By Mikayla Mondragon
In a world where gaming has become one of the biggest forms of entertainment, it’s also quite common to meet people who have never had an “in” to gaming.
The Financial Problem
Whether watching a friend play or seeing an advertisement for it on TV, most kids wanted to play video games at one point or another. However, video games have not always been accessible to everyone. After the classic quarter arcades started to close, gaming companies turned their attention to home consoles like the Playstation and Wii or portable consoles like the Playstation Portable and the Nintendo DS. Computers, gaming consoles, the games themselves and even the internet (which is required to play many of these games) have all been relatively expensive and continue to maintain high prices.
The original Playstation debuted in 1994 and cost $299 (around $500 in today’s dollars) before buying a game to go with it. The most recent version, the Playstation 4, costs $399 before buying a game. A typical new game today can cost between $40-$60. The cost of a gaming system continues to increase with new accessories such as extra controllers or even extra downloadable content for a game. As gaming is a luxury and not a need, many families forgo buying their children many games.
The Gender Issue
Many video games, like many other popular forms of entertainment, have focused on catering to the cis-male masculinity. This takes place in many forms such as creating the male avatars to be strong and central to the game whereas the female characters are supporting characters and have skimpier outfits.
According to a Wired article, female protagonists in games have decreased since 2015 even though there was an increase up until that year. As people have come to know, media consumers like to see themselves in the content they see.
Females also face backlash when trying their hand in the gaming world. Female “Let’s Play” YouTubers, otherwise known as content creators who film themselves commenting on and playing a video game, are often sexualized or found as an anomaly in society. They hardly receive the attention that male “Let’s Play” YouTubers do. The top female gamer, iHasCupquake, has 6.62 million subscribers whereas the top male gamer, PewDePie, has 103 million subscribers.
Although facing backlash, the amount of female gamers has risen in the past few years within the United States. A statistics website shows that 46% of U.S. gamers are female.
Overcoming the Problem
As media coverage on gaming increases, such as the “Let’s Play” videos on YouTube and the coverage on ESports, or competitive gaming, expands, more and more people are inclined to try these games.
So, how does one get into gaming when it’s a little out of reach for low-income people?
First: Let’s start with the free games. Try your hand at some free online games to find out what you like. Fortnite is free online and is a competitive shooter game. The goal is to kill all of the opponents around you and be the last person standing. If you end up liking this type of game, you might be inclined to try other first-person-shooter games like Overwatch and Black Ops. Here’s an article of the best free games of 2020 on Steam, a website where you can download PC games.
Next: You might want to try your hand at some popular games of the era like Life is Strange, Portal, or even Undertale. These games, because of their age, have decreased in price. They are more affordable (ranging from free to $10) and are easy games to pick up for beginners.
Then: If you’re not sure what to play next, try watching some Let’s Play YouTubers! Watch a 20-30 minute video of a game you might be interested in. Try not to watch any more than that because you don’t want to spoil the whole game for yourself. (If you really don’t want to buy it, then you can watch the entirety of the Let’s Play video.) See if the game interests you. It’s like a free mini-trial of the game.
Finally: Get out there and play! Gaming can be fun and even relaxing in the long run. It’s okay that you don’t know much about gaming. You learn by doing. Trying something new can be scary at first, but eventually, learning to play a new game will come easy to you. You’ll never know if you’ll like something unless you try. So, go out there and feed your curiosity. Go game!