Gaming is no child's play
What a difference from the good old and very first days of Pong, Pac man and Donkey Kong. Computer gaming has transformed itself over the last 30 or so years, and a visit to the latest gaming party held in Malta a few weeks ago provided ample...
What a difference from the good old and very first days of Pong, Pac man and Donkey Kong. Computer gaming has transformed itself over the last 30 or so years, and a visit to the latest gaming party held in Malta a few weeks ago provided ample proof.
The CompleetVunderLAN 3.0 took place over four days at the beginning of September, attracting some 120 Maltese gamers.
The organisers turned a hotel hall into a wired Mecca for gamers who battled each other in online games over a local area network (LAN).
"The gaming community in Malta is quite big and skilled while increasing in numbers each year," said Noel Pulis, the manager of LucidLAN.com, a local gaming community website and organiser of VunderLAN gaming events. "This is a good thing since, with the increase of video gaming, the interest in computer science and technology increases with these gamers."
Usually the assiduous players join clans and guilds, have their own website with updates and to share support, and show off their achievements and awards in both local and international competitions.
According to Mr Pulis the best gaming medium right now is the PC although this year is the year of the consoles for the fact that many game houses and publishers are pushing to the console sector (from a market point of view). The ratio between PCs and consoles is still at 70/30 but consoles are catching up fast, re-taking their roles which they had to surrender to the PC in the 1990s.
"From a gamer point of view, keeping a computer up to date with the current hardware changes is very expensive. On the other hand, having a console is quite cheap since you will only buy the console once, and just put in the disc and play without having the need to configure the video card, check if your hardware supports it, or if you have enough hard drive space," he explained. "A console's lifetime is very long compared to a PC and in the end it will be cheaper than changing your video card every six months to compensate with the graphic improvements of today's releases and processing needs."
PCs, networking and internet have transformed gaming. Only the middle-aged computer users can remember games being loaded on cartridges or on cassette tapes (and many a time they would take ages and not load correctly at the first try), with four-colour games and primitive sound from the computer speaker.
"Internet/online gaming was a very big comeback to PC gaming," confirmed Mr Pulis. "World of Warcraft, a massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG), has conquered the world, taking over nine million users worldwide. This is a great achievement, a big bang for computer gaming because many game publishers have taken the same approach, giving the PC gamers new worlds to explore and to socialise with other persons around the world."
So-called first person shooter games have also taken root among the online gaming community. Call of Duty 4 and Counterstrike Source, just to mention two titles, are on the top of Malta's most played games online. Gameplay has also been transformed through more advanced game control such as the Nintendo Wii wireless motion-detection controllers, taking over from the good old joystick.
"There are also rumours that mind-controlled controllers will be on the market this year which can revolutionise the way that computer gaming works. One big advantage would be the effect of RSI on the player and of course thumb and palm fatigue. On the other hand, one would be able to play for longer hours which will cause more addiction to video games."
Gareth "Kranzorg" Gauci of www.playreaction.com, another Maltese gaming website, gives the reasons why gamers spend so much time playing.
"Everyone has a different reason to play games, but the most common is immersion. Immersion is when you forget your realities around you and believe you are somewhere else. Especially in today's society, there are many people who go home very tired after a stressful day at work and immerse themselves in a totally different reality, perhaps a powerful hero that battles evil with superhuman strength."
There is also an educational element which counter balances the complaints of those, especially parents, who see computer and console gaming a waste of time.
"I feel I have personally learnt more history from my gaming sessions than all the history taught during my secondary school!" claims Mr Gauci. "For starters, most games require you to have a very fast reaction speed. For hours, most gamers train at this, while having fun. Studies have shown that persons who play a lot of fast-paced games are much more aware of their surroundings, think faster, visually calculate better distances, being able to follow numerous object movements, and have a very tight reaction speed. This can be extremely beneficial when, for example, driving."
Such claims are not new but reports in foreign media regularly suggest that there are tangible benefits in gaming as long as it does not take over your life. Indeed the Nintendo Wii is being prescribed to take people off the couch or for the rehabilitation of patients. Gamers are so convinced that they are reaping benefits by kicking the living daylight out of Krauts in World War II or aliens from distant planets that they appreciate some help.
"We would like to have more support from the government to improve and extend our knowledge on computer/console gaming while educating other people about computers," insisted Mr Pulis. Keeping a gaming community with online servers running is not a cheap job. We need to host servers, buy the servers and constantly change to provide the services and features to our viewers."
Meanwhile, Maltese gamers can try to find a bargain on the new website www.lootbucket.com, recently launched to provide a place where gamers can sell and/or trade their games and related items.
