Gaming culture

Gaming culture refers to the lifestyle that has developed around video games and the influence these games have had on popular culture. The earliest video games developed a small cultlike following that expanded greatly as the number and types of video games grew. The characters and concepts of the game moved from video game screens to television and movie screens, and began appearing on t-shirts and other consumer merchandise. The development of games and gaming platforms attracted people of all ages and moved gaming from being played by a small group of computer enthusiasts to being played by people of all ages. As a result, video games have affected aspects of culture as varied as fashion, behavior, and music.

Background

Video games originated in 1940 with a computerized mathematics game called Nim that was played by an estimated fifty thousand people at the New York World's Fair. Arcade games followed in the late 1960s, around the same time the first home video game system, the Brown Box, became available. In 1972, the Magnavox Odyssey home video game system and the first Atari arcade game consoles were released.

The arcade games introduced a more social aspect of playing games as patrons at malls, bowling alleys, bars, and restaurants began not only playing video games but also watching other people play. The quest for high scores on individual machines led to organized competitions in which players challenged one another. Rules for using the machines and etiquette for playing and interacting with each other began building a culture around video games.

Around the same time as arcade games were increasing in popularity, home computers were also on the rise. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, more manufacturers entered the market for computers, gaming systems, and arcade games. This led to the publication of magazines dedicated to video gamers. These magazines shared reviews of games and systems, news of upcoming games and competitions, technical information about gaming systems, and tips and tricks for playing the games. These publications enhanced the growing sense of community among gamers.

Although unsophisticated by contemporary standards, the coding instructions included in some magazines gave gamers an opportunity to learn to code their own games. This led to increased game sharing. The addition of widespread access to the internet in the early 1990s provided new ways for gamers to interact and play games with other enthusiasts across town or around the world. Further, the rise of smartphones and electronic tablets beginning in the mid-2000s put games in the hands of demographic groups outside the children and teens usually associated with video gaming. Mobile gaming expanded the reach and appeal of video games so that people of all ages became familiar with games, gaming terminology, and characters. This firmly embedded video game culture in the psyche of people around the world. As internet technology and access increased, the gaming culture expanded to reach an estimated 2.6 billion people worldwide who played online video games in the mid-2020s.

Overview

As video games evolved and grew in popularity, various aspects of a unique culture rose around them. Language and communication were the first to develop. Gamers playing online computer games that allowed them to type text created shorthand terms to allow them to communicate faster. They also developed slang to describe various aspects of gaming. For example, a "newb" is a friendly term acknowledging a new player, while a "noob" is an insult to say someone is playing as badly as if he never played before. The rise of social media and the integration of games with Facebook and other outlets allowed people to boast about their accomplishments and ask people to share virtual "money," "lives," and other props needed to play increasingly harder levels of various games. This increased both the communication about games and the social aspects of them.

Another aspect of video game culture is the creation of alternate identities. Many games require the player to create a character, and players can become very invested in and attached to their characters. These virtual personalities, called avatars, create a sense of ownership in the game, allow players to explore different personalities, and create a community of virtual people. In some cases, people dress like their own character or like famous characters from video games at gaming events and conventions, crossing the line between reality and video games at will.

Video games have also spilled into other aspects of popular culture, with many types of mass merchandise decorated with pictures of characters, images of game logos, and iconic words and phrases from video games. Some characters have become so popular that they are more recognizable than a country's head of state. Food products, health and beauty products, clothing, bedding, and so many other categories of merchandise bear these images that it is difficult to walk through some shopping areas without encountering some aspect of the gaming culture.

As the games have grown in popularity, they have also created some health concerns. One of the earliest concerns was fears that increased interest in gaming could make players too sedentary and could lead to obesity and other conditions related to inactivity. As the number of game players increased, instances of repetitive stress injuries to players' thumbs as well as problems with seizures, neck pain, and eyestrain developed. Issues of addiction to game playing also developed, as did concerns about the violence in video games and its effect on the mental health of the players. Cyberbullying was another issue that plagued gaming culture, and companies implemented tools to block bullies and report bad behavior in an effort to create safer environments for players.

Another area of concern surrounding gaming culture is its effect on gender-related issues. People have objected to what are seen as sexist portrayals of women, as well as concerns that games and gaming communities can be prone to sex-related harassment. This came to a head in 2014, when a harassment campaign against several female game developers and others was advanced through social media and gaming channels. Known as Gamergate, the campaign was essentially a culture clash between those supporting greater inclusion in video games and traditionalists who fought back against any change. These psychological and philosophical issues of video game culture are frequent subjects of research studies. Following Gamergate, the gaming industry was successful in increasing its diversity and inclusion, with more games created featuring diverse characters and stories. The developer community itself also became more diverse. By the mid-2020s, women and nonbinary developers made up 32 percent of all game developers.

The culture associated with video games has increasingly become part of popular culture through crossover television shows and movies. Music has also been affected, as artists combine electronic gaming sounds into their music. Some artists also create music to be used as gaming soundtracks.

Professional gaming also gained in popularity, with top players bringing in millions of dollars from gaming in the 2020s. So-called esports bring in huge audiences as well. In the mid-2020s, an estimated 640 million people were expected to view esports competitions on streaming platforms like Twitch.

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