Why do we play?

All right, let's try this one.

Why do you play games? What event got you hooked? Was it a refuge during childhood? Was it one game in particular that reeled you in? When was that moment, that looking back now, you realize made you a person who plays video games?

For me, video games have been a part of my life since before I was even born. My mother was on maternity leave from her job, and to pass the time during the day, she bought a NES, along with some of the main games, like SMB/Duck Hunt, SMB3, etc... She played these games a lot while she was carrying me, and once I was born and started to become older, they were things for me to play as well.

But I suppose the one game that really hooked me into playing games was my experiance renting Final Fantasy 6(as FF3 on SNES). Previously, every game that I had played had all been fairly simple. Mario, Zelda,Donkey Kong, all that kind of stuff. So when I stuck in FF6, and experianced this in depth, character based, emotional story, I just clicked with it immediately. I rented the game several more times, as well as the other Final Fantasy games that the rental store had.(this was how I experianced both FF4 and Mystic Quest).

Looking back, I can see that that was where I became truly hooked onto games.

Soo.....What are your moments?

S

For me, it's a release from stress. When I get into a game, the outside world fades away and I get to fully enjoy the game. They're probably the only reason why I'm sane today. *twitch*

One part great passion for gaming, most parts nothing better to do.

Bigboi500

I like to play games as they're a great form of escapism and just generally fun or interesting to play. The two games that got me into into gaming have got to be crash bandicoot and shining force. I remember when i was about 7 or 8 and me and my next door neighbour used to play shining force almost constantly it was amazing it was quite a simple RPG with a huge cast of really weird characters and i still play it to this day and its what got me into RPG's.

Basically, for me its a way to experience something I wouldn't in real life. Also, even though i'm still (mostly) just sitting on my sofa, I feel like I'm doing something more involving than just watching a movie or reading a book.

When I was a teenager back in the early '80s, we all hung out at the video arcade. That was the place to be. I've got a ton of very fond memories of that place, the R-Cade in Poway California, in the little mall by K-mart. I imagine it's been gone for 20 years now :cry: When I got older, I just naturally started buying consoles as they came out - NES, SNES, PS1, PS2, and now PS3. There's nothing worth watching on TV, and I need something to kill some time with in the evenings. I've always enjoyed games - the challenge, the fun, the involvement. You don't get any of that from TV.

mm, i liked the colours and the pretty pictures! i liked exploring and discovering.

i guess i continued to play because... maybe i was addicted.. maybe i had no reason to let go. there were times that i trailed off, but never for long. it's just been mostly what i do. now i spend my time on creative things such as drawing. playing takes a backseat, but i'm interested in the form, finding new uses for the medium, thinking more on the development side, and being suprised, and shocked by 'what they did' next.

i play for the fun of it.. :P..

im gonna say RE2 is the first video game i actually took seriously. i looked at it with such shock and awe that i had to get a ps and a copy and immediately start playing.. :D

Because killing people in a videogame wont get you put in prison for the rest of forever.

I had played the Nintendo Game & Watch, loading tapes on the Commodore, but I think what got me hooked was the Sega Master system. "What do you mean we don't have to wait half an hour for the game to load???!!!" I think that was it.

My friends all had consoles, I went to college near Southend-on-Sea in England and there's a massive drag of games arcades that I spent a fortune on.

Now, its escapism, its the satisfaction I get when I complete a great game and its the determination I have when I refuse to put the controller down when I'm stuck. Its good to see that people now realise that gaming is a legitimate form of entertainment.

Well like the OP Video Games have always been apart of my life I first got an SNES as a child and played Super Mario World on it. I've been hooked on video games since then.

It's just a good form of entertainment if not the best one IMO.

I really wish I could remember when I started playing video games.

I know I had the original gameboy as a kid and I had a n64 when it came out (love that thing still) but really its always been there for me hahaidk :P

i think there is a broader, more evolutionary answer to mister j_knolling's question.. play is part of how animals learn to survive, but also how humans cope as expressive and creative beings.

I got into games when I was a kid, probably around 3 years old, the one game that made me realise I like video games was the prince of persia, the original one, it had a 60 minute time limit, and I kept on trying over and over to win the game, eventually I realised Im playing not because of the ending ,but because I like games

the fact that I went to the arcades at that time (yes, I was 3-4 and I went to the arcade), and was happy to go , probably only cemented it.

