Video game culture in my opinion is just absolutely wild. It really does show the diverse nature of the human psyche and how my people can change and interact with one another. Right of the bat, the most common mainstream representation of "gamer culture" is a bunch of geeks sitting around in the dark drinking mountain dew and eating potato chips while yelling racial and homophobic slurs in a voice chat. I think by now most people know that this portrayal is false, but there is still a stigma. Video games are still thought of as childish and filled with a toxic culture that is harmful to people's self-esteem and mental health.
So lets go ahead and separate these two stigmas. Thinking of video games as childish and nerdy is just rude. Of course there are some video games that exist for children and are marketed towards them, but consider all video games only for children is condescending and plain wrong. There is of course the argument to be made about the benefits of video games, the expansion of genres that incorporate amazing new technology, the global connectivity it allows players to experience, as well as the wide variety of games that are "mature" games which incorporate puzzles and mental skill. But forget all of that, because what I am trying to get across here is so much simpler than all of that research paper stuff. The point I want to make is that video games can be plain fun. They can provide a nice challenge, an enjoyable story line, a pleasant time with friends, and all in all can take your mind of things for a little while. What is so childish about that? Just because a game is animated, or because it doesn't contain the more "sophisticated" aspects of adult life it is therefore childish and not made for adults? That is preposterous!
But now for what I think is the more prevalent issue. The toxic culture in the video game community. It of course exists, anyone who has ever played a game online knows that. And it really is despicable, because the comments said can be very hurtful of course, even if you know to disregard them as the ramblings of a sore loser. And the levels of toxicity vary among players, from outright hate speech to making fun of a player for not playing well. But things are changing in the so called world of video games. There are positive people out there who just want to have fun with other players and support them in game. People have made close friends online and often find support that they lack in the real world, which is a beautiful thing in my eyes and should not be disregarded.
So lets go ahead and separate these two stigmas. Thinking of video games as childish and nerdy is just rude. Of course there are some video games that exist for children and are marketed towards them, but consider all video games only for children is condescending and plain wrong. There is of course the argument to be made about the benefits of video games, the expansion of genres that incorporate amazing new technology, the global connectivity it allows players to experience, as well as the wide variety of games that are "mature" games which incorporate puzzles and mental skill. But forget all of that, because what I am trying to get across here is so much simpler than all of that research paper stuff. The point I want to make is that video games can be plain fun. They can provide a nice challenge, an enjoyable story line, a pleasant time with friends, and all in all can take your mind of things for a little while. What is so childish about that? Just because a game is animated, or because it doesn't contain the more "sophisticated" aspects of adult life it is therefore childish and not made for adults? That is preposterous!
But now for what I think is the more prevalent issue. The toxic culture in the video game community. It of course exists, anyone who has ever played a game online knows that. And it really is despicable, because the comments said can be very hurtful of course, even if you know to disregard them as the ramblings of a sore loser. And the levels of toxicity vary among players, from outright hate speech to making fun of a player for not playing well. But things are changing in the so called world of video games. There are positive people out there who just want to have fun with other players and support them in game. People have made close friends online and often find support that they lack in the real world, which is a beautiful thing in my eyes and should not be disregarded.
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