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Carlos Godinez
English 115
Professor Lawson
November 22, 2014
Rough Draft
1803
Gaming, the Biggest Friendship
Imagine entering this huge convention center you yourself dont have a clue what lies
inside this building. As you enter you see nothing but a diverse group that talking with people at
a booth that has a Mario backdrop along with a hanging Playstation logo over their booth and
Microsoft and so on and so on. As you look at all these people, you wouldnt expect that all of
them are actual friends. Everyone is a friend with a person but almost everyone in this area
practically know one another very closely or just as an acquaintances. All of the attendants in
this hall are part of the gaming community. The gaming community is one of those cultures that
are really supportive to one another or very frinedly. Contrary to the stereotype of the antisocial
gamer, the gaming subculture encourages community and a positive outlook on life.
As a society we enter the digital era of information and how we get that information. The
documentary, Video Game: The Movie explains just that. This movie was about how the history
of the video game industry has evolved from its humble beginnings from the Atari game system
all the way to the next generation consoles like the Playstation 4 and Xbox One. It goes in depth
of what was going on in the industry like before its crash in 1983 to how much its revival has
impacted technology and social interactions (Jeremy Snead). The movie showed its audience a
glimpse into the gamer culture and how vast and ever growing it is. People all over the world are

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now communicating through games or forming bonds, or relationships, with every player they
meet in a game or at a tournament of one. DC Universe Online is one of those games that
practically promote teamwork while they play through the main campaign of the game. This
game puts you in the world of DC comics, home of the likes of Batman, Superman, and Wonder
Woman, and you are made into a hero from these machines called exobites that gives you
powers of the heroes or villains, and lets you become a student of theirs and fight along with
whatever faction you chose to be, hero or villain, and help fight to prevent a horrible future to
come to be (Sony Online Entertainment). You and other players of this game must work together
through missions in Gotham City, home of Batman, or Metropolis, home of Superman, helping a
hero or villain with what they need to do to protect or destroy the city you are based in the game.
This game mirrors games like World of Warcraft or Diablo series that expects you to be in a
group of people, or a league it would be called, to help one another during the mission so
everyone can level up and get the rewards that are received in the mission. People make
friendships if both players are on the same mission because if gives them the urgency if it were
real life because if one of league members goes down, then the mission will go downhill really
quick then eventually have to start the mission all over again. Since this game went from having
a paid membership to free to play and its transition to the Playstation 4, the player population has
increased along with the PC version of the game. Another game that shows this is The Call of
Duty series. This game pits the player in a war scenario being the hero of what world crisis that is
about to happen in this realistic fictional universe. That is just the single player campaign, but the
fun does not stop there because it continues in the multiplayer mode of the game. This pits
players in a series of matches of eight versus eight, or bigger/smaller teams depending on the
game mode in multiplayer (Activision). This game is a shooter where the players can play

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competitively or just for fun where anyone can play no matter what type of player you are. There
is a group system in this game like in DC Universe Online called the clan wars. The clan system
consists of groups of people who play competitively to get noticed by the internet to gain infamy
over the servers and try to be a major league gaming professional and get sponsors so they can
play all the time and get paid while doing it. It makes the bond of that group much stronger
because they are trying to make a living all together doing something they all can enjoy. These
games can make bonds between friends even stronger even if it is not a face to face cooperation.
The players are still friends and can have that bond through gaming.
As social as gaming is thanks to the online components or cooperative play, there are
disagreements that gaming is very antisocial. Just like Athalie Matthews mentions in their article
Prof. Ryuta Kawashima, of the Tohoku University in Japan, said the greatest threat from
computer games was not their tendency to arouse aggression, as previously thought, but in the
lack of mental stimulationmeasured the brain activity of hundreds of teenagers while they
played a Nintendo game and compare it another group doing simple arithmetic the computer
game did not stimulate the brain`s frontal lobe, an area which plays an important role in
repression of anti-social impulses and is associated with memory, learning and emotion.
(Athalies Matthews). This tells that Prof. Kawashima believes that games, specifically computer
games, can cause antisocial actions to the average teenager according to his test. He believes that
games are the cause of people becoming antisocial and lose the desire to be with real people.
Even though Professor Kawashima has a test to back up his theory, he doesnt show if the kids
he tested had become antisocial according to his data. It shows no direct correlation between
being antisocial because of playing games at all.

