For this blog post, I want to step away from the obvious, no matter how obvious the title of the post may be to most of us. After all, for gamers, gaming matters...it matters big time (yes, I stole that from Wayne's World). For most of us hardcore gamers, gaming is our preferred mode of entertainment, what we would rather engage in than many of the mundane other activities out there. Instead, I want to look at why gaming matters to the mainstream folks out there, including the many people who have not yet embraced gaming, This is a topic that has been written about previously, but I wanted to do something a bit different.I want to look at three (3) key areas and one additional area where gaming can be an even more effective medium to those of us who consider ourselves hardcore gamers.

1. Social Interaction: OK let's all be honest with each other here. There are lots of gamer stereotypes out there. Another Gamespot member posted an excellent blog post about this not too long ago. The truth of the matter is that there are lots and lots of people out there who still think gamers are acne ridden, reclusive hermits, who wear thick glasses, and bury themselves in their basements for 12 hours a day playing their favorite game. Well, there may be a few gamers out there who fit that description but, like the old Virginia Slims ads used to say, We Have Come A Long Way Baby! Most of us gamers are pretty well rounded individuals who have lots of interests other than gaming, carry on healthy relationships with other people, hold down jobs, manage responsibilities, raise families, etc. Nevertheless, there are still many people who might be classified as a "geek" by modern standards who turn to gaming to fill a very specific void. This void os called social interaction. I am 40 now, but I remember how difficult my teenage years were. I imagine many people feel like I did, unsure of who they are, unsure of who they are supposed to be, shy and timid around the opposite sex, and not real strong as far as public speaking and interaction was concerned. For people like this, gaming can be huge, especially now. With the emergence of XBL or PSN, these same individuals can confidently carry on conversations and be socially interactive with people from all over the world. I hear you. You are saying it's no big deal to hide behind a gamer tag and boast how great you are from the safety of one's living room. That may be the case much of the time, but for people like the ones I described earlier, I completely disagree. For people like this, being able to do something competitive, to excel at it, and then be able to talk to others about it is huge. Or, take a game like WoW, where someone who could not carry on a conversation with a girl without doubling over with stomach cramps in the real world can be the leader of a powerful Guild with an impressive presence in the WoW Universe. What happens, eventually, is many of these same people gain much needed confidence from their virtual successes and this carries over into the real world. They come out of their shells and confidently stake their place in society. I know many people to whom this happened, myself included. So, the first area where gaming matters, in my opinion, is it can teach social interaction to people who need to learn these skills.

2. Anyone Can Play: Perhaps more so than anything else out there, gaming can be enjoyed by anyone. Think about it for a moment. What other form of entertainment currently in existence can be enjoyed equally by all people, regardless of age, gender, race, sexual orientation, physical disability, etc. I think this is most noticeable as to gender. I have been involved with MLG for many years now and I have personally witnessed the rise to prominence of the female gamer. Females not only play games, but it is becoming pretty routine for many of them to be better than males are at games. For instance, look at a group such as the Frag Dolls. Tell me what other entertainment medium would provide an opportunity for a group like the Frag Dolls to not only exist, but to thrive. Then you look at the age differences of many of us. I am 40 and I still love to play games. I know there are many people in my age group who game on a regular basis. But, the really unique thing here is that a 40 year old like me runs an NCAA 10 Online Dynasty with a guy older than me, a few guys in their 30s, and several others in their early 20;s or late teens. Nowhere else would something like this be able to exist. Now add in to all of this the ability of online game play to bring together gamers from all over the world, and allow them all to compete together even if they speak different languages, and you have something distinctly unique to, really, anything else out there. Gaming is the only game in town that accomplishes this and for this, perhaps more than anything, gaming matters on a globally significant scale.

