Taps and clicks furiously produced by dancing and determined hands. Swarming keyboards and controllers alike. The room is captivated with an unbreaking focus. There are utterances of profanity every so often, and all the while there are the dead stares of tired eyes are fixated upon the flashing and humming monitor.
This is modern gaming.
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According to the gaming magazine Polygon, about 155 million Americans play video games regularly, and 80 percent of American households have a gaming console or computer. And in 2014 alone, American consumers spent over $22 billion on video games.
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For some, video games are and easy escape from the possibly mundane and repetitive nature everyday life, to a new fantastic world.
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In an interview in Forbes magazine, media developer Tobias Batton said, "Since films are not interactive, it can't play a role in that medium...there is no signal or reward, it's just sit-and-watch. This is the reason that games are better tools and [more] effective...The individual modifies the occurrence and form of his own behavior."
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Creating games involves building the world. From the alien landscapes of games such as Mass Effect and Destiny to the dystopian futures of Infamous and Call of Duty, the worlds are meant to transport the player to a new world with a new identity.
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Details make the video game's fantasy worlds almost life-like. With light casting shadows and the crunch of gravel under a character's feet, the world becomes more immersive than just colored pixels on a screen.
"You're in your own separate world and have no need to worry about stuff going on in your life," said junior Jonah Przybyszewski.
"It's easy to get into gaming, especially if [it's] something you enjoy. In books and movies, you're handed a story, in video games you get to control the story and its pacing. You get a sense of control and freedom."
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The freedoms and control given in video games are a dichotomy to the chaos in life. Life has its unexpected moments, yet video games offer freedom and control that aren't typically allowed in normal everyday life. Which is one of the many attraction video games offer to the consumer.
Video games have entered society and become part of the culture. According to the Huffington Post the American Pain Society found that video games had effective results in reducing anxiety or pain caused by medical procedures or chronic illness.
ESPN found that eSports competitions are larger than some regular sports tournaments. In 2016, the first place team in the Dota 2 International Tournament won $9.1 million. The prize greatly surpasses the 2015 Super Bowl's prize of $5.1 million. The eSports industry has become quite lucrative for both competitors and hosts, and competitions are being hosted at large venues, and even streamed online as well.
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'I think eSports will get much larger," said junior Timothy Chan. "It is quite large. During Counter Strike's most recent [championship], streamed on the ELEAGUE Twitch channel, it became the first channel to break one million concurrent viewers on Twitch. It is much smaller than regular sports such as football. Super Bowl 51 had an average audience of 111.3 million viewers, which is much larger than the current audiences for eSports."
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As videogames become intertwined with pastimes, affecting hobbies and culture, video games will also reciprocally be affected. When the games begin to affect culture, popular culture and events will begin to shape the video games as well.
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"The influence grows the longer you play, and the longer everyone else does," said freshman Shuaib Khan. "They aren't firmly rooted in popular culture now, but the influence will grow. Popular culture also somewhat affects video games, it can be hard to see, depending on the type of game it is easier or harder to see. Genres can reflect current happenings, and popular culture."
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For example, sports games like the NBA 2K franchise have examples of displaying real-life companies as "endorsements" in the game. The Gatorade logo is put on the character's outfits, and the playable character can get a Gatorade endorsement in the game.
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And with current events, games such as This War of Mine show the horrors of war through the perspective of those caught in the crossfire, which relates to the displacement of peoples and refugees an issue so prevalent in today's age
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Video games attract many for their offer of another world, a world of choices and freedoms not available in reality. Their popularity has blossomed into a competitive scene with new eSports, which is beginning to challenge already established sports. And their intertwining, reciprocal influence with culture has allowed them to make commentaries on the current state of the world.
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“Video Games’ offer a world of fiction, that can elaborate on the real world. Their ability to be an interactive story and competitive is what attracts so many,” said Przybyszewski.
