Author: Brett Fujioka
Video games. They seem to be the activity of choice at college aside from intercourse, smoking, and drinking. Girlfriends are constantly vexed as to why their boyfriends would rather help Master Chief save the universe than watch them undress. Parents are as perplexed by the new gaming generation as they are by the goth and emo fads. Time and again, non-gamers constantly ask the question, “What’s so great about video games?” Gamers understand perfectly well why they’re so addicting, but have a difficult time defending them.
Why are video games so exciting? For one, unlike books and movies, they’re interactive. With the power of a controller in your hand, you can actually be Spider-Man. It’s easy to swing through the streets of Manhattan, fly through the skyscrapers of Metropolis and defend Gotham City. Instead of spending thousands of dollars on a Ferrari, you can simulate the experience in the next racing game. If you can’t even bench 45 lbs. in real life, in-game you can tackle a 240 lbs. tight end with ease. As sad as it may sound, video games enable you to do things that you otherwise couldn’t.
What’s more, gaming isn’t as gender exclusive an activity as it used to be. There are plenty of female gamers out there nowadays, many of whom indulge in fantasy or anime genres. One of my friends claims to have hooked up with several female gamers on World of Warcraft. There’s even an all-girl Swedish Gaming Team consisting of women who don’t look like orcs.
The story lines in video games are also becoming better written. Games like Metal Gear Solid and the Final Fantasy series have plots on par with Hollywood movies. Not to mentioned that the video game industry is now a higher grossing industry than Hollywood in recent years. With the introduction of reputable voice actors in games like Kingdom Hearts, games have become blockbuster substitutions for films.
Furthermore, while films don’t allow you to personally assume the role of hero or interact with the other characters, video games do. While ticket sales at theaters are going down, video game sales are steadily escalating. Average people, not just geeks, are excited about the upcoming Metal Gear, Final Fantasy and Smash Bros. games.
One of the considerable disadvantages of playing football, soccer and hockey is the time it takes to set up and play in real life. All it takes to set up a video game is untangling a few cords, plugging in a few sockets, pressing the power button and you’re good to go.
Despite how awesome video games are, there are a lot of reasons to hate them. Not only are they expensive, they are addicting and time consuming. Like Myspace and Facebook, Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) quickly consume the lives of ordinary people and are poor substitutions for a social life. I had a roommate last year who never met any of my friends because he stayed in our room all the time to play World of Warcraft. Gamers have made fake friends and formed cliques or guilds through this god-awful genre. I’ve even heard that there are couples who have met while masquerading online as elves or fairies in the virtual world of Everquest.
The only thing lamer than explaining to your children that you met your significant other through Myspace is saying that you met them on World of Warcraft. People devote days and even months of their lives to improving a character they’ll never master. Some gamers even sell the digital weapons they earn online for thousands of real dollars. When gaming reaches this point, it isn’t fun anymore. It has become a job.
Spending 28 hours to train a level 99 magic elf is about as productive and costly as getting high and skipping classes for an entire day. It’s different when you’re playing a game of NHL with friends because that’s at least sociable (as noted, MMORPGs don’t count as being sociable), but it’s another thing entirely to sit alone for days on end trying to obtain the Ultima Weapon while hiding from the world.
An interest in video games is understandable, but an obsession takes it way too far. Now that I’ve explained why video games are so absorbing, maybe you’ll understand the next time your boyfriend prefers the fate of Middle-earth, Spira or some other geek world over a night in the sack. At the very least you’ll understand the reasoning behind your boyfriend’s argument in the midst of your break-up.
Don’t worry, there are plenty of single guys out there who aren’t completely obsessed with gaming.
Brett Fujioka is a senior ECLS major. He can be reached at bfujioka@oxy.edu.
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