Computer Gaming - Why?

Why do people play Computer Games?

"Why would people sit for hours in front of a computer screen and play a game with a mouse, keyboard, joystick or other type of control?" This is a question I have often heard. In the next few paragraphs I am going to try and get into the head of a computer gamer and try and analyze why it becomes virtually addictive if not completely so.

The computer game draws the gamer into its plot!

First of all there are different types of computer games and each game has its own ability to draw the computer gamer into its plot.

Let’s start with the classic card computer game. Here the developers have basically designed the game to challenge a known classic card game skills of the computer gamer to the point where it is often easy to win the computer game's strategy but very soon as the computer gamer starts to think it is becoming easy the computer transcends to a "next" level where the algorithm of the game just becomes a bit more challenging. Soon the computer gamer has to start using all the options and tricks available in the rules of the game just to survive in a sense.

At first strategy games as they are known in the computer gaming community were purely text based. Everything the computer game wanted the computer gamer to know was displayed as text on the screen and everything the player of the computer game wanted to do was also coded in text commands for the computer to analyze and react. In a sense this was very boring for the player after a while - especially because people were bombarded with so much stuff from especially the movie industry. However computer games have developed into an industry with the availability of all sorts of newer hardware.

The realism of computer games is also drawing the gamer into the plot!

Soon the manufacturers of computer games realized that the key to selling computer games is the realism that can be experience in the game. There was a sudden explosion in the development of the reality type of computer games. The more real the manufacturer can get a computer game the more effective it would be in drawing more customers.

The computer game becomes an excuse to have a newer and better computer?

The effect of this development in the computer gaming industry has put a lot of strain on the hardware side of the spectrum. It is often possible to get a game on the shelf requiring at least a 2.4 GHz processor and 512 MB of ram and a hard disk with 4 - 15 GB of available space. The hardware component that usually has the highest workload in the computer gaming world is more often than not the graphics card. I remember using a 256k graphics card in one of my earlier computers and thinking and even commenting to someone how "fast" it was to operate under Win95. These days with the requirement of 3d graphics in computer games we often hear of graphics cards having 256mb or more of on board memory just to handle the graphics while the computer has up to 4 GB of ram just to maintain the levels of processing power required from the latest computer games.

The challenge an computer game poses also draws the gamer!

Now again why do people like to sit at the computer for hours on end playing a game? I believe it is the challenge. To play against an enemy that will probably win you 7-9 times out of 10, really offers a challenge.

Apart from that the fact that the computer gamer will probably not be able to win the computer game two times in succession if the game is one that is well written by the programmers. This mere fact has to do with the idea of gambling where the rate of success is unpredictable and that in it self is addictive.

Another reason for computer gaming is because I can. I have the equipment, the time and the game so why not? It is a terrible waste of expensive equipment and time to just sit around during holiday time while the expensive equipment with an addictive computer game on a CD / DVD is just lying around in the home.

Computer games is also used in training of people.

The development of simulation games also has a lot to do with the amount of time people spend at the computer playing games. Especially the realism of some of the "flight simulators" and "war games" are so good that it is even used in real life training of pilots and commanders in armed forces.

Why don't you play a computer game? or tell me what you think why do people play computer games for hours on end?

Written by J D
21 Dec 2006