Gamers

=Gamers=

In our society today, people tend to make many generalizations about each other. One common misconception in society is the life of gamers. Although hardcore gamers can be often depicted as antisocial dorks addicted to playing pointless games, people often do not see the truly legitimate reasons to why people play games such as having fun with the family, finding people with similar interests, or even developing useful skills.

There are many negative archetypes associated with hardcore gamers. Many people think of gamers as antisocial dorks compared to the rest of society. As seen in movies, television shows, and other forms of entertainment, gamers are seen practically inhabiting the dark basement, never going outside. They are also depicted as socially awkward people, especially when it comes to associating with people of the opposite sex. In the YouTube video, [|“South Park Make Love Not Warcraft R Tard,”] the father of the boy sees his son constantly playing video games. He asks his son to have a social life and his son blatantly tells his father that since he is playing online with his friends, he does have a social life. Gaming is also considered addictive by many people as well. Even psychologists study the topic and can consider it to be an [|addiction] because of they claim it can show the same symptoms as addiction such as sleeping very little, changes in moods, secretiveness, and changes in energy. They even believe it can be “cured” through therapy. It is also considered to be a mindless activity that teaches people nothing. Many people believe it is the largest cause of poor marks in school. Another very common misconception is that games are a waste of time and there are much better activities out there that someone could spend his/her time doing.  However, most of these negative conclusions made are usually based or started off of hasty generalizations of this archetype. There are actually much more reasonable facts that shed more light on games. Most people think games are things that somebody can only play alone, but they can really also is a way to have fun together with friends and family. Parents, kids, relatives, anybody can play together and the quality time together is only a plus. In the YouTube video [|“My Dad and Family Playing Crazy Wii Tennis”] , the family is seen having a spirited competition while playing the Wii. They are all laughing and having a good time together. Video games actually do bring people together—in a good way. Even though people assume most people who play video games are antisocial, like most other hobbies, it can actually be a way to find other people with the same interests. There are plenty of individuals in the world who play basketball, love to cook, or enjoy bowling, and just like those individuals, there are many people who enjoy playing games as well. It is a good way to find people with similar interests. As well as making friends, games are also good for developing useful skills. The people who say games are pointless and mindless obviously do not consider benefits that can be gained from it as well. Playing games can help [|develop great reflexes and hand-eye coordination skills] . In the science fiction novel, [|__Ender’s Game__,]  the kids are trained in a video game to help them develop useful fighting techniques and skills that they could later on use to fight real enemies. In the end, the training pays off and they are able to defeat their enemies because of the rigorous training they had gone through in the game.

Although there may be negatives to playing video games, there are many positives to overrule out all the misconceptions that people may make about this archetype. Before anyone should have the right to go around judging another’s passions or hobbies, people should consider: If I have a passion as well as the next person, what gives me the right to pass judgments on others. If one person can enjoy his/her own hobby, than people who play games should be able to as well. As long as a hobby brings somebodu joy and does not affect others negatively, there should not be any reason to not pursue that hobby.