This is kinda random, but... I was pondering why some people just do not like video games, particularly the violence and oppositional competition aspects (in contrast to " competing with yourself," i.e., trying to improve your abilities). This led me to thinking about what it is about video games that is appealing.

Perhaps most obviously, there is the escapist factor, combined with acting out some kind of fantasy... basically being able to do things that you can' t do in real life.

But the thing that struck me is that there is perhaps a Utopian appeal to video games, which is this: they are fair. Especially the best-made games. Video games present us with a fair competition in which everyone knows the rules and everyone has access to the same means. You win or lose in a fair competition. That is something that is unlike real life -- everybody knows that " life isn' t fair," that the " winners" in life often didn' t really earn it and the " losers" often don' t really deserve it. But in video games, we have a level playing field so to speak.

Anyway, philosophize if you like.

After a crap day, I come home and relax by shooting a few terrorists or virtually murdering a couple of friends online.

While that may seem awfully harsh to most, it' s actually only a better represented version of what kids (and even adults) have been fantasizing over for hundreds of years.

" Back in the day" , ask any person who played outside, and I wouldn' t believe them if they said they never played a game of cops & robbers, war, headshot quezcatol, or cowboys and indians. Kids these days do the same, only it' s a little better visualized.

Speaking for myself. I' m addicted. Not so much in playing, but in talking a reading about gaming. But everytime I walk into EB games I feel like I' m going in a crack house to pick up my next score. I don' t even get that kind of guilt with my real drug habits.

I don' t enjoy games the way I used to either, I' m too jaded. It' s reached a point were I already know everything about the game before I play it, there are no more surprises. The only reason I still bother is for those rare games like GW and COD4. Where it' s truely satisfying to play well and crush my enemies. Videogames don' t make me happy though, it' s more like I' m scratching an itch.

There are two interesting things about Xbox Live that changed the appeal of games for me. One, the whole competition thing. Playing against AI just doesn' t cut it anymore. Secondly the whole social aspect. Just being able to talk to the other guys can be a source of entertainment in it' s own right. People can have some interesting shit to say if you' re willing to listen. You won' t even get that with PC, maybe 1/10 have a mic, where as with Live it' s more like 50%. Not to mention the fact that it' s far easier to play with regular people with Live.

But I' ll share an example of the sort of entertainment Live has afforded me. It actually involves Eddie and Torr as well. As most of you know they' re both friends in real life. So I was playing COD4 with them both briefly a few weeks ago (they were taking turns with the same controller).

Torr had the mic and Eddie had the controller or something. I told Torr to slap Eddie in the face for me for no reason at all. Smack! I could hear it through my headset. Then I told Torr to pass the mic to Eddie, and I told Eddie to slap Torr in the face. Which he complied. LOL

I never even stood foot in their country and I literally managed to slap them both in the face. How else would I be able to do that?

I am a big fan of stories, and that' s really what attracts me most about games. I mostly play games with good storylines. Though shooting and/or fighting my friends is always spiffy. I do find it relaxing after a hard days work, immersing myself in a fantastic world where you have the power to make a difference. It makes me feel better and even empowered sometimes. And video games are capable of bringing people together. Before it was a couple of friends playing Goldeneye, then crazy lan games and now not even the oceans are boundaries anymore. Is truly awesome.

I find that games allow me to be something I am not in real life(i.e. the escapism as Zoy mentioned), but I also find that it is good for pure entertainment(i.e. platformers like Jak & Daxter). I also enjoy competition quite a bit and so online is awesome for me and as any of you who have played with me know I am quite social(i.e. I talk way too much), therefore making live an awesome combination of the two. Without sounding like a complete loser(oops too late) I become in some ways a different person(I consider it more me then who I am too most people) and have found I am more well liked when people meet me online. As a final note it is easier for me to talk then it is for me to write(as you all have noticed) and so I feel more of myself comes out online.

Mostly competetive for me. Which is why I play so many FPS' s. and RTS' s. But sometimes it is for the fantasy of doing cool things I can' t do in real life. Which is why I liked oblivion. PGR4 was a little bit of both.

I find both the competition and the fantasy part fun, which is why I play them.

ORIGINAL: Agent Ghost


I never even stood foot in their country and I literally managed to slap them both in the face. How else would I be able to do that?

u rule face

In some ways gaming appeals to our animal instincts in proving we are better than others. We can' t go round shooting each other in real life (well we can I guess but the law takes a dim view of it) to prove we are ' the man' so we can do it vitually instead.

Mostly escapism and fantasy for me. Then appreciating good art, style music, story. Then entertainment and fun. Then competition.

Not so much wanting something fair in my life, since I guess I consider myself pretty lucky with my real life goings-ons.

I suppose some might play to get a workout in mental dexterity as well. Games that require a lot of concentration and skill - like fast paced vertical shooters, geometry wars, devil may cry on hardcore or guitar hero on double hard bastard mode.

Really interesting thread.

As for myself, first and foremost games are entertainment. The story, the art... that type of thing.

I hardly ever play competitively, and when I do it' s about enjoying the same experience with someone I know. It' s never about winning, I hate keeping score. Of course I enjoy winning, but I' ve never felt as though I' ve accomplished anything by beating someone else in a game.

That' s why Live doesn' t interest me, and Halo3 was a huge disappointment.

My initial reason for getting into gaming was simple: I wasn' t allowed to. My parents never let my have an Atari. When we got a NES it was because it was SUPPOSED to be a xmas gift for a relative, but he already got one from someone else and my parents didn' t want ot return the one they bought. I hoarded my allowance for months to buy a Gamegear, which my parents STILL don' t know I owned.

I' ve never done drugs, but I skipped school so much my senior year in highschool I almost didn' t graduate. Why? Street Fighter 2.

Games became my own little space. They were MY thing, and I' ve never let them go since.