The Fellowship of the Game
My inner life has always been filled with fantasy. My obsession with what could be; what might exist beyond the finite realm of perceived reality was first sparked when my father began reading Tolkien to me at bedtime. Many authors followed, and their visionary imaginations guided me to conceive of worlds beyond the scope of what was, to -what might be. Passive diversions, like reading books, and watching television allowed me to experience a reality beyond my conscious perception… Then, one day, I discovered my boyhood Arcadia –the gaming arcade. Suddenly, my imagination and appetite for adventure were piqued by a new medium of fantasy fulfillment, the video game, which ushered in an entirely new facet …show more content…
The community engendered by arcade culture played such a significant formative role in my life. Yet, I welcomed the enriched experience that personal gaming consoles introduced. My personal gaming console allowed me to play in shuttered comfort. I could now play video games according to my schedule, no longer within business hours. I could play for any duration of time I wished, no more queuing up for playtime and no need to consider anyone else’s concerns. However, as the patina of novelty gradually mellowed, I became aware of something else, something that was altogether unpleasant. A void? That indescribable feeling that can only be likened to a nagging craving that leaves one, somehow unsatisfied. Gaming, which had once been a favorite pastime, spent in the company of friends, now left me feeling, …show more content…
McLuhan’s concept of a “global village”, a world of collective consciousness brought about by communication technology, was still in its nascency. Achieving collective consciousness required the rubbing of many shoulders.[does this double entendre work/translate?] As such, I believe my arcade was a prototype, (one of many), of McLuhan’s vision of the future. When I entered the arcade arena, I stepped into a synergistic, semi-virtual world and communed with its congregation of members. Interacting socially, on a face-to-face basis was de rigeur in my day. We had no internet; mobile phones were the size of breadboxes, and having “information at your fingertips” was a slogan of the Yellow Pages. I was well out of high school before the internet took its first steps; and have never quite trusted, or embraced the outsourcing of human relationships to the nebulous network that is social media. However, the new direction in gaming, the online multiplayer format, that many game franchises are adopting, (while abandoning their single player babies), holds great intrigue for me. I can connect with friends, make new ones, and connect with a multitude of gamers worldwide, every time I log into the simulated world of a video game. In fact, interactions between gamers are enhanced; cooperative collaboration is not simply encouraged by many scenarios in online
My inner life has always been filled with fantasy. My obsession with what could be; what might exist beyond the finite realm of perceived reality was first sparked when my father began reading Tolkien to me at bedtime. Many authors followed, and their visionary imaginations guided me to conceive of worlds beyond the scope of what was, to -what might be. Passive diversions, like reading books, and watching television allowed me to experience a reality beyond my conscious perception… Then, one day, I discovered my boyhood Arcadia –the gaming arcade. Suddenly, my imagination and appetite for adventure were piqued by a new medium of fantasy fulfillment, the video game, which ushered in an entirely new facet …show more content…
The community engendered by arcade culture played such a significant formative role in my life. Yet, I welcomed the enriched experience that personal gaming consoles introduced. My personal gaming console allowed me to play in shuttered comfort. I could now play video games according to my schedule, no longer within business hours. I could play for any duration of time I wished, no more queuing up for playtime and no need to consider anyone else’s concerns. However, as the patina of novelty gradually mellowed, I became aware of something else, something that was altogether unpleasant. A void? That indescribable feeling that can only be likened to a nagging craving that leaves one, somehow unsatisfied. Gaming, which had once been a favorite pastime, spent in the company of friends, now left me feeling, …show more content…
McLuhan’s concept of a “global village”, a world of collective consciousness brought about by communication technology, was still in its nascency. Achieving collective consciousness required the rubbing of many shoulders.[does this double entendre work/translate?] As such, I believe my arcade was a prototype, (one of many), of McLuhan’s vision of the future. When I entered the arcade arena, I stepped into a synergistic, semi-virtual world and communed with its congregation of members. Interacting socially, on a face-to-face basis was de rigeur in my day. We had no internet; mobile phones were the size of breadboxes, and having “information at your fingertips” was a slogan of the Yellow Pages. I was well out of high school before the internet took its first steps; and have never quite trusted, or embraced the outsourcing of human relationships to the nebulous network that is social media. However, the new direction in gaming, the online multiplayer format, that many game franchises are adopting, (while abandoning their single player babies), holds great intrigue for me. I can connect with friends, make new ones, and connect with a multitude of gamers worldwide, every time I log into the simulated world of a video game. In fact, interactions between gamers are enhanced; cooperative collaboration is not simply encouraged by many scenarios in online