Why do we invest so much time and money into the 360?

"To explore strange new worlds... To seek out new life; new civilisations... To boldly go where no one has gone before!"

That's why I play. To explore worlds and environments I've never been to. It's the sense of adventure I love.

It's a hobby for me. People invest their time and money into all kinds of hobbies. Some people see gaming as childish, but I don't see how there's any more redeeming value in fishing or golf than in 3D shooters.

So there. It's a hobby, just like any other, something you do in your spare time that you enjoy.

It's a hobby.Palantas

As to why I picked this particular hobby, there are three reasons I've come up with.

First, gaming offers a sense of accomplishment. Achieving a task through clever thinking, strategy, or manual dexterity makes you feel good about yourself. People like puzzles (Sudoku anyone?) and people like solving them. It's part of human nature to want to figure something out. Gaming offers this in a variety of forms, from figuring out which switches to throw in what order in Doom, to creating the right variety of units to crush the Zerg, to figuring out how the h**** I get way up to that platform with my Aperture Sciences portal gun.

Gaming also satisfies the natural desire to compete and win. Evolution (or God, whatever) demands that everything be competitive to survive. Most people in advanced countries don't have much trouble surviving, so we invent things in which to compete. It's natural. In gaming, you get to fight and win. The vast majority of games literally involve combat, whether it's with swords, guns, or swordguns (?) that you use personally, or huge armies fighting that you command. Even a simple game like Pacman involves survival and violence (you f***ing eat the ghosts!). Now we have every shooter out there with very cunning and realistic enemies to kill.

Finally, games more and more have a story to tell. It's not a "game" anymore; it's a "work of interactive fiction." People have always liked stories. Look at caveman sketches if you need evidence. In games, you have a story, but it's a story in which you're directly involved, one in which you're almost always extremely important, and sometimes one that's actually all about you, as the player. You can watch a big budget action movie, but then you can actually go and be Master Chief or Marcus Fenix. You can read an epic novel, but then you can go and be Commander Shepherd. In this last sense, I think more and more people, especially in the academic community, are beginning to see the import of gaming as a new form of art and culture.

To sum all that up if you didn't feel like reading it: Games are fun

Wow Palantas... That was beautiful...
Fredrick2003x

Wow Palantas... That was beautiful...
Fredrick2003x

Yeah, I'm getting all teary-eyed over here with myself. It's screwing up my deathmatching.

It's a hobby for me. People invest their time and money into all kinds of hobbies. Some people see gaming as childish, but I don't see how there's any more redeeming value in fishing or golf than in 3D shooters.

So there. It's a hobby, just like any other, something you do in your spare time that you enjoy.

Palantas

well some people would argue that u need a lot muscle to play golf, somewhat true but i dont think so. but yea i agree, its not childish

well some people would argue that u need a lot muscle to play golf, somewhat true but i dont think so. but yea i agree, its not childishpygmahia5

People arguing that you need a lot of muscle to play good golf would be largely wrong. From my experience, I played much better golf when I was a skinny kid in high school than I do now when I'm in the Army and pretty fit. I intentionally picked activities that have little redeeming value: fishing and golf. You don't have to be in great shape to play golf. H***, that's why it's so popular amongst the elderly.

And fishing? You just need...patience I guess. Talk about a grind. Fishing: The ultimate MMO.

http://www.purepwnage.com/

Read: February 3rd, 2008 03:36 PM EDT

Article name: "I Own Noobs"

By: Jarett

It's right on the front page. Big, big article explaining exactly why.

It's art.

I play video games because they are fun.

/thread

[QUOTE="pygmahia5"]well some people would argue that u need a lot muscle to play golf, somewhat true but i dont think so. but yea i agree, its not childishPalantas

People arguing that you need a lot of muscle to play good golf would be largely wrong. From my experience, I played much better golf when I was a skinny kid in high school than I do now when I'm in the Army and pretty fit. I intentionally picked activities that have little redeeming value: fishing and golf. You don't have to be in great shape to play golf. H***, that's why it's so popular amongst the elderly.

