Level 1

Now begins the mandatory first blog post of any new blogger. What better way to start than have this post’s subject matter detailing about it being my first blog post? Guess it’s hard to be original.

Blogging is a rather alien concept for me, I’ve spent many a year on the internet now, reading through many a blog and never ventured into it myself but there’s a first time for everything. Having an outlet to discuss subjects that interest me is always a bonus, and that subject for this blog will be about video games.

Some of you might be thinking that a young man in his early twenties talking about games is of no real surprise. It seems that pretty much anyone born from the late mid to late 80’s onwards has now grown up in a world where people can spend hours every day stomping on mushrooms, mining for minerals or travelling across the vast reaches of space all from the comfort of their own home with nothing more than a piece of plastic and wires in the palm of their hands. However it’s that very reason I wish to talk about the ever growing medium of video games. Over the years the video game industry has exploded in popularity as the technology for controlling little pixels on a TV screen or PC monitor has grown more and more complex and able to generate such unique experiences and forms of entertainment. Ever since I was a child I was fascinated by video games, how they functioned, the worlds they created, the characters they brought to life and the sheer fun of playing them brought and my interest has only grown with age.

The controller, the link between player and game that doubles as a paperweight

Why do I play games? Why do others play games? The answers to both of those questions aren’t entirely concrete. Every single person who has ever sat down and played a game has their own unique reasons for doing so depending on their interests, the types of games they play, what they want out of a game and what they want to do next time they play.

For some it’s as simple as trying to kill time, being able to pull out a portable device like a smartphone and enjoy lining up brightly coloured blocks to reach a high score can help those times of waiting for the bus.

Others may want to dive into hyper realistic environments with top of the line graphics that are able to showcase all the lovely particles of sand on a beach, the detailed lush plant life of a wild forest and extreme detail of their space marine leader’s seething furrowed brow and flaring nostril hair. Being able to get lost in vast worlds of endless possibilities to explore.

Some may seek a thrilling story, one of the best things about video games as a medium compared to movies or books is that YOU are the main character, YOU are the one solving the mysteries, YOU are the one saving the day and YOU are the one running face first into a brick wall when you’re still figuring out the controls. Being able to shape the storyline of a game and figure things out your way as opposed to what a character in a movie was told to do to make the plot progress is very engaging especially if the game can provide multiple possible story scenarios based on your actions as the player, as the protagonist.

Lastly, there are those who just want to socialise and interact with others via the video game environment. Whether that’s teaming up with your buddies to figure out how to work together and solve various puzzles in order to progress or how to work as a team in order to score more points than another team, or seeing who is the best at collecting the most shiny objects and revelling in the frustration on your friends face when you win. Online video gaming in particular bringing together players who come from any background all over the world allows for interactions and friendships to form between individuals on a wide scale with a common interest that was not possible a few decades ago.

Of course, some may wish to do a mix of any of these or even have reasons not mentioned here in more detail. Maybe their favourite TV show has a game based on it, or maybe they want to keep fit with more active motion controlled games (at the risk of smashing some TV’s in the process) or maybe they just want to see what all the hype and fuss is about over video games. As such a varied medium for entertainment and experiences I could go on for several, more detailed, conveniently updated daily blog posts about them over possibly several months. 

In fact, I think I will do just that.

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