An Introduction

My name is Kyle. I’m a student at Brock University at the age of 24. I think back on my life and I can scarcely remember a time when video games weren’t a part of it. My video gaming experience began with the Atari 2600. Since then I’ve owned an assortment of different gaming consoles and computers, all of which were capable of (and used for) playing video games.

My experience with video games seems relatively expansive. I can say that I’ve logged over 90 hours on a game within one week of its release. I’ve spent many nights awake trying to pass the final boss. Dad and I used to cruise through Mario 3 and test our skills in Tetris. I’ve never really had a favourite type of video game. If a game is intriguing, tests the mind, requires split second decisions and keeps the action up, I’ll get a kick out of it.

It’s only over the last few years that I’ve really began to question why it is I, and many others like me, get so much pleasure out of engaging video games, sometimes to the extent of living their lives through them. As video games become increasingly realistic, more involved and elaborate, the more people seem to gravitate towards them. Entire subcultures surrounding “gaming” have cropped up the world over. Online poker is the hottest new thing. World of Warcraft, Second Life, Ultima and Everquest are just a few of the virtual worlds that exist parallel to our reality. As time moves on, the stigma that video gamers used to have (that of the loner, anti-social type) is no longer applicable. Gamers come from almost every class and age bracket. Video games have become grossly popular, and to an extent I was there for its maturation to a dominant form of modern entertainment. This has always fostered in me a love for discussing the nature of video games and gaming culture.