And fishing? You just need...patience I guess. Talk about a grind. Fishing: The ultimate MMO.

hahaha true, my history teacher is soooo full of himself and hes always talkin about golf and how strong he is and crap. pisses me off tbh, hes like 37. just made me think about it lol. but yea ur right

it's a hobby. Many people think that it's just a game so it's stupid, but is collecting cards or building model airplanes any more productive?mohfrontline

It's a hobby for me. People invest their time and money into all kinds of hobbies. Some people see gaming as childish, but I don't see how there's any more redeeming value in fishing or golf than in 3D shooters.

So there. It's a hobby, just like any other, something you do in your spare time that you enjoy.

Palantas

I hear ya brotha. Some people do see gaming as childish. I beg to differ. Gaming is a life s.t.y.l.e. Whether people believe it or not. There's an industry with logos of your favorite franchise and painted faces of your favorite video game character. People forget that most of the people creating these video games are actually grown adults, some in their 50's to retirement age. And I'm not surprised because gaming is truly incredible in every way. Where else can you escape to a jungle battling dinosaurs, or fending off mad zombies because of a lab experiment gone wrong, and where else can you jump off a 300 foot tower and land perfectly into a wagon of hay. Not to mention aliens taking over your planet?! The possibilities are endless, and reitirrated themes never get old if well done. I was gaming since I was six-years-old. You could say that I consider myself a hardcore gamer, maybe a little fanatical. Some people may say we're geeks. But I think we have an inner geek in all of us. At least I do. Invest is the right word. It's definitely worth all the money I invested into Xbox 360 and video games in general. I'll always be a gamer, because I'll always be a big kid at heart. At least for now. :)

It's the #2 stress reliever. #1 is what you surfed for right before you came to this site (you feel great don't you? Besides the calusis). Rip guys lift weights after they're done with the #1 ranked stress reliever, we play X.

I love video games! Been playing since Atari 2600. Everytime I get a new game its like Christmas all over. If it wasn't the 360 it would be some other console.

.

I play them as a hobby as well. I dont see why some many people see gaming as something for kids. I had this conversation at work with someone last week.

I had just got Madden 08 on my break and he said "Come on your 22 and you still play games, aren't you a bit old to be doing something so childish". I just told him its a hobby and the truth is that the average age of a gamer is 20+ and also pointed out the clear fact that if it was for kids why do developers make games with 18 rating (everyone seems to miss that)

I've been playing games since I got hooked on my first console the good old Master System and I've been playing and collecting games since then.

The reason I do this for a hobby is that its something thats kept my attention. I have done sports like Football, Skateboarding and Street Hockey, but I guess I got bored with them as you feel like you've hit the best you can get at them and you wont improve any further. But with gaming once you feel you've hit your best on a game there's always another game released which offers a new challenge, so it's sort of an endless cycle.

I had just got Madden 08 on my break and he said "Come on your 22 and you still play games, aren't you a bit old to be doing something so childish". I just told him its a hobby and the truth is that the average age of a gamer is 20+ and also pointed out the clear fact that if it was for kids why do developers make games with 18 rating (everyone seems to miss that)

agentluap

I believe this is an example of what many of us must deal with from our peers as an older generation within the gaming community. They do not understand our interest in what seemingly has been deemed a juvenile activity. When a speak with friends or family about my hobby with gaming, I still get those "Are you kidding me?" statements...sighs!MsCortana

This colonel I work with thinks gaming's a waste of time. His hobbies include Civil War re-enactment (and I am not kidding). So he goes to Gettysburg or wherever and pretends to be in a battle for fun. I put in Rainbow Six or Gears of War and...pretend to be in a battle for fun. I don't see a difference.

Older people especially just don't understand gaming. They think Pong or something, and think it's just for kids. They don't understand how much it's grown up. I read an article in Esquire (I think) calling gaming the rock 'n roll of our generation. It's a new form of art and cultural identity that the previous generation just doesn't get.

Gaming's mostly a hobby, but there's a lot of breadth in the gaming experience. There are stories in RPGs that contain epic plots and deep characters comparable to any novel. There's history in games. There's a whole slew of kids out there who know all about Roman and medieval warfare from playing the Total War series. There's all sorts of practical knowledge in games too. When I joined the Army, I knew the difference between a submachine gun, an assault rifle, and a machinegun, all from playing shooters. As a hobby, gaming's a pretty good one. Gaming only becomes a problem when it creates fat, pasty kids, but a lot of things other than computer games can do that. "Fat" and "pasty" doesn't even describe most gamers anyway.