3.Remembering The Forgotten: An area of gaming that I feel needs to be explored in much greater detail is how gaming can truly improve the lives of our senior citizens. I see this first hand whenever I go to visit my 101 year old grandmother in a convalescent home. As I walk towards her room, I see many, many people literally wasting away physically, mentally, and emotionally. I often wonder and firmly believe many of these peoples' lives could be enriched by something as simple as a Wii or a DS in their room. Many of our senior citizens suffer from arthritis or other similar conditions that inevitably lead to severe muscle atrophy or other orthopedic problems. As low impact as something like Wii Fit is, I can't help but feel that many of our elderly citizens could greatly benefit from a fitness program involving Wii Fit, or EA Sports Active, or any of the myriad games now flooding the market under the new banner of the Fitness Genre. And, how about Brain Age or Professor Layton for the DS. Wouldn't these games help to stimulate the minds of many of our seniors who would otherwise do nothing more than watch the mindlessness that pervades most daytime TV programs? But, perhaps more importantly, I feel gaming could introduce something to many of our senior citizens that goes missing from their lives all too often in their golden years: The feeling of being young, of being alive. Through gaming, our elderly can experience thrilling adventures, engrossing stories, and deep strategy that will challenge their mind, body, and spirit, but in a safe and productive way. I have seen many rest homes already follow the lead here and place Wiis in their therapy centers. I can only hope many others follow suit.

For The Rest Of Us: Lastly, I feel gaming represents a unique opportunity for many of our most beloved franchises to live on for many, many years to come. Look at the recent Ghostbusters game that, for all intents and purposes was Ghostbusters III. The Wanted franchise did this as well. I see a ton of promise here, particularly for the Star Wars universe. While there is no denying that games like KOTOR and the Old Republic have their place in the Star Wars Universe, why stop there. Lucas Arts could make many games that take place after Return of the Jedi where the likeness of the character most of us associate as Luke Skywalker or Han Solo can be replicated to near perfection. Maybe the voices won't match up completely. Maybe Mark Hamil or Harrison Ford would sign on for the project. Who knows. The point is that through gaming, franchises such as Star Wars, or Star Trek, or Lord of the Rings, etc., can live on and ciontinue to thrill us with rousing adventures. Also, gaming can bring things back to life that would be impossible to do wih movies or music. Look at the Beatles Rock Band. In that game, John Lennon and George Harrison live on. In Guitar Hero 5, Kurt Cobain lives on. Why not make a Rock Band or Guitar Hero game featuring The Doors, or Jimi Hendrix, or some of our other lost icons. The possibilities are fascinating once one puts their mind to it.

There you have it. My theories on why gaming matters. There are many more points I could make, but I wanted to hit the ones that matter the most to me. Besides, I can't write all night.

I have games to play.

As a 40 year old core gamer, I know I am in the minority here as far as the prime demographic is concerned. Nevertheless, my advanced years do give me a certain insight into this fabulous industry. So, the other day I read where someone said that Super Mario. Bros for the NES is the game that saved gaming. That may very well be true. But, I started wondering something. If you look at this industry now, the one segment of the economy that seems recession resilient (don't kid yourself...nothing is recession proof), one has to wonder how we got to this point. And I keep coming back to the same 3 letters: G-T-A. So I wonder: Has GTA had a bigger impact on gaming than Super Mario did? Think about it.

I started gaming on the Odyssey some time in the 70's. Gaming was just starting to get going but it was nothing yet. Then Space Invaders hit the arcades. For the younger folks here, man I wish I could explain what that was like. It is so easy to take the graphics we have now for granted, but back then, as fugly as the graphics were, no one had seen anything like Space Invaders before, as simplistic as it is by our standards today. Then Pac-Man hit and it was good night, game over, drive home safely for a nation. Atari sought to capitalize on the craze and put a 2600 in everyones house. And, the games were not really that good. They looked nothing like what we had in the arcade, especially games like Pac-Man, Asteroids, and Space Invaders. Nobody cared. Everyone was so thrilled to be playing Pac-Man in their homes, even if it looked more like Pac Monster. With the exception of Combat and Adventure, the list of stellar titles for the 2600 was pretty thin...and still nobody cared. Intellivision improved on this a bit, at least as far as sports games were concerned, but by the time Colecovision (remember that one) hit, the market was flooded with so much crap that everyone finally woke up and realized the gold they thought they had was just pyrite. Once ET came out, it was all over, even though there were already games worse than that floating around at the time. Gaming went into a long coma. Sure, the computers were still fun. The Commodore 64 had a few good games out. But, when the most exciting thing is playing strip poker on the Atari 800? Yeah...exactly.

