What Is The Point Of Playing A Video Game?

[PII | 1,897]

I'm Curious How Others Would Answer This Question.

Please feel free to post your own answer before or after reading my own take.

Spoiler

For me it boils down to exploring and testing my abilities at things like speed, timing, maneuver, position, delivery, multi-tasking and above all: pattern recognition in attempt to see if I can beat the programming.  It is a temporary diversion from real life, but at the same time to some extant I see a grey area between gaming and real life as I feel the qualities mentioned above easily translate to and fro between actual life and this diversion.  So I guess I see this activity as very definitely and distinctly separate from real world life but at the same time, connected by way of those qualities that are relevant to both.  And there's little more fun than simultaneously slipping between multiple attacks while picking a pocket with one hand and delivering a death blow with the other, all throughout some elegant aerial maneuver...  

I could mention a few more outside reasons I have as well, but for now I will restrain myself from trying to cover every last base...

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

For me, it's something to do, similar to reading a book in a lot of cases, but far more interactive.  I started out in the early 80s with arcade machines like many, but was soon enough enraptured by other, deeper games, as we had a VIC-20 at home with all sorts of adventure games that my brother and family in general would play.  Then, later on, I got snagged by things like King's Quest, Police Quest, and even Leisure Suit Larry (which I didn't completely understand and shouldn't have been watching my dad play, but he hadn't gotten to anything actually dirty, so I was none the wiser for a few more years), as the combination of actual, progressing plot as well as the advancement of "realistic" graphics made them more enticing.

I don't have any thoughts or ambitions about outsmarting the program, beating the machine with my reflexes, etc., is basically just pure daydreaming and escapism.  With some games, it's like doing an activity that would otherwise be more difficult or impossible (Duck Hunt), with others, it's about seeing the story through to the end (most RPGs, beat 'em ups with decent plots, etc.).  To each their own, but I think most people are playing for the same sorts of reasons and getting more or less the same sort of things from these types of games.

[RH | 4,967]

I can't explain it but there's something about the interactivity of it all.  I can enjoy at least a few games in every single genre.  Sports titles are probably my least favorite (excluding racing games because I consider that a genre all to itself) but even within sports, there's Tony Hawk games, which are some of my favorite.

Now, it's tough to say why I specifically play.  As a husband and father with plenty of responsibilities to keep me busy, I tend to game just to unwind, and usually for no more than 30 minutes at a time.  I keep it to simpler games because it's tough getting into a game you have to be thinking about or have to remember something you did two hours ago within game play but, for me, might be 2-3 weeks ago.  So, I game now to unwind.

However, I can enjoy a game that's an actual game but has a really good story interwoven into it.  This is why I really loved RPGs as a kid, but those have also gotten a bit old to me.  Many of them look amazing and the worlds they've created look awesome, but how many times  must you be a teenager/young adult striking out to save the world?  Even the "Save the world" trope is fine, but Japan is largely in a rut.  I know there are other, different games like Western RPGs and though I'd love those, probably, (I'd really like to give the Red Dead Redemption series a try) I just don't have the time dedication for something like that.

So yeah, I game to unwind a bit, but I'd like to game to get engrossed into cool worlds with great stories, but I lack the time for it.  That's my answer.

[mbd39 | 2,029]

I know I don't play games for the story while many others do.

For me it's a fun challenge along the lines of solving a crossword puzzle. And there's the endorphin rush when you accomplish a goal. This is why Tetris is so damn addictive. It gives those perfect little endorphin hits as you stack preparing for the long piece and then make a Tetris. And when you're doing really well, it feels great.

I also enjoy the competitive aspect of playing in stuff like the weekly contests.

 

 

[ZeldaFreak | 3,618]

To have fun.

Honestly can just stop there, but, going a bit deeper...

In addition to having fun, sometimes, depending on what mood you're in, it's also to challenge yourself and/or give yourself a sense of accomplishment by overcoming something, which is why people play much more challenging games such as the Soulsborne games, even though they can be frustrating at times. That part's the unique thing about video games, since "to have fun" is also a perfectly valid answer for why you'd watch a movie, read a book, watch TV, etc, which are purely non-interactive mediums.

