After watching the video, you should be more familiar with the popular arcade game Dance Dance Revolution. The objective of the game is very simple, step on the arrows displayed on the screen as they reach the top of the screen that correspond with the beat of the music. Last year, I was an avid arcade goer and I would often find myself playing this particular game, if not alternate versions of it. Since the first day I started to play, I noticed the different skill levels of players that would play as they kind of formed their own cliques within a small community. (By which I refer to the arcade community)
You had the pro clique. These were the people that would play the hardest songs and wouldn't really enjoy playing with complete strangers because of the contrasting song choices. These kinds of players would always play for self-improvement in regards to the game.
Then there was the 'poser' clique. When the pros weren't around, they would take the reigns and call themselves the pros and take on their characteristics, again, only when the real pros aren't around.
Finally, there was me, and the few friends that I met while jumping from arcade to arcade. We were the newbies. We'd typically take a longer time to pick a song and wouldn't care who we played with, we just wanted to play a fun game and enjoy the music we liked.
Credit to Jonathan David Santos for hosting the 'Summer Speedy Streams' Dance Dance Revolution tournament at Playdium
These subcultures aren't just visible in my particular involvement. The entire gaming community houses these same subcultures and depending on the game, the media will look the cliques and games in a negative manner. They will generally say that games are not much more than a source of entertainment. To the professional gamers, they don't see it as just a game. They enter tournaments, compete against other players and prove to others just how good they are. To them, the game isn't any different than competitive sport. In the media's eyes, a video game cannot usually bring more than entertainment to it's consumers.
"Playing games online with thousands of other users may appear to be a social activity. But for the introverted child or teen, any form of excessive video game playing can further isolate them from friends and peers." ("Media Awareness Network")
When people play games, some feel that they are in the game. There is an underlaying background noise that leads people to who they want to be. When someone plays a game featuring a hero in a cape and tights, they feel that they are really that hero, doing good for the virtual world and thwarting the plans of villains everywhere. When someone plays a hockey game, they feel like they are Alexander Ovechkin, scoring the last goal in overtime.
It's unfortunate that the media has shaped video games and video game culture in such a way that turns others off from video games. They see some of the professional gamers and classify them as those that are social outcasts where the game has become their life. I have yet to see the media talk about those who see games as something more than entertainment and don't suffer from social introversion.
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Sources Cited
"The Concerns About Video Games - Excessive Playing." Media Awareness Network. Web. 12 Oct 2009. (http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/parents/video_games/concerns/excess_play_videogames.cfm).
Nice job with your blog entry. I like how you incorperated your own opinions and experiences into this blog entry.
ReplyDeleteYou may also wanna connect some of the experiences with how they came together or the concept of them to class material so discuss the affect of media on us as each of these topics of discussion are about how media surrounds us.