"LootBucket.com is the first of its kind," its creator Bernard Gatt said. "The more you are involved into gaming the more you want to play games and, since some games are platform bound, you would want to own all consoles so you can play them all."
The CompleetVunderLAN 3.0 took place over four days at the beginning of September, attracting some 120 Maltese gamers.
The organisers turned a hotel hall into a wired Mecca for gamers who battled each other in online games over a local area network (LAN).
"The gaming community in Malta is quite big and skilled while increasing in numbers each year," said Noel Pulis, the manager of LucidLAN.com, a local gaming community website and organiser of VunderLAN gaming events. "This is a good thing since, with the increase of video gaming, the interest in computer science and technology increases with these gamers."
Usually the assiduous players join clans and guilds, have their own website with updates and to share support, and show off their achievements and awards in both local and international competitions.
According to Mr Pulis the best gaming medium right now is the PC although this year is the year of the consoles for the fact that many game houses and publishers are pushing to the console sector (from a market point of view). The ratio between PCs and consoles is still at 70/30 but consoles are catching up fast, re-taking their roles which they had to surrender to the PC in the 1990s.
"From a gamer point of view, keeping a computer up to date with the current hardware changes is very expensive. On the other hand, having a console is quite cheap since you will only buy the console once, and just put in the disc and play without having the need to configure the video card, check if your hardware supports it, or if you have enough hard drive space," he explained. "A console's lifetime is very long compared to a PC and in the end it will be cheaper than changing your video card every six months to compensate with the graphic improvements of today's releases and processing needs."
PCs, networking and internet have transformed gaming. Only the middle-aged computer users can remember games being loaded on cartridges or on cassette tapes (and many a time they would take ages and not load correctly at the first try), with four-colour games and primitive sound from the computer speaker.
"Internet/online gaming was a very big comeback to PC gaming," confirmed Mr Pulis. "World of Warcraft, a massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG), has conquered the world, taking over nine million users worldwide. This is a great achievement, a big bang for computer gaming because many game publishers have taken the same approach, giving the PC gamers new worlds to explore and to socialise with other persons around the world."
So-called first person shooter games have also taken root among the online gaming community. Call of Duty 4 and Counterstrike Source, just to mention two titles, are on the top of Malta's most played games online. Gameplay has also been transformed through more advanced game control such as the Nintendo Wii wireless motion-detection controllers, taking over from the good old joystick.
"There are also rumours that mind-controlled controllers will be on the market this year which can revolutionise the way that computer gaming works. One big advantage would be the effect of RSI on the player and of course thumb and palm fatigue. On the other hand, one would be able to play for longer hours which will cause more addiction to video games."
Gareth "Kranzorg" Gauci of www.playreaction.com, another Maltese gaming website, gives the reasons why gamers spend so much time playing.
"Everyone has a different reason to play games, but the most common is immersion. Immersion is when you forget your realities around you and believe you are somewhere else. Especially in today's society, there are many people who go home very tired after a stressful day at work and immerse themselves in a totally different reality, perhaps a powerful hero that battles evil with superhuman strength."
There is also an educational element which counter balances the complaints of those, especially parents, who see computer and console gaming a waste of time.
"I feel I have personally learnt more history from my gaming sessions than all the history taught during my secondary school!" claims Mr Gauci. "For starters, most games require you to have a very fast reaction speed. For hours, most gamers train at this, while having fun. Studies have shown that persons who play a lot of fast-paced games are much more aware of their surroundings, think faster, visually calculate better distances, being able to follow numerous object movements, and have a very tight reaction speed. This can be extremely beneficial when, for example, driving."
Such claims are not new but reports in foreign media regularly suggest that there are tangible benefits in gaming as long as it does not take over your life. Indeed the Nintendo Wii is being prescribed to take people off the couch or for the rehabilitation of patients. Gamers are so convinced that they are reaping benefits by kicking the living daylight out of Krauts in World War II or aliens from distant planets that they appreciate some help.
"We would like to have more support from the government to improve and extend our knowledge on computer/console gaming while educating other people about computers," insisted Mr Pulis. Keeping a gaming community with online servers running is not a cheap job. We need to host servers, buy the servers and constantly change to provide the services and features to our viewers."
Meanwhile, Maltese gamers can try to find a bargain on the new website www.lootbucket.com, recently launched to provide a place where gamers can sell and/or trade their games and related items.
"LootBucket.com is the first of its kind," its creator Bernard Gatt said. "The more you are involved into gaming the more you want to play games and, since some games are platform bound, you would want to own all consoles so you can play them all."