How Videogames Changed My Life

This is a personal tale of how videogames managed to alter and direct the course of my life and the many positive impacts games have had on me.

The first game I have any real memory of playing is Croc: Legend of the Gobbos on the PlayStation; I spent many days and nights playing through the first two worlds at my Grandma’s house. Listening to the incredibly jazzy themes and tunes through the game’s world with a nice cold glass of milk and a ham sandwich is an absolutely wonderful memory. Memories like these really make the gaming experience so much more than just entertainment to me; such strong nostalgia makes these games hold a very special place in my heart.

I have a lot of random memories like this from the earlier era of my life, which mean a lot to me. I spent many hours of my childhood playing a variety of games with members of my family, from losing pretty much every single game of Wii Sports bowling I have ever played to both my mum and sister to arguing with my sister over the gold split in Fable II, despite the fact that as the secondary player I had 0 use for any of the gold, but it’s the principle that matters.

Destiny is a game which I had never even heard of until the day I first tried it, my mum pre-ordered it on a whim, so when the beta started, I figured I'd give it a shot. As an 11-year-old at its release, I was absolutely enamoured by its world — despite its questionable launch state — and sunk hours upon hours into the game and its universe. The much more profound impact came a few months into the game after the first couple of raids had dropped. I had never really been one for online play — I was a pretty anxious kid — so the idea of having to find five other people somehow to do a raid seemed a monumental task. One day though, my curiosity and love for the game overwhelmed my anxiety, and I discovered an LFG (looking for group) site and formulated a team to try my first raid. This was an incredible step for me in my personal growth and is the prime reason I was able to overcome a lot of my anxiety; it also led to me meeting an incredible amount of friends who’ve improved my life monumentally. I have my mum to thank for introducing me to this, which really changed my life for the better (I know you’ll be reading this, so thanks, love you).

Monster Hunter World was a title I never expected to have such a dramatic impact on me initially. I first gave it a try around its launch, and it never really clicked. 5-10 hours in, I ended up dropping it and coming back every so often, but never getting much further. When the summer of 2022 rolled around, I was in a very rough mental state; I was losing a lot of passion for gaming and the things I enjoyed doing, and I fell into somewhat of a deep depression. On a whim, I ended up picking up both Monster Hunter World and Iceborne, its expansion — and things were different this time — it had finally clicked. The complex gameplay, combined with a vast amount of content and an incredible world, sucked me in for hundreds of hours and managed to drag me out of that slump, reigniting my passion and introducing me to a new franchise which I utterly adore now.

Videogames are often shown in a very bad light, especially by the media at large, and the benefits are often skipped out upon. While there are most definitely problems, addiction is very possible and common among younger people, I’m of the opinion that the positives far outweigh the negatives. They can be a fantastic way for people to socialise; I've met so many people through videogames, and those relationships are just as real as the ones I've made in person. That isn’t even beginning to get into the career elements of things, from developers to journalists and artists and so much more. Even the esports scene, while difficult, is an entirely viable path. Gaming is a hobby which really needs to be explored to be understood, and not enough people give it the time of day, and I hope this managed to at least enlighten someone.