It's also important to note that "fun" has differing definitions for people depending on who you ask. For one person, having fun playing a video game may be playing something like Mega Man, something that's all about gameplay with little to no story, whereas for someone else it may be playing a deep, story-driven game like The Last of Us that you can get fully immersed in and deeply emotionally invested in, something more akin to an interactive movie, but both would qualify as having fun, since fun is just to derive enjoyment from something. For me personally, I enjoy both sides of that coin and everything in between very very much, which is why I enjoy almost every genre of video game out there, I don't have very strong preferences for one genre over the other, because I find them all to be fun in their own unique ways.

There's also a community aspect to video games when it comes to contests, competition, events, multiplayer games and fanbases (and forums such as the one we're on right now,) but that's kind of its own topic, and even that still, at the end of the day, boils down to having fun, just in a more communal way. And obviously plenty of people use video games as a form of escapism as well, but again, that boils down to having fun, since it's an escape to something that can oftentimes be more fun (or at least more immediately gratifying) than real life. You wouldn't want to escape to something that's just miserable.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,584]

Many reasons.

Being awed by the vistas and worlds of a Breath of the Wild or an Elden Ring. 

Experiencing the story of an Oxenfree or Life is Strange.

Revelling in the spectacle of a Bayonetta or Devil May Cry.

The challenge of an Ikaruga or Battletoads.

The absurdity of a Deadly Premonition or Undertale.

Bonding with my boys in Mario or Smash Brothers.

I also love just experiencing games.  I want to play everything so I have that broader perspective of the medium as a whole.  Kinda like how I will watch every notable movie, or try to read notable books.

[Webhead123 | 687]

For me, I'd say the following make up the values that draw me to gaming (and probably some others I'm not thinking of):

Creative outlet - Being able to exercise my imagination through "active" entertainment, i.e. a creative device that requires me to make decisions, solve problems and pay attention to detail.

Thrill of "tension" - There's a visceral experience while playing a game that comes from really challenging your faculties. This might be against the game itself (trying to decipher the most efficient method for accomplishing a goal) or against the other players.

Escapism - There's something almost equally thrilling about manipulating components or your in-game avatar. This goes somewhat with the "creative outlet" but you can put yourself into the space that these components occupy and feel just a little bit bigger than yourself as you order game elements around purposefully through the game world.

Social interaction - Having a structured medium for sharing experiences with like-minded people. Sharing good humor, emotional support and an environment generally free of real world stresses. VGS is a great example of exactly that! Thanks, you guys!

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

As a kid I played for fun. It was just really fun. With a friend or by myself. SMB awed me. Then the concepts of double dragon and mega man were totally cool. so on and so forth.

Now that I think of it today I never play a game for fun. I don’t have time. I play to compete. The weekly contest provide a way for me to still compete as I’m to old for sports anymore.

I do still play games outside of the weekly contest. Only to attempt a 1cc. If I have fun along the way I’ll take it lol. But anymore it’s more I want to beat the game than just play it for fun.

[Mega Tank | 974]

[PekoponTAS | 171]

I enjoy the process of figuring out how to beat challenging games. I don't really play many games to relax, as overcoming challenge is a lot of what I like about them. One thing that games have over every other form of media is that you can feel real tension from the ability to fail and be punished for it. Even in movies where it ends badly for the heroes, you hardly ever feel the true weight of it unless you've become attached to the characters through excellent storytelling.

In a game you don't need that in order to feel that punch in the gut from failure, and older games would literally laugh at you for losing. (Duck Hunt/Punch Out/Wave Race GB) What's great though is that in a game you can always try again, making you feel both sides of the outcome in a way that movies and novels can't do without introducing elements like time travel, alternate dimensions, or visions/dream sequences.

Gaming is also just the sector of pop culture I grew up with, so I'm very comfortable with it. If I were to get into movies or music, I'd have so much to catch up on that it would take another 33 years to get to where I am with gaming.

