Happiness is a Warm Controller

[MmmFiber]

I game for the challenge(in some games). The story(just like in movies). The escapism of it all.

The older I get... the more responsibility I get. So, I'm glad that in games the only responsibility I have is to be a badass and enjoy the ride.

I still get gamer-shame sometimes, though. It's not from the people who think games are bad or going to destroy 'the children.' It's from the people who can't possibly fathom why someone who isn't in high school would play video games. Right now, college is a buffer for me. I'm still 'in school.' But, when I graduate and get into a business setting, it'll probably bring a bit more shame. Who cares, though, right? I'm still going to be gaming.

 

[zamble]

I don't get it - people seem to consider 'gaming' as Mario, Sonic, etc, all the kiddy things.

But who's supposed to play the 18+ games?

According to what Australian politics want people to belive, nobody. Or at least nobody SHOULD, that's why they deny such a classification, and games with violence or sex are considered child corruptors. It's just like saying gaming is prohibited for adults.

Actually,my oppinion is that this very site is good because it is an adult site for gaming, and that's why I found myself at home here from the very first day I discovered it. I'm 28, BTW, and I think our generation and the next won't really be asking THAT question, altough I was asked it a lot. Now I just don't care anymore.

In the other hand, I partially disagree with the article, when the author says he only plays as a means to complete his identity. I think we manly play because we like it, it's not like if our comunity qualifies us. Maybe that could be true for teenagers, though, as if gamers where a social group, like the sportists, the geeks, or whathever.
Gaming don't make me a special person, nor a different person, nor an alternative person. It could do it in the past, but not anymore, games do sell more than movies, we all know that. To think gaming make you different will make you think your hobby should be reserved only to you and a few chosen ones, and after that you'll start thinking that games that attract the casual gamer are bad, because they popularize videogames... that's just wrong, IMHO.

 

[ars731]

Charlie Brooker did an excellent segment on gaming, on his show screenwipe (he also did a whole special on gaming as well) its one of the best defense of gaming I've ever seen


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxP3eBxFTsY

 

[Ericb]

No shame nor escapism for me. I'll take immersion over those two any day.

I still play games because I still find beauty in them. In the creative visuals and the inventive gameplay designs. Character development and writing still beg for improvement, though.

Videogames are what inspired me to study painting and they even inspired me to work in theater, because if I have a love for exploring different things, I can definitely attribute that to how playing videogames made me feel at a very young age.

I'll say I'm not entirely in love with how most AAA titles became macho wish fullfilment, but even that inspired me somewhat to give it a go at understanding computer programming. So maybe I can do something I believed that was going to be created, way back when I dreamt how games could be in the distant 21st Century.

 

[Phrenologer]

You still play video games?
You still smoke?
Yea, but thats different.
Yea, games are cheaper and arn't gonna give me lung cancer.


Only get to use that one about twice a year, but it usualy removes the "holier than thou" part of any statement

 

[copycatalyst]

It's true, it's not always the promise of fun that gets me to play a game. In particular, I remember friends (also gamers) questioning me for masochistically plowing my way through all 500 levels of the online flash version of N. That can't be fun, restarting levels dozens of times over. Maybe not, but finishing at last sure was satisfying, even if there was nothing much to gain from it.

 

[ethaninja]

Why are gamers so ashamed of themselves? I mean, you don't see movie buffs being cross-examined about how they should 'grow up'. The average age of gamers in the UK is 34 for christs sake!
it's nothing to be ashamed of playing it if you're over 29.

Agreed. Playing video games is no real difference to playing sport. Its a stimulant of some kind, whether its visual or physical, so why must games have to "grow up"?

 

[ma55ter_fett]

I like shooting alien freaks in the face, and shooting Russian troops in the face, and shooting terrorists in the face, and shooting civilians in the face, and shooting my good for nothing cousin in the face, and zombies, and kooky ghost things...

If you turn the cross hairs red,
I'll shoot you in the face.

 

[silentsentinel]

My father is 56 and plays a ton of video games, mostly MMO's, RTS's, and RPG's. He's currently on LOTRO. He tells me it's because no one is around to play D&D with him anymore.

