Abyssal Pixels: In Celebration Of Gaming

You know what, I don’t even care anymore about this whole “Gamergate” thing and all of the fighting and bullshit going on in InternetLand. I could use this tragedy of human intelligence and make some opinion about it, but really, there’s so many opinions out there about it that my voice will be drowned out in a matter of seconds. Want my opinion so badly? Gamers aren’t the only ones that can be complete assholes. Assholes exist everywhere and the world is full of them. You cannot stop people from being assholes because it’s an inevitability just like death and Buzzfeed doing lists about your penis. All we can do about these assholes is to not give them attention and boy have they received a lot over this whole debacle. It must be a troll’s Christmas right now. I’ve said it many times before, but I’ll say it again. These assholes are not us, simple as that. There, that’s my opinion on all of this. What I rather want to do is give gaming a little credibility back. Celebrate gaming and all of its glory because it has pretty much saved my life.

I’ve been going through some tough times recently (again) and something that has kept me afloat and willing to live life has been games. More specifically, Persona 4 Golden. Persona 4 is my crack and I will never stop loving it and I’ll always be thankful for the experiences it has given me. It’s like having virtual friends and living a life away from all of the hardship. It helped me figure out some stuff in my own life and while watching all of these characters going through their own hardships and persevering, I have gained some personal strength of my own.

It has given me happiness in times where I believed that all hope was lost. This is why I love gaming and this why gaming will always be special to me, no matter how cynical and deplorable the gaming industry and community can become. It’s important to remember the good times that gaming can provide for us. Barring the whole sobstrory above, games can just be fun and give us some happiness in our lives. And that’s what life is all about, getting as much happiness as you possibly can. I hate seeing these people on the internet for adding hatred to a hobby that’s all about joy. If you game just for the sake of making other people miserable or trying to push your own twisted agenda, then you, my friend, aren’t allowed to call yourself a gamer.

Gaming has evolved in such a way that it can give us experiences that can quite literally change our lives for the better.  It can make you think about your own life and your place within the world. It can give you people that you can share a lifelong connection with.  It can help you through times in your life where you thought there could be no joy. It’s simply amazing. How people can somehow forget this and focus on a bunch of idiots that don’t have direction in their lives is beyond me.

I’m not asking much here, I’m just asking you to remember why you game in the first place. Is it to have some worthwhile experiences? Is it to get closer with your friends? Is it to appreciate the art that it can provide? Or is it simply to have fun? Don’t let all of the pointless bickering deter you from what’s important. That’s all I ask.

Name: Marko Swanepoel
Location: Vereeniging
Position: Author, Features & Columns

Marko has published 526 posts. Read all of Marko's posts.

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