A few reasons 1. It gives me an escape from reality in a far more compelling way than TV could ever do 2. When hanging out with friends, it's a cheaper and safer alternative to going out to bars 3. Helps sharpen skills in problem solving, spacial awareness, eye-hand coordination and reflexesUT_Wrestler

hmm.. a lot of people say that games help you with 'hand-eye coordination', but how do you think that applies to your life? what aspects of your life have been improved by better 'hand-eye coordination'? i'd love to know. the same with 'spacial awareness'.

[QUOTE="UT_Wrestler"]A few reasons 1. It gives me an escape from reality in a far more compelling way than TV could ever do 2. When hanging out with friends, it's a cheaper and safer alternative to going out to bars 3. Helps sharpen skills in problem solving, spacial awareness, eye-hand coordination and reflexesjust_nonplussed

hmm.. a lot of people say that games help you with 'hand-eye coordination', but how do you think that applies to your life? what aspects of your life have been improved by better 'hand-eye coordination'? i'd love to know. the same with 'spacial awareness'.

I play video games because I like the challenges, and I become engrossed within a game as it gets more and more difficult each level. Plus I love the immersion, and the some of the art that character designers, art directors, and so on put into the game. majadamus

I got into games when I was a kid, probably around 3 years old, the one game that made me realise I like video games was the prince of persia, the original one, it had a 60 minute time limit, and I kept on trying over and over to win the game, eventually I realised Im playing not because of the ending ,but because I like games

the fact that I went to the arcades at that time (yes, I was 3-4 and I went to the arcade), and was happy to go , probably only cemented it.

Darkman2007

i think there is a broader, more evolutionary answer to mister j_knolling's question.. play is part of how animals learn to survive, but also how humans cope as expressive and creative beings.

just_nonplussed

[QUOTE="UT_Wrestler"]A few reasons 1. It gives me an escape from reality in a far more compelling way than TV could ever do 2. When hanging out with friends, it's a cheaper and safer alternative to going out to bars 3. Helps sharpen skills in problem solving, spacial awareness, eye-hand coordination and reflexesJ_Knolling

[QUOTE="J_Knolling"][QUOTE="UT_Wrestler"]A few reasons 1. It gives me an escape from reality in a far more compelling way than TV could ever do 2. When hanging out with friends, it's a cheaper and safer alternative to going out to bars 3. Helps sharpen skills in problem solving, spacial awareness, eye-hand coordination and reflexesmuthsera666

This is quickly turning into a philosophical discussion. What fun!

You say that and jobs are needed, but this is only because we, as a society, have deemed that they are needed. I can say personally that the idea of working as part of the society is what we are told we have to do from a very young age. But what if, I don't agree with the society, or think that the society is wrong? I'm not saying that I do, but I still believe that the questions are valid.

And so what if that's the way society works? If everybody needs to escape from reality because it has become too tiresome, then perhaps 'society' itself needs to be changed. Why don't we work together to create a better society, one that we don't feel the need to escape from every once and a while? That, to me, sounds much more enjoyable than simply continuing to be complacent at the end of the day. Then the things we use to can stop being 'escapes', and can truly become 'art', and can help us to expand our minds and our society.

This is quickly turning into a philosophical discussion. What fun!

You say that and jobs are needed, but this is only because we, as a society, have deemed that they are needed. I can say personally that the idea of working as part of the society is what we are told we have to do from a very young age. But what if, I don't agree with the society, or think that the society is wrong? I'm not saying that I do, but I still believe that the questions are valid.

And so what if that's the way society works? If everybody needs to escape from reality because it has become too tiresome, then perhaps 'society' itself needs to be changed. Why don't we work together to create a better society, one that we don't feel the need to escape from every once and a while? That, to me, sounds much more enjoyable than simply continuing to be complacent at the end of the day. Then the things we use to can stop being 'escapes', and can truly become 'art', and can help us to expand our minds and our society.

J_Knolling

In order to live in this society, you have to fit the mold. You cannot have a reasonably decent life unless you do. If you don't agree with it, you'll either die or leave for somewhere else. It's easier and more efficient to create temporary reprieves from our lives than to restructure the entirety of our society. Different people enjoy different things. Some people honestly prefer to work all the time, and this sets the pace for everyone else to meet the same amount of production.

Whydo you saythere is a difference between escapism and art?

muthsera666

In order to live in this society, you have to fit the mold. You cannot have a reasonably decent life unless you do. If you don't agree with it, you'll either die or leave for somewhere else. It's easier and more efficient to create temporary reprieves from our lives than to restructure the entirety of our society. Different people enjoy different things. Some people honestly prefer to work all the time, and this sets the pace for everyone else to meet the same amount of production.

