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Video
Games: Past, Present, and Future
20
years ago playing games was only for, “nerds” or
“geeks”. But in time, it has drastically changed.
It became a past time, and for some a hobby, but still it’s
changing, no longer is it a spare-time waster, it’s evolved
into a culture. A culture where everyone is able to be the
hero, an alien, or simulate life as we know it. From “Pong”
to “Medal of Honor: Allied Assault” not only
have the names gotten bigger but the fan base as well. From
60-year-old men to 3-year-old kids games have taken a cruel
world and gave a person their own utopia. But the question
I pose for you is have games lost the qualities that make
them great?
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For
example, “Grand Theft Auto 3”, I’ll
start with the good points, its definitely keeps you playing,
and lets you do things not “allowed” in normal society.
It also offers a decent storyline, with good game play. Now
for the bad, the decent story line tends to fade away quickly
when you find yourself getting into trouble. Maybe I’m
wrong but what happened to the puzzles, storylines that took
you away from earth and beyond. Maybe this is the future of
gaming, maybe I am stuck in the past, but I believe if games
lose qualities like, storylines, game play, and overall uniqueness
people who have found a safe haven in games will notice how
much its like the hell they might be trying to escape from.
What will happen to the future of many?
Don’t
get me wrong though, I love GTA3 for being unique breaking
the “rules” society puts on us, but lets not just
go a head and make a million copycat games. Back when video
games started they weren’t intended just for fun, we’re
supposed to learn life lessons from them like problem solving,
and even improve our coordination and reactions. They weren’t
intended to show you how to pick up five hookers in one night.
What
life lesson can be learned from that?
Which
brings up my next point, violence in video games. A subject
debated everywhere you go. Some say it affects us all; we
become more violent and do more acts of sin. But in my honest
opinion violence helps us. For instance if I had a strange
fetish to see someone’s head blowing up into a million
pieces I can just play a game and see all the gore I want,
therefore fulfilling my awkward wish. But I do believe if
little kids can’t distinguish between right and wrong
they should not be allowed to play, because once they get
exposed to seeing how much fun it could be to do something
wrong they won’t know not to do it. On the flipside of
that, if a child doesn’t know its wrong to do that will
it make it fun? Because the fun comes from going against society,
and if a child doesn’t know what society says is wrong
will it be stupid to them?
Love,
fear, violence, compassion, anger, just some of the qualities
that make humans, humans, if we neglect one, such as violence,
then it will build up inside us since we don’t have an
outlet to express it. I know that when I get mad, usually
the first person that disagrees with me I end up in a fight
with, but if I’m mad I play a game where I can kill a
bunch of people without hurting a live person or thing. So,
why not have violence in video games?
A true gamer, is one who gives all game a chance, most of
the time playing without cheating, and not being bias to a
certain company or system. They also tend to have an addiction
that make them play nonstop, when not at work or in school
games are their life. Thus why most gamers are “social
outcasts”, looked upon as “bums” or “losers”.
Maybe its because the antagonist is jealous they aren’t
as passionate to something like we are, so if some thing like
this is happening to you it's ok, your not alone no matter
how much you think you are. I know this cause I have felt
like an outcast for a long time, in school I wasn’t part
of the “in” crowd, just because I had a passion
to something that no one could relate to. That’s all
I would ever talk about, and if you feel this way don’t
worry, the Internet has given us what we always needed, a
way to communicate with other gamers. What if there was no
online? Would games go on? Would all the stories of games
be told?
Clans,
when you hear that you might think of the KKK or you might
even think of gangs, violence, murder, or a number of things.
The new generation gamer hears that and knows exactly what
it means. A second family, to some a first, a team, a group
of close people, which the word friends can’t describe.
Online gaming has taken those social outcasts and giving them
a community, where people don’t look down on you for
playing games, but play games themselves. Clans are made by
someone who wants to be with people while he/she plays, they
play together, just like teams in a sport, they play other
clans, and occasionally there will be a playoff type tournament.
Some have sponsors, some have money, and some even sell shirts
advertising themselves. But no matter how big or small the
main point of them is being social while doing the thing that
drives you.
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Consider
online gaming as another society, where the rulers are the
ones that can beat you in a game, and the only outcasts are
the ones that aren’t online. Clans are another potential
quality that games could take in the future. Instead of just
a death match, you can play in a cooperative mode, like in
AvP2. With the N-Gen (Next Generation) systems going online,
everything will change, are you sure we’re ready?
That’s still undecided, at E3 2002, (Electronic Entertainment
Expo) in California, USA, the company Nintendo seemed to work
the big named titles while Microsoft and Sony are heading
online, but what about those poor souls still using dial-up
to access the Internet, are we to leave them in the dark?
Will game lose single player qualities to make room for multi-player?
Will there be a game where you need two people to play? Why?
All of these questions can only be answered over time, and
only one thing is for sure. You’re going to be questioning
things a lot more after reading this….
By AuthorX
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