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"Why do we play games?"

Why do we play games?

Yesterday I picked up the wavebird, switched Metroid Prime on and shot a space pirate. Wow. I achieved breaking the poor suckers neck even though i had no personal vendetta against him. Then i realised. Games are pretty pointless. What is the point of wasting precious hours of your only life blasting meanies. It costs you £40 + electricity to play and you get nothing at the end except a bit of money back when you trade it in for another game. The same could also be said of watching Tv.

Please post your thoughts.

DébUK wrote:
> But whyyyyyyyyyyyyy are they fun?
what is fun?
ha, got you there cotlo

can anyone listening look at my review of starfox adventures.
i released all my ' crazy' energy at that point

on behalf of hyhy i would like to appologise to the following celebrity(s)

talking pie
redred

no, we are all cyborgs in a giant washing machine and you have shown your weakness. prepare to be assimilated.

But whyyyyyyyyyyyyy are they fun?

I play games becuase they're fun.
Does no one else?

I also suppose that it gives us mere mortals the chance to do something completely off the wall that would probably be impossible in real life

i can see your point. i've just given metroid another shot and have found an artifact. Then for some strange reason i wanted to find the next one. I suppose action and multiplayer games go on our most basic instinct- survival. And i also admit that if i didn't waste my time playing games i'd waste it some other way

Well, I don't play games on consoles. My brother plays on them quite a lot though. There are many possible explanations for the reasons behind playing games.

If you looked at it from a behaviourist perspective, you could explain gaming in terms of the reinforcement it provides. You play on a game, you pass certain levels and you gain reinforcement and the behaviour is repeated again. It is like gambling in a way!

Or, you could explain it from a biological point of view. Playing on a game is exciting, it releases adrenaline into the system which increases the levels of dopamine ('happy hormone') in the brain. Gaming is a means of escapism- for many of us it replaces the thrill of the chase when hunting. We don't hunt any more for our food, so perhaps we have evolved to seek replacement for that excitement in computer games (especially action based games.)

It is interesting to hear why people play games (especially for someone like me, who is not a big fan of gaming in general.) I have been playing Pokemon Crystal, though (yes, I am THAT sad!) and it is fun to experience the sense of achievement when you are doing well.

I like the escapism. Gaming tears me away into another world where I'm not reading game reviews, searching for game screenshots, writing about gaming, seeking opinions on gaming and feeding the cat.