ITWeb's 'Mind games' series has featured racing, fantasy and first-person shooter fans, now we speak to a PC gamer who sees big changes ahead for the gaming industry.
“What do small kids take interest in?“, asks 24-year-old Bradley Forrester. “Things that are fun.”
An IT administrator for Parktown Girls High School in Johannesburg, Forrester has been around computers from around the age of four.
“Computers were work tools at the time but my parents managed to find a game or two. What started me off was a game called California Games. A 16-tone grey-scale game in which you could do things like skateboarding a half-pipe or throwing a discus far enough to see an alien space craft steal it.
“Getting into the little games was like a drug. Contending with my brother for computer time, and the fights that ensued, eventually led to me getting my own PC at around 10. From there I saved money and bought games and hardware as and when I could. I think one of the first games I bought was Fire Fight.”
Over the years, he upgraded, saved and bought newer games. “And having an older brother doing the same thing helped me a lot too.”
Forrester's grateful for the improvement in visuals, and now tends to play role-playing games and first-person shooters (FPS).
Forrester is a PC gamer, adding he's never had any serious desire for a console, although he's keen to try the Xbox with a Kinect. The controller-free gaming system responds to body gestures and voice commands, allowing users to play by moving their bodies as they would in the game.
He loves gaming because it is, for the most part, something you can just start up, play for a while and put back down. “The only thing binding me to the game at any given point is getting to the next save point - like finishing a chapter in a book. And there is something for everyone, if you look hard enough. I managed to get my girlfriend into playing games by introducing her to some small games by companies like PopCap or BigFishGames.
“I think one of the things that keeps me in gaming is that it is forever changing. Each game might be retelling a story heard many times before but it is telling it in its own way.”
He says another attraction is seeing the power of something new on the market. “The Unreal 3 engine has gone on to be the base in many of today's top games. One program has done everything from simple click-and-go games to things like Gears of War.”
While Forrester has never been much of a strategy person, he says FPS games are good fun - especially when not based on "real life".
“Running around blowing things up with weapons that exist only in the warped dimensions of the creators' minds is interesting. Role-playing games offer a dynamic and changing game without having to deal with more than a few entities at a time like you would in a strategy game.”
He now plays Exodus from the Earth, which he bought after a seeing a familiar name, Parallax, attached to it on a Web site. “They were part of the Descent series which I played when I was young. I thought I would give it a go.”
Another current favourite is World of Warcraft, which he describes as a good opportunity to catch up with friends on a more regular basis without having to phone them or spend much money.
This seeming paradox - gaming as both an escape from the world and a way to connect with others - has led to various theories surrounding its social or anti-social nature. Some argue it is an insular exercise that alienates players from the real world, while others point to LAN parties and massively multi-player online role-playing games (MMORPG) as fostering a sense of community.
Forrester says stereotypes are hard to pin down in gaming. “It depends on who you talk to. The older generations, for the most part, don't understand it and label it a waste of time while the younger generations have their own cliques and groups. Some like it, some are indifferent and others hate it.”
Quick links for edu-games
* Browse available RPGs aimed at children at Learn4Good.
* Whyville is a virtual world where children aged eight to 14 can create avatars and navigate the world, with games teaching academic subjects like art history, economics and science.
* The Nobel Prize organisation features educational games like the Diabetic Dog Game, which teaches children how to take care of someone with diabetes.
* The World Food Programme's game Food Force teaches children about the challenges of world hunger and delivering aid in humanitarian crises.
* Sheppard Software offers free educational games from pre-school level to adult learning.
* The free game-based site Manga High lets students learn maths via casual games.
He adds that one of the most popular negative views is that 'gaming is a waste of time'. “While I agree that perhaps too much gaming is a waste of time, I have learned many things from games. I also know that educational games are more effective than educational TV. I believe that gaming could be the modern book reading.
“I have seen gamers from every walk of life. To say that gamers are young anti-social geeks that do nothing but sit at their PCs all day wasting time is very narrow-minded.”
He says gaming has no more stereotypes than any other activity, “But I do feel that some, if not most, non-gamers are not informed enough about it for these stereotypes to be accurate even some of the time.”
Forrester also foresees gaming becoming more mainstream and widespread, as highly interactive and functional devices proliferate.
“Computers are becoming more and more part of our everyday life. It only makes sense to use them for more than work. And with the introduction of games designed more for the masses than the hardcore gamers, the gaming industry exploded into areas it never thought of 10 years ago.”
Industry commentators have pointed to the iPad as a gateway into more serious gaming, with its mass-appeal, large screen and hands-on operation, which cut out the need for peripherals like a console or keyboard.
“Gaming is becoming... easier, shorter and 'more fun', because it is aiming for the open market more than the pure gamers,” explains Forrester. “The open market doesn't want to set aside four hours at a time to play through a mission in some game. They want to be able to pop in and out with ease. I don't see a downtrend in this anytime soon, especially not for consoles.”
Each game might be retelling a story heard many times before but it is telling it in its own way.
Bradley Forrester
In addition, social gaming has gained momentum as social networking sites continue to mushroom. Facebook game Farmville boasts over 62 million active users and over 24.6 million Facebook application fans as of September last year.
According to Forrester, PC gaming is increasingly becoming the preserve of hardcore gamers. “Having 120-plus keys to configure is a thought even some gamers shy away from, let alone the non-gamers. Unfortunately we are in the minority and game production houses are in it for the money.
“The future of gaming seems to be less up to the actual gamers and more up to the general public.”
Look out for next week's fifth and final 'Mind games' feature, where we speak to an “obsessive” gamer who reveals why gaming is no longer a niche or 'nerdy' activity.
* Speak your mind: How much time a week do you spend gaming? Post your comments using our feedback facility.
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