Gaming is a big industry globally. In India too, it has taken root. The penetration of gaming is not due to promos, ads or other corporate gimmicks, but due to- yep, you guessed right if you thought of easy availability and low cost- piracy. So all hail piracy for making Diablo, PoP, GTA and other legends a household name. The idea of paying for a game is revolting for many Indians. Why? We, mostly due to our parents' attitude, have started thinking along the lines of why pay for it when I can rather get it for free. So what happens, a rich, hardcore gamer buys a game and all his friends just copy it, or worse, one guy gets a pirated version and all copy from that! Where does that leave us? With the big corporations who spend millions of man hours and dollars in game development deprived of their rightful earnings, their quality of R&D goes down and in the end the loser is none other than- yea, us gamers. The rate of advancement is low, and we settle for mediocre improvements.
A new category of games, one which has really popularized gaming of late, converted non- gamers into gaming addicts, is the Role Playing Game(RPGs). When we think of this genre, the first game which comes to our mind is Diablo, the brainchild of Blizzard Entertainment, who continue to dominate in this field with their World Of Warcraft. The MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) further popularized this field of gaming- Everquest, Ragnarok Online, World of Warcraft, ROSE (Rush On Seven Episodes) Online- these are the names that spring to the mind. I confess myself to be a hardcore fan of Ragnarok Online, the first MMO I set my eyes on. And the fact that it had an Indian server mainly contributed to my retention. Tribute to Level Up Games! India for this.
DotA. How can any mention about gaming be complete without a mention about this game. There is only one word to be said about this game- addictive! Bottomline: If you call yourself a gamer, you are really missing out on something if you haven't explored this game. DotA is actually ONE map in Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne. Yet, it has a huge fan following. You have to literally think on your feet while playing this game, else you are owned.
Then, there are the gamers, who make a more interesting study than the games themselves. And the best subject for my study has been, myself. I find gamers, collectively, to be a very intelligent and talented lot. Yea, am praising myself too, lol. Seriously though, I get the feeling that the guys whom I am casually playing or chatting with, will one day be billing for their time, big shots heading corporates, people changing the economic face of many nations. A few socially inept people get their first taste of respect, companionship and leadership in multiplayer games. Such individuals grow more confident and may one day become world-class leaders. And for that, they will thank their interest in gaming- something which their parents spurned and viewed with disgust.
What makes gamers a breed apart? Gaming taps into a lot of hidden potential, something which the conventional methods don't. Books can give you perspective, movies lend visualization, writing encourages creativity, sports develop sportsmanship, sculptures and paintings trigger aesthetic appeal- now all that rolled into one is a good game. No wonder, then, that gamers are a breed apart. Here's something else to chew on: all geeks love games.
Here's to all you gamers out there!! Cheers!!
No comments:
Post a Comment