Why do I do what I do? Why am I a student at UCLA, studying Computer Science? Like most who enter the field of Computer Science, I played a lot of video games in my youth, and I still do. When applying for colleges, I put down Computer Science as my major, mostly because I wanted to program video games. Whenever I’d play games, I would catch on to the way the games were programmed. For instance, whenever the player would cross over some invisible boundary, a monster would pop up, and I would figure that out and use it to my advantage. It was always about knowing what triggered things to happen.
So the reason I became a CS major is because I like to play video games, but why? Video games are a form of entertainment, just like movies or music, but they’re interactive. It feels more personal when you’re controlling the character, when you are responsible for what happens on the screen. I can’t seem to find a deeper level of reasoning as to why I like to play video games so much. They’re fun, I seem to be pretty good at most of them, and it’s a nice way to escape into another world. I’m not saying that I play games to run away from the problems of real life or anything, but video games offer a fictional environment to let your imagination take over.
There is also a social benefit to playing video games, contrary to popular belief. Due to online gameplay, I can play with my friends collaboratively or competitively, and have fun either way. It’s all about sharing the experience. I suppose even with single player games, we can all talk about once we’ve all played it, and even though we didn’t play through the game together, at the same time, we can still relate to it. I guess that’s what it all boils down to, as to why I love video games so much, the shared experiences they create. And the reason I want to make video games for a living is because I want others to be able to be a part of that shared experience.
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