Gaming Since Birth

So we made one thing certainly clear today in class, believe it or not, not everyone is a gamer. Unlike me, people have not devoted 10,000+ hours to video games before they were legally capable of drinking. If you're someone like me, you were born into gaming, and it quickly became my craft. My mom went into labor while she was defeating Gannon on The Legend of Zelda. It was clear that when I was to be born, I was accustomed to the frustrations, joy, and ultimately for my mom, the "epic win" feeling after my birth. From as far as I can remember, I have spent my life with a controller in my hands, playing a game, achieving epic wins and never thinking twice about it. What is it exactly about video games that keeps bringing me back to them? Much like reading, once you've started a story that you have gotten yourself deeply rooted into, video games have very similar plot lines that go over looked. Multiple games have taught me SO much about diversity, gender roles and expectations, overcoming adversity, facing your demons, and most importantly acceptance. I credit much of my early passion for wanting to help others feel like they belonged because it was so commonplace in the video games I played. These characters came from varying walks of life, and all that mattered to them was that there were in it for a common goal. Thats what I picked up on; if your heart was in the right place, I could not judge you on your exterior. While video games have also become a place for labeling people as "noobs" and the like, its apart of the culture that you should never settle for mediocre. Sure, it may not be the greatest approach, but what else could motivate you more than being degragated to a lowly status based upon "skill" level? For me, that motivation drives me to constantly continue to become better, and that the best is always getting better as well. Video games have taught me so many things and I accept the fact that I probably play too much of them. How else would I understand the idea that I can get progessively better at something by devoting myself to it? I credit that to my guilty pleasure, gaming.