Interview questions

• How old were you when you played your first video game?

-6

• What was your first video game and what made you play it?

- It was Super Mario Bros with Duck Hunter also, it was the original Nintendo and both games were on 1 cartridge, and came with the duck hunter gun. I played it because it was challenging, like a puzzle and I had to learn the timing and coordination of the games which made me want to get better and better, you just want to beat it, and once it gets to the end and you beat it it is satisfying.

• Was it a big part of your childhood?

-Not until I was about 11 or 12, did I really started playing a lot of video games. It was when James bond and n64 came out. I was slightly a little more coordinated and could perceive things better when I was that age, and once I got to 11 I started to stay up later and would play more, but I also did a lot of outdoor activities, so I didn't spend all my time playing. When I moved to Idaho, I didn't have a lot of friends so I started to play more and more, When I was between the ages of 14-17 I bet about 80% of my spare time went to playing video games, mainly because I didn't have very many friends, and also because video games were getting more interesting and started to have better graphics. I slowed down on playing games around age 17, because I made more friends and started doing other things, although I still played a lot of games.

• Do you believe in being addicted to games and technology?
  

- Ummm...I believe some people get addicted to games I guess. I think its just like people who are addicted to doing anything, you want to progress and you just want to do better and better every time, so its just something you keep doing, and something you like to do even if your not getting better. I think it can be negative, because for some people its all they want to do, but i think that to much of anything is negative really. If your just going to sit there and play video games all day everyday, its not good. it can be like that for anything.

• How many of your friends play video games?

-Almost everyone, its like 2011. Like everyone I know.

• On average how much do they play?
  

-Ahh I have so many friends that play so many different things, now that I have my playstations in my house, my roomates play a lot more then they ever have, its just something fun to do on your spare time. I dont think always being productive would be very much fun

• What is it about games that pulls you in?
  

-Ummm... gosh just everything, progression over the years, the challenege, the story line sometimes, it can be nice even if im just by myself, even if I dont have someone there telling me how good i am at a game, I can just tell myself and it makes me happy.

• Do you feel like virtual worlds made in games distracts us from sensing what is real?
  

- Hah no, unless your immature and have a very tenuous grasp on what reality already is.

• Do you think we sometimes wish it would distract us from reality?

-Well I mean i guess it "distracts" us from reality, its just something fun that you don't have to think about, its really just like a hobby, that can distract you from thinking about life's problems and the bills you have to pay.

• Do you feel like games connect you to people socially? if so how? if not why?

-Kind of, I play online games, and I talk to people about games at school a lot. I don't really feel connected to people online that I don't know in person, I guess your connected because your playing the game together, but there is such a wide variety of people that play that you wouldn't really be friends with in real life. Its nice to play with my friends that are far away though, sometimes playing together connects us.

• Do you create an identity when playing games that may or may not be who you really are?

-Not really. I kind of do that anyways just for fun, you know, sometimes I like to talk in accents just for fun, but I don't make up a different/fake life in games, I already am how I wish/ want to be or I would be different.

• On average how often do you play games and for how long?

-Lately an hour every two or three days, but during winter when i'm in school probably 2 hours every day, and in summer like an hour every 2-3 days

• Have you ever neglected your health, hygiene and daily obligations because of a game?

-No hah, except for when i was like 11 I would stay up really late sometimes and play games, but then I would be really tired the next day.

• Has anyone ever told you you have an addiction to technology?

-umm maybe you

why do you think they said that?

-Because your jealous and don't know what your talking about, jealous of the game.

• Why do you think video games are such a big part of peoples lives today?

-Because their fun. Technology is convenient and i feel like progression is a good, positive thing, it's moving forward, technology is important. I don't think that video games help with real life problem solving, I think that you don't really get anything out of a game that helps you solve real life problems, you don't get anything out of a game except for the fun of playing a game, but I don't think you really loose anything out of it either. Its just for fun.

• What do you think about the army using video games to draft more soldiers? Do you think that it is giving a false perception on what war is really like?

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Interviewees: John Babcock