At some point, we have to face facts: not everyone is a hardcore gamer. Worse yet, the ratio of people actively playing games to the people who don’t know their thumb from their arse-end is something like 1:1,000.
Yes, chances are your friends aren’t gamers. Chances are your parents aren’t. Chances are your significant other isn’t. So who is, exactly? It probably isn’t the guy at the local Wal*Mart, even if he does work in your Electronics section.
Well, this is the future. You rely on the internet, of course. A fanciful, digital playground where you can hide yourself in a cloak of anonymity, feeling free to curse in Caps Lock about anything you want, any way you want, with little regard for tact or other people’s feelings.
Yes, the internet is a fun place worth exploring. Problems arise, however, if you fancy yourself some sort of socialite. Perhaps maintaining a digital persona isn’t enough for one’s self, and you have to reach out. You can spend all day trying to explain your hobby to your perfect honey, but chances are, she’ll just smile and nod, and from there on your relationship will disintegrate (I’m a pessimist).
From my perspective, I am lucky. I grew up on a street where two of my closest friends shared a similar core interest: gaming. We all share very different personalities, but oddly enough were able to meet a middle ground, shooting one another in split-screen tournaments of Quake 3 on the Sega Dreamcast.
Unfortunately, the days of sharing a street have long past. The commute back and forth is tiresome, and if I wanted to meet over a couple beers and discuss our life-long interests, it isn’t something I can do on a work night – and video chat doesn’t quite capture that face-to-face camaraderie.
Mentioned before in a previous article, were podcasts. I argued that in the absence of real human companionship, people might rely on gaming podcasts for their gaming news and socializing. The friendly format might allow an individual to almost transport themselves into the conversation being had by a table of journalists many hundreds of miles away. It is a mildly depressing theory, but one to take into account nonetheless.
I’m prone to doing extreme things to discuss my passions, as most people would or should. The question I’m posing to you, is this: If gaming is one of your most prominent activities, do you have an adequate outlet to vent about the almost awkward controls of ModNation Racers, or the eerily seducing, ambient sounds of Batman: Arkham Asylum?
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