by Gabriela Yorgova
Does gaming have a bad rep?
Harvard Medical School has reported on the health effects of too much gaming, citing repetitive stress injury, vision problems, sleep deprivation, depression and withdrawal, to name just a few. Benefits, however, include “better control of one’s attention and improved spatial reasoning”, the report said.
One advantage not often mentioned is that the gaming industry has lured many to play online and interact with each other.
It might seem as if the ‘gamer’ is alone in a room, just clicking on the keyboard and the mouse. But there is a lot more to this world of graphics, strategies and explosive sounds.
Gaming is a niche that gathers players of all ages to play together and compete, often forming long-term positive relationships with like-minded friends. According to a survey conducted in 2017 by Pew, both men and women enjoy gaming: 52% of the respondents who were regular gamers were men, while 48% – women.
Meeting new friends
Lana Game, a gamer-girl and coder, said: “[While playing games,] I met people focused on the video games industry and coding. Those types of people are creative, strong and friendly.” Her art name is also being recognised by many users as @lana.game on social media and gaming platforms.
The number of people that are playing games on their PS5, XBOX, Steam and other platforms is increasing every day. The social experience of such applications is improving as well.
Pawel Kreskowaty, a PC gamer known as @kreskowaty on online platforms, said: “The more I get to know people online the more I would love to have a chance to meet them in person and get to know them even better. It’s always better to have the options to stay in touch both online and face to face and decide to stay on the Internet rather than not even having the chance to meet in the physical world.”
Jani, a 28-year-old streamer on Twitch, recognised as Jaja, believes that gaming is fascinating and that good stories are said through games. The Finnish gamer is also live-sharing with many people online about what tactics he’s using.
Dose of interaction
Meeting new people could be in different forms – digital and in-person. Introverts and shy youngsters tend to prefer media and streaming platforms to get their ‘dose of interaction’ with people with similar interests.
Jaja said: “I’ve seen all kinds of people online but I have met some of them in real life.”
The girl-gamer has shared the same view as many others. “Face-to-face interaction is better for extroverts, while introverts find it more comfortable expressing their needs and opinions mostly online or in smaller groups of people.”
She is confident that she has made good friendships online with coders and gamers.
The negative side of gaming
The opinions on what could be considered a downside of the gaming industry were various.
Jaja shared that he has met mean and rude people while playing games and interacting with strangers.
Meanwhile, Pawel and Lana consider some games not as exciting as they could be.
According to her, “The Last of Us, the newest TV show, is exciting for all the fans of the video game The Last of Us. Made me excited about a broader number of people being able to see stories inspired by one of the best; for me, video games in history.”
Pawel said: “I would love every game to be as good as The Last of Us, every TV series on the level of Breaking Bad, and every movie as good as The Prestige. But I think I already played all the great releases I could be interested in and I’m doomed to wait for the next awesome thing.
“Unfortunately, in my book, more and more titles are… ok. And I don’t want ok, I want fantastic!”
Dynamic and colourful for ones, but relaxing and fun for others – it is the gaming industry that has received backlash for the hours spent in front of the screen. Friendships could be made and technology will keep connecting us more and more.
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