addition self-expression in why i play games

content/post/2022/01/why-i-play-games.md

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 Yesterday, after another quick (and disappointing) bicycle ride to the local retro game store, I started wondering: why do I actually still play video games? I'm 36 now, shouldn't I stop doing that and find another decent and more respected hobby? That is what the funny looks thrown my way make me feel after talking a bit too much about games. I sometimes even feel a bit ashamed. Many friends have long moved on and focused on (what they think) more important things in life. The career ladder, kids, perhaps taking on an expensive hobby. 
 
-You're all making a grave mistake. Gaming isn't about doing _nothing_ or portraying as couch potato as popular media might make you believe. Neither is it reserved for frustrated teens that like to run people over in _Grand Theft Auto_. As I contemplated on why I love video games, I came up with a list that indicates it's not just about playing. And even if it would be, why would we stop being playful after our thirties? I think video gaming is misunderstood by many people---perhaps, at moments, even by myself, as the doubt and guilt is creeping back in because of the remarks of others. Time to settle things. 
+You're all making a big mistake. Gaming isn't about doing _nothing_ or portraying as [addicted couch potato](https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/01/01/video-game-makers-must-address-worries-about-addictiveness) as popular media might make you believe. Neither is it reserved for frustrated teens that like to run people over in _Grand Theft Auto_. As I contemplated on why I love video games, I came up with a list that indicates it's not just about playing. And even if it would be, why would we stop being playful after our thirties? I think video gaming is misunderstood by many people---perhaps, at moments, even by myself, as the doubt and guilt is creeping back in because of the remarks of others. Time to settle things. 
 
 The psychology of gaming and many of the points raised here can be further explored in Jane McGonigal's [ Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7821348). A huge body of academic work on the psychological effects of video gaming exists. It would take this post too far to try and summarize them all. One thing that we have to admit is that for every positive effect (uplifted mood), another study exists that proves the opposite. Do bloody shooters and GTA clones affect gamer's tendencies to take the shotgun to the streets? We can't say for certain. What we can say for certain is that variation is key. As with food, a variety of dietary intake is what keeps us healthy. Murdering virtual civilians non-stop sure sound like it can negatively impact our mental health, but blasting our way though once in a while does nothing but relieve pressure. 
 
@@ -55,7 +55,17 @@ I have two big posters printed out of Steve Purcell's _Monkey Island_ cover art,
 
 ![](../okami.jpg "This is a screenshot of a video game. A game! Can you believe that? (Okami HD)")
 
-If I had to quit gaming, I'd be in search of another hobby that would thirst my appreciation for art, technical learning, brain training, emotional evoking, nostalgia ridden, social interactive and escapism. I'd say that's close to impossible to achieve. Over the years, my preference for games hasn't really changed, except that my time devoted to it has. It's been tough to finish huge games, and I find pickup-and-play (handheld gaming) variants to be more appealing nowadays because of that. 
+**Self-expression**. Besides admiring the creativity and art of others, with gaming, I can take the first steps towards being the creative person myself. By choosing which games, installed modifications, and configured settings to play, I take my first baby steps to express myself---but there's more. First, by playing open-ended sandbox games (_Theme Hospital_, _SimCity_, _Zeus: Master of Olympus_) in my own personal way. By building cities, hospitals, dungeons, space stations, in a particular way, I can express myself. This is still quite limited, of course, since with many of these games, there's an optimal path to take, which power players tend to converge to.
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+Second, certain games come with creativity built-in, where the core of the gameplay _is_ the self-expressive part (_Minecraft_, _Super Mario Maker_). You don't need extensive modding or technical knowledge to lay out the tracks for a fun and unique design. Chances are very high you've created a quirky and original level that's both enjoyable and perhaps even artsy. Even older games, such as _Lode Runner_ reiterations, had the built-in capacity to create custom levels you could share with your friends on a floppy disk. 
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+Third, for those who don't want to stop at the limited level editor, there's a whole video game modding world out there, that ranges from working with developer-provided tools such as the _Aurora Editor_ to build custom _Neverwinter Nights_ campaigns, to _DOOM_ mapPack editors that let you recreate your entire high school environment in a custom _DOOM_ episode, including pesky teacher sprites as shooting targets! And last but not least, if the game doesn't natively support modding, with a bit of technical learning (see above), the disassembler will point the way towards possibilities for customization that the developers did not intent to leave open. People are creating custom _Breath of the Wild_ mods and _Super Mario 64_ "total conversions". Who is the artist now? Video gaming is much, much more than just entertainment.
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+![](../nwn.jpg "Neverwinter Nights basically shipped with an invitation to create your own adventure.")
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+If I had to quit gaming, I'd be in search of another hobby that would thirst my appreciation for art, technical learning, brain training, emotional evoking, self-expression, nostalgia ridden, social interactive and escapism. I'd say that's close to impossible to achieve. Over the years, my preference for games hasn't really changed, except that my time devoted to it has. It's been tough to finish huge games, and I find pickup-and-play (handheld gaming) variants to be more appealing nowadays because of that. 
 
 I'm sure I missed a few key pointers here. But at least next time I start doubting why I'm still playing games, I can re-read this post and convince myself not to give in to the shallow remarks of the ignorant.