Revenge of the Nerd-Jocks, Part 1

When I was young, being a gamer was a far lonlier experience than the "power dorks" of today have. Video games were not a common pastime enjoyed on one level or another by most of America's youth as they are now. Games like Super Mario Bros. got a few people to play who may not normally have done so but by and large, gamers were seen as a strange lot. Playing games on the go on a black and white Gameboy the size of my (rather sizable) head and pouring over my 300+ page "Holiday Preview Issue" of Electronic Gaming Monthly (RIP) did not impress the ladies. Not one bit.

I'll tell you what did impress the ladies, at least the ones in my tiny, private, independant school: Basketball. Basketball was the only sport for which my modest school could legitimately field a team for and have proper facilities to support. Our gym was simply an indoor basketball court which also pulled double duty as the cafeteria. Tables and chairs were set up on one half of the court and the other remained open for half-court play. Lunch time was a spectacle. People sitting and eating at the tables and around the edges of the courts open half while our most gifted (and not so gifted) players tried to juke, double clutch and no-look pass their way into the nightmares of their opponents and the dreams of whatever girls were watching.

These sessions started becoming popular around the same time I was becoming aware of the vast differences between what moved me and what moved others and by extension, the difference between how they viewed each other and how they viewed me. It was lonely business sitting alone at the corner table farthest from the lunch time All-Star Game. Hearing the cheers for the gymnasium's finest while feeling the cold, alienating stares at my back as I tried to plod through Metroid II in peace stirred a powerful longing in me. I began to wonder about and yearn for an alternate reality where tables upon tables were filled with kids with Gameboys networked with link cables facing off in Tetris while one lonely kid shot hoops all by himself at the other end of the gym, no one so much as raising an eyebrow as he rattles off four or five straight three-pointers.

Of course the next logical step of this fantasy would extend to a world where skilled gamers made seven figures and bedded supermodels while those gifted in sports were just an oft forgotten sideshow of outcasts unable to develope social skills. Though it was unfair and perhaps a bit unhealthy to do so, I started to resent and even hate the physically gifted because their talents garnered them positive attention where mine drew barely any attention at all, good or bad. This would change a little when I became a pretty decent b-ball player in highschool, but I still knew that even if I could play with them, I wasn't one of them. I wasn't one of the half court elite and the only thing I felt elite at would never be recognized by my peers or the world in the same way the greatest professional athletes were. I was never more sure of this than when I watched Michael Jordan in motion.

Anyone with a pulse in the late 80's and early 90's knew Michael Jordan whether they liked sports or not. He has created so many highlights it borders on the rediculous but there was one moment that most sports watchers of the time will tell you made time stand still. It was Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Bulls vs. Lakers when Michael Jordan did this. Please take a second to watch it. You may not get what makes it unreal and in the years since it seems from the comments on YouTube that some now debate it's greatness but for anyone alive who cared about sports at that time, that moment is permanently etched in their memory as nothing short of legend. All who witnessed it were awestruck. Even MJ's notoriously stone faced coach Phil Jackson stood up and smiled. He would have been a fool not to. He had just seen the best that ever lived do the best he had ever done.

That night I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, replaying MJ's spectacular play (which would eventually be known only as "The Move") in my head over and over. I didn't know it yet, but I would spend the months to come trying, without success, to duplicate "The Move" in my driveway. I couldn't help but wonder: would video games ever get their Michael Jordan? If they did, would the world even care? Was I him? Was my version of "The Move" waiting for me in my future? Would anyone who plays video games ever give us gamers the equivalent of MJ's shining moment? Would any of us ever shine at all? I drifted to sleep that night knowing, not thinking, KNOWING that the answer to all those questions was "no". But was it really?

I dreamt that night of a place with screaming fans and corporate sponsorships, a place where the lonely cafeteria recluse could become a national superstar. I imagined a man like Michael Jordan for gamers, someone whose ability could only be described as awesome who would do something singularly captivating as MJ did that night against the Lakers. I envisioned a movement that could give gamers a stage to showcase their talents to the world. Though I didn't know it then, the name of that place would be Korea, where a game called Starcraft would become their national pastime. The name of that man would be Daigo Umehara who along with his contemporaries would elevate playing Street Fighter III: Third Strike to an art form. The name of the movement would be E-Sports and it would change the way games were played and developed forever.

To Be Continued.....

Alpha

Welcome! This is the beginning of something very exciting for me, that I hope becomes very exciting (or at least enjoyable) for all of you. What I am attempting is to make this more than just a video game blog. I dont't want this to simply be a pulpit for me to preach from. People have done that. They are, in point of fact, still doing it and some are even making a good show of it and all the best to them. But I want more.

I want to go all over the proverbial map, and I want all of you to come with me. In this space I am going to be discussing all things gaming. Not just the games, not just the industry, not just the culture, not just the business and not just the art (Oops, did I say art, and in my first post?). I want to hit all of those topics and more, not just one of them. Sometimes I'll be talking about the female influence in game design, or the different complex audience models developers use to figure out how to tap into the gamer psyche in order to design the next big thing. I might be in the mood to do some old fashioned game previews and reviews if something tickles my fancy. I'm going to share my thoughts on game design and how it's evolved. I dont know where else this might go, but what I can promise is that it wont stay in one place.

But it doesn't end with me. I know there are millions of passionate gamers out there. You aren't alone! There are others out there like you for whom games are more than just a fun pastime! If I have my way, this will be a place for us to gather. I have stories to tell and ideas to share but I see no reason why I should hog all the fun. I know there are more of us who think about all manner of game related nonsense and have no output for it. Well this will be YOUR sounding board as well as mine so I will be encouraging readers to send me propositions for posts and if it's something I think people will enjoy reading, I will make you a guest author and let you say your piece.

Maybe while you were in the shower you had a crazy game idea and you spent a little too much free time conceptualizing it and you want to share it with the world? Lets write it. Maybe you think you have spotted some crazy conspiracy within the industry and you are dying to see if others feel the same? The truth is out there, lets find it! You think some game that the mainstream press gave 9.5's and 10's to completely sucks? Let the world know! Has a game changed your life for the better recently? There are people out there who NEED to know that. Even if you dont have full fledged stories I hope to see discussions popping up that a message board would have dropped to the third page within 30 seconds of it being posted for having too many "werdzorz".

So that's that. I know I'm rambling but it's because I am excited and because there is so much to do. I will be posting ways for anyone reading to contact me as soon as I figure out all the logistics. In the meantime feel free to drop me a line at Magnusreloaded@hotmail.com if you have any thoughts.

Until next time, NEVER FORGET:


We are more than just "gamers". We are afficionados, enthusiasts, fanatics and philosophers. This thing we do is more than just a game. It is a hobby, a passion and a state of mind. Shoryuken!