Writers Journal #2 Competitive Gaming
Competitive Gaming
I am part of many communities, I work at a busy shopping mall, I work for Starbucks and I live in the dense Metro Denver area. I also play video games as does most people of my generation, some of them I play very competitively. This will be the subject of this essay, not playing video games in general, but playing them competitively and what that means for the culture surrounding playing games.
Competitive gaming is a broad term as I found out through the interviews I did, there seems to be many different ideas on what gaming competitively actually is. Competitive as defined by the Cambridge Dictionary is ”eager to do better than others in an activity, esp. trying to win in a sports activity” and gaming is defined as “the activity of playing games on computers and other electronic devices.” The combination of the two definitions to me means the idea of performing better than another in a video game medium. That’s how I see competitive gaming personally. Gaming itself a broad term as well, many people who like playing games won’t even put themselves in this community purely because of the other people in it. They don’t want to be lumped into a such a huge group of people in fear of being compared to someone they don’t want to be compared to, some people just don’t play video games because they think it’s a waste of time. I think this opinion is also very valid even though I disagree with it.
To understand what competitive gaming is I went to a local bar/arcade that hosts fighting game tournaments. My friend Chris introduced me to this establishment around 2 years ago and now his girlfriend works there as a bartender and I go there every now and then. This barricade is called Akihabara, it is centered around Anime, and Japanese video game culture in general, but their main market is fighting games and hosting tournaments relating to that. Akihabara named after an area in Japan located in Tokyo, the name is mostly a play on the word bar in Akihabara. I conducted my field notes assigned to me in the local arcade. I thought the tone of the place was generally upbeat, they were playing loud music and there were many screens with games playing on them. You could hear screams of someone losing at his favorite game in the corner while you could hear screams of victory from his opponent. This is the general idea of competitive gaming I thought. I wasn’t there for a night where they hosted a fighting game tournament unfortunately, but I could still feel a sense of competition in the air. There is a whole room dedicated to the fighting games of Akihabara, this is where the tournaments are held.
There were many kinds of people at this bar and were part of the competitive gaming culture. There were varying kinds of people from people in their early to late teens to people in their 40s to 50s. People go to Akihabara that like anime, like video games, and just anybody who likes Japanese culture in general. They have cheap games and a pretty well stocked bar, they import some of the alcohol they get, but that just means it’s a little more expensive. I didn’t spend much time at Akihabara this last time, I quickly made my field notes, then played the racing game Initial D with my friend then promptly left.
The interviews I conducted were half done in person and half done over the voice chat application discord. I found that many consider themselves competitive gamers even when I didn’t consider them to be very competitive people. There was one person “Gen” who said that they didn’t consider themselves a competitive person even though she had played games competitively before, and that surprised me. This particular person doesn’t consider themselves a gamer in general and that was when it made sense to me, she doesn’t hate games, but gets really bad vertigo and a general sense of nausea when playing most games.
The first person I interviewed “Nathan” felt like gaming should be more of a sport and is mostly interested in games that he can compete in. He feels like schools should offer competitive gaming courses and doesn’t like how it isn’t as popular as it is nowadays. He wishes that there was an easier way of getting into professional gaming. Another person “Lucas” considers themselves more of a “casual gamer”, but puts themselves well into the competitive gaming culture, as they compete in games such as Overwatch. He likes the teamwork of competitive games and the rewards and friends he gets from being a part of the community, but doesn’t like how serious people take it and doesn’t like the general immaturity. I then asked if he considers competitive gaming a sport. He said yes games can be a sport, but that does not make people who compete in competitive games, athletes.
I called my friend “Paige” for some of her input about how she feels about the topic. She is new to the competitive gaming culture via fighting games, she really likes that she has a support system, someone who is there for you and to give advice about how to play the game better. She didn’t realize that people really competed in fighting games as much as they did, so she never really sought it out and never thought the tournament aspect. The biggest plus for continuing her fighting game competing is the community and learning about gaming logistics. She really likes puzzle games and sees fighting games as “a puzzle game in live action.” She doesn’t like that there is a big learning curve though, but really likes the general community and has no plans on stopping.
