Gaming is not for Geeks Anymore

Cultures are all around us and the ones which we choose to be a part of define us. One culture in particular has been under scrutiny for years, but has only recently has it been accepted as "normal" - Video Gaming. I have been involved in this ever changing culture since I was young and have been somewhat ostracized for the enjoyment I get out of it, but now my once guilty pleasure is finally being socially accepted.

Video gaming is a very young culture, from its dawn in 1971; it has been looked down upon as the culture of the nerd due to its reliance on new technology. However, video gaming is quickly coming into its own and has become a leading medium in the entertainment industry. Video gaming's evolution has come extremely quickly. From standing in front of a seven foot tall towering hulks of a machine in your local arcade, popping quarters into the new Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting, to laying on the couch yelling at your buddy through your wireless headset to cover that damn flag or else those Australian bastards will take the match, video gaming has had many forms.

My personal participation in video gaming as a culture has been bound in its community. Video gaming has always been my personal forum for engaging with friends and shedding all knowledge of the world, just a few hours, and enjoying being together. This leads right into my involvement in the media industry, I have chosen to become a video gaming journalist in order to help preserve this sense of togetherness that video gaming has brought to the world. To an extent it is a fabulous thing, someone in Canada can sit down and feel like they are in the same room as someone in Japan. However, this needs to be realized for what it is - a false sense of being - and a gamer should never lose their sense of reality, but if used carefully one can shed the burdens of reality for a moment then hop back in refreshed and ready to go.

So to everyone out there who looks down upon video gaming, I urge you to try before you buy and participate in the culture before you disregard it entirely.