Game definition
1. an amusement or pastime: children’s games.
2. a competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators.
I love to play video games. I have spent many, many late hours rolling about the streets of Saints Row, leaping to my death in Crackdown and (more recently) Halo 3. I love gaming and love even more to play co-op games with friends. I will play pretty much anything co-op.
If you see me on Xbox Live please feel free to drop me an invite or a friends request. However, my gaming is rather limited at the moment as my Xbox 360 has decided to only read certain games because of an issue with the CD-ROM drive. Which will be replaced my Microsoft.
Assuming the people in the Loudest Call Center Ever ™ can understand my perfectly clear English, ship a box to the correct location. So far, this has proved impossible. But enough of that, what I want to talk about are video games. And my love for them.
I love to game. I’ve played many hours of Perfect Dark Zero with my friend Scott and Beautiful Katamari with my roommate Megan. There was even a time (before my Xbox stopped recognizing Saints Row) that I was playing nearly daily with a group of 4-5 people for hours at a time. I had never had so much fun gaming as I did when I knew all of my teammates well enough to play together and succeed.
I’ve been playing a lot of Halo 3 lately and there’s something I need to say. I suck at First Person Shooters.
I do. I am terrible at them. My reflexes aren’t quick enough. My aim is not true enough. I can get some shots in but I usually get killed first. This does not ruin my enjoyment of them. I have a ton of fun playing, especially on a team or co-operatively through the campaigns (in the case of everything except Saints Row which NEEDS a co-op campaign!)
There are some games I do take seriously, especially when it’s a ranked match and I’m playing on a team of people I know and we’re trying hard to win. Though most of the time when I’m gaming. I’m having fun. It is a game after all. I do not get all bent out of shape if I lose. I do not scream at my teammates if they do something I don’t like. I am not a bad sport.
I do laugh a lot though. I love to game and even if I am getting royally owned by every single person on the opposing side, I’m still laughing. Perhaps that makes me a maniacal freak but I love to have fun!
People take gaming way too seriously. It’s not about winning and losing or how big a virtual dick you have. It’s about fun. Granted, like I said, there are times for competition and while I am very competitive sometimes. But even then, I have a ton of fun and love to play.
Gaming is not the end all and be all of the world. It’s not that serious. If you lose a couple matches or one of your teammates drop out or seemingly walk away from their controller mid-match the world still goes on.
Gaming is not cancer. Gaming is not AIDS. Gaming is not life threatening.
Gaming is fun. Can we all please try to remember that and take it all a little more light-heartedly? Gaming is fun.
Not serious business.
All images screenshot by the author, white mage cat photo taken by Megan.