Why do you play games?
Caboose
title = name(self, handle) Join Date: 2003-02-15 Member: 13597Members, Constellation
title = name(self, handle) Join Date: 2003-02-15 Member: 13597Members, Constellation
in Off-Topic
So, I'm working on a report for my Psychology class, and I just finished reading an article from the journal Academic Psychiatry about media violence, specifically in relation to computer/video games. And I became curious after reading this part.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Few researchers have asked children why they play games and what meaning games have for them. While most probably play for fun or sociability, some children seem to use games to vent anger or distract themselves from problems.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Now, we're all gamers to one extent or another here. Why do you play games, and what started you into playing them in the first place?
I'll start.
When I was 3 or 4, my family got its first computer (win 3.1 ftw) And I got hooked on minesweeper. First computer game for me. My mom bought me some educational games (Sesame Street and Duck Tales something or other type games) Then, I got a SNES for Christmas one year, and I played a lot of Mario. I'd get new games on occasion, frequently playing 2 player with my neighbor or my brother and fighting over who got to be player 1. Fast forward to the Release of Age Of Empires, which I played religiously at my local teen center on a LAN with kids from around the area nearly every day for hours. I'd played the occasional FPS, but not many until a friend gave me a spare copy of CS Retail with a CD key, which I tired of quickly. I found NS, played that with a clan eventually competitively until the clan died, trolled these forums until I found WoW (open beta) and have played that since. I still play the odd FPS now and then, but not so much.
All in all, I think my gaming history is a relatively social one. I left out some things, like my Xbox and PS2, but those were more or less the same as my SNES in the ways I played.
Now that you know my brief gaming history, tell me yours.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Few researchers have asked children why they play games and what meaning games have for them. While most probably play for fun or sociability, some children seem to use games to vent anger or distract themselves from problems.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Now, we're all gamers to one extent or another here. Why do you play games, and what started you into playing them in the first place?
I'll start.
When I was 3 or 4, my family got its first computer (win 3.1 ftw) And I got hooked on minesweeper. First computer game for me. My mom bought me some educational games (Sesame Street and Duck Tales something or other type games) Then, I got a SNES for Christmas one year, and I played a lot of Mario. I'd get new games on occasion, frequently playing 2 player with my neighbor or my brother and fighting over who got to be player 1. Fast forward to the Release of Age Of Empires, which I played religiously at my local teen center on a LAN with kids from around the area nearly every day for hours. I'd played the occasional FPS, but not many until a friend gave me a spare copy of CS Retail with a CD key, which I tired of quickly. I found NS, played that with a clan eventually competitively until the clan died, trolled these forums until I found WoW (open beta) and have played that since. I still play the odd FPS now and then, but not so much.
All in all, I think my gaming history is a relatively social one. I left out some things, like my Xbox and PS2, but those were more or less the same as my SNES in the ways I played.
Now that you know my brief gaming history, tell me yours.
Comments
Why do I play? Socialisation. If a game doesn't have multiplayer options, I will probably throw it a pass these days. Being able to hang out with friends and relatives thousands of miles away and be able to chat, compete, and enjoy each other's company is why I game. When I was younger and more anti-social it was a different story, but now I like the comradery. Heck, I even played the mess that was BF2 for months simply because I had a lot of good friends that liked it; the fun of hanging out overwhelmed the craptacular exploits and game balance issues. Powerful stuff!
I play games for 2 reasons. I play single player games for a good story. Even games which are downright terrible, Ill end up cheating through, just to see how the story turns out. I also play for socialism as well in the multiplayer games.
I don't remember my first computer. I remember playing Snake and Gorillas in qbasic. Scorched earth, Space Invaders, Flashback, Commander Keen, Captain Comic, Jill of the Jungle. Nightowl shareware CDs provided an almost unlimited supply of crappy game demos. Raptor: Call of the Shadows. Later I moved on to C&C, Red Alert, Starcraft, Tiberium Sun.
As an aside: WHAT THE HELL?!? MONSE! You're still alive? God... You've gotta be what... eighty five years old by now?
--Scythe--
I used to be much more obsessed with games so I would play games because I had free time (or even if I didn't have free time) because I just loved to play them. Now I play them because I need a break from reality and enjoy doing something that doesn't require so much thinking.
As an aside: WHAT THE HELL?!? MONSE! You're still alive? God... You've gotta be what... eighty five years old by now?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
86, n00bz0r.
In other news: MonsE.
People do other activities to vent anger or distract themselves from problems. Sports, when someone is owning someone else and yelling at them saying they suck, they must be venting anger and distracting themselves from something possibly.