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This is not true that all gaming can cause people to become antisocial with the world.
This is seen through the Super Smash Bros. series. This game is an all star brawl between
Nintendos biggest starts like Mario, Kirby, Samus, from the Metroid series, and Link from The
Legend of Zelda series. There is no specific story to explain why they are fighting each other but
it is fight to see who the winner in a match between friends really is (Nintendo). This is a party
fighting game that recently increased its max players from four to eight players so even more
people can enjoy a fighting game with their friends that involves using Nintendo`s famous
characters. This game has been used for so many social events like tournaments or even going to
a friends house to prove who was a better fighter before the online mode became an option for
even more players to meet each other that are maybe across the globe from each other. This
game has made people social for years since its first release all over the world. When the
tournaments are in season, mostly in the summer, everyone comes to attend EVO, the pinnacle of
all fighting games where practically every player attends. This is where bonds are put to the
controller and have a good time fighting each other no matter the prize. As we can see how
bonds over gaming are formed through true physical contact between people but it is also seen in
videos through YouTube. From YouTube star, Vanossgaming, he is famous for his game videos
with his friends that show them playing games that range from Grand Theft Auto V, to Garry`s
Mod and its user made content. There is never a dull moment for what they do in their games
from all their ideas they have for a game. In his GTA V videos, Vanoss and his friends go to
crazy lengths in the videos to have the most fun possible and have hilarious heist in the game that
doesnt make it enjoyable for them but for their audience as well (YouTube). In Vanoss videos
he shows how his long time friends help him not only make videos but to also have a fun
experience with each other doing what they all love doing on any game no matter what. Their

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bonds had leaded them to becoming one of YouTubes main stars for gaming. The fact they are
friends but it was with playing games that made them stars, stars of what they enjoy to do as their
job now, gaming.
Video games have always been hated for making people antisocial, but that is the
opposite, it makes people that much successful with their lives and social life as well. People are
able to make bonds with people all over the world through online gameplay. With games like
Call of Duty and DC Universe Online, one being a shooter and the other an mmorpg, these
games differ in mechanics, but their unspoken purpose is clear, making players closer through
the cooperative play style that is offered. Then there are others like Prof. Ryuta Kawashima who
believes that computer games are what make people antisocial but have very little information to
help his claim to appear credible. Even the game Super Smash Bros. series disproves Kawashima
because before this included an online mode, people had to go over if they all wanted to go head
to head to prove once and for all who the better fighter among the group was. Then how we can
see how Vanoss shows the bond of his friendships he was able to forge with his friends that are
with him in his videos and have as much fun as possible with each other. They were all able to
gain fame from just recording gaming videos with each other. As I was scrolling through
Facebook, I came across this picture that actually shows a form of bond that is made through
gaming as well. The caption for this picture is #justgamerthings from Gamestop

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(Facebook). Even though you and another individual never acknowledge one other, when you
both know a game, you instantly make a connection with that person. The community of gaming
can be strong with people even if you just have a game in common with one another. Thats how
most bonds between people are made by just having one common interest then you can expand
on that interest and become great friends eventually. You could never know, maybe I is a quick
friendship that just happens or that individual can be your best friends for life. Never assume that
a person never liked or played videogames, sometimes it can surprise you by how much they
would actually know to actually have a bond with them.

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Bibliography
Video Games: The Movie. Dir. Jeremy Snead. Perf. Sean Astin. Netflix, 2014. November 14,
2014. Film.
Sony Online Entertainment. DC Universe Online. WB Games, January 11, 2011. PS3, PS4, PC.
Activision. Call of Duty series. Treyarch, November 11, 2008. PS3, Xbox 360, PC.
Nintendo. Super Smash Bros. series. Hal Laboratory, January 21, 1999. Nintendo 64,
Gamecube, Wii, 3DS, Wii U.
GTA 5Best Moments- Funny Moments, Glitches, Skits (GTA 5 Online/ Single Player Montage).
February 10, 2014. YouTube. November 1, 2014.
Gamestop #justgamerthings. Facebook. November 30, 2014. [November 30, 2014. <
https://www.facebook.com/GameStop/photos/a.126580857361849.17847.110455108974424/93
5439453142648/?type=1&theater>
Matthews, Athalie. Computer Games Make Children Anti-Social. Editorial. Telegraph.co.uk,
Telegraph August 20, 2001. Web. November 10, 2014.