So, its 1985 and here comes the NES with Super Mario Bros, and the sleeping giant is awoken. Now lets look at Super Mario. No question, this may be the greatest game of all time. We have all played it. But Super Mario's legacy is measured not by that one game itself, but by what it led to. Think back if you can: Blades of Steel, Double Dribble, Contra, and Double Dragon all came out shortly thereafter. Then the original Metal Gear and the first Dragon Warrior here in the States. Oh, and some franchise with a elf looking guy with a green cap. I mean the Legend of Zelda may have even been a better game than Super Mario was. It was like the polar opposite of the market just before the Crash. Now the market was flooded with good, and quite often great, games. Super Mario has to therefore be looked at not just as a great game, but by what it led to. Did it resurrect the gaming industry? Absolutely. Without Super Mario, we would never have seen the SNES, Genesis, N64, the original Playstation, Dreamcast, or PS2. This website would not exist but for Super Mario. But, is it the most important game in the history of gaming?

I offer this as thought. Now look, I like GTA and I have played all of them since GTA III. But it is not my favorite series of all time. Personally, I think the Halo series is just as good, maybe a bit better. Be that as it may, has GTA made a bigger difference to gaming than Super Mario did? OK. Stop laughing. As an attorney, I will lay out the evidence before you and you decide. GTA III launches in October of '01. The PS2 has been out for about a year, a tad less actually, and those of us who have one note the significant difference in graphics and things like that. But, many of us are still playing our original PS games, even if we are now playing them on our PS2s. When GTA III hit, it was like the shot heard round the world. Nothing has been the same since. Since that game was released, the gaming industry has been on overdrive and it has never looked back. Think about it. That game may have been solely responsible for the still staggering PS2 install base. Because of that install base, and the stunning revenues being drawn, we saw Microsoft and Nintendo wanting to get in on the action, which led to the original Xbox, which in turn led to Halo, which then led to the 360, which led to the Wii, etc. Thus, while Super Mario resurrected the gaming industry, GTA sent it into the stratosphere. Gaming has now surpassed movies in total revenue. Why wouldn't it? $60 will barely even cover the cost of going to the movies anymore...and its all over in 2 hours or so. Games can last anywhere from 5-100 hours. And games offer a real opportunity to do things movies cannot. Games are interactive, make you think, are challenging, and can be enjoyed with your friends. Best of all, characters do not have to age in games, unless the developers want them to. Movie franchises can see an extended life through the development of games that enhance, or add to, the original story, such as with the Force Unleashed. This is why you are seeing the new Wanted game being touted as a sequel, or the new Ghostbusters game being called Ghostbusters III. The reason this is possible is because GTA III, and its progeny, broke down all the doors, generated all the money, and led to the development of machines and technology that made all this possible.

So, is GTA more important to gaming than Super Mario. Certainly not from a purely iconic standpoint. Sorry, but CJ and Nikko fall very flat when compared to the Italian Princess saving plumber.But, for what it has led to, and where things will go in the future, one cannot minimize the tremendous impact the GTA series has had on gaming. With the first GTA game for the DS being released, this seemed like a good time for a thought provoking question for everyone.

Let the debate begin

I have been thinking of starting a blog about gaming for a while now, so here goes. Some people may recognize my gamertag as one of the very first forum members at Major League Gaming (MLG). Others may recognize it from some of the local lead in tournaments I have helped to organize in Bakersfield, CA. Others might recognize me from some of the Madden or NCAA Leagues I co-commish. Or some (probably most) of you don't know who I am and could care less Its all good. I am a 39 year old attorney out here in California who has been playing games since the days of the Odyssey. So, I have seen a lot of things gaming related in my advanced days. For mys first blog entry, I wanted to write about a fast rising segment of this industry we all love...competitive gaming or E-sports.