I do not really recall, what age i was, but my guess is that i started at 6-8 ?
After that came Nintendo - mostly Mega Man and Mario; usually I'd play at my cousin's house, since my family didn't even get a NES until like '92. By that time my cousin had a Genesis and I still had an NES (Sonic 2 was played often with my cousin, still one of my favorite games - despite how much Mystic Caves would always annoy me). Then when I was 7 or so my Mom spontaneously bought me a Genesis (some special package with Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing, Sonic 1 (NOT FOR RESALE, JEEZ) and Sonic 2). This I'd usually play, along with my NES, with my friends from school or my cousin (lived in a duplex, my cousins/aunt lived in the other half).
Then my family moved, and barring any sort of friends for a bit I entertained myself with more Sega games, eventually getting a SegaCD (Sonic CD, Jurassic Park and Dungeon Master 2 were very fun...Sewer Shark and Rise of the Dragon just kind of peeved me). If there was a Jurassic Park game or a Sonic game I had it (up until about '96, when the Playstation piqued my interest instead). I still remember buying Triple Play Gold Edition and being annoyed at how similar it was to Triple Play '96...and that's the last Genesis game I bought.
As for computer games, I started out with those similarily with my cousin with an old, old version of Mario...and some Frogger kind of game (and something else with a Chicken). Eventually, around '93 we got our own computer, complete with, ZOMG, 1 MB of RAM! (and 500MB HDD). Me and my sister played SimCity 2000 until our eyes were basically blodshot, <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" /> .I essentially extracted any sort of useful educational information from the games I played - something I tend to still be good at. I remember I'd never heard of FF7, but someone showed me the manual on the bus, and it still looked pretty boring, but one day I decided to rent it anyway, and that was my first experience with RPGs (whenever I'd go to my friend's we'd play Super Mario World/Kirby games/Jurassic Park (taking turns - best game ever) on his SNES (kind of strange, looking back, that he didn't have any RPGs). He'd come to my house to play Sega, I'd go to his to play SNES and it was pretty fun.
Eventually, with the advent of high speed internet, the emphasis changed over from console to PC (Quake 3 on Dreamcast I still recall...56k FPSer on a console - woot)...For about 6 months I was interested in EQ and DAoC, before hearing about HL (actually I stumbled upon a web page for Firearms, a mod that is essentially extinct/evolved now)...and once I got the game (which is an entire story in itself, as it didn't come with a CD key and when I tried to return it the lady accused me of buying it underrage), I downloaded all sorts of mods (or as much 'downloading' as you can do on 56k). Needless to say, many people were peeved at my lag. A bout 6 months after that we got cable internet, and I discovered CS, DoD, NS, Sven Co-op and the excitement of mapping (despite never having released a map).
The only console that has maintained my interest in the last 5 years is the Xbox, with Halo and Xbox connect (Halo brought to me by my cousin of Sonic 2 fame). With the coming of Xbox Live things improved and time became more split between Xbox and PC...until I went to college and the internet connection sucked...at which point my Xbox was a huge paper weight unless a friend came over and wanted to play it. PC LANs were far more fun.
I guess it's far more of a socialization and learning tool for myself (or something to entertain myself) as I am essentially socially inept, lacking an abundance of friends, I just really use games to pass the time, entertain myself, and on a rarer occasion to play with friends. As a vent for violence...well, I think you're better off beating on a punching bag or something. I remember I used to be in fights quite often in middle and high school (as often as 1 every month or 2 or 3...so not that often) which slowly died out as I reached 18. I think my interaction (or negative reception of abuse) was more a reason for anger than video games. Hell, I haven't been in a fight in 5 years...probably be cause people in college aren't ###### bags.
Well, anyway, there'll be a test on this subject matter, 10 questions...make sure you study /\ that book... <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
(A sheet of cookies to whoever reads it, lol)
Of course, I could go into more depth with my PS/Xbox/DC and my discontenting N64/PS2 purchases...but then this post would be about 50x longer and it's already superfluous.
Occasionally if there is enough of a community and the community is competitive enough I can get into a competitive single player records based game like kz climbing. Although you don't directly compete in a tug of war style like the team based games such as NS do, it's still competitive enough to spark some fun and interest. A good example would also be racing games, you don't really compete against anyone but your own skills directly, but you will compare your skills to the other drivers later.
1) FUN!!!!
this is why I play megaman and stuff. It's just for giggles. Admittedly if something offers a challenge I also enjoy the feeling of "yeah! eat that!" afterwards but that's mostly for complex puzzles or awesome boss fights. I guess I also enjoy constructive games too like animal crossing where you sorta build up your own town in many ways.