The culture of competitive gaming seems to be varied where one person only plays games competitively and wants it to be as close to a sport as possible, another person would shun that idea, saying that they don’t like the toxicity of it all and would prefer a more mellow experience. I lie in the latter half, I like to play games more casually I’d say. I really like the stories that video games can make, not just written stories, but stories with how the mechanics of how the game is played. I like to find games that use a unique gameplay twist and I don’t really stick to one game for a very long time. I have played games competitively in the past though. I was in the top 25 best players in the nation in the game Metal Gear Online 3 and I consider it the game I was most competitive in. I was also into Overwatch for around a year and experienced why people consider it to be a competitive game. Now I invest my time in ventures that will be worth it to me in the long run, like smaller indie games and games that help me learn a specific video game engine or to play with friends.
In conclusion, competitive gaming is a varied topic and I assume you have your own opinion on the topic and what competitive gaming means to you. I hope this either cements your opinion or makes you think about people who play video games competitively or just people who play video games in general differently. There are many different kinds of people that play video games and not one of them are exactly 100% the same.
Citations
“Meaning of Competitive in English.” Cambridge Dictionary, dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/competitive.
“Meaning of Gaming in English.” Cambridge Dictionary, dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/gaming?q=gaming .
Joost, and Joost. “Esports Governance and Its Failures – Joost – Medium.” Medium.com, Medium, 16 Oct. 2017, medium.com/@heyimJoost/esports-governance-and-its-failures-9ac7b3ec37ea.
“Akihabara Arcade Akihabara Arcade.” Akihabara Arcade, www.akihabaraarcade.com/.
I am part of many communities, I work at a busy shopping mall, I work for Starbucks and I live in the dense Metro Denver area. I also play video games as does most people of my generation, some of them I play very competitively. This will be the subject of this essay, not playing video games in general, but playing them competitively and what that means for the culture surrounding playing games.
Competitive gaming is a broad term as I found out through the interviews I did, there seems to be many different ideas on what gaming competitively actually is. Competitive as defined by the Cambridge Dictionary is ”eager to do better than others in an activity, esp. trying to win in a sports activity” and gaming is defined as “the activity of playing games on computers and other electronic devices.” The combination of the two definitions to me means the idea of performing better than another in a video game medium. That’s how I see competitive gaming personally. Gaming itself a broad term as well, many people who like playing games won’t even put themselves in this community purely because of the other people in it. They don’t want to be lumped into a such a huge group of people in fear of being compared to someone they don’t want to be compared to, some people just don’t play video games because they think it’s a waste of time. I think this opinion is also very valid even though I disagree with it.
To understand what competitive gaming is I went to a local bar/arcade that hosts fighting game tournaments. My friend Chris introduced me to this establishment around 2 years ago and now his girlfriend works there as a bartender and I go there every now and then. This barricade is called Akihabara, it is centered around Anime, and Japanese video game culture in general, but their main market is fighting games and hosting tournaments relating to that. Akihabara named after an area in Japan located in Tokyo, the name is mostly a play on the word bar in Akihabara. I conducted my field notes assigned to me in the local arcade. I thought the tone of the place was generally upbeat, they were playing loud music and there were many screens with games playing on them. You could hear screams of someone losing at his favorite game in the corner while you could hear screams of victory from his opponent. This is the general idea of competitive gaming I thought. I wasn’t there for a night where they hosted a fighting game tournament unfortunately, but I could still feel a sense of competition in the air. There is a whole room dedicated to the fighting games of Akihabara, this is where the tournaments are held.
There were many kinds of people at this bar and were part of the competitive gaming culture. There were varying kinds of people from people in their early to late teens to people in their 40s to 50s. People go to Akihabara that like anime, like video games, and just anybody who likes Japanese culture in general. They have cheap games and a pretty well stocked bar, they import some of the alcohol they get, but that just means it’s a little more expensive. I didn’t spend much time at Akihabara this last time, I quickly made my field notes, then played the racing game Initial D with my friend then promptly left.
The interviews I conducted were half done in person and half done over the voice chat application discord. I found that many consider themselves competitive gamers even when I didn’t consider them to be very competitive people. There was one person “Gen” who said that they didn’t consider themselves a competitive person even though she had played games competitively before, and that surprised me. This particular person doesn’t consider themselves a gamer in general and that was when it made sense to me, she doesn’t hate games, but gets really bad vertigo and a general sense of nausea when playing most games.
