Well since I'm bored I might as well post something. The state of the gaming community of Puerto Rico is an interesting one. Gaming is something relatively new. While I'm sure most people can argue that gaming has been around since the 70's I consider that the current 20 - 30 year olds of today are the first generation to truly grow up with gaming. We as a generation have for the most part matured to the point that we are starting to have a meaningful say in the world. No one can argue that gaming is not serious business. Is an industry that moves billions of dollars as a whole economic powerhouse in itself. This in part or completely made possible by this very first generation that embraced gaming as something that is part of who we are. We are the ones that ignored the TV, ignored the other toys, bought Nintendos, SNES, Sega Genesis (Genesi?), Playstations, and played every freaking game in their libraries. Anyone that has gamed up to this point and tries to deny their love for gaming is just denying themselves.
As with any medium that spawned in the last century as social beings that we are we like to share the experience with other people. Multiplayer has been standard in gaming ever since it was conceived in it's first form as Pong. Naturally with this latest new and interactive medium of the previous century we as a collective have forged communities, alliances, friendships and enemies based on this activity. So as this generation gained mobility and entered in their 15 - 20 periods in the early 2000s, we took it upon ourselves to take it to the next level in terms of reach and exposure as gaming grew at the same pace with us. We took it upon ourselves to network with players and take games to the next level. As this happened here in the island it also happened in the rest of the world. Fighting games in particular were being played at a professional level. At the time some might have said that professional and gaming in the same sentence would equate to heresy. Time yet again proved the skeptics wrong and the proactive gaming communities everywhere elevated the playing of games like Street Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur and, yes, even Super Smash Bros to a competitive level. Sports Gaming was born.
People organized themselves. All over events spawned, gatherings at houses occurred and tournaments were being played. Purely grassroots fueled, this took form by the sacrifice and hard work of key community people that took it upon themselves to organize and coordinate the community. Unfortunately things quickly got tarnished by the darker side of ourselves.
For a community to grow, its openness plays an important role. In some cases elitism in the community was rampant. This turned off people that wanted to integrate themselves in the gaming community at a competitive level but were quickly dismissed by some of the already established top players. We also have (and still have) people that want to take advantage of people with monetary gain without providing something meaningful back to the community. In many occasions things that the rest of the world took for granted, in the island we artificially presupposed rules and restrictions and artificial barriers that only damaged the very community that we have worked so hard to build. All because of petty greed and self centered egos of a few ignorant self proclaimed elites. For now is not necessary to call out anyone in particular but, these people and these attitudes are the things that has kept gaming from growing and is currently in a stagnant state from six years ago up until today and have turned off further people from integrating in a meaning full way (such as me).
As I check back on the state of the community this year,we still have people that refuse to make things better yet want to control the way the community engages in their activities. I think those times are about to come to an end. We all have been witnesses of how gaming has grown to something bigger than ourselves. Starcraft is an actual sport in Korea. Major League Gaming is not an afterthought anymore but something real. Events and tournaments like Evo, Season Beatings, Blizcon, PAX and E3 are powerhouses all over the gaming industry. As I said, this is a billion dollar industry and events like this naturally bring in a small part of those billions as well.
Some people in the community have seen this and have let greed and megalomania overtake the way decisions are made. Sure there is money to be made but this community was not built by the dollars of big name corporations but by the very people that are part of the community. Things like letting big corporations get free sponsorships are rampant and are counterproductive to the very goal they want to achieve. We have people stealing from sponsors and the community themselves. We have influential megalomaniacs imposing rules that go against the wishes of the very community they supposedly cater. We have to give the community what they want, not what a very few influential individuals want to impose or else we end up where we are today with stagnation and a frustrated community. As we got older this should have naturally sorted itself out as we matured. But it didn't.
Things can be better. As the next generation of gamers take form, they as well will be part of this community in some form. Growth is natural, but certain individuals have become a cancer in this community. We have to step up our game and set aside petty bickering. Some influential individuals have had their time to make of this what it should be but have miserably failed and in some cases turned things for worse. Their time is over. Our productions values can be better. We have the technology, the hard working people, and the eager community to make it happen. We well not lag further behind in progress. Our presence will be felt on the rest of the world and take note.
As with any medium that spawned in the last century as social beings that we are we like to share the experience with other people. Multiplayer has been standard in gaming ever since it was conceived in it's first form as Pong. Naturally with this latest new and interactive medium of the previous century we as a collective have forged communities, alliances, friendships and enemies based on this activity. So as this generation gained mobility and entered in their 15 - 20 periods in the early 2000s, we took it upon ourselves to take it to the next level in terms of reach and exposure as gaming grew at the same pace with us. We took it upon ourselves to network with players and take games to the next level. As this happened here in the island it also happened in the rest of the world. Fighting games in particular were being played at a professional level. At the time some might have said that professional and gaming in the same sentence would equate to heresy. Time yet again proved the skeptics wrong and the proactive gaming communities everywhere elevated the playing of games like Street Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur and, yes, even Super Smash Bros to a competitive level. Sports Gaming was born.
People organized themselves. All over events spawned, gatherings at houses occurred and tournaments were being played. Purely grassroots fueled, this took form by the sacrifice and hard work of key community people that took it upon themselves to organize and coordinate the community. Unfortunately things quickly got tarnished by the darker side of ourselves.
For a community to grow, its openness plays an important role. In some cases elitism in the community was rampant. This turned off people that wanted to integrate themselves in the gaming community at a competitive level but were quickly dismissed by some of the already established top players. We also have (and still have) people that want to take advantage of people with monetary gain without providing something meaningful back to the community. In many occasions things that the rest of the world took for granted, in the island we artificially presupposed rules and restrictions and artificial barriers that only damaged the very community that we have worked so hard to build. All because of petty greed and self centered egos of a few ignorant self proclaimed elites. For now is not necessary to call out anyone in particular but, these people and these attitudes are the things that has kept gaming from growing and is currently in a stagnant state from six years ago up until today and have turned off further people from integrating in a meaning full way (such as me).
As I check back on the state of the community this year,we still have people that refuse to make things better yet want to control the way the community engages in their activities. I think those times are about to come to an end. We all have been witnesses of how gaming has grown to something bigger than ourselves. Starcraft is an actual sport in Korea. Major League Gaming is not an afterthought anymore but something real. Events and tournaments like Evo, Season Beatings, Blizcon, PAX and E3 are powerhouses all over the gaming industry. As I said, this is a billion dollar industry and events like this naturally bring in a small part of those billions as well.
Some people in the community have seen this and have let greed and megalomania overtake the way decisions are made. Sure there is money to be made but this community was not built by the dollars of big name corporations but by the very people that are part of the community. Things like letting big corporations get free sponsorships are rampant and are counterproductive to the very goal they want to achieve. We have people stealing from sponsors and the community themselves. We have influential megalomaniacs imposing rules that go against the wishes of the very community they supposedly cater. We have to give the community what they want, not what a very few influential individuals want to impose or else we end up where we are today with stagnation and a frustrated community. As we got older this should have naturally sorted itself out as we matured. But it didn't.
Things can be better. As the next generation of gamers take form, they as well will be part of this community in some form. Growth is natural, but certain individuals have become a cancer in this community. We have to step up our game and set aside petty bickering. Some influential individuals have had their time to make of this what it should be but have miserably failed and in some cases turned things for worse. Their time is over. Our productions values can be better. We have the technology, the hard working people, and the eager community to make it happen. We well not lag further behind in progress. Our presence will be felt on the rest of the world and take note.
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