#gaming pride

Today I attended a networking event/workshop at my city’s University, got to meet a lot of interesting people and found my pride in gaming. However, despite my considerable interest in video games, I found that I had to work my way up to say that I played/write about them.

The event started with a quick meet and greet, where you introduce yourself, your area of study and then find two common interests between the two of you. Movies (check!) Sports (depends which sport, check!) Reading (Check!)

But of the three people I introduced myself to, gaming wasn't among the first hobbies/interests they discussed. It seemed as if I were the only gamer there and that made me feel ashamed amongst these triathlons or genius’s who mostly read but occasionally watched films. Little did I know that two of the three people I talked to actually played games, albeit not as much as I did.

It wasn't until the third event; where we role-played an interview at a job of choice that I finally found the courage to champion my gaming expertise. As a writer for this blog (GoodluckHaveFunGaming) and other game related pieces, I found it hard to deny the value of gaming. And I was able to use the facts and skills I’d learned about gaming to defend my position. It wasn't until I had taken the first leap to admit that I played games that I found out that the interviewee also played games like FIFA in the past and that facilitated our interaction.

I had encountered the stigma of gaming at a University, where the stigma is mostly that gaming is a distraction from studies. While this was brought up briefly and swept to the side with some laughter, it is a serious stigma I mean to explore in my next post. 

In conclusion, people recognize the value of gaming in the entertainment sector of a country. The ESAC (Entertainment software association of Canada) had a study in late 2014 that found 65% of Canadians agreeing that the video game industry is beneficial for the economy. Link.