Every day millions of people filter through the narrow city streets of the world. The massive seas of flesh ebb and flow in today’s cities rarely stopping to realize the fluid movement they are part of, for many this daily dash is part of a life they love. Interacting with passersby on the street is a game in itself, perhaps one of the most basic games of all. Millions of games have drifted down through the past to today’s generation. Human beings live in dense populations for the social exposure every human craves, and they play games for the same reason. Just as hearing your neighbor walking in the apartment floor above you gives a small sense of society, so does a game bring humans closer together. Mankind plays games to establish basic social connections with others whether we realize it or not.

 

            “Man is by nature a social animal; and an unsocial person who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either unsatisfactory or superhuman...Society is a natural phenomenon and is prior to the individual...And any one who is unable to live a common life or who is self-sufficient that he has no need to do so is no member of Society, which means that he is either a beast or a god.” – Aristotle

Aristotle, a well-respected philosopher from ancient Greece, studied many subject, however his concepts on are society are quite veritable (Philosophical). The idea that man is a social animal resonates though out the modern individuals lifestyle. As members of a civilization men and women manipulate their needs and desires in order to meet the needs and desires of those around them. In doing so they are showing that they are as much a part of the society as it is of them.

 

             One of the most common to avoid boredom in the present is to play a game. In modern society man must always be provided with entertainment. It is expected by most and provided to more. In today’s society media mavens and amusement aficionados, attempting to sell them a good time, constantly assail individuals. Yet some how many still find time in this addictively entertaining culture to say, “I’m bored.” If asked most people would say that the primary function of a game is to entertain one or more people, and they would be correct, however the real question is why do you play games? The answer is in the way games entertain you. By feeding the innate desire all humans have for a social connection.

 

            It has been said that different categories of games amuse people differently, having said that all games boil down to a social facet on which all players suckle. A perfect example of a game which has a social structure that could be compared to that of a professional athlete is Dungeons & Dragons. While the game play itself is centered on acting out a mythical character’s actions, the game mechanics are built to loan themselves to building dialogue between player’s as characters and as players. Developing conversations, relationships, and personalities that are dependent upon each other in game and out. The game plays on the social dietary needs as Homo Sapiens, weaving them into the game on a personal level.

 

            Some may argue that not all games draw the player in through societal interaction. Numerous people would say that a game such as chess is far too serious and strategic for the need of social contact to be governing factor. They could argue that the in higher levels of play the players do not think of their opponent as another person but as a machine computing variables. They could argue that the leagues, organizations, and clubs surrounding the game are far to structured and constricted to allow for real communal interaction. They could argue that chess requires a mind focused purely on the game. These people would be wrong. Walk into any setting in which chess tables are available and used regularly, not only will the players know each other they will use their knowledge of their competitor’s personality to attempt to predict future moves. The large chess leagues and organizations are set up for two main purposes to match up player for game, and to match up player with those with which they have something in common. Finally ask any consistent chess competitor if they have played and talked at the same time. If they haven’t they are probably not able to speak at all.

 

            One argument that several people would bring to the table against a social gaming theory is the question of how a role-playing game such as Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion can connect you with other people when you play the game by yourself. Some players substitute communication with real people for interaction with computer-generated characters. In every part of the world there are who is considerably non-gregarious, they are often shy and reclusive. This is one of the common personas that take on the challenges of virtual worlds void of actual human beings. Alternatively there are those types that act sociably in the world at large while amusing themselves with a semi-solitary entertainment form of a role-playing game that solely supports a lone player. These personages encounter mankind through the game via networks, discussions, and personal encounters related to the game. In meetings such as these players discuss issues or mechanics that they enjoy or abhor within the game. They admire graphics within the game, debating the value and quality of the techniques and artwork. They argue over who has developed their characters with the most wisdom and skill, picking apart the techniques used to evolve their characters from fledgling criminals and lowly squires, to vicious and stealthy assassins and lordly and robust paladins. These are the men and women who mold seemingly identical worlds within a game into a customized platform in which they can stimulate and achieve desires they could not fulfill on the blue and green sphere called earth.

