Why We Play Games, Part 1

There exists some ephemeral quality that separates gamers from the rest of humanity, some thing that makes us, us and them, not us. I’ve never been able to quite put my finger on it, but it is inescapably there. Today, in hopes of moving closer to that essential quality of gamerosity, we examine part of what makes us tick. In particular, we take a look at what draws different types of gamers to the hobby. Every gamer plays for different reasons, but there are common threads that tie the experience together.

Many gamers are motivated by the challenge a game can present. Success in a game may be governed by any of a wide variety of abilities. A First Person Shooter requires twitch reflexes, a steady hand and the ability to remain calm under pressure. A word puzzle game may require an extensive vocabulary and the ability to rethink the uses of old words, but no measure of speed. A sports simulation might well require an in-depth knowledge of the topic, in addition to arcade skill, but is unlikely to have terribly much concern for linguistic acumen.

The common thread is that all of the games challenge some subset of a player’s abilities. This challenge can be a powerful motivator. The Challenge Motivated gamer is drawn to a game that tests their skills, preferably one that tests them to their limits. The gamer may also be motivated by the natural improvement that comes from working at peak. They are driven then, not only to excel, but to improve. Challenge Motivated Gamers thrive whenever a game pushes their skill set of choice, but may be disinterested in games that fall too far away from the target.

Competition is a close cousin of challenge. Many gamers are driven by the need to prove they are the best, to be pitted against their fellows and come out on top. Competition minded gamers range from those looking for a challenge in a fair fight to the sort of win-at-all cost leet speaking infants that give us all a bad name. Competition can be easy to take too far. There is nothing inherently wrong with being driven by competition. To some extent, competition is merely challenge taken to the extreme. It is only when it leads to mistreating your fellow player that it begins to become less a motivation and more an unfortunate personality quirk. Competition Motivated players thrive on those games where they are pitted against one another with the outcome dictated by skill at playing the game. They will often wane in those environments that either require cooperation, such as many MMORPGs, or in games where skill plays a much smaller role, such as in less sophisticated card or dice games.

Next week we will take a look at some other common gamer motivations, including Creativity and Escapism.

Steve is a member of the GrandMatrix team. They provide a broad range of games articles and reviews. Read more articles, download and play the latest PC games for free plus enjoy thousands of user submitted puzzles, quizzes and word games at GrandMatrix Free Game Downloads

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Video Games; Is There A Conspiracy Afoot To Desensitize Robots Killing Humans

In the future of war, there will be much use of robotics in the battlespace and you can bet the US Military is on the leading edge of such technologies. Recently in an online think tank this subject came up. One think tanker point to a comment made by Ronald Reagan that the video games of the day were training kids to think fast, develop military strategy and use electronic devices of war.

Although some might have a problem with that morally, I have a comment; Governments Number One Job is to Protect the American People. If that means thinking ahead a few generations, so be it. Additionally the military sponsoring contests in robotics which has spurred a whole revolution in the field of robotics is a good thing, as it means Team USA has the best of all and that technology will ultimately be transferred into private enterprise and that is a good thing.

The amount of transfer technology has served our nation well and of course I can say that as the Internet we are working with to communicate was born of ARPAnet right? If today’s robotic contests in school, shows like robot war and the video games are preparing and entertaining at the same time, well it is good to know that our team will be prepared to defend the future potential eventuality. Consider all this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

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Video Games Are Good - Are They

If you’re like most parents, you’re probably confused over the number of reports that argue against the use of video games as entertainment. Some of the information in these reports is quite convincing. After all, they’re written by psychology experts, child educators, and social science professors from esteemed colleges or other similar institutions. And the arguments presented within these reports make sense. They’re based on years of research and they may even resonate with experiences you’ve had with the children in your very own social circle.

On the other hand, it’s important that some of this information be taken with a grain of salt. Rarely will you see a report that argues on the side of video games, and that outlines the positive attributes that time spent with a Nintendo system or Sony Playstation generates. With all the negativity surrounding these products, one could easily think that Nintendo and Sony were evil manifestations of the devil himself! But this couldn’t be further from the truth.

The Nintendo system and Sony Playstation are mere platforms for video games that range from educational lessons to downright questionable material. We can’t argue against the latter. There *are* some inappropriate video games in the public, but does that mean parents have ban the entire video gaming industry altogether?

Absolutely not - and to do so, in our humble opinion, would be detrimental to childhood development. That’s right - detrimental. We don’t believe this claim is a leap of faith, because just as there are reports that dissuade video gaming, there is a tremendous amount of evidence that suggests why video games are an important part of growing up. This evidence points to things like hand and eye coordination, the ability to focus, perseverance, and improving problem solving skills.

This evidence should give parents a bit of comfort in knowing that the gaming industry in itself is not the issue. The issue is instead, the parents’ choice of video games that are allowed in the home.

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