Walking past an arcade now you're likely to see an attendant fiddling
with their phone or picking at their nails while the arcade is empty or has a
couple of people playing some games. Unfortunately, the days of pinball
machines and Skee ball, aside from at restaurants like Dave & Busters or
The Works, have gone to the wayside for more individualized gaming experiences
that don't require travel or all the change that has accumulated in your
pockets for the past three weeks. With arcade games the social aspect of gaming
came from physical proximity. Although the games may not all be able to
accommodate 2+ players at a time, they allowed the gamers to play casually with
friends for fun and chat while they played. Gamers were able to enjoy an
afternoon spending time with friends while playing games as long as they were
all able to go to the arcade together. But the key to the social aspect of
earlier games was the physical space they inhabited. All of the people in the
arcade or movie theater lobby were connected by the games because they were all
in the same place at the same time even if they were individually enjoying
separate games.
People often argue now that gaming has become an antisocial experience
by allowing gamers to play in their own room for as long as they want and
generally games played on consoles are primarily played alone although they can
be played by a few people together. I would argue that they have not become
more or less social than they were when arcades were prevalent, but instead
that they have changed to meet the needs of gamers over time. While arcade
games are fun and beating high scores was always a challenge to face these
games did not present the gamer with the same challenges and goals for the
gamer to face each week that recent games have. They can not continue an
ongoing game of pinball or connect to another pinball player's game via wifi.
They allowed for a social experience in that moment at the arcade but that
experience lasted only as long as the gamer was there and ended when they went
home.
The rise of console gaming provided that bridge
from purely social gaming to gaming that allowed the user to have individualized
gaming with extended goals along with an expanded ability to socialize via
gaming. Players are not always able to be present to play together but they no
longer need to live in the same hometown, state, city, or even continent, to
play a game together. People who have never met, may never meet again, or
who have not seen each other in years, can play simultaneously and interact
through gaming. Despite lacking the physical presence of arcade gaming it
introduced the experience of a virtual presence. It took the interactivity of chat
rooms, social media, and texting to a new level by allowing the gamer to see
their character side by side fighting orcs with a best friend that moved away.
The move to console gaming allowed gamers to build on their experience and gain
new skills in game, learn problem solving, and play through games at their own
pace. They can continue the same game over the course of weeks or months while
improving at their gameplay without restarting each time they hit start. This
allows them to gain experience as a gamer and form connections with other
gamers because they can interact in game and have a shared understanding of the
games they play allowing games to build a sense of community.
No comments:
Post a Comment