Gaming Is Quite The Social Hobby

Back when I was a kid in the 1990s, it was pretty common to see video games painted as an anti-social activity. It was the realm of friendless, maladjusted children, according to many a news segment warning parents of the dangers of the medium. I feel like that was never really true, but modern gaming is such a social hobby that it seems such stereotypes might finally be dying.

Mario Kart is always a popular choice for multiplayer fun.

Even back then, gaming was a social affair. I played many video games with friends at sleepovers, parties and trips to the local arcade. Couch co-op and versus modes were plentiful, and were the primary selling points of entire genres such as fighting games. We had “party games” spring up thanks to series like Mario Party and You Don’t Know Jack, which offered lively yet casual competition with friends.

Once online gaming took off, things really changed. I can remember so many stories about the impact World of Warcraft had on gaming circles, since it was such a huge mainstream success. Playing an MMO is still a popular way to make friends while gaming, since entire friend groups can form around guilds. The proliferation of online services such as Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network in the late 2000s helped foster similar communities on console, since you could now add people to your friends list and play together without having to be in the same room.

Helping your squad win in Apex Legends is a satisfying experience.

Various other social features have been added to gaming platforms over time. Steam has many features meant to facilitate socialization, for example. Decorating your profile to show off your games/badges/achievements, discussion forums for each game, the ability to write guides and reviews, share artwork and screenshots; all of these things add a social element that we didn’t have when I was young. It’s not much different on consoles, either. I can boot up my Switch right now, see what games my friends have been playing and invite them to play with me. On Xbox, I can look at an achievement leaderboard for my friends list or find new people to play with by making a “looking for group” post. PlayStation is a similar story; I can compare trophy lists with my friends and see community updates from the video games I’ve been playing recently. It’s far from a solitary experience.

These features are all still enjoyed today, and I would argue have been amplified by social media. Around the world, people log on to sites like Twitter and Reddit to share their most recent wins in battle royales, lucky pulls in gacha games, reactions to the latest trailers and announcements, fan art of their favorite characters, predictions for award season, and so on. I think it’s neat that I can hop on Discord and find servers for people to discuss obscure retro horror games with. Twitch is full of people streaming games every day, as well as events like speedrunning marathons and charity drives. As video games become more popular as a global pastime, the shared experience also grows.

Thanks to the wonders of technology, I can play Puzzle Fighter online.

Video games have provided a fun way to socialize since the earliest arcade days, but they used to have a reputation as an anti-social activity. I’m glad to see that image fading away over time, and love that this hobby of mine can bring people together from all over the world. I’m interested to see how social aspects of video games continue to evolve over time.

The Brilliance of the Competitive Casual Game

I confess I’ve never had much interest in competitive gaming. My husband adores online shooters like the modern Call of Duty and Battlefield entries, but I spent all of last gen playing strictly single-player games. I just didn’t think I had a competitive bone in my body. He could spend an entire weekend playing the same game over and over and never get bored. How? “It’s exciting! No two matches are the same,” he would say. But I didn’t get it. I never really understood the fighting game community, either. I love fighting games and admire the skill regularly demonstrated by members of the FGC, but am admittedly pretty terrible at them myself. It took a few unconventional competitive games to make multiplayer gaming click for me.

Overwatch was the first competitive game to catch my eye. Say what you will now about the drama-filled community or the revolving door of balance changes and complete character overhauls, but I still appreciate the game’s aesthetics and simple concept. Seeing the launch roster for the first time was a pleasant surprise. The characters were stylish and varied, featuring a teenage competitive gamer in a Neon Genesis Evangelion-inspired mech, a talking gorilla scientist and a futuristic cowboy. The maps were colorful and charming. The game was unlike anything else I had seen from the genre, even with the Team Fortress 2 comparisons. Even the trailers for the game channeled Pixar movies more than other video games. It was a far cry from the dusty deserts and gritty military gear of many of its contemporaries.

That game made me interested in competitive shooters for the first time. The mechanics in Overwatch make it easy to get into. Every character has specific abilities for offense and defense, plus an ultimate. There are no loadouts or gear to micromanage. You can switch characters when you die if your current choice isn’t working out or the situation calls for different tactics. It probably doesn’t have lasting appeal to fans of other shooters (like my husband, who doesn’t care for it), but it’s a great choice for casual shooter fans like myself.

Another casual-but-competitive surprise came from Nintendo. From the moment Splatoon was announced, I was cautiously optimistic. The aesthetics were marvelous, like a modern, marine-based Jet Set Radio world. The gameplay also blew my mind: A competitive shooter where the objective isn’t to kill as many people as possible? What better way to market a shooter while maintaining your family-friendly image? The mechanics make it easy for anyone to pick up and play, including children and people who have never played a shooter. The game is also ridiculously fun. I play Splatoon 2 multiple times a week, and it’s never gotten stale. There is just something absurdly satisfying about painting the maps that I never really got from eliminating other players in traditional shooters (even Overwatch, honestly). I feel like I could introduce this game to my dad and he’d have fun, despite not playing any video games since the ’90s.

The Splatoon universe is unlike any I’ve ever seen from a shooter franchise.

Finally, I think Tetris 99 is worth a mention. I’ve been playing it since it was surprise-announced during a Nintendo Direct, and haven’t had this much fun with the classic franchise since Tetris DS. Of all the games to get a battle royale spin-off, I don’t think any of us expected our parents’ favorite game from the ’80s. As someone who hasn’t played Fortnite or Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds, I was instantly hooked by this free-to-play multiplayer game. Playing against so many other people while still enjoying a game of Tetris is an engaging experience. Like Splatoon, Tetris 99 offers fun competitive gameplay for those of us who aren’t hooked by more traditional competitive games such as fighters or first-person shooters. I’ve heard anecdotes from others about introducing online gaming to their parents and non-gamer significant others thanks to the addictive power of Tetris. I think that’s great!

I’m happy to see multiplayer gaming branching out into a variety of genres and skill levels. I bear no ill will toward the military FPSes or complex fighting games out there, but I’m glad to live in a world where gaming genres are expanding to include all of the different interests and skill sets of players. The more the merrier, I say.