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Why do we game?

posted by nikki at 10:24 am.

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Why is it that when people who don’t play video games try to understand people who do, they inevitably try to come up with some profound theory as to gamers’ love of games? I’ve heard a lot of strange ones, some not so strange ones, and some that may even be plausible to an extent, but the fact of the matter is there’s really no single reason why we like games.

Speaking from a female perspective, one of my favorite theories put for by a non-gaming classmate of mine, back, I think, in my first year at U of I, was that I played games to meet guys. Now I’m sure there are some gals out there who have, in fact, feigned interest in games in order to catch the attention of a member of the opposite sex, and maybe even came to enjoy them because of it… but I’m not one of them.

First off, it was a pretty asinine thing to say to me in particular because I’m almost exclusively a solo gamer, and when I do play multiplayer it’s usually either online or with my friends (the majority of whom are female, anyway). Second, I’ll talk about games with anyone who will listen, be they male or female… I don’t particularly care, as long as they want to hear about how awesome the latest Final Fantasy is. And finally, I’ve been into games much longer than I’ve been into guys (at age 8, guys are still pretty icky, after all).

But guys get it just as bad, I think… This morning, I read this article in the Daily Illini about how video games are a replacement for sex. Obvious gender-biases in the article aside (members of the female sex DO play video games, even if you do not, Miss Brott), I think the author was way off the mark, or at the very least, far too generalized.

And then of course there are the zealots out there who insist that gamers are an inherently violent bunch, playing their murder simulators to get their jollies. I won’t mention names here, since certain people like this tend to Google themselves obsessively and just love to see their names pop up on even tiny insignificant blogs like mine, but I’m sure most of you can guess.

In the end, I don’t believe there’s any one reason gamers like their games. I know I certainly don’t have just one supreme reason, and I would be shocked if any gamer out there can honestly say that they do.

Nikki Blight: is still trying to find that damn princess... when she's not writing fresh code for the217.com.