Imagine yourself back in the year 2000 and you’re playing on your old bulky desktop PC with your friends all crowd up and scooched over the only family PC in the household (online games and multiplayer features weren’t that much of a thing back then!). What were you playing? Was it the first and original The Sims? Or are you a bunch of dudes going gaga over Diablo II? 20 years ago, do you remember your younger self asking your friends for cheat codes or going over multiple forums and discussion boards looking for help on how to get past a certain level or procure a certain item?
Those were undeniably the early days of video games as a thriving subculture. We loved the arcades, the old PC games, the classic Nintendo consoles, and the simple gameplay, but of course, we wanted more. Remember back in the day when gamers and video game enthusiasts were besmirched and labeled as “geeks” who lack the ability to connect on a more social level? Ironically, we’ve put so many negative labels in the gaming community that each of us is actually somehow a part of. I mean, we’ve all been patronizing the latest technology in consoles and computers, we’ve all been lurkers in gaming forums, and we’ve all played Donkey Kong, Super Mario, Pac-Man, and all those oldies but goodies video games and yet the stigma then was so strong, right? But obviously, no matter what labels people put into it, gaming has slowly morphed its way to incorporate itself into our lives.
Thanks to technological advancements and the breakthrough of the Internet, we’re now enjoying video games more commonly than before. As a matter of fact, data from GamingScan show that 75% of US households own a gaming device with 60% of the American population playing on a daily basis. And more surprisingly, most gamers are not even from the Gen Z, in fact, the average age of most gamers is 34 years old.
As for others, perhaps video games serve as an integral part of their daily lives where they get to relax or unwind after a laborious day at work or at school or even use it as a springboard for their career as YouTubers, streamers, game developers, or professional gamers. Truly, from a mere form of entertainment for kids, video games have transitioned to a significant influence on modern popular culture moving intensely and more extensively in entertainment, education, and even in sports.
Entertainment
TV and Film
For a long time, video games simply took cues from existing TV shows and films and created game adaptations of popular TV shows and movie titles. Some examples are Spider-Man 2, the Batman series, Ghostbusters, Iron Man, and more. Although more often than not, fans are usually left exasperated with the lack of essential elements in the plot or gameplay that these games and movie adaptations weren’t able to capture from the original source material. But now, we’re seeing more and more TV series, programs, and films based on popular video games. Apart from hit films like Tomb Raider and Resident Evil comes Detective Pikachu and The Witcher which was recently released on Netflix.
This 2020, expect to see more shows based on your favorite games. According to Business Insider, some of the film adaptations we’re going to see this year are Sonic the Hedgehog, Uncharted, Minecraft the Movie, and Final Fantasy. Personally, we would also love to see The Last of Us and Dying Light on the big screen!
Music
For musicians, singers, and songwriters, video games have paved a new way for them to make and introduce their music to a different, unique, and more concentrated audience. In turn, music embedded in video games can have a much deeper emotional impact on users as they associate their gaming experience with the soundtracks. Some video game soundtracks that have been popularized are Pokemon’s OST, “May I? Stand Unshaken” from Red Dead Redemption, “Priscilla’s Song” from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and the instrumentals from Super Mario Bros., Tetris and more.
Education
If you’re a 90’s kid, you’re probably familiar with Jumpstart or if you haven’t played or heard of it before in school, I’m pretty sure you’re familiar with the games in Encarta and other multimedia encyclopedias that used to be popular back in the early 2000s. Apparently, studies show that children who immerse themselves in educational video games have proved to develop more advanced visual attention, visual-processing, and analytical skills than those who do not. The usage of video games in educational settings just proves how an interactive platform can help develop better academic aptitude. Gradually, educational institutions have begun to embrace video games as a supplementary tool for teaching and learning.
Sports
Gone are the days when gaming was only seen as a nuisance to career and academic achievements. Today, we’ve witnessed a lot of individuals amass thousands to millions of dollars from playing their favorite video games or competitively playing in international tournaments. Probably there’s no more prominent indication that the video game culture has begun to cement its place in mainstream media other than electronic sports.
“Should eSports be considered as a “sport” in itself?” is a question a lot of us have been asking. And although there are arguments that it should be classified differently from traditional physical sports, competitive gaming has nonetheless, sealed itself as a legitimate high school varsity sport in at least eight states in the US.
If you look at the numbers in 2019, global eSports already drew a whopping 454 million unique viewers. In the US, it is even predicted that by 2021, eSports will have a bigger audience than every professional sports league! Indeed, eSports is more than just a trend; and since it cuts through language and cultural barriers, we can surely look forward to more international media coverage as it goes further into the limelight and hit the much bigger global stage.
Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.