The music is also a big factor, and I've never been interested in popular music groups because of it. I think video game music is better than 99.6% of everything else.

Edited January 3, 2023 by PekoponTAS

[Reed Rothchild | 9,584]

39 minutes ago, PekoponTAS said:

I'd have so much to catch up on that it would take another 33 years to get to where I am with gaming

Well, if you don't play "mature" games you might have a lot of catching up to do there as well

Quick, someone buy this man a copy of Doom or God of War or something!

[PekoponTAS | 171]

Well, you're right there. XD Though what I lack in M rated game knowledge I make back in knowledge of games for younger audiences that many don't know about. I've been keeping my list of Wii, DS and GBA hidden gems to myself for years, and there's been next to no videos on Youtube about any of them ever since they came out.

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

5 hours ago, mbd39 said:

I know I don't play games for the story while many others do.

For me it's a fun challenge along the lines of solving a crossword puzzle. And there's the endorphin rush when you accomplish a goal. This is why Tetris is so damn addictive. It gives those perfect little endorphin hits as you stack preparing for the long piece and then make a Tetris. And when you're doing really well, it feels great.

I also enjoy the competitive aspect of playing in stuff like the weekly contests.

 

 

As a kid I would play for fun. Now I play strictly for the joy of accomplishment/competition.

story? Wtf is a story?

Edited January 3, 2023 by docile tapeworm

[Reed Rothchild | 9,584]

2 minutes ago, docile tapeworm said:

As a kid I would play for fun. Now I play strictly for the joy of accomplishment/competition.

story? Wtf is a story?

It's that thing with the words and fancy readin' and all.

Wait a minute... Chrono Trigger... Oh you liar.  You're a big story softie at heart.  I'm on to you!

[DarkTone | 988]

Its like reading a book or watching a film, but I can only continue it with skill and / or luck. 

Imagine going to the cinema, watching a movie, halfway through the fucking usher asks you "whats the name of the protagonist?" and you can't remember. So now the projectionist restarts the movie. 

Or...... escapism. 

[Sumez | 2,994]

Recreational engagement, satisfaction, and rich experiences

[Tulpa | 3,534]

To do this. All other considerations are irrelevant.

[wongojack | 221]

A lot of the answers I would give have been covered well already. 

Here's all the answers summarized in a list

• Challenge & Thrill
• Escape
• Interactive Storytelling
• Interactive Role Playing
• Relaxation
• Accomplishment
• Competition
• Fun
• Community & Social
• Awe and Wonder
• Time with Family & Friends
• Engage in Public & Critical Discourse
• Creativity
• Music

It strikes me as interesting that gaming offers stimulation of all the senses that other forms of entertainment have (besides maybe smell or er . . . um touch).  It stimulates so many things and can be so much to so many people.

6 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I also love just experiencing games.  I want to play everything so I have that broader perspective of the medium as a whole.  Kinda like how I will watch every notable movie, or try to read notable books.

This also really resonates with me.  We're taught to experience things and absorb information before making an opinion.  I do this with movies, TV, etc. and I do this A LOT with games.  I like that there are critics who can sort through games and give me opinions - then I want to play those games for myself and experience them so I can have my own opinion.   I like to be able to participate in a global community of "gaming" to be able to talk and interact with others about the medium.

 

I'll also say that as a hobby, gaming has a few different sides to it.  There's playing games (what we are talking about here), but I also collect games, repair equipment, and even do some programming or design of my own games.  All of those help to round out the hobby, and I find myself shifting sides from one to another and back again from time to time.

Edited January 3, 2023 by wongojack

[Tabonga | 2,337]

8 hours ago, mbd39 said:

For me it's a fun challenge along the lines of solving a crossword puzzle. And there's the endorphin rush when you accomplish a goal. This is why Tetris is so damn addictive. It gives those perfect little endorphin hits as you stack preparing for the long piece and then make a Tetris. And when you're doing really well, it feels great.

