In the night on the 9th of November when I had barely woken up to witness the day's events I rode an underground train towards Sunset Park. The goal was to meet up with a friend on the next level. In terms of size, Next Level resembles a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant in size. The restaurant does serve food (free fried chicken and shrimp were offered on the night, as well as candy drinks, sodas, along with energy drinks, were on offer at a fair pricehowever the food it offers is distinct. A large portion of Next Level's floor was dedicated to stunning banks of screens connected to video-game consoles. the rest of the area was occupied by males in their 20s, who were constantly looking at the screens. The cost was $10 per person to be able to access the.
This was his first time visiting an event in real life, and it was his first entry into the competition. I didn't play however, but I wanted to know how he'd fare partly because I'd been thinking about video games more recently in terms of the appeal of them, and their primary reasoning, or perhaps, how they could shed light on the events of the night prior. Like many other people I was a video game player often, and to a great extent and have done so frequently since childhood, up to the point that our games were in essence, reflections of us. For those who aren't familiar these numbers are shocking The number is staggering: More than 155 million Americans are avid gamers which is more than the amount that voted in the November presidential election. They frequently play them according to a myriad of studies conducted in recent times that more than 40% of Americans are playing more than three hours each week. In addition, 34 million players are playing on average for 22 hours a week, and 5 million play 40 hours of play, and the average American is now spending more hours (roughly 10000) playing games before they turn 21 than the time played in middle- and high school classrooms.
What was the reason video games, during that time, gained traction to the top of American and global culture to an extent that rivals films, sports and television? Similar to other forms of entertainment video games provided an escape. But what type? In 1993, psychology professor Peter D. Kramer published Listening to Prozac, asking what we can learn from the sudden surge in demand of antidepressants that was sweeping across America. In the months leading up to the presidential election, a friend asked the similar question to me regarding video games: What are the advantages they provide gamers which the real world can't? One of the first experts in the case of Next Level I had come to meet was the proprietor of the restaurant. I had never met his name however I did know his name and picture from my online research. I waited for the perfect moment to speak with him. The moment finally came. I inquired to see if he'd be interested, in the evening to discuss video games, their purpose, the things they represented and what their future could be, and what they may have said about the world at large.
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