Whydo you saythere is a difference between escapism and art?

I think maybe there's a part of me that just can't go along with what you're saying there. I have to fit the mold? Why should I have to? There's no room for change of any kind? This is how everything has always been, and this is how it always will be? I honestly don't think that's the answer. And the easier and efficient thing, that to me just sounds like laziness. 'Sure I don't like things, so I'll just get by. What can I do?' You can do everything! The human mind is so powerful, that the true depths of it's power have barely even been reached yet! I think it's this idea of being unable to change things that holds us back. If the vast majority of the nation is against the health care plan, and they all stood up to voice their concerns about it, then noone would be able to hold them back.(This is NOT me taking a stance on the health care issue. I was simply using it as an example. Let's not turn this into a discussion about it)

I hope that I didn't seem like I was trying to put down people that work all the time, or trying to make the enjoyment that some people find in their work illegitimate. If you enjoy what you do, then by all means, do it. What I have a problem with is the the idea of needing to 'escape from reality', which I find to be something that, done to much, can be a little too unhealthy. By far, I think your most interesting statement was your last. It surprised me, which was fun. My point to begin with was that by treating movies, or music, or video games as escapes from reality, then you simply only see them as just that, and not as things meant to affect and change the way we view our realities. Shows like, well, CSI, are like that. It's meant to be an escape, and nothing more.(I hope your not a huge CSI fan...)

But doesn't creating art take a certain amount of escaping from reality? And hand-in-hand, doesn't experiencing the best art require you to leave your own reality, if only for a moment? I think back to a recent experience I had with one of my favorite games, Half-Life 2. I was able to, during this replay, to truly become a part of the environment that I was interacting with, and with that, to understand something more about the world I was in, and the people in it. A positive experience, but one that came from me leaving the reality that I live in for a moment.(It's for moments like these that I continue to play video games. See? I tied this into the topic! Yeah, I'm good!)

I think my problem with escapism is that people don't often use it in that way. They simply use it to turn away from the dissatisfaction they have with the reality around them. And that, to me, seems like a problem.

I guess I'll note the reasons I play video games:

1 - They're a very useful and helpful disability aid, although my disability is getting worse as I get older - weak hand eye coordination that requires a lot of effort todeal with. Video games are a nice aid and while it's not perfect, I'm able to focus as hard as I can and handle the pain from the effort unlike if I were forced to do things I hate.

2 - They can be fun as long as you game for fun and not for status, owning anyone and all that other junk.

3 - Seeing the creative talents of others can be great as long as it is creative and not a rehash of an overdone series.

4 - It's better than being like others where I live who think tormenting others, destroying their bodies because peer pressure demands it, being the same as one another and basically limiting themselves is the only way to live. Not like I'm breaking the law by playing a video game and I'm definitely not hurting myself and others either.

I guess I'll note the reasons I play video games:

1 - They're a very useful and helpful disability aid, although my disability is getting worse as I get older - weak hand eye coordination that requires a lot of effort todeal with. Video games are a nice aid and while it's not perfect, I'm able to focus as hard as I can and handle the pain from the effort unlike if I were forced to do things I hate.

2 - They can be fun as long as you game for fun and not for status, owning anyone and all that other junk.

3 - Seeing the creative talents of others can be great as long as it is creative and not a rehash of an overdone series.

4 - It's better than being like others where I live who think tormenting others, destroying their bodies because peer pressure demands it, being the same as one another and basically limiting themselves is the only way to live. Not like I'm breaking the law by playing a video game and I'm definitely not hurting myself and others either.

Smokescreened84

What kind of creative talent in video games do you find the most enjoyable? Is it particularly well done environment design? Or well crafted characters? Or something else all together?

I also think you touch on a good point with point number 2. The idea of 'for status' can directly relate to film or music snobs, or people who, because they have experienced so much of a particular medium, feel that their opinions about said medium are superior to others. This, of course, isn't true. Everybodies opinions are just as valid. If you've only played one game, and you've developed an idea of what games mean, then it's just as valid as anyone else's.

[QUOTE="Smokescreened84"]

I guess I'll note the reasons I play video games:

1 - They're a very useful and helpful disability aid, although my disability is getting worse as I get older - weak hand eye coordination that requires a lot of effort todeal with. Video games are a nice aid and while it's not perfect, I'm able to focus as hard as I can and handle the pain from the effort unlike if I were forced to do things I hate.