2) EXPERIENCES
Same reason I read books I guess; while Real-life is nice and all sometimes I want to see another place... preferably one with elves, dragons, laser weapons, floating cities, spaceships, strange new alien worlds, new experiences and danger.
Sometimes it's about the characters, sometimes it's about experiencing new and exciting worlds... just depends on the game :D
3) SOCIALISATION
I love a good multiplayer! Getting a room full of friends and having a gaming party with singstar, guitar hero, marioparty, bomberman and all that is a riot! :3
Also, when it's just one friend around it's also really nice to coop through a game together like gears of war or gunstar heroes.
I love net gaming too but between the different gaming types it's always been playing in the same room that makes me smile the most :3
<b>add-on edit:</b> I guess I should add that I don't play competitively; a game full of people taking things seriously or all about "must win!" is a real turn off. I do like a battle of wits against an equal or better player but it's not the be-all and end all. Regardless of how skilled or unskilled someone is, there's no way I'll waste my time playing with them if they're a jerk.
I first started playing games however, as a kid, because I had no siblings, no one on my cul-de-sac was under 16(I was 4/5/6), and my parents didn't really pay much attention to me. They gave me everything I needed, but socially, I was quite alone. Video games help you forget that, by keeping your mind off of things.
Now, ironically, I play almost exclusively multi player games, if not massively multi player ones that require huge teams.
*Shrug*
Single player I play for story line, eye candy, interesting game mechanics or sheer fun. The last one should be taken as standard, everyone should have fun, but some games don't fit the other criteria, but still end up fun. Take Serious Sam. Story line is an excuse, was pretty many years ago, but not now, game mechanics are simple point and click. It's the fighting through sheer hordes of ludicrous enemies which makes it fun.
Multiplayer, I play to win, and play to get better, so I can win more. The social aspect doesn't come into play, because I'm not a regular on any servers, and I don't play multiplayer games with RL friends.
BUt we have had 286, 386, 486, Pentium1, pentium 3,pentium 4, Atari, commodore, NES, SNES, playstation, gamecube. And even som prehistoric console system but i don't remember the name.
The first game i played.... mmhhh.... *thinks really deep* <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/confused-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="???" border="0" alt="confused-fix.gif" />
I remember Pirates as one of the first commercial PC games i played. But probably not THE first...
<img src="http://www.rotten.com/library/crime/pirates/microprose_pirates.jpg" border="0" alt="IPB Image" />
<img src="http://www.nescenter.de/gamechecks_pirates_screen2.jpg" border="0" alt="IPB Image" />
<a href="http://vetusware.com/download/Pirates!/?id=142" target="_blank">download link</a> (you nead dosBox to get this working. Or buy the new version done by Sid meier.
Back in the days (early 80's) games were often homebrew and i can't even remember the names cause i would buy a 1.44 mb disk with several games. (but still fun!!!)
I also played leisure suit larry, which helped me alot to learn english while being very young. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
And off course, after that alot of PC games, the most common, alot of nintendo.
These days, i only play NS, for about the past 3 years.
I play games cause it's more fun and active then watching TV.
I play online because I like being part of a team. I'm not particularly sociable, but I really like being a team player with other people who play cooperatively and intelligently. It's also kinda neat when you become a regular on a server and people actually welcome you when you join.
Started at around age 6-7 i think when me and my friend both got Sinclair Spectrum 48k and played alot of football manager and various other games we could get our hands on by copying casettes ftw! My favourite games of the Sinclair era were Skate or Die and New Zealand Story.
Then later on i got a Commodore 64k but somehow didnt like it as much. I think i still have it somewhere in my parents storage.
Then for many years i didnt own a computer because i was busy being young and stupid and cool, skateboarding and looking at girls in my early teens. There was not much room for computer things but i did visit friends who had 286 and 386 PC's to play Police Quest, Kings Quest, Lesuire suit Larry and Monkey Island. Also played a little mario on NES at another friends house.
Then at age 12 or so i got into death metal and started playing drums and got into bands and was too cool to own a pc but my best friend who owned a sinclair at the same time as me got a 386 as a present from his parents and we played Wolf 3D alot and played with Tracker music software while drinking beer and smoking in his garage. At the time, Sex and rock and roll was cooler then playing video games. No sense for me to miss out on that <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
Then i started getting into electronic music around 1995 and got me an Atari 1024ST and Cubase. Bought me a few old synths and samplers and made music using midi.
And then forward to 1997 my girlfriend at the time gave me her PC her dad gave her because she didnt know how to use one and didnt want to either. We broke up not much later....lol.
