Mark R. Fitch
English 2089
Professor Mclaughlin
January 31, 2020
My first profile article deals with the burning question, “why do people play video games?” As discussed herein, there is no one simple answer.
In reality, there are many reasons why some people may decide to play video games. It may be because they have grown up with it and had friends or family members who played. It could be they play because they are simply bored and are looking for stimulation or form of escape, similar to watching movies or reading a good book. Or, it could be just a new hobby that they came across. Videogames are unique in that they allow the player control over the game environment while at the same time encapsulating some of the features of both movies and books. Considering the many reasons why someone may choose to play video games it is clear that the reasons range from very general to very specific. Therefore, I decided to ask my friend what his motivation was. By way of background, my friend happens to be someone who had frequently played video games all the way through high school but had recently stepped away from it for a bit. It wasn’t the case that he necessarily lost interest in playing videogames per se, but rather that there was no current game that he felt would satisfy him.
There were several new releases during my friend’s hiatus from gaming, but he suddenly started playing a specific video game entitled “The Witcher”. So I asked what motivated or interested him to start gaming again, and why he was interested in this particular title. He said, “I play it mainly because of the actor Henry Cavil and his role in the recently released Netflix series entitled Witcher, which is a drama/fantasy series based closely on the video game itself.” My friend had watched the series and had enjoyed it. Therefore, in this instance it was the fact that “The Witcher” was a highly rated Netflix title with one of Hollywood’s leading stars which peaked his interest in going further and immersing himself in playing the video game. I felt compelled to ask him about his motivation because frankly it surprised me to see him so dedicated to this game and putting so many hours into it, when he had pretty much gotten away from gaming altogether for a period of time.
Now in thinking about it, the reasons he started playing a videogame such as Witcher are easy to point out. First, the making of the new TV show was accompanied by a substantial marketing campaign which generally piqued the public’s interest in in this medieval fantasy. Second, the show itself is derived from several successful books. Therefore, both the video game and the subsequent Netflix show have roots in material which is rich in content (as opposed to a video game title which is self-contained work developed solely for gaming). Video games across many different genres are released each year, the reason he plays video games now is because of the successful TV show. After delving further and asking him about this, he said, “it is one of the main reasons, because it was a way to extend the experience of the show and not letting the story end.”
Having previous experience with videogames probably makes him more inclined to play a video game again. I asked him if he grew up playing them or was introduced to them later in life and he confirmed that “videogames have always been part of our household.” A factor of growing up playing video games suggests that you may be more likely to continue playing them. However, in this case, the continued interest appears to be more driven by subject matter and well-developed material that peaked a specific interest.
Profile Article 2
For my second profile article I will talk about a certain group of people that follow the Asatru religion which is also know as neopaganistic. This derives from mainly the Norse/Scandinavian religions that were prominent in the years before Christianity made, or some would say forced their way as the capital religion which would be before about the year 1100. The Asatru religion is gaining more and more members and popularity and is almost being seen as a revival of the old gods and their religion, the groups mainly take prominence in the northern hemisphere being made in Iceland and moving back to Scandinavia and even some parts Scotland. The rise of polytheistic religions isn’t just happening in the north but in the south in Greece there are still hold to the Olympia gods and even gaining more prominence today. But focusing on Asatru, I have chosen this as my focus because I know someone that follows this along with his family, I even have great interest in these things as well.
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