THE LEAF | FRIDAY, SEPT. 29 | SHSLEAF.COM
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Gaming evolution
Stereotypes change with new generation Taylor Evans associate editor
Leah Wallihan staff writer
Nathan Zhang staff writer
Charles Harte staff writer
Esther Pittinger staff writer
V
ideo games are not what they used to be. Years ago, they were little white squares that moved around a black screen in order to hit a ball (really just another white square) from one side to another. Since then, they have evolved immensely. By playing video games nowadays, one can experience complicated storytelling, award winning musical scores, beautiful artwork and challenging puzzles all in one place. Games and characters take players on journeys through battlefields, various countries and even across galaxies.
People of all ages play video games. Children can use them to learn ABCs, while adults can use them to learn other languages. There are many genres, platforms and difficulty levels to choose from, so skill level and experience can be irrelevant. A term associated with people that play video games is “gamer.” But how does one determine whether they are a gamer or not? In a random survey around SHS, students admit to having played for hours every day, but they did not consider themselves gamers. However, others that did not even play three times a week did. So, how much time you spend playing does not matter. “[A gamer is] someone who plays video games frequently and is competitive in nature,” freshman Justin Miller said. Miller’s definition is applicable for some cases,
but many gamers are not competitive at all and only play for the sake of the game. So, how you play does not matter. One basic stereotype for a gamer is a heavyset, white male that plays first person shooters such as Call of Duty, but for every gamer that plays Call of Duty, there is another one that loves Super Mario Bros. So, what you play does not matter. At this point, there will be some confusion. How can being a gamer have nothing to do with what, how, or how often you play? It is because a gamer is not characterized by any of those things. A gamer does not play games to beat other people or to take out their anger on pixilated characters. They play out of appreciation for the piece that the developer has created, out of desire to experience something amazing that often times cannot be found in their everyday life.
THE LEAF | FRIDAY, SEPT. 29 | SHSLEAF.COM
By the Numbers: Video Games All images by Taylor Evans
4%
of main characters in top 25 selling video games of 2013 were female
$21.5
billion spent on video games, hardware, and accesories
18
War of the consoles
31
25%
under 18
49%
37
18-39
26%
over 50
65 gamers are female
138 million
65% of US homes play video games
Play Station 2s sold, making it is the best-selling console ever
average number of hours spent playing video games per week
Gamer age distribution
(sale units in millions)
2 out of 5
6
games of Super Mario Bros sold, making it the most successful game franchise
225 million
percentage of homes in New Zealand and Australia can be classified as “gaming households”
93%
source: daily infographic