2 - They can be fun as long as you game for fun and not for status, owning anyone and all that other junk.

3 - Seeing the creative talents of others can be great as long as it is creative and not a rehash of an overdone series.

4 - It's better than being like others where I live who think tormenting others, destroying their bodies because peer pressure demands it, being the same as one another and basically limiting themselves is the only way to live. Not like I'm breaking the law by playing a video game and I'm definitely not hurting myself and others either.

J_Knolling

What kind of creative talent in video games do you find the most enjoyable? Is it particularly well done environment design? Or well crafted characters? Or something else all together?

I also think you touch on a good point with point number 2. The idea of 'for status' can directly relate to film or music snobs, or people who, because they have experienced so much of a particular medium, feel that their opinions about said medium are superior to others. This, of course, isn't true. Everybodies opinions are just as valid. If you've only played one game, and you've developed an idea of what games mean, then it's just as valid as anyone else's.

I like creative ability where you might get a great story that grips you into the game, makes you want to see what happens next. Also well designed characters, not the dumb, muscle mass space marines and hollow soldier types that are so loved in popular FPS games, but deep characters with a lot of character, who you care about even ifit's the villian.

Also good music can be very good, the kind of music that really sets the mood instead of being annoying. If there's all that added with a very well made setting that makes you wonder about the history of that setting, then you've got a true masterpiece. So rare to see these days, but sometimes it happens. Like Albion in the Fable games, although the games aren't as good as they could have been, the setting has a feeling to it where you really want to learn more about it's past and I really liked the character of Teresa, very mysterious and there's clearly more going on with her than just taking the Shattered Spire from Lucian.

I like creative ability where you might get a great story that grips you into the game, makes you want to see what happens next. Also well designed characters, not the dumb, muscle mass space marines and hollow soldier types that are so loved in popular FPS games, but deep characters with a lot of character, who you care about even ifit's the villian.

Also good music can be very good, the kind of music that really sets the mood instead of being annoying. If there's all that added with a very well made setting that makes you wonder about the history of that setting, then you've got a true masterpiece. So rare to see these days, but sometimes it happens. Like Albion in the Fable games, although the games aren't as good as they could have been, the setting has a feeling to it where you really want to learn more about it's past and I really liked the character of Teresa, very mysterious and there's clearly more going on with her than just taking the Shattered Spire from Lucian.

Smokescreened84

So, if I understand you correctly, what you most appreciate about a game is it's sense of depth; that there is more going on in the worlds you're exploring than what the story itself shows you. Am I right? And if so, what is it about this that you connect to? Do you not have the same type of connection to games that are much simpler, like something along the lines of Mario games? Why not?

[QUOTE="Smokescreened84"]

I like creative ability where you might get a great story that grips you into the game, makes you want to see what happens next. Also well designed characters, not the dumb, muscle mass space marines and hollow soldier types that are so loved in popular FPS games, but deep characters with a lot of character, who you care about even ifit's the villian.

Also good music can be very good, the kind of music that really sets the mood instead of being annoying. If there's all that added with a very well made setting that makes you wonder about the history of that setting, then you've got a true masterpiece. So rare to see these days, but sometimes it happens. Like Albion in the Fable games, although the games aren't as good as they could have been, the setting has a feeling to it where you really want to learn more about it's past and I really liked the character of Teresa, very mysterious and there's clearly more going on with her than just taking the Shattered Spire from Lucian.

J_Knolling

So, if I understand you correctly, what you most appreciate about a game is it's sense of depth; that there is more going on in the worlds you're exploring than what the story itself shows you. Am I right? And if so, what is it about this that you connect to? Do you not have the same type of connection to games that are much simpler, like something along the lines of Mario games? Why not?

I love depth in games, in older games I would imagine more going on behind the scenes, life going on as normal while a single person was out doing his/her hero thing. One example was in Shining Force 2, I would imagine what was going on back at the settlement while I was out battling the forces of evil. And when it came to the scene where the line drawing was actually an ancient and highly advanced plane, I loved to imagine that game world's history, the ancient race who had made such technology and more.

The more I don't see, the more I imagine. And the more I see, the more I imagine. But there has to be a lot of back story or glimpses of more going on than just the main character, without that I don't feel anything for the game and I just switch it off early without playing it through.

The more I don't see, the more I imagine. And the more I see, the more I imagine.

Smokescreened84

How nicely put!

I can see how that phrase relates to what I like about games, and perhaps is one of the reasons why I started playing to begin with. It was the ability to see more in what was happening on the screen that what really was. I found that I wanted to explore every nook and cranny, and to create my own ideas of what else was out there when I couldn't go someplace.