That last sentence makes me feel a little sad. It makes me think of Vietnam veterans (all my friends died in the war!) and such.

 

[silentsentinel]

To be relevant to the article, I play games for pure fun. I often play on easy difficulty, not because I'm a bad gamer (I can hold my own against anyone in multiplayer, thank-you-very-much) but because I don't want to have to work too hard in my off time. I guess I'll sometimes try a harder difficulty, but only when easy mode is much too easy.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Correction happiness is a warm mouse.... NEXT!!!

 

[FROGGEman2]

I disagree, I play videogames as a distraction, to pass time.

If a game is unpleasant, or not fun to play, I stop playing.

 

[Mr.Pandah]

It was an interesting article...and way too over-analyzing for my tastes to be quite honest.

To say you don't game to have fun is like saying you don't go to work to make money. Sure, there are other factors revolving around why you work, but the main point of the job is to make money. Just like the main point of videogames is to enjoy yourself.

I think you can really speak for yourself on this one, but I'm not about to give up the notion that I game for any other reasons other than having fun with them. What you described is your own version of fun. Its why we're all different. I have fun just playing for a few hours here and there, hacking and slashing my way through Dragon Age(which is freakin' awesome), or hopping online and shooting some people in CoD:MW2. Its rewarding, its challenging, its my ship in a bottle.

You over-analyzed just to generalize. Something that I just can't agree with.

And yes, when asked the question (if someone wishes to know), I do in fact still play video games. I always will. Its what I do.

 

[Low Key]

Odd. I have never had anyone negatively comment on my gaming. All of my friends are gamers and most are in their 30s. Even both of my bosses have systems and one is almost 40 and the other one is in his 60s.

Must just be where you guys live.

 

[neoontime]

I don't want to ruin the topic but happiness isn't only a warm controller but also a warm joystick
sorry

 

[Fearzone]

It is probably better ask yourself why a comment like that ("you still play videogames?") hits emotional pay dirt, than to ramble on in an article with your defenses against it.

To anyone who cares, I freely discuss my videogame habit. Sometimes I even volunteer it. Nobody asks me that question.

 

[Segadroid]

Happiness is a Warm Controller

Many a gamer have been asked this simple, yet slightly derisive question: "You still play videogames?" Sean Sands answers it.

Read Full Article

I'll answer it like a semi-professional: I play for getting a reward; Finishing the game(or break my top score if you're talking about Endurance games). I have fun, frustration and defeat, but all I really strife for is getting a reward by making it through it all. And admit: The bigger the challenge, the more statisfying the reward.

 

[KiKiweaky]

20 atm getting older and am sure that nothing short of 'If you play another computer game you will die' even then I dunno :/

Sure games arent always the most fun thing you can ever do, grinding in mmo's being one of them. In fact at times watching paint dry could be better. Nice article though makes you think a bit, I agree with the adjectives you used to describe gamers too, stubborn being one of them hehe

 

[Jou-LotD]

It is funny that an article like this popped up on "The Escapist". For us older people I thought that was the main reason we still game. To step out of our own shoes as teachers, construction workers, salary slaves, pizza boys, etc, and virtually experience what we cannot in the real world.

 

[asunder 82]

My parents were always riding my ass about games as a kid. However I could see back then that with technology getting increasingly more impressive that gaming was going to be absolutely massive in years to come. Am I right? Well MW2 seems to answer that question fairly neatly.

I had a massive problem with my habit and it's only just the last couple of years that I've become comfortable with it. My parents would often chastise me yet they'd sit in front of the telly for hours on end and when they weren't they would be discussing the soaps, or most recently the explosion in reality tv with their friends. My Mum has recently not even commented on my gaming as my step dad is a keen gamer himself and he's in his 50s. Instead she finds herself chastised for her questionable entertainment tastes.

The problem I find myself in and now the industry as a whole is that it worked so long to gain acceptance that it's been selling out since day one. It's all sequels and franchises and really didn't get the grounding in art philosophy that film and music enjoyed in their golden eras.

Great article, it's stuff like this that's made me a fan of this site.