 

            Green is a fairly popular color, especially when speaking about the fairly popular subject of money. In today’s society a small green piece of paper can be extremely valuable to some people. As many popular games require a physical or digital element to be played they have come to cost money like most other commodities in the global market. In 2009 19.66 billion dollars in revenue was reported by the video game industry in the US alone, nearly doubling the US movie market’s gross estimate of 10.65 billion dollars (Technology News). As the highest grossing visual media industry in the US video games have a huge pull on the American and global economies. With that much money involved in just the video game industry alone, not including tabletop, card, and other miscellaneous classes of games, a good portion of the international community is interested in investing in this massive market that looks to be rising in popularity with newly goliath titles such as Halo Reach which topped the highest US opening weekend of a movie of all time, The Dark Knight at 158.4 million dollars, on the opening day with over 200 million dollars in sales (All Time Box Office Records). This high capital attracts investors who in turn finance better games that attract more players.

 

            The amount of capital in video games is astounding, however other games involve the publics funds far more directly. Every moment of the day millions of people all over the world are gambling cash in the form of plastic chips or another substitute for standard currency. In American casinos men and women hoping to pick up the pot by way of luck play popular games such as Russian Roulette, Craps, slot machines, and the many variations of poker. Casino games may attract more people to games then any other common lure for the average man. Almost everyone wants have a fortune and all amenities that come with it. With great riches normally comes access to like circumstanced personages and the activities they engage in. These are the famous individuals, the favored members of society who are emulated by the many and are found with the few. It is a simple and unexceptional aspiration for a normal person to crave those privileges and the attention these, elite receive. That admiration and communal flattery is one of the principal attractions of having large sums of money.

Some gamblers are only attempting to make enough money to raise themselves up to an ordinary a financial standard; nonetheless they are still attempting to acquire the finance so that they can raise their social status. When players are gambling and winning money on a streak of luck, they are not only excited because of the quantity of cash they are collecting but also as they are feeding off the shared excitement of the contestants around them hoping to mirror the victorious player’s success.

 

            Discussing games the human race plays is a veritable discourse that grows intensity as the games grow in popularity. Superior games through out history have required development and refinement in order to be enjoyable. In worlds past games did not populate the earth in quite as high a density as they do today. Historically basic games such as tag were created thousands of years ago, however the first organized board game, considered by some to be the first real game, recorded in history was innovated by Mesopotamians and has been given the title the Royal Game of Ur, as it was first found in the tomb of a king of the first Ur dynasty. Research has suggested that the creators of this game and similar games soon to follow were either royalty or privileged individuals who had resources and time to make these complex games. Thousands of years ago the human population was still small enough that a majority of the population worked for most of the day to support themselves, not having any substantial leisure time. Compared to today’s game developing tracks, the construction of games has changed only in minor semantics, whether they are tabletop, card, physical, or video games. Today artisans who are paid to specialize in making fun games build them, while the rich and privileged still sponsor the industry. These constants correspond to the social certainty that the wealthy and privileged members of civilization steer the course of a majority of industries and entertainment facets.

 

           Through the ages the categories of people who contribute to the production of games has not varied a large amount. Another similar piece of the gaming collective that has remained consistent for the most part are the rules of games played by children. As the current generations progeny swell from ankle biters to teenagers and beyond they must learn many basic life concepts, whether they be physical, mental, or social. As children develop, games like tag educate them on the boundaries of personal space. While a game such as capture the flag can teach young boys and girls to understand taking things that don’t belong to them can get them in trouble. Many children’s games teach similar basic principles by abstractedly emulating adult social behaviors and rules.  As the tykes grow and mature in small increments they begin to expand past the lessons their childhood games could teach them, however most are not yet mentally or socially developed enough to create original concepts for games. Thus they alter the extraneous guidelines of their basic games to create variations. These variations may not carry any new lessons but they do exercise the children’s intellects and communication skills, in turn advancing each child’s social prowess.

 

           As the global population continues to grow cultures will cross and societies will blend. As a planet we are approaching a point in Earth’s social history where there may no longer be separate societies. Already you can see art, literature, food, business, races, and games from different backgrounds mixing at a faster rate then ever before. As a collection of cultures the world is very diverse, however they can come together on many concurrent aspects. When games are seen from different cultures they seem bizarre, yet still they have familiar aspects to those viewing them for the first time, aspects related directly to social connections. Games are one of the most powerful forms of communication in the modern world. In a way communicating with society and changing with it as it evolves, is in itself, a game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"All Time Box Office Records - Box Office Mojo." Box Office Mojo. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. <http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/>.

Technology News, Technology Reviews, Free Software Downloads - SoftSailor. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. <http://www.softsailor.com/news/42325-halo-reach-revenue-reached-200-million-on-launch-date.html>.

 

"Philosophical Quotations: Aristotle." The Radical Academy. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. <http://www.radicalacademy.com/philosophicalquotations27.htm>.