I really should know more about games.

Hello,

My name is Michael, and I first want to apologise, as this is the first ever blog entry that I have written. I have never seen the appeal of having my own blog. Having said this, I will try to make this as readable as I can and try to stay on topic.

I work part time at JB Hi Fi, and it seems that I should know more about games than I do, which is next to nothing. I can show you where they are on the shelf and order a copy of something in for a customer, but my expertise stops about there. Until taking this course, I had a childhood of playing games like solitaire, tetris, lemmings and spin doctor challenge. At about the age of 8 or 9, I pretty much just stopped playing video games all together. When all of the other children had play stations, I had no interest in them at all.

While I was at work today and I was dreading writing something on this blog, I killed some time quizzing the people that work in the games section of the shop. In about half an hour, I learned so much. Not only had my perception of games been broadened from the image of a gamer being the modern equivalent of the sort of people that used to play dungeons and dragons in the '70s and own a 20 sided dice, but I began to learn about the scale that games have grown to. In my surprising insulation from such a technological world, I had somehow missed how big a phenomenon playing games is. I was told about a game that I wish I could remember the name of, which apparently has hundreds of thousands of players all online who are all a part of the same seemingly infinite digital, internet based world. One person at work said that he had been playing the this game for about four years and all of that time, he has been building up the same character and building up his standing in the online world.

Having always seen playing games as a solo activity or maybe something played with two or three people, this came as a bit of a shock. But the thing that really interested me was that people from around the world, who had probably never met before, will meet up online and team together in this virtual world which seemingly has become just as real as the world that they are actually living in. I understand that people who have bothered to read this far will be thinking that these things should not surprise me and that they are relatively common knowledge, and I therefore apologise for my lack of gaming knowledge.

As an outsider to the world of games, I have become fascinated with games and the sheer scale of the games community has somewhat surprised me. Of course I was aware of such a community, but I had never had much to do with it personally. One thing from the lecture that really struck a cord with me is the fact that the games industry is now more lucrative than the film industry. It therefore amazes me that games are seen so negatively and are kept quiet to a certain extent. By this, I mean that everybody is regularly effected by the film industry and it plays a part in the day to day lives of everybody. This contrasts starkly with the games industry, as people like me know so little about it. I am sure that my past disinterest in games is to blame somewhat, but I still feel like games are almost kept quiet and a bit of a secret to some extent. Perhaps it is the way in which the media is consumed in the privacy of a home, whereas movies are available both within the home and in public. An example of what I mean is that you will see plenty of advertisements for films all over town, but it is far less common to see an advertisement for a game. I see this as just a representation of how private and understated the games industry can be, compared to the film industry.

I look forward to learning more about games and hopefully remedying my sad lack of knowledge about a topic that seems so socially relevant and important to so many people.