I you haven't played any of the Sokoban games they are pretty fun.  You play a hapless warehouse worker having to properly store crates in really poorly built limited acess rooms.

You don't need any Japanese to play them on Japanese platforms.  But a few did make it over here - Shove It! (Genesis), Boxy Boy (Turgografx) and Boxxle one and two (Gameboy).

[fox | 1,673]

Waifus

[Tanooki | 4,952]

I got into it because it was something new back in 1985 for Christmas when the NES made it under the tree.  I really hadn't done much other than strictly arcade games at various locations before that and they're just not the same.  The point of those was just point racking, if you got lucky, finding one with a legit ending you could finish with a reasonable set of quarters.

But home gaming, handheld gaming, very different beast.  The point there was another form of entertainment, comfort food, an escape from whatever sucked or distracted in life you wanted a break from.  It was a living adventure, why just read or watch it when you can play it, be the hero, not just tag along third person for the ride.

Other nonsense such as being a collector/collecting had nothing to do with it but a side effect of not being stupid enough to sell your stuff to some clown or ripoff resale store for like 5-10% of what it all was paid for -- I never did.  Because just like a good book or movie/tv show, these too can be saved, stored, and revisited over and over again, but unlike the book or video bit...what is written in the pages of your game play can be different, there's always some change, we're not robots.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

I play games for the same reason other people watch TV or read books.  Escapism, plain and simple.  I lean toward games that exercise my brain, mainly rpgs, adventures, and strategy games, but almost anything can do in a pinch.

[GPX | 1,373]

To fine-tune my reflexes and coordination, and to heighten all my senses (except olfactory and gustatory). 

Gaming at first was just simply a hobby when I was pre-teen. Sometime later, it has become a way of life up until present day. Also, games don’t have to be played to be enjoyed. You can store and display them like trophies, you can cuddle them like pets, and you can collect and nurture them like plants.

Edited January 4, 2023 by GPX

[Hammerfestus | 3,882]

A few minutes of fun/distraction.  If I had all the time in the world I’d play RPGs because blah blah blah but I don’t.  I consume my gaming in 10 minute or less increments.  I really don’t have time or patience to have to work at a game.  I need to be able to immediately get to screwing around or it’s a hard pass from me.
 I had been playing exclusively NES games for a while but a few months ago I got the PS4 up and running.  What a bunch of crap.  First I have to wait for it to load into the system, then I have to wait for the damn thing to update.  Then I have to wait for the system to restart.  Then I can’t play the fucking thing online because I’m not paying for some subscription.  What a bunch of horseshit.  Just let me play the damn game.  

[twiztor | 855]

On 1/3/2023 at 8:26 AM, ZeldaFreak said:

To have fun.

Honestly can just stop there, but, going a bit deeper...

In addition to having fun, sometimes, depending on what mood you're in, it's also to challenge yourself and/or give yourself a sense of accomplishment by overcoming something, which is why people play much more challenging games such as the Soulsborne games, even though they can be frustrating at times.

this sums up my answer pretty perfectly. i find fun and relaxation in playing games. with both the (2d) Zelda series and the Diablo franchise, i could let hours just drift away playing these games. it is akin to comfort food. 

However, when my brain isn't in a "bleh" mood, i like a good challenge. Pushing my limits to just the right extent (currently: SMB2J, Cuphead) so that my skills improve and i can ultimately get that sense of accomplishment when i see the ending. i also am definitely a completionist (not just in gaming, but in life. e.g. a decade ago, i wanted to read all the stories that Dick Grayson/Robin I/Nightwing appeared in. but i couldn't find a definitive list of which Batman publications he was in, so i compromised by reading every Batman comic, ever, up to that point), so i try not to bite off more than i can chew or i will end up getting overwhelmed. Stuff like @Reed Rothchild's yearly Backlog Challenges have turned out to be a great way to keep myself focused and on task. 

8 hours ago, GPX said:

you can collect and nurture them like plants.

i would strongly recommend against watering them, however.