The first person I interviewed “Nathan” felt like gaming should be more of a sport and is mostly interested in games that he can compete in. He feels like schools should offer competitive gaming courses and doesn’t like how it isn’t as popular as it is nowadays. He wishes that there was an easier way of getting into professional gaming. Another person “Lucas” considers themselves more of a “casual gamer”, but puts themselves well into the competitive gaming culture, as they compete in games such as Overwatch. He likes the teamwork of competitive games and the rewards and friends he gets from being a part of the community, but doesn’t like how serious people take it and doesn’t like the general immaturity. I then asked if he considers competitive gaming a sport. He said yes games can be a sport, but that does not make people who compete in competitive games, athletes.
I called my friend “Paige” for some of her input about how she feels about the topic. She is new to the competitive gaming culture via fighting games, she really likes that she has a support system, someone who is there for you and to give advice about how to play the game better. She didn’t realize that people really competed in fighting games as much as they did, so she never really sought it out and never thought the tournament aspect. The biggest plus for continuing her fighting game competing is the community and learning about gaming logistics. She really likes puzzle games and sees fighting games as “a puzzle game in live action.” She doesn’t like that there is a big learning curve though, but really likes the general community and has no plans on stopping.
The culture of competitive gaming seems to be varied where one person only plays games competitively and wants it to be as close to a sport as possible, another person would shun that idea, saying that they don’t like the toxicity of it all and would prefer a more mellow experience. I lie in the latter half, I like to play games more casually I’d say. I really like the stories that video games can make, not just written stories, but stories with how the mechanics of how the game is played. I like to find games that use a unique gameplay twist and I don’t really stick to one game for a very long time. I have played games competitively in the past though. I was in the top 25 best players in the nation in the game Metal Gear Online 3 and I consider it the game I was most competitive in. I was also into Overwatch for around a year and experienced why people consider it to be a competitive game. Now I invest my time in ventures that will be worth it to me in the long run, like smaller indie games and games that help me learn a specific video game engine or to play with friends.
In conclusion, competitive gaming is a varied topic and I assume you have your own opinion on the topic and what competitive gaming means to you. I hope this either cements your opinion or makes you think about people who play video games competitively or just people who play video games in general differently. There are many different kinds of people that play video games and not one of them are exactly 100% the same.
Citations
“Meaning of Competitive in English.” Cambridge Dictionary, dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/competitive.
“Meaning of Gaming in English.” Cambridge Dictionary, dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/gaming?q=gaming .
Joost, and Joost. “Esports Governance and Its Failures – Joost – Medium.” Medium.com, Medium, 16 Oct. 2017, medium.com/@heyimJoost/esports-governance-and-its-failures-9ac7b3ec37ea.
“Akihabara Arcade Akihabara Arcade.” Akihabara Arcade, www.akihabaraarcade.com/.
Rough Draft
I am part of many communities, I work at a busy shopping mall, I work for Starbucks and I live in the dense Metro Denver area. I also play video games as does most people of my generation, some of them I play very competitively. This will be the subject of this essay, not playing video games in general, but playing them competitively and what that means for the culture surrounding playing games.
Competitive gaming is a broad term as I found out through the interviews I did, there seems to be many different ideas on what gaming competitively actually is. Competitive as defined by the Cambridge Dictionary is ”eager to do better than others in an activity, esp. trying to win in a sports activity” and gaming is defined as “the activity of playing games on computers and other electronic devices.” The combination of the two definitions to me means the idea of performing better than another in a video game medium. That’s how I see competitive gaming personally.
