AWSD: Rediscovering PC Gaming

I have a confession to make: My first home console was an Xbox.

Now before you close the window because you just discovered this blogger’s gaming history isn’t as rich as your own keep reading.

It’s true my parents never allowed a console to have a permanent place in our living room in fear I would become an addict – they may have been right. However due to our frequent traveling, they did give me and my sister each a Game Boy and kept us up to date on that piece of hardware through the Color. We also had the home computer, which began with educational games then expanded to hours spent with games like Madden, Red Alert 2 and The Sims. However, I played many games with an imitation Playstation controller. Deep down I knew I was a console gamer.

Once I won my Xbox (thank-you Taco Bell!) I abandoned gaming on the gigantic E-Machine desktop. I was done with managing resources and was ready to get into some unadulterated shooting, racing and high scoring. This focus on console gaming continued all the way through college, however the situation changed as I moved back home.

It started with my curiosity surrounding the Madden Superstars game on Facebook which stemmed from my desire to regain knowledge of players currently in the NFL. The game is perfectly adequate and I still play it today. However, it broadened my mind back to the PC and I was made aware of the ease of simply clicking an application. My laptop is open most of the time anyway, making the activity much easier than taking the time to walk across the room to put a disk in the Xbox.

Since then I’ve replayed through both campaigns on Red Alert 2 – which allowed me to finally complete the Soviet campaign that troubled me back in the day, downloaded the fan-made Super Mario X, and bought myself an early Christmas gift and purchased Back To The Future:The Game.

It was in Telltale Games newest release, I realized the degree of excitement of great games wasn’t limited to flash titles used to pass the time. Developers are still making excellent single-player games beyond the one major title released every year and some of those are made as a PC game first!

Many claim that PC gaming is dead. A year ago I may have agreed with them but as of late I am second guessing that notion. My laptop will never replace my Xbox 360. I have no plans of purchasing Mass Effect 3 for the PC and I don’t know if I could ever feel the same joy of Team Slayer on a 50 inch screen. However PC gaming definitely has a place in gaming beyond quick rounds of Free Cell on the train.

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You can also read my Film and TV Blog, Audible Motion at audiblemotion.blogspot.com. Theres a new entry every Friday.

Now Playing: Super Mario Bros. X, Halo: Reach

XBL: DocHolliday8706

Joining the Battle To Keep Gaming Relevant

I remember my first Saturday at college. My eyes opened, hazy from a night out – a state I would grow all too accustomed with. Shouting, sprinkled with high pitched screams of “Here we go!” and “Yahooooo!!!” filled the hall. When I stumbled into the room responsible, just over a quarter of my floor mates had forced themselves into the small living space. Mario Kart 64 decorated the 26” TV screen and commanded the crowd’s attention. The loser passed their controller to whoever had waited the longest for a chance to show off their skills. We spent most of the day in that cramped room, strange smells increasing with every hour. To this day it was one of my fondest memories of college.

College is truly a gamers’ paradise. Almost every male student owns at least one console and a number of games which are traded with a high frequency. This common interest amongst peers also makes forming clans, tournaments and new drinking games (“Beerio Kart” anyone?) an easy activity. It is the pinnacle of everything young gamers dream of while they spend nights playing Madden, Halo or NHL.

However after four years, many expect us to put down the controller as we collect our diplomas.

As much as gaming has found the mainstream with advances in motion gaming, the opinion that games are for kids is still prominent, particularly among the older crowd. However misguided, there is some truth to the opinion. As gamers get older, they must take on more responsibility which leaves less time for recreational activities. Some choose to drop the activity entirely; others struggle to keep it in their lives.

While console gaming renaissance began roughly five years before me or any of my peers was able to pick up a controller, the majority of this generation will take some form of their gaming habits well into adulthood. According to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the average gamer is 34 years old, with the number of American gamer over fifty increasing by 17 percent from 1999. Both these trends will no doubt continue in the coming years. Unfortunately, remnants of the traditional social stigma around gaming still remain today as evident in television shows like The Big Bang Theory and South Park.

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These depictions of gamers, even if they are hilarious (and in some cases true), prevent non-gamers from taking the medium as seriously as film, television or even literature. Even though gaming has yet to reach the artistic standard of other media, it is a major part of this generation’s perception of what consists of entertainment. The medium will only continue to grow in that regard and if gamers want to silence the haters, their behavior needs to mature with the medium.

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