…and I’ll tell you who you are. Obviously, this is my own version of the cliché “tell me who your friends are and I’ll you who you are.†Though I believe that this cliché can be true to some extent, I am not quite sure that it applies to video games.
I am actually not the first person to think along these lines. In fact, I got the idea from Crispin Boyer who wrote an entry in his blog entitled “Do we play what we are?†He, in turn, got his inspiration from a series of essays “Are we what we play?â€
It seems that more and more gamers are digging deeper into the psychology of gaming – and why not? Gaming holds more meaning than merely mashing buttons or clicking the mouse.
So, do video games reflect one’s personality? Perhaps. Our choices, when it comes to video gaming, have something to do with our interests in real life. The person who loves basketball spends time playing NBA Live. The person who loves football plays Madden. Does this mean, however, that the person who is crazy about GTA is a killer and a violent person?
I suppose it is not as clear cut as that. I have a friend who has never tried skateboarding. Yet he is addicted to Skate. Then there is another friend who has never laid a hand on any other person and is opposed to violence in principle – yet he can’t get enough of God of War.
So what’s the deal? What do you think?