To understand what competitive gaming is I went to a local bar/arcade that hosts fighting game tournaments. My friend Chris introduced me to this establishment around 2 years ago and now his girlfriend works there as a bartender and I go there every now and then. This barcade is called Akihabara it is centered around Anime and Japanese video game culture in general, but their main market is fighting games and hosting tournaments relating to that. Akihabara named after an area in Japan located in Tokyo, the name is mostly a play on the word bar in Akihabara. I conducted my field notes assigned to me in the local arcade. I thought the tone of the place was generally upbeat, they were playing loud music and there were many screens with games playing on them. You could hear screams of someone losing at his favorite game in the corner while you could hear screams of victory from his opponent. This is the general idea of competitive gaming I thought. I wasn’t there for a night where they hosted a fighting game tournament unfortunately, but I could still feel a sense of competition in the air. There is a whole room dedicated to the fighting games of Akihabara, this is where the tournaments are held.
There were many kinds of people at this bar and were part of the competitive gaming culture. There were varying kinds of people from people in their early to late teens to people in their 40s to 50s. People go to Akihabara that like anime, like video games, and just anybody who likes Japanese culture in general. They have cheap games and a pretty well stocked bar, they import some of the alcohol they get, but that just means they charge it for more than it would be overseas. I didn’t spend much time at Akihabara this last time, I quickly did my field notes then played the racing game Initial D with my friend then promptly left.
The interviews I conducted were half done in person and half done over the voice chat application discord. I found that many consider themselves competitive gamers even when I didn’t consider them to be very competitive people. There was one person “Gen” who said that they didn’t consider themselves a competitive person even though she had played games competitively before, and that surprised me. This particular person doesn’t consider themselves a gamer in general and that was when it made sense to me, she doesn’t hate games, but gets really bad vertigo and a general sense of nausea when playing most games.
The first person I interviewed “Nathan” felt like gaming should be more of a sport and is mostly interested in games that he can compete in. He feels like schools should offer competitive gaming courses and doesn’t like how it isn’t as popular as it is nowadays. He wishes that there was an easier way of getting into professional gaming. Another person “Lucas” considers themselves more of a “casual gamer”, but puts themselves well into the competitive gaming culture, as they compete in games such as Overwatch. He likes the teamwork of competitive games and the rewards and friends he gets from being a part of the community, but doesn’t like how serious people take it and doesn’t like the general immaturity. I then asked if he considers competitive gaming a sport. He said yes games can be a sport, but that does not make people who compete in competitive games, athletes.
I called my friend “Paige” for some of her input about how she feels about the topic. She is new to the competitive gaming culture via fighting games, she really likes that she has a support system, someone who is there for you and to give advice about how to play the game better. She didn’t realize that people really competed in fighting games as much as they did, so she never really sought it out and never thought the tournament aspect. The biggest plus for continuing her fighting game competing is the community and learning about gaming logistics. She really likes puzzle games and sees fighting games as “a puzzle game in live action.” She doesn’t like that there is a big learning curve though, but really likes the general community and has no plans on stopping.
The culture of competitive gaming seems to be varied where one person only plays games competitively and wants it to be as close to a sport as possible, another person would shun that idea saying that they don’t like the toxicity of it all and would prefer a more mellow experience. I lie in the latter half, I like to play games more casually I’d say. I really like the stories that videogames can make, not just written stories, but stories with how the mechanics of how the game is played. I like to find games that you unique gameplay wise and I don’t really stick to one game for a very long time. I have played games competitively in the past though. I was in the top 25 best players in the nation in the game Metal Gear Online 3 and I consider it the game I was most competitive in. I was also into Overwatch for around a year and experienced why people consider it to be a competitive game. Now I invest my time in ventures that will be worth it to me in the long run, like smaller indie games and games that help me learn a specific video game engine.
In conclusion competitive gaming is a varied topic and I assume you have your own opinion on the topic and what competitive gaming means to you. I hope this either cements your opinion or makes you think about people who play video games competitively or just people who play video games in general differently. There are many different kinds of people that play video games and not one of them are exactly 100% the same.
Citations
“Meaning of Competitive in English.” Cambridge Dictionary, dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/competitive.
“Meaning of Gaming in English.” Cambridge Dictionary, dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/gaming?q=gaming .
Joost, and Joost. “Esports Governance and Its Failures – Joost – Medium.” Medium.com, Medium, 16 Oct. 2017, medium.com/@heyimJoost/esports-governance-and-its-failures-9ac7b3ec37ea.
“Akihabara Arcade Akihabara Arcade.” Akihabara Arcade, www.akihabaraarcade.com/.