With this newly acquired powerhouse i continued to make wonderful midi music and went on later to discover the internet through a 56k modem. Oh what a wonderful time it was.
Then around year 2000 i taught myself how to upgrade the PC by changing out parts and built a gaming PC because my girlfriends little nephew showed me something called Counterstrike 1.3 and i thought it was cool. My CS time did last until v1.5 and the PC kept getting upgraded and i discovered games like RTCW and a mod called NS.
Since then it's been the same thing really. I've only been playing multiplayer FPS games. NS, CSS, DODS, BF2, CoD2 etc.
So i didnt really turn into a real computer nerd until my 20's <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/confused-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="???" border="0" alt="confused-fix.gif" />
Then it was Game Boy, got addicted to Alleyway, Batman(!), Super Mario Land, RC racing.
Eventually, bugged my dad hard enough to receive SNES (Yup, from Japanese Famicom to American SNES, the beauty of the country not marketed by Nintendo)
Ahh, then it was PENTIUM 133MHZ (OMG! STATE OF THE ART!)... With Civilization, Theme Park, etc.
Upgraded to N64, got SM64 and Waverace. Then my sister friend wanted to play, forgot to use the transformer. My home country 220-Voltage pwned N64's 110V powersupply. The thing was grilled, never bothered to fix it.
Ten years followed with NOTHING. I played Yahoo's games, and SNES's Yoshi's Island. Until I got a new computer for college, got addicted to Team Fortress Classic, Diablo II, and Everquest.
Last January I bought a Nintendo DS, my first game system in a decade.
i like it. theres no other reasons.
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No history, no thought as to why you like gaming over other possible hobbies? How did you get hooked? Do you like the stories of games, do you like to play and socialize with friends at the same time, or just enjoy pwning n00bs?
i do however enjoy the thrill of being in duels and fights which stimulate you to use strategy and timing to overpower your victim. I also play when i am angry to vent out anger, but moreso i play for fun.
being able to communicate is always fun, you know your fighting real people so your more aware the fight will be challenging which incresases your andrenaline whilst in a fight.
its great to meet friends through games also (be careful tho) I met my fiance through ns and it was the fact we both had the same interest for games which brought us close in the first place.
hope this helps
-vent sadism (GTA4, Postal 2, Dungeon Keeper 2)
-crash expensive military equipment and fly helicopters(Battlefield 2)
-enjoy teamplay, fps and rts (Natural Selection <img src="http://img486.imageshack.us/img486/5488/marineig7.gif" border="0" alt="IPB Image" />)
-do something fun together with friends (I dislike going out and bars)
-waste time in a pleasuring way
- <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/asrifle.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="::asrifle::" border="0" alt="asrifle.gif" />
-to be able to save and majorly screw up things and then load
-to give myself a reason to run Windows XP
Also, my roommate's really into competitive gaming, so I play extra-casual to throw it in his face that games aren't all about winning.
No history, no thought as to why you like gaming over other possible hobbies? How did you get hooked? Do you like the stories of games, do you like to play and socialize with friends at the same time, or just enjoy pwning n00bs?
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i wouldnt think at such a depth although i will say a "yes" to all above.
i got hook when i played aoc in zone.com 7 years ago. i enjoyed the interaction between players. socialize with friends and playing games online is quite an efficient way of using time. nice stories are not in my list but it would be nice if i can find them. but after all, even without all these, i play games since i like it. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
but on the other hand, i wonder why people still say that playing games make you lose interacting skills with the real world. at least i still have no difficulty interacting with people in the real world
I skipped the SNES period because I had no idea what it was.
I got the N64 with Mario Kart and boy was it great. I tried other games like Diddy Kong Racing and Perfect Dark and it was good.
Then I got the cube and got really picky on my games. I do like to try original ideas.
I started PC gaming with Age of Empires and soon tried Starcraft. I was hooked. I loved making maps in SC. And SC still continues to be played. Now I play NS, tetris, SC and Hostile Intent.
So why do I play games?
Well, against other people online, it's simply a matter to win. But I like games that require some thought to play, not just mindless aiming and firing. I like NS because there's teamwork, at least on the alien side, but marines is simply repetitive aiming. I love strategy. I play Warcraft III, but not WoW. In fact, card games like Magic are fun as well.
In a singleplayer game, I play for the story. If it's half-assed, "save the world, blah, blah", it's not worth my time.
I hate RPGs. I don't like grinding levels only to hope you get some rare weapon drop. I don't like hack and slash games. I find reflex based games like DDR and CS okay... but it's a matter of speed. What I love is strategy.