My name is Jean Betances and I have been playing video games almost every day for the past 10 years. It quickly and easily became my favorite pastime and source of entertainment. So much so that even when not playing video games, I probably looking at something related to it. Video games are something that with time started to define who I am today. It helped me make connections with people and learn a language. Videogames also made me more competitive and taught me teamwork.
I was born in New York City but lived in the Dominican Republic with my grandmother for 7 years before returning back to New York. As a Spanish speaker it was a challenge to make friends with the other kids, who only spoke English. When I turned 8 my aunt gave me a Gameboy Advanced, the latest handheld gaming device from Nintendo. When I took the Gameboy Advance to school, it gained me sudden popularity with my schoolmates. Since not many of the kids in my grade didn’t have one, they took turns playing with the game, and in turn, we got to know each other. Without realizing the handheld device was helping me make friends in elementary school. Since the games I was playing were all in English, it was also an incentive for me to learn the language, since I had to know what was going on in the game to be able to pass the levels.
Even a couple of years later in middle school, when I was speaking English almost fluently, video games still helped with social environments. I remember inviting a group of friends over to play Guitar Hero on the PlayStation 2, a game in which instead of playing with the regular PlayStation 2 controllers, it was played with smaller plastic imitation guitar controllers with buttons in the place of strings and a long switch to strum. Inviting friends over to play different games became a regular occurrence.
Throughout my life, without me realizing, video games have helped me develop long term friendships. Even to this day, after going to different high schools and now colleges I still play online on Xbox Live on the Xbox 360 and on PlayStation Network (PSN) on the PlayStation 4, which are networks on home consoles that allow players to play together through the internet. I used to stay up late to play online in these networks with my friends after school on the weekends.
As I grew up and kept playing, I began to understand what the difference was between a casual gamer and a hardcore gamer. The type of gamer you are is usually defined by your mindset about games. While casual gamers play regularly for fun and entertainment, it’s more about having fun with your friends and socializing. On the other hand, hardcore gamers dedicate more of their lives into gaming, including going to competitions and conventions, like the Electronic Entertainment Expo, also known as E3, which is an annual convention for the video game industry in which studios present their new and upcoming games, ideas, and projects. A lot of the times they also spend large quantities of their money to build their own computers, gaming setups, and to grow their home theater sets. I felt like I didn’t really fall into a specific category, but got the best qualities from both sides. In that I like to have fun with my friends and relax while playing games, I can also get competitive and try to become a better player and beat the game with as much skill as possible.
Another way that my love for video games developed was through watching people play video games online. I liked watching these videos to see their own experiences while playing the game, or just to watch them play a game that I couldn’t afford or wasn’t planning on buying anytime soon. Gaming videos became so popular that YouTube recently decided to make a specific section just for the gaming community, and a separate mobile application, which made gaming videos easier to find. I usually watch gaming videos almost every day as a source of entertainment. So much so, that it became a regular habit and I don’t really watch television programs as often anymore. Some of my favorite gaming YouTubers are DashieGames, TheRadBrad, SeaNanners, and DownrangeGaming. The reason I watch these specific gamers is that they are funny and entertaining, and they play most of the games that I enjoy. By watching these guys, they help me consider and decide on certain games that I wouldn’t have considered buying before. They also inspire me by doing things that I would enjoy doing for a living, like getting paid to play games.
Going back to the YouTubers in the gaming community, there are channels that are dedicated to gaming videos, information about the games, guides on how to play and walkthroughs, as well as fan made videos based on the games. A popular video genre that has recently become more popular are game reaction videos where you get to see people’s genuine reactions to games, usually horror or thriller ones. A couple of popular channels with millions of subscribers are IGN, Machinima, and RoosterTeeth. They have become popular because they make great informational videos about old, recent, and upcoming games that are going to hit the market. These are channels which I frequently watch to compliment my gaming experience.
In the beginning I thought that playing video games as much as I did was common, but later realized that this wasn’t the case. My friends and I were more into games than other people our age, who were more into other activities, such as basketball and baseball. I thought everyone was into gaming as my friends and I were because the people I was surrounding myself with were all into the same things. Videogames also opened up other doors for me because through the people I met because of video games, I was also introduced to other things, such as basketball, weight lifting, and anime, which is a style of Japanese animation.
Since I was a young boy I started collecting more and more consoles, beginning with the Gameboy Advanced, then the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS Lite, Nintendo 3DS XL, Xbox 360, and finally the PlayStation 4. As I grow older and gain more responsibilities, I will still continue to buy new consoles and make time for games because I believe that you are never too old to enjoy some relaxing videogames might not be for everybody but people of all age ranges enjoy them. When playing online multiplayer you will be paired up with random people usually in your region but sometimes even from around the world. When in these multiplayer matches you could choose to plug in a microphone into your controller and speak with others in the group. You can talk to people of all ages and from places all around the world. In the online group people might not always be saying the nicest things, but it is still a fun experience. The different types of people that usually partake in the online groups ranges from little kids in a mature rated game like Call of Duty, to adults with responsibilities in games like Mario Kart.
Though some people believe that video games are a waste of time and for people who don’t have any responsibilities, it can actually help young kids to make friends, become confident in their skills, and learn new things, such as in my situation when I came from another country. Video games helped me make longtime friends and learn a new language and I now consider my first language. As long as there is a balance between your responsibilities and leisure time, everyone can enjoy video games. My passion for games is something that will not let down in the future and will definitely continue to grow with me.
