talk about football matches, they talk about the team they support as if they're in the team with "We did well today" or "We got hashed yesterday". I think that this may be a way for people to harbour their lost emotion into something productive, in this case, supporting their team, cheering for their team etc. In other words, they're not football players - they lead a boring life, but why let that stop supporting our favourite players? So they cheer and support teams to feel the empty slot of excitement in their life. This is how I think games will take over football, in that football is not available 24/7 for the cheap thrill here and there, where games are and they allow the feel good factor 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 52 weeks a year.
Feel free to reply with your opinions.
Muddatrucker
simple answer you play games for entertainment and a release from the complete and utter drag which is life without digital television
Too true. Terrestrial TV sucks ace :)