Geoffrey42's comment in the guitar hero thread not only inspired me to rant briefly, but got me thinking about why I play video games, and why other people might play video games?
Obviously, in 99% of cases the answer is because its fun. But people make there own fun in extremely different ways.
For example, from Geoffrey's comment, someone might ask why you play guitar hero instead of playing a real guitar. For me, Its about interacting with music that I enjoy, that would otherwise take me years to learn how to play if I did indeed ever get good enough. And then there is the fact that learning to play a real guitar is something I would find more frustrating than enjoyable.
Or another good example is when I was little I was mad about basketball, so I would play real basketball in my backyard until I was too tired to continue or bored of playing by myself and I would go inside and play a sim. Then when I got sick of sitting inside I'd go back out to the ring outside. Rinse and repeat. I would often do this all weekend. In this case, I played basketball games to extend my time with the sport beyond what I found physically possible.
I can see very similar possibilities for people who enjoy extreme sports but just aren't talented enough to pull off a double backflip with a twist in real life.
Or people who are fascinated by the possiblity of being a mobster, but have a conscience that doesn't agree with the legal and moral ramifications.
I'm sure there are many people on this forum who play for the social aspect of it. It doesn't matter what the game is, as long as they can play with their friends on xbox live or PSN.
No doubt there are many and varied reasons why people start playing games and why they continue for years until it is a serious time and money consuming hobby. So for the sake of conversation, why do you play games?
Obviously, in 99% of cases the answer is because its fun. But people make there own fun in extremely different ways.
For example, from Geoffrey's comment, someone might ask why you play guitar hero instead of playing a real guitar. For me, Its about interacting with music that I enjoy, that would otherwise take me years to learn how to play if I did indeed ever get good enough. And then there is the fact that learning to play a real guitar is something I would find more frustrating than enjoyable.
Or another good example is when I was little I was mad about basketball, so I would play real basketball in my backyard until I was too tired to continue or bored of playing by myself and I would go inside and play a sim. Then when I got sick of sitting inside I'd go back out to the ring outside. Rinse and repeat. I would often do this all weekend. In this case, I played basketball games to extend my time with the sport beyond what I found physically possible.
I can see very similar possibilities for people who enjoy extreme sports but just aren't talented enough to pull off a double backflip with a twist in real life.
Or people who are fascinated by the possiblity of being a mobster, but have a conscience that doesn't agree with the legal and moral ramifications.
I'm sure there are many people on this forum who play for the social aspect of it. It doesn't matter what the game is, as long as they can play with their friends on xbox live or PSN.
No doubt there are many and varied reasons why people start playing games and why they continue for years until it is a serious time and money consuming hobby. So for the sake of conversation, why do you play games?