Video Game Culture at North

Mulia Hermudia, Reporter|May 9, 2018

Bloomington North is a very diverse school in many ways. From ethnicities, to families, to nationalities, North students are a diverse crowd, even with video games.

Personally, I have played video games since I was four years old, the first being Delta Force: Black Hawk Down. I had lots of fun playing it back then. Its 3D graphics were beautiful for its time. Nowadays, I love playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and more often than not, I want to see myself as a professional Counter-Strike player someday.

*Counter-Strike: Global Offensive* is the third most played game on the digital marketplace Steam, just right behind *DOTA2* and *PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds*, with over 400,000 unique players each day. It is also known for its huge competitive scene, with over 40 professional teams coming from all over the world, coupled with over $1 million in prize pools.

I talked to three North game aficionados, and they shared their preferences and experience.

Fun Fact

Although I liked Delta Force: Black Hawk Down so much when I was a kid, I don’t really like it that much nowadays, due to the game’s broken mechanics. Plus, the game itself is a glitchfest, with no redeeming factor except for nostalgia.

AJ Trusler, junior

Q:Since when you have played video games?

A: You might not believe it, but the very first game that I’ve ever played was Pong for the Atari.

Q: Are you a solo player or do you play with friends?

A: Actually, I have a group of friends on PC, Xbox and sometimes the Wii. But, I’m never a solo player.

Q: If you play with friends, would you rather play co-op or fight against each other?

A: Depends on the game. We do a lot of co-ops, but then again we also do a lot of solo and competitive things.

Q: What’s your favorite game platform?

A: Well, it really depends on what game that I’m playing. If I’m playing Call of Duty then it would be the Xbox; if I play Destiny then it would be the PlayStation; then if I play Overwatch it would be the PC. So, really, I don’t have a favorite.

Q: What’s your online nickname and what’s the story behind it?

A: It’s kind of funny, but my online nickname is Taco, (because) as a kid I really liked tacos and it kind of just stuck with me, so my username has taco in there. So, then a lot of people just call me Taco, and whenever I hear ‘Taco’ I’m always like ‘what’s up?’

Q: In 2018, we will expect a lot of new games coming out, so what game releases that you are really looking forward to?

A: Quite honestly, I’m looking forward to God of War and the new Super Smash Brothers.

*God of War* was released on April 20th of this year exclusively for the PlayStation 4. And it’s well received by critics and fans, scoring 94% on aggregate review site Metacritic.

Landon Gabriel Williams, sophomore

Q: What was the first video game that you’ve ever played, and when did you play it?

A: Minecraft, that was around 2012 in July.

Q: What’s your favorite game genre?

A: Somewhere in between action and strategy.

Q: Are you a solo player or do you tend to play with friends?

A: I kind of do both, but I mostly play multiplayer.

*Minecraft* is the 10th most successful video game franchise, with over 144 million copies sold in total.

Q: If you play with friends, would you rather fight against each other or play co-op?

A: Co-op, because you can share some collective information everyone has with different skills to accomplish a goal.

Q: Favorite video game platform?

A: PC.

Q: What’s your online nickname?

A: Odyssey12 is my handle. I like adventures and do lots of different stories, doing all kinds of storylines like that (2001: A Space Odyssey).

“

When you have people directly connect violence to video games, there is no real connection in there. But, there have been things in the past where very small amount of people, like one person out of a thousand, saw something happening in a video game and he goes out shoots up a school. That’s where in mainstream media, what these people are claiming is video games turning these kids into school shooters, has blown out of proportion. And, I don’t think there is a connection between the two.

— Landon Gabriel Williams, addressing the issue of relation between video games and violence

Gideon Brooks, junior

Q: What was the first video game that you’ve ever played?

A: Banjo-Kazooie for the Game Boy Advance. I played that twelve years ago, so I was like five years old.

Q: What’s your favorite video game genre?

A: First-person shooters

Q: Are you a solo player or do you play with your friends?

A: I usually play solo, but I recently play a lot of multiplayer, especially in game Fortnite.

Q: When you play with friends, would you rather play co-op or fight against each other?

The two *Banjo-Kazooie* main characters, the bear Banjo and the bird Kazooie

A: I usually play co-op.

Q: What’s your favorite video game platform?

The game *Fortnite* is often regarded by the gaming community as the less violent version of *PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds*. Both games have the same premise reminiscent to Suzanne Collins’ *The Hunger Games* series, where players are forced to kill each other until there is only one survivor left.

A: PC.

Q: What’s your online handle and what’s the story behind it?

A: First Galaxy. It used to be Doggy Man because I like dogs. And then First Galaxy. My dad just gave me that name, and then I’ve been using that name a lot recently.

Q: In 2018, we will expect a lot of video game releases coming out. Which video game release are you looking forward to?

A: Smash 5, and I really hope it has lots of characters in it.