Gamers aren't all bad
VERONICA CARR STAFF
OK, so by admitting this, I’m sure I’ll be placed into some nerd-like category but it’s true — I am a gamer and it’s about time I start standing up for my fellow gamers more than just occasional wearing of my Mario T-shirt to class.
More casual than hardcore, I usually get an urge to play my Xbox upon crawling into bed. I hop into cozy blankets and envelope my body with pillows . . . then it starts calling me with its ever-so-sweet voice. I try to ignore it but the voice grows louder and the moans it wails tell me I’m not the only one yearning for a good time.
Usually I can remain pretty focused on the idea of sleep but every once in a while I just have to give in to the seduction of my Xbox. Frequently once I give in to its persuasion I end up romancing the damn thing till the sun breaks out or until I literally pass out in the middle of a loading screen because my eyelids have grown too heavy.
Surely if you relate to the situation you’re probably a gamer, or at least your little brother or boyfriend is. One thing I’d like to clear up right now however is the bad rap gamers seem to get. Not all of us are greasy adolescent males who have never spoken to a girl save Cortana or Princess Peach, or 40- year-old, perverted men who still live in their parents’ basement. Some of us are actually university students with above-average GPAs and social skills.
The stigma wrapped around the gamer is very deceiving and often leads to very negative stereotypes that just can’t seem to be shaken. The thing is we don’t have a disease, and we aren’t ill or unwell in any way — we are merely appreciating the next level of gaming.
Find me a person who has never played a board game and I’ll show you a person who has lived under a rock since birth. Technology has led us from tiny plastic Monopoly houses to realistic interactive videos for entertainment and as gamers we just went along for the ride.
Gamers play the game for the game — for the pure fun of it. It’s not always about the next big supercomputer. Maybe I’m too much of an old-school gamer to really understand the essence of an untouched, virgin console (although when I pulled out my instrument for Guitar Hero I almost shed a little tear) but for me it’s about getting wrapped up in an adventure. Like how a book has the power to draw you in or a movie grasps your attention for a few hours. The only difference is the story in a game forces you to interact to continue the plot. It wants you to write the ending and it gives you the chance to be the hero.
Now I don’t expect to change all of your minds with my rant, but a good friend of mine always says to take things in baby steps, so perhaps I might just open one of your eyes . . . and that will be good enough for me. Just remember — be open-minded to gamers.
As for me, I’m going to be removing my console from my bedroom so I can stop the nightly temptation.
