Ways Games Have Unexpectedly Impacted Your Life

[dragonswarrior]

Greetings Escapists!

Well, what the title says. What are some ways that games have unexpectedly impacted your life? It can be positive or negative.

Though Ima start with a positive one!

For the longest time I had huge amounts of anxiety over filling out forms and dealing with bureaucracy. This made applying for jobs and schools the biggest pain ever, and filing taxes nearly impossible. I would get ridiculously overwhelmed and stressed, and it wasn't a fun scene.

A lifetime of playing video games actually helped me through this. See, even the most difficult of games are designed so that the player can win. (Unless the game has shit design of course.) You just have to persevere and figure out what you're missing. I was able to take these lessons from games and actually use them to help me conquer my anxiety over bureaucracy dealings. Now, whenever I feel stress starting to overwhelm me as I gaze at complicated forms I think of finally finding HM05 in the original Pokemon games, or at last making it through the mines of Nashkel in Baldur's Gate after years of freaking out whenever I hit the traps on the third level. And then I can do it! All the huzzah's.

So how about you Escapists?

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I had to do a project for art class in film school about the work of Francis Bacon, Hans Bellmer and Joel-Peter Witkin, and decided to end it on a "fun" note by showing off their influence in contemporary pop culture media - key among them, Silent Hill.

Spoiler

I also owe quite a lot to ICO. I learned of the works of Giorgio de Chirico and Piranesi through that game, and went on to use that knowledge and prepare another presentation for that same class about metaphysical aesthetics and substractive design. ICO was quoted at the very end.

In a way these games were crucial in acing that class. If not for their artistic worth, then at least as a means to access and appreciate a higher form of art.

 

[Strain42]

One game that influenced my life in a way I NEVER imagined was Robopon 2: Ring Version for the GBA.

I got this game for like six bucks in a bargain bin. I remember playing it, loving it. I loved checking out all the different robots you could get (I still remember one that was a mouse that was also a computer mouse) I also remember it being INSANELY easy, but not in a way that bugged me. I was just having fun. Now I'm not sure if Robopon 2: Ring Version was the first Atlus published game I ever played or not, but it's one that left an impact.

A while later I'm in this little local toy store and in the game case I see DemiKids: Light Version. Now just looking at the cover art for this game...

Spoiler

I was ready to just ignore it and write it off as some weird Pokemon rip-off. But two things changed my mind on that box. The first was Jack Frost (lookit how cute he is. I just wanted to fight stuff with him) and the second was...well...the Atlus logo. I just remembered how much fun I'd had with Robopon 2: Ring Version (and yes, I later learned Atlus on published Robopon, not developed it) that I just decided to give it a shot. I didn't know it for another couple of years, but DemiKids Light Version was my very first MegaTen game.

A few years later I saw a PS2 game on the shelf I'd never heard of before. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army. Not only did this game have what I still consider to be the best cover art I've EVER seen in a video game.

Spoiler

But reading the back of the box, I was honestly convinced this game must've been tailor made for me. It's 1920's Japan!? And you're a detective!? And you can use your demons to solve cases!? Holy crap! I had to own this! I honestly didn't even notice the name Atlus was on the box. I was just too excited for it.

So I'm playing that for a while and having fun, when sure enough I eventually start recognizing demons that I saw a few years earlier in DemiKids (I believe Mokoi was the one that really made my memory click) and sure enough I check my DemiKids cartridge and there it is "Shin Megami Tensei." so I told my friend about this and he was like "Oh yeah, the same guys who did Digital Devil Saga." so he showed me that and voila...I now knew about the Megami Tensei franchise. One of my favorite franchises in all of video games to this day.

About a year later, another MegaTen game comes out called Persona 3, and even though I actually didn't even know it was a MegaTen game until I'd started playing (my first knowledge of P3's existence came from a magazine called Girls of Gaming volume 4, go figure) and holy crap did I love P3. I still do.

Another year goes by and P3: FES comes out. Now the actual timeline for P3 takes place in 2009, and I decided to try doing a webcomic that would update alongside the real game calendar, and follow the actual events as they happen in the game.

Here I am over 5 years later and I'm still doing Persona comics. I did all of P3, all of P4, P1, all the spin-offs so far, and I've got a P2 comic starting in like 3 weeks. Fans still love 'em and I keep making them.

And it's entirely possible that none of this would have EVER happened if I'd never bought that bargain bin copy of Robopon 2: Ring Version over a decade ago.

So yeah...a 12 year old obscure GBA RPG that eventually sparked a 5 year webcomic (and still going) can't deny that's an unexpected influence, right?

I know it was a long story, but thanks for reading ^^ It's kinda nice to reflect upon that every now and then.

 

[CaptainCoxwaggle]

I had an ex-girlfriend tell me over the phone that gamers were worthless, lazy sacks of human refuse who should all die and that I need to stop playing videogames.

So I told her I appreciated her company and all time that we spent together, but I was busy downing Freya in Ulduar and the ***** drops the gloves I need and I'm losing DPS right now holding the phone so goodbye, have a great life.

 

[FPLOON]

Well, after giving some deep thought, I can narrow it down to two things in particular:

1. It got me thinking about how expansive my career choice can get in general... (You mean I could be a writer for a video game? That would explain why that one short story series I wrote in middle/high school felt something out of a customizable video game...)

