New Comings...

Hey whats up gamers all around.

Have you looked around and noticed the coming events? When you look at media and hot topics you see gaming. Conventions, tournaments , tv shows about our media and culture are popping all around. Shit we even have a genre of music. There have always been forms of this stuff but now there are quality dollars behind these events. Norcal Regional's are coming to San Francisco and there are a lot of dollars begin spent in the fighting game scene in general. A new reality show "Cross Assault" based around the new Street Fighter Cross Tekken game. Day 9 has passed episode 420 and is in high demand. The second season of the "After Hours Gaming League" is around 30 companies and has grown with Intel and other big names. Music like Beefy's has been added content into our gaming culture showing that our community is not just about the joystick and screen. On a more serious side there is talk of "Gamification" are a productive tool for business and museums like MADE in Oakland are shining light on the different art components of games. So much , so quick , where does this go how far can it go?

Its really up to us. There are endless areas in the gaming community from technological , creative and entertainment that there is no constraining our realm. This is the gift of gaming. We don't discriminate and confine ourselves from any culture or form of expression. But our forms of expression have never been so quality. Our culture is putting out so much media now and it seems to be getting better and better. I know there is a lot more for us to offer and a lot of areas that can still be explored in the gaming culture. More interactive cooperative games, better interfaces and more intuitive human play, games that take player input into account there are some of the things that can be greatly improved on for games. But that's only for the games... there is still tons of other fields that gaming touches and as the games grow there will be more content for the outer realms to absorb. So what will you do to help this field grow? If you do decide to get involved on the entertainment side of the gaming culture I advise you to be reminded of other such areas of gaming and art. Cartoonist, sports, rap are some art forms that have gone from niche to main stream but they have had limits and at times their art form reduced in meaning. This is where we should be different. Our culture spans race, age and physical ability but at the same time demands participation. To be in this culture you have to "do" you cannot just watch.

If we keep this acceptance of diverse cultures and demand of participation ( pick up the damn stick... or just play any way you can) in our culture then I think we have the ability of keeping our meaning fresh , new , strong and growing. It will be hard to keep us together there are many different kinds of gamers but it will be worth it to experience all the different styles of play. As long as the games keep expanding and growing I sure our community will grow too.



Participation is key in gaming. Visit local gaming events , conventions , tournaments and support the gaming culture in general. Come out and play.