Stage 4 - Part 1 - "Video games are for kids"

URGH! THIS GAME IS SO GOOD!!!!!

The first incident - I was minding my own business in my girlfriend's flat, playing possibly the most addictive game of the last millennium. I just recall switching off, and allowing peace to reign in my very soul, all the while trying to train up a bloody Hardware Engineer so I can develop a BLOODY console... anyway, a male acquaintance (and friend of my girlfriend) sharing the couch space, leans over for a brief look at what has kept me silent for all of 4 hours in the day and states,"Aren't you a little old to be playing this...?". I did not have the adequate time to stop playing to discuss his ignorance, so in one short second I looked at him, fighting with all the power in my being not to respond with, "Aren't you a little too old to be smoking weed twice a day, keeping weed at your friend's flat in case you get busted, getting mugged after passing out at a bus stop because you got high AND drunk, and then refused to stop smoking even though your doctor has given you a rather abrupt deadline for existence...?" I didn't, because I did not wish to waste my breath on the 44 year old man.

This is bitch to get off the ground...

The second incident - I am at work, chatting with friends about GTA Online, discussing high end apartments, mission failures, monetary gains and losses etc. A friend tells the story of a mission in which he is to hi-jack the Titan out of a heavily guarded aircraft hangar and land it at the Grand Senora airport near Trevor's place. He muses over how he managed to overshoot the airport by such a degree that his fellow players on the ground are watching in silent awe and amazement as their $10,000 pay-off sails gracefully over the top of their heads and into the ground. Oh, what jollity and merriment! Another work colleague has been listening in quietly, and clearly reaches a peak of curiousity, "What the hell are you guys talking about?". Laughable was the momentary silence that holds another unspoken query, "How the fuck do you NOT know what we are talking about?!". "GTA Online!" I say, hoping it would render a more familiar and joyous reaction. "Gawh, isn't that a video game?! How old are you again...?" My innards recoil and I am perhaps a little upset by such a condescending retort.

There are more incidents that took place over the 2 decades of video gaming I have partaken in, but this notion of video games being for the young and the impressionable is already so old and so monotonous, that I would like to petition for it to go into the categories of racist and sexist remarks. I do understand that video games may ONCE have been for kids, as we were all growing up, the primary games you saw were colourful, cuddly, easy going, bloodless adventures. Mario, Zelda, Sonic; even some games today are for kids; Kinectimals, Just Dance, Disneyland Adventures, but shit I'll still play them. Why? I am nearly 28 years old, I should have a career, perhaps a wife and kids, a car and a dog. Things that most people who judge me have, but then I think... they're all REALLY expensive, both in money AND time... games are fun! Like... REALLY fucking fun, like if they are not any fun, I don't have to spend ANY time with them at all, fun. But wait, there's more.

So let's perhaps look at what is for kids... crying. Crying and tantrums are for kids, right? Yeah, stomping your feet and throwing your toys around, because you did not get your own way. You wanted to eat that piece of cake, but you can't and now, you're screaming, and crying and shouting and stomping. Like a sports fan... a sports fan whose team just lost. If only the referee had seen that thing that happened, or if the manager had brought on Phillips instead of Rogerson, but they didn't, and now the team lost. BOOO! Sad times, let's drink ourselves into a stupor, and try to forget this terrible time ever happened.

What else is for kids...? Oh shit, yeah making a mess. Drawing on the walls, shitting ourselves, vomiting everywhere, jumping in puddles, rolling in mud... like FESTIVAL GOERS! Sure, except they've paid over £200 to do all of that stuff. They have INVESTED on throwing their piss around, getting so drunk they don't remember half of it, and not showering for days on end. Yeah, anarchy!! Chaos! DESTRUCTION! The glory of freedom from protocol, uniforms and daily routines! Ah, just magnificent freedom! URGH! Don't you LOVE IT?!

Now, I'm not judging sports fans, nor am I judging festival goers. They are at liberty to enjoy what they enjoy in their own personal fashion. I am totally cool with that because I enjoy games in exactly the same way. When, what and how I want! One point being, the idea that games are restricted to kids is possibly a poor perspective that COULD tenuously be linked to kids OWNING games they shouldn't even know about. The main point being that, there are a lot of things that are apparently "for kids", like Lego, FANCY FUCKING DRESS, cartoons, comic books... My Little Pony... but that does not by any way mean they are only FOR kids. If need be, they may have been "grown up" a little, with the addition of adult themes, perhaps some cursing, nudity, violence, multiple sex partners... they can be tailored for adults, and thus making them more apt for the occasion. A throwback to childhood with more mature content.

NOT FOR KIDS! NO!

Back to video games, what is definitely true, is that we (gamers!) grew up with them, and they grew up with us, with some strange attempts at growing up a little too fast, so we understand them better than others. There is indeed some joy to be grabbed from games that stayed 'young', if we want to look at the excruciatingly invasive behaviour of Candy Crush, or Farmville, they're not exactly R rated debauchery, but they are (allegedly) fun, right? So why the hell not!? But some definitely, definitely grew up. According to these "Games are for kids" people, smashing a mans head in with a bat, is for kids, ripping a man's head off with you bare hands, is for kids, THIS, IS FOR KIDS?! I mean ALL OF THIS is for kids...?!?!

AW! WOOK AT DE POONUM!

There is a monstrous library of games that would immediately prove games are not JUST for kids, and while I will not deny that yes, some of them are, what really is important here is that it shouldn't fucking matter. If I want to play Terraria, I'll play it, if I want to play Buzz! Quiz World, heck I'll give it a go! What I do NOT want to hear, is an ignoramus telling me that I am "too old" for games. Not only should they say then that I am too old for books, music, TV and film, but they should also take note of the fact that I have a dream. One day, when I am old, lonely and near my death, I wish to be in a room, by myself, closed off, with a toilet, shower and sink, TV and console. I don't care if I reach 150 years old (which I won't because my genetics won't allow it), that's how I hope to live. Proving that you can NEVER be too old to play video games, nor can you ever try to stop me... never!

NOT FOR KIDS!

If you have anything you wish to share with me or indeed the readers, feel freeto comment or e-mail me at twentyfiveand0@hotmail.co.uk - Don't forget to check out the What Have I Been Playing pages found on the right! OR Check out my channel at www.youtube.com/ike1luv