2. It unexpectedly blended into my enjoyment of watching anime in the long run... (One minute, I'm buying playing Tales of Symphonia on my GameCube just to see why my back-then rival was raving about in 6th grade... The next, I'm watching Persona 4: The Animation side-by-side with one of my friends, who not only got into the Persona series through the game Catherine, but would later ask me for help through both Persona 3: FES and Persona 4 via PSN...)

There are other smaller things, but the ones I've just mentioned more or less make those smaller things end up happening in the long run for me...

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

Prevented my suicide.

I lived in an isolated area and was horribly and painfully ill, so I was taken out of school. I had this thing called "Temporo-mandibular joint dysfunction". It's where your jaw joint doesn't sit properly in your head and causes it to grate against something which makes it feel like your ears have needles being stabbed into them.

It was the only thing that kept me going for two years, and the only thing that distracted me from my mother's illness and mental breakdown, and my father constantly saying "it's all in your head". Probably one of the reasons I get shitty at people generalizing games as morally bad in one form or another.

 

[Malpraxis]

I probably wouldn't be a Doctor today if it wasn't for Dark Souls.

Back when I was an intern, I overheard one of the cardiologists who bought it because he thought it'd be just another RPG, and now was regretting the purchase because the game was raping him. I got in the conversation, and then offered advice on early easy to get stuff and how to get the most out of your build. Next thing, I was getting invited over to his house to get him Havel's ring and became bros to this day. Obviously, the other Docs started to treat me better, and started getting invited to their parties, some of them, as you might expect from a group of nerds, included gaming.

My school is notoriously known for mistreating the interns as a character building exercise. After I got the bosses on my side, the rest of the way was notably less painful.

So yes, all that time I "wasted" playing videogames instead of studying totally paid off.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

let me see

its the reason i know my best pal at all

probably influenced my love for programming

TF2 allowed me to make loadsa money and handle my gaming expenses plus allowed me to buy a spare part for the family van

 

[zedcavalry]

Oh my, video games. The one redeeming factor in a life otherwise filled with stress.

Let's kick this off by saying that I may be one of the younger lads on these forums, so my story will not be as expansive or as deep as some of the others, but it goes without saying that games have pretty much moulded who I am thus far.

My first video game: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue.
This game was what gave my 8 year old self something to talk about to people who I otherwise had nothing in common with. I immigrated to Australia a year prior to its release, and hadn't really made any friends in school. But when this game came out, you bet it was what I talked about. I felt like I had people who I could fit in with. I felt like I finally had a place, and, basically, I owe this game the group of friends that I still have today.

Barring childhood experience, my first "real" video game: Portal 2.
This game was something else for me. After exclusively playing on the DS and the Wii for a few years, this was my first foray into the wondrous world of PC gaming - and it's as if I found myself in a space I felt challenged by for the first time. It taught me to be persistent and logical, not to mention helping me work through some anger control issues (probably due to fluctuating hormones at that age) with co-op.

And directly after seeing the end credit of that game, another one which changed me: The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.
It blew my mind with its sheer vastness, and drew me in with immersion. It was a game that taught me that there was no "set path", and that I could do things my own way, and still get to the same conclusion. It didn't matter if I felt like continuing the main quest or collecting ingredients on any particular day. It was a game which let me run my way, whilst still satisfyingly completing the vision of Bethesda.

I'll end with this one, more recent and perhaps the most significant: Bioshock: Infinite
This game can be described in one word: glorious. But it did inspire one of my passions, not only for video games, but for writing. The vision which Irrational Games held showed me the importance of an engaging narrative, and it showed me a first-hand experience of what a complex narrative can do to people. It showed me that writing wasn't just for English class - it an art form which toyes with people's emotions, and an art form which could be translated into the lives of individuals.

Well, I must admit, reminiscing is fun! But yeah, I think that just about sums it up. As nerdy as it sounds, video games are who I am. They've affected my life in so many ways that I couldn't even begin to think of where I would be without them.

 

[Guerilla]

JRPGs helped me both learn better English and love to study English which eventually lead to earning an important certificate.

 

[Nanondorf]

Games like Black&White and Xenogears triggered my skepticism of religion when I was just a little child.

 

[DangerRanger5]

Strangely Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater changed how I played video games and perceived death and killing in all forms of media, as well as in real life. There's a section where you are confronted by the Sorrow, a near death experience sort of thing where you walk down a river. And as you go down it, you are assailed by the ghosts of all the enemies you have killed throughout the game up until that point. Some of them are depicted quite brutally, such as having their throats slit open, or massive wounds which they grip as they stagger towards you.
I had killed my way quite liberally through the levels up until that point, so I was confronted by a large number of ghosts. The way it was done, the impact it had, and the realisation that if I had wanted to I could have avoided most of those deaths, really struck a chord with me and to this day I am unable to happily mow down hordes of anonymous mooks without it weighing on my conscience.

 

[Mikeybb]

They gave helped me teach my brother patience, concentration and helped him with his fine motor skills.
They're both things his conditions left him with limited control of.

Started out with him only being able to control the fire button, now I sit and watch him playing and impersonating his favorite lets play youtube celebs.

As much as there are a plethora of minor things gaming has done for me, this is the aspect I value most.