I think maybe one of the reasons people in general play start playing more and more video games is in that phrase as well. Video games are a journey of finding things: finding the ending, finding more weapons, finding more enemies, etc... But we're really trying to find how far we can take the game, to find find how much the game can give to us.

Does anyone think I'm on to something here? Or that I'm way off? Opinions?

[QUOTE="Smokescreened84"]

The more I don't see, the more I imagine. And the more I see, the more I imagine.

J_Knolling

How nicely put!

I can see how that phrase relates to what I like about games, and perhaps is one of the reasons why I started playing to begin with. It was the ability to see more in what was happening on the screen that what really was. I found that I wanted to explore every nook and cranny, and to create my own ideas of what else was out there when I couldn't go someplace.

I think maybe one of the reasons people in general play start playing more and more video games is in that phrase as well. Video games are a journey of finding things: finding the ending, finding more weapons, finding more enemies, etc... But we're really trying to find how far we can take the game, to find find how much the game can give to us.

Does anyone think I'm on to something here? Or that I'm way off? Opinions?

One example was in Suikoden 1, I had finished the game and I was picturing the aftermath of the game. The king and queen were dead, the land was recovering from what had been a short, but brutal war and the saviour of the land had disappeared. I kept tihnking about what must have happened afterwards, and before the game itself, how everything all linked together and what the past could tell that could a clue to that land's future.

Imagine my surprise when Suikoden 2 showed almost exactly what I had imagined, and left in a lot of unanswered questions. I also did that with Fallout 3 as I was playing, picturing that different Earth in a pre-nuclear war era and it made it hard to play because I would be seeing a living, breatihng world where so many had died. It was depressing due to what I had imagined and then saw in the game, like the skeletons on the beds in the mine filled remains of a former suburb and the ruined school.
I've got a very active imagination, so for me it's all quite vivid and hard to shake.

For fun.

I play to escape from this miserable existence. Yay!

Well, when I was younger it was all trying to impress my friends with new games they didn't have yet but now its bonding with friends not for competition but enjoyment. Its just fun, one of the few things I can do in life thats not boring.

Easy.
Exploration and Escapism.

But there are other interesting stuff in real life like playing with fire and falling in love hehe...kaskus

First I was hooked on the arcades, and then Sega Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog.... I just love how my consoles sitting infront of my TV.Dogswithguns

you play to win, eh? is that just to feel the pleasure of achievement, or a way of filling in the blanks in life? what does it mean to win in life, compared to a game?

music helps me in a very direct way, to win, when i'm doing my creative work. but playing a high-adrenaline arcade shooter has a different effect on me. it pumps me up to blast through the game and survive in that world.. and when i'm done with that, i have little energy left and take a rest. so while the process of listening to music fills me with energy, the game fills me with energy but also needs me to expend that energy on the game itself.

i listen to a lot of nine inch nails, and i have to say that arcade action games are a very precise equivalent to that kind of distortion/noise/industrial sound. the big difference is that NIN brings out the raw force in me for creative endevour in life, but the game is very much it's own 'production-expenditure' system.

i don't collect trophies or achievements in games at all. i see it as a waste of time. it has no relevence to me. but maybe you get the same feeling as i do, listening to industrial and electronic music?

i think the idea of 'success' ('win') in life is less important to focus on. it's more important for me to focus on what i want to do and how i'm going to do it, and the creative journey i'm taking.. whether it's interesting or not.

school indoctrinates us to succeed, and work continues this pernicious addiction to winning a promotion, or getting paid more, or some other kind of material, superficial thing. i don't think it teaches people well... i mean, what about spiritual hapiness and wealth?

I think I really became hooked to gaming 3 years ago. Since that time, I experienced all of the games which I think today are the best ones.

Best games ever and year I've played it:

2005: Half-Life

2006: No One Lives Forever and Far Cry

2007: No One Lives Forever 2 and Sims 2

2008: Half-Life 2

2009: Nothing which I would rate by being one of the best games ever

I've played lots of awesome titles, but Half-Life, Far Cry and No One Lives Forever are my favorite titles of all time, even compared to newer games.

[QUOTE="kaskus"]But there are other interesting stuff in real life like playing with fire and falling in love hehe...muthsera666

[QUOTE="muthsera666"][QUOTE="kaskus"]But there are other interesting stuff in real life like playing with fire and falling in love hehe...kaskus