Introduction

I have lots of gaming experience. Over the years, I have owned literally every game counsol starting from the year that the Sega Genisus and the nintendo came out until now with the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 game counsols. I find video games to be very fun. I mainly play video games when im with friends or i get a new challanging game such as Call of Duty or the new hot sports games like Madden 10 or NBA Live 10. I look at video games as entertainment and a good way to pass time. My passion is basketball. I remember when my father went out and bought me my first basketball game which was NBA Live 2001 and after I sat down and played that game for about thirty minutes I went outside in the backyard and began trying to do all of the moves that I was just doing in the game. I began playing online games when I entered Junior High School and I would always finish typing my essay's before everybody else in the class so I began playing games on the computer. I only allow myself to play video games for mayb thirty to fourty-five minutes a day then I end up doing more productive things such as running, lifting weights or working on my basketball skills. Video games have come a long way since the first game system I had.

Introduction

I was born in 1990, having two siblings much older than me growing up. A brother who was 8 years older than me and a sister who was 10 years older. My parents didn't have a lot of money to buy things for us, but they tried.

At the age of 8 my brother and sister passed down their Nintendo to me. I thought it was the greatest thing in the world! Then a couple years later my brother passed on his Sega to me also. As he did this he got the new game systems. You have to love brothers! Then I got his Nintendo 64, and I had a game boy color. For my birthday many years later I got a game cube. I enjoyed playing games, and it was something me and my siblings could do without getting in to a fight. Which was very rare.

Now me and my fiance have got a PlayStation 3, which i like but not as much as other game systems. I have on occasion liked watching my fiance play world of warcraft, but haven't really gotten in to it myself. I think playing video games, hasn't been a bad thing for my life, it was something fun to do when it was to bad to play outside, or you had no one to play with. I still enjoyed opening a book and other things. Video games didn't take up my whole life.

Introduction

I was not too interested in video games or computer games until around age 10. Up until then I enjoyed playing with Barbie dolls, reading books, or playing outside.

I guess I could say that peer pressure was most of the reason I begged my parents for a gaming system. Eventually they relented,and I received a cute pink GameBoy for Christmas.

In the past I used to read several books a week; after I received the GameBoy I spent most of my time absorbed with the games.

After a while my parents confiscated the thing, because they were worried about the effects of gaming and I was more absorbed in the virtual world than the real world.

I am not saying that gaming is inherently bad; I think we need to limit our use of games. Luckily, some companies such as Wii are inventing new games and gaming platforms (like Wii Fit) which are meant to encourage physical activity.

As Plato's essay indicated, people need distraction and a break from their actual reality- games can do this for us.

Introduction

My gaming experience isnt very experienced. As a kid I was more focused on playing with barbie's and baby dolls, but when my cousins came around with what I think was the original Nintendo with Super Mario bros. I would want to play so bad id cry until they gave in and let me play. I would play for about 30 min. and get bored and go do something else. Until the next time they came around at least. The next time i was interested in any game was when i was about seven and got the Play Station for christmas. When i first recieved the Play Station i played daily once my homework was done, until my partents would make me put it away. As time time passed and it started to warm up outside my attention started to shift, i started to focus more on going outside playing basketball out in the drive way swimming in the pool, and playing with friends, and less attention on the Game. It sat there collecting dust except for on the occasional rainy day until i was about ten. At that point i went over to a friends hows where he was playing Crash Bandicoot, and we sat there for hours playing, it came to the point where i desided that i NEEDED one for my Play Station. When i got my copy i played for weeks stright until my attention once again shifted. This time my attention shifter from the game to sports. From that time on my attention stayed concentrated mainly on sports and school except for the occasional playing of games. But for the most part i concentrated on what ever sport or sports ing depending on the season (Swimming, Hockey and Basketball, Track and Fiels). Even to this day im more conccentrated on other thing besides video games like school, family, basketball, and friends. although my focus is else where i do still enjoy playing some games, mainly the Wii. Video games have played the substitute roll in my life. When i could not participate in the activities i enjoyed the most I focused my attention on them (when the weather was bad, when I was injured or even when i could just not find anything else to do.)

Electronic Realities: From Pong to World of Warcraft

Welcome to HUM 104 Pop Culture. The focus of this course is analyzing the world of online gaming and the impacts on our society. This three week course will consist of: one week of researching different online worlds and the basic philosophical foundations behind experience, a second week of first-hand research based in game experience and observation, and a third week of drawing conclusions regarding the importance, impact, and future of online games in our society.

I am a member of the first generation of Americans raised in an electronic game culture. I was born in 1974 and remember playing Pong as a young child. As i aged and matured so did the games i played. My parents invested in a Tandy TRS-80 for my sister and i when i was in grade school and an Intellivision game system a year or two later. My friends were all playing Atari games during this time and admittedly i felt left out. In 1988 i received a Nintendo game system for Christmas. This was the best Christmas present i ever received or have received. By the time i was in high school and college i was busy chasing girls and had little times to play games but still managed to play Sony PlayStation with friends. After graduating from college and entering the work force i spent my hard earned money on and XBox game system. This thing was very different from my old Nintendo. In the years since i have built several computers for my self and my wife. When time allows we play World of Warcraft together. She enjoys the game at least as much as i do, although i suspect for different reasons. While i use the time as an escape, much like running which i also enjoy, my wife values the social interaction and time spent "doing something" together. Far from being a competitive experience she sees it as a collaborative one. But more on this later.

My purpose in presenting this is to highlight the importance electronic gaming has had on generations of Americans. Many of the formative experiences in my life have occurred in what might be termed "electronic realities" or at least in the presence of their influence. This has contributed to the person i am today and to how my children will be raised and in turn, my grandchildren.

My parents, both born in 1947, have an entirely different set of experiences growing up and have a hard time seeing the importance or relevance of electronic online games have for millions of people worldwide. This does not mean their perspective is wrong, or right, or better, or worse. It simply is a reflection of their reaction to a new world confronting them which is not a part of the world they "know".

Chances are that most of you were born after 1974 and have a similar set of experiences with electronic games. If you don't play them, you know someone who does. Regardless of when you were born i would like you to keep your mind open and refrain from judgment of others' experiences. We are entering this course together in an effort to answer questions and learn about the realities we all inhabit and that will continue to change and shape successive generations of people worldwide.

For Tuesday the 5th please read "Allegory of the Cave" by Plato.