People need to get their heads out of their a**es and realize that gaming is a modern, relevant, cultural medium. I would think that a game (Halo) making more money than any movies released in the same year would do that, but I guess not.

Because people are drawn to consumerism. Though it gives you something to do, in the end you dont get anything, which makes games a waste of money and time. its really just something you hate to love..mr_zombie60

thats the worst description of gaming ive ever heard. worse than the kids playing just for a lame ass number next to their name.(you knowwhat i mean, buying even crappy games to get more achievements)

you should play for fun, and i dont believe you mr zombie, if you had no fun and its just a waste of money and time i dont think you would play.

I play because games allow me to do things that I could not otherwise.

Also gaming is fun.

Escapism. Real life sucks.pinionxl

this dude knows.

[QUOTE="pinionxl"]Escapism. Real life sucks.cheames748

this dude knows.

Not for me. I'm extremely pleased with myself and life in general. Gaming just makes it better.

[QUOTE="cheames748"]

[QUOTE="pinionxl"]Escapism. Real life sucks.Palantas

this dude knows.

Not for me. I'm extremely pleased with myself and life in general. Gaming just makes it better.

This is a very good and interesting forum topic you created MsCortana. Also, there are some really good answers from everyone posting on this subject.

I, like many others, play for fun. It's true, gaming is like a hobby. Some people collect dvds, antiques, action figures, and so on; but us gamers collect games. We've really come a long ways from games like Pong to the games we have now.

We invest so much time and money into the 360 because it's something we're passoinate about (playing various games). Take golf for example. People that are passionate about golf invest their money in golf clubs, a golf bag, golf shoes, golf balls and tees, and perhaps even a golf cart (similar to our investments in different systems, controllers, and memory cards). Golfers may even go to other golfers for advice and help to improve their game (very similar to gaming; checking out a walkthrough or seeking strategy for a boss fight). As a golfer, you always try to find a way to become better and/or to learn new things (self-explanatory).

I enjoy the challenge videogames give us. Anyone that's good at something does it for their own self-approval; not someone else's. We play these videogames because we choose to. We find it appealing and satisfying. I agree with a lot of people's reasons why we play these games. There is no one sole reason, but many reasons why we play and why we invest so much money for something so rewarding for us.

I just play for fun. Only games I get serious about is when i play Madden, NHL, and Fight Nights with my friends. I bought Halo 3 Beat it, and I only play it when friends are over, I hate playing online, I will only play once and a while. I bought Guitar Hero, and I obviously know most people will be better than me, but I just play it becasue its fun. Buy a Wii, they are so fun. I play when I'm bored and when friends are near, and sometimes I won't play my games for weeks.

Escapism. Real life sucks.pinionxl

Took the words from my mouth!

This is a very good and interesting forum topic you created MsCortana. Also, there are some really good answers from everyone posting on this subject.

I, like many others, play for fun. It's true, gaming is like a hobby. Some people collect dvds, antiques, action figures, and so on; but us gamers collect games. We've really come a long ways from games like Pong to the games we have now.

We invest so much time and money into the 360 because it's something we're passoinate about (playing various games). Take golf for example. People that are passionate about golf invest their money in golf clubs, a golf bag, golf shoes, golf balls and tees, and perhaps even a golf cart (similar to our investments in different systems, controllers, and memory cards). Golfers may even go to other golfers for advice and help to improve their game (very similar to gaming; checking out a walkthrough or seeking strategy for a boss fight). As a golfer, you always try to find a way to become better and/or to learn new things (self-explanatory).

I enjoy the challenge videogames give us. Anyone that's good at something does it for their own self-approval; not someone else's. We play these videogames because we choose to. We find it appealing and satisfying. I agree with a lot of people's reasons why we play these games. There is no one sole reason, but many reasons why we play and why we invest so much money for something so rewarding for us.

gr8scott