MLG....wow, how they have grown since the early days. I remember when they first started out and it was Madden '04 and Halo CE. There was no Video on Demand...we would post threads on the forum after getting updates on AIM or the telephone. Now look at them. There is a map based on an MLG arena in RSVegas 2. Halo 3 now has official MLG gametypes. ESPN is sponsoring the 2008 season. It is truly amazing to see this all happen. But I, for one, am not surprised at all by the recent surge of competitive gaming. This has been building for some time now and it just makes sense. You hear so many naysayers opining that E-sports are not real sports and gamers should not be confused with athletes. Why? You hear stuff about gaming promoting laziness. However, in a 2006 report from the Entertainment Software Association, the following information was revealed: "Gamers devote more than triple the amount of time spent playing games each week to exercising or playing sports, volunteering in the community, religious activities, creative endeavors, cultural activities, and reading." Many gamers did not even know that although I am sure many of us who read that will know that they fit that bill as well. Scratch that myth in any event.

"But games aren't real, its all virtual" So? Games still teach teamwork, sportsmanship, strategy, the same sorts of qualities that are present in so-called "real sports." I especially like pointing out to skeptics that gamers have tremendous reflexes when compared to many who do not play and are also almost always quite advances with respect to logical thinking and problem solving skills. And, unlike certain sports, gamers do not need steroids, HgH or performance enhancing drugs to excel at what they do....unless you count copious amounts of Red Bull as a performance enhancer Now, that is not designed as a dig at traditional sports because I am a huge sports fan. It is just meant to prove a point, namely that E-sports are just as real as traditional sports and the guys playing them are most definitely athletes in their own right.

And that's why competitive gaming is now on the upswing. When I was young, I loved sports but I had asthma pretty bad back then so playing sports was hard for me. I took refuge in games. Not everyone can be like Mike, or A-Rod. We all don't have God given talent like Reggie Bush. For many of us, games take up the gap and for many of those who seek games as a means to an end, they discover that they have talents they never knew existed. As their talents grow, they discover others with similar talents and similar interests. Teams are born, friendships grow, and, in some circumstances stars are born. But it is not easy and nothing in life that is worthwhile ever is. You look at a championship gaming team, like Final Boss. When you read the interviews they give, and you gain an understanding of how much time and effort they put in to being the best they can be, doesn't it sound like the same time and effort that professional athletes from traditional sports put in to become the best they can be? There must be something to it or else why would an All-Star like Gilbert Arenas go to the effort of sponsoring Final Boss, and MLG as well.

But E-sports also offers unique differences that differentiate it from anything else out there. You look at the different genres and see that to excel in the competitive aspects of the genre, you need to have different skill sets and be multi-faceted. If you play shooters, you have to know how to be a team player, know your strengths and weaknesses, know weaponry, and know that map like the back of your hand. If you are a sports gamer, you not only need stick skills, you need to have some knowledge of the strategy behind the actual sport you are playing to really excel (well, most of the time anyway). If you like driving and racing games, quite often you need to have some basic knowledge of physics, aerodynamics, and tremendous hand-eye coordination. If you play fighters, you need to know your character inside and out, but you need to know what your opponents character can do as well. And if you play RTS games, you have to be quick with the mouse and keyboard, know the best way to quickly amass resources, get your base built (most of the time) and have a strategy for either going on the offense, or playing more of a defensive posture. If you are into Guitar Hero or Rock Band, you need great reflexes as well, but knowing the song (similar to knowing a map) is almost as important. In many ways, each genre is a sport unto itself and the opportunities being created are very encouraging.

Eventually, more and more people will come to realize these facts and when that happens, E-sports will really take off. It is already well on its way. And one thing that I think all of us agree on:

I'd rather watch a good game of Halo 3 than a poker game any day of the week