The Community Of Gaming

I believe it was Christmas 2004, my sisters and I got the Nintendo Entertainment System. We spent a lot of time playing Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, Zelda, and many other games together, sharing a single screen. A couple years later, we got the Original Xbox, followed by the next three Xbox consoles over the past two decades. Somewhat unintentionally, each new Xbox console made my family play farther and farther apart.

Now, we all live quite a ways apart, but we often connect together online. While playing a game together, we hear each other through voice chat, and there is a physical aspect through interacting with each other inside the game.

Our go-to game is, “Minecraft.” A survival game where you can fight monsters, build houses, and everything is made up with blocks - similar to LEGO. No rules, no quests, no objectives, just playing and creating. We create our own little towns, plan our own exploration trips, and occasionally play our own “games-in-the-game.”

Another game I like to play online is Mario Kart. If you have not played Mario Kart, you really need to, it is a lot of fun. Online however, I can play with people from all around the world. There is no in game voice chat, so my mostly Japanese and Canadian opponents are fought while I only hear my own rage. I occasionally win... but those Canadians are very tough.

For my birthday last month, my friend Garry and I purchased a game called “Arma Reforger,” a mature rated first-person military simulator. Arma favors strategy and teamwork, rather than playing as a single competitive “Rambo-like” super soldier.

The first time the two of us played, we met another gamer who invited us to join his squad of other gamers. A couple weekends ago, Garry and I played with this squad made up of about 10 other players. It was one of the most exhilarating, entertaining, enjoyable gaming experiences I have had in almost 18 years of gaming.

This group of gamers were some of the kindest, welcoming, and fun individuals I have played. I have never been much of a “sports-ball” player, but I assume this is the same feeling as being a part of a great team. Now, we are not “Professionals” in the game at all, but we all worked together successfully towards a singular goal.

In the “mission” we played, there were many times we had to share equipment and supplies, and keep constant communication with each other.

At one point, everyone was traveling in between objectives. Garry said to another gamer, “Hey, I like your accent... but I can’t pinpoint where it is from.” The gamer said he was from New Zealand. Now, I have never left the country, and I don’t think I’ve met anyone from New Zealand, but I value the opportunity to meet good people from all over the world.

Personally, gaming is not about being the best, having the most wins, or getting mad and throwing controllers across the room. I just enjoy having fun with people.