Video Games

I grew up with very few "video games". We had a Commadore Amiga computer, and I had some games for that, but on the whole I've never really had much for console games (I got an original Nintendo after the Super NES came out.) About 5 years ago I got the original Halo for PC. All of a sudden I was enjoying something that before hand had been a little treat when I went to friends houses. To be fair I played a lot of video games when I lived in the city because my roommates owned a playstation, but again, it wasn't my game. Other than that game, however, I was still "gameless."

A couple years ago some other friends started getting back into gaming. Because we could play Halo on the Xbox together with up to four people, it became a good excuse to get together, have a beer, and blow shit up (digitally.) Then the CoD games caught our attention, and again four guys sitting there blowing shit up and enjoying each other.

A couple years ago, my wife bought a Wii and then pretty much everyone I knew had a console of some kind (we weren't married yet so it wasn't technically mine.) I still didn't miss owning one, however as a wedding gift "my boys" got me an Xbox 360 and I finally joined the ranks of the gamer.

This is getting long and I haven't even hit my point yet. Until I had my own Xbox, gaming was something I did with friends. It still really is; if I buy or borrow a game, I play through and that's it. I don't play online. I don't have to go get the next, best thing. Gaming has added a simple means for me and my mates to gather at a moments notice and do something together and chat. It has made it easier to have guys who married friends join the group and become friends themselves. Like sports, gaming can show you someones real personality, the "under pressure" one. It also lets you converse with people and in a strange way bond with them in co-operation or competitiveness.

Gaming can consume people, and distract them from other things. It can also give people a social option and give them an excuse to see each other. In essence, gaming can do everything for you that sports can, except you don't watch hours and hours of highlights and games on TV and you don't have to get sweaty and sore (you just get fat and pale.)