A Glance into the personal and social impact of Video Games

Saad Rahman
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If you had asked someone a decade ago about a significant influence in people's lives today,
video games would likely not have been their first choice. Yet in present times, video games have
a significant impact on my life and the lives of many others. Students looking forward to playing
their favorite video games after school, workers playing video games after a day of hard work for
some relief, people just playing for pure enjoyment or some even making a career out of playing
video games by competing professionally, becoming a YouTuber or a streamer and in many more
cases video games have effectively had a social impact far beyond anyone's imagination. This
essay discusses how video games have become a part of my life, how it has influenced me and
the social impact it has on my surroundings as well as on a broader scale.

When I was in second or third grade, I remember my father had a button phone and there was
this snake game and a game where you had to maneuver a ball through a maze. That was my
introduction to video games. The games were so simple, yet so addicting. At one point, my
parents even started to realize how interested I was in playing these games. So, they would use
them as my reward if I completed all my studies and kept my room tidy. Looking back, I now
realize how video games already started influencing my life from second grade.

While playing video games was fun on a button phone, it was not until seventh grade that I had
reached the peak of mobile gaming. I was introduced to a game called clash of clans (COC). My
mother had bought a tablet and for someone like me, it was as if Eid came early. I started playing
COC shortly after the tablet was bought. You had to build your base with many structures,
mining structures, defensive structures, troop training etc. It was as if you were building your
own society. One downside of the game I felt at that time was the insane upgrade time some
structures had. So, as someone who was obsessed with the game, I started keeping track of at
what time I had to do what in the game. Funnily enough, the game probably helped me become
more disciplined and punctual than anything else. Moreover, I was surprised to find out how
many of my classmates and friends were also engulfed by this game. And it led to us building a
clan that included classmates, seniors, juniors and even students from other schools. While at the
time we called it a clan, we were too young to realize we were building a community.
After that, I used to play various games here and there from time to time. However, it was not
until March 2020 that video games would be making a return to my life. In 2020, the world was
swept by a pandemic due to the COVID-19 virus. People were ordered to remain in their homes
for an undefined period of time due to fear of the virus spreading. Socializing in person was
banned. So, people completely had to turn to online mediums to socialize. Video games were one
of the mediums. I cannot exaggerate how much video games helped during that time as I am sure
it helped many more. Video games such as Valorant, Counter Strike and League of legends not
only provided entertainment but they also gave me back the community I had in seventh grade. I
was able to play with a number of friends, sometimes there were ten people playing together at
the same time. They helped me through that period of loneliness, as I am sure our presence made
each one of us feel a bit less lonely. While I did grow some bad habits by staying up late to the
point the sun was coming up, looking back it created lifelong memories and introduced me to
people that I still stay in contact with. Even though most of us are studying in different
universities or some even abroad, video games have built a bridge to connect and stay in touch
with each other when other methods such as meeting in person fails.

Currently, due to academic demands and tutoring commitments, I find it challenging to devote
the same level of commitment to playing video games as I used to. Despite a hard day, video
games never fail to entertain me and relieve my exhaustion.

If we look at it in a broader perspective, video games did not just affect my life. It also affected
the nine other friends that used to play with me and many more people. In a metropolitan city
like Dhaka, where you have to pay to play physical sports, or to do anything, you require money.
Video games have proven to be an extremely effective alternative to the point where more people
are leaning towards playing video games rather than traditional sports like football or cricket. It
has also managed to create a multi-billion dollar industry where people can earn money by
making, playing or competing in video games. Developers place companies like Riot, Blizzard
besides Google, Microsoft as a career path. The younger generation now consider playing video
games professionally, and it is a lucrative offer as the prize pools are getting bigger and bigger.
For example, according to Ocal (2020), TI10 (a competition in DOTA 2) offered forty million
dollars as prize money. Some try to make a career out of video games by making content from it.
And as many people have switched to these contents from traditional media i.e. films, TV shows
for their source of entertainment, these creators have influenced society greatly. Their opinions
and behaviors influence people who follow them to be more like them. This has significant
positive and negative effects, as there are creators who promote positivity but there are those that
are racists, incels and misogynists. Moreover, video games have created other issues such as
people being addicted to video games, some people losing the ability to socialize in person,
being extremely toxic due to anonymity and more. Thus, it is suffice to say video games have
affected and changed the social structure for the good and bad.

When I look back at the last ten to fifteen years or so, it is impossible to imagine how massive
the impact of video games have been in our lives. It created memories, good and bad habits,
helped make friends and so on. No one really knows whether we would have been better off
without video games. But one thing is for certain, it has changed all of our lives and will
continue to do so.
 References

Ocal, A. (2020, October 9). Dota 2’s The International surpasses $40 million in prize money -
xxxxxxxESPN. ESPN.
xxxxxxxhttps://www.espn.in/esports/story/_/id/30079945/dota-2-international-surpasses-40-milli
xxxxxxxon-prize-money