As I walk in, I see a sight I don’t quite understand. Aaron is sitting on the gray carpeted floor of his room. His tall lanky body is settled into a relaxed, comfortable position--legs crossed, back slightly bent, elbows resting on his knees. Across from him sits a black television hooked up to a Sony Playstation. This is the focus of his attention.

As the video game system is connected to the television, Aaron is connected to the system. In his hands he holds the physical representation of that connection, the controller. It is a complex gray box with twelve buttons and two knobs, and he holds it lightly and confidently in his hands. He is ready to play.

The game is Tekken 3, a basic fighting game in which, according to the box, "An ancient evil force has reawakened, attacking in secret and feeding on the souls of mighty warriors." This is the game for now, but it could be anything, Rouge Trip, Soul Reaver, or Gran-turismo.

The game begins and immediately his posture changes. No longer is he relaxed, but tense. His eyes are now open wide and he is staring at the screen, rarely even blinking. The rest of his face is just as intense as he alternates between clenching his teeth and biting his bottom lip. His long, elegant fingers move quickly and confidently over the controls. He knows were every button is and shows no hesitation in pressing them. The fighters on the screen punch and kick, controlled totally by the person behind the controls. He, too has become a part of the game as his arms and legs twinge and slightly spasm with the character’s movements, as if he were one of them.

I understand this moment--somewhat. I have been known to dabble at video games such as Tetris and Mario Brothers. I’ve watched people playing Star Wars and James Bond. Rarely, however, have I felt or seen anything like Aaron’s intensity or his commitment to the games he plays.

A Day in the Life of . . .

What role do video games play in a day in the life of Aaron? His day begins at 8:30 or so, when he awakens and gets ready for classes. Then, he either uses his computer or plays video games. Then, it is time for class, which he usually arrives to on time, unless a video game holds him up a little. After classes, he does his homework and has dinner and only then does he play more video games, if he doesn’t have "something better" to do. "Something better" doesn’t seem to come along too often.

That Aaron makes it a point to do his class work each day before he turns on the game system surprises me. From what I have observed in others (and from what I’ve done a few times myself!) I know that video games can be a good way to procrastinate. But, Aaron is not prone to procrastination. "I don't procrastinate because I feel bad about doing it. So I tend to plan ahead with what I have to do and just do it then, that way I feel better when I’m actually not doing something important".

Even without using video games as a procrastination tool, he is still able to spend quite a bit of time playing. He averages three or four hours per day, which might not seem incredibly excessive, but this number increases dramatically when he gets a new game. Like a child with a new toy (or an adult with one), that is all he wants to do. He then spends seven or eight hours a day playing. He recently beat the game Final Fantasy VIII, after playing it for 158 hours over a ten day period. That’s an average of over fifteen hours a day! It’s mind boggling. Now, however, just like that child with the toy, he has grown tired of it and the game sits on the shelf unplayed. Unplayed, but not forgotten. The way he sees it, the game gets boring because it is no longer new and surprising. But, after a while, you forget and pull it out again, and once more it surprises you.

Obsessed?

Aaron might tire of a game and put it aside for a while, but this has not yet happened with video games in general. He is self-admittedly obsessed with them. This does not necessarily mean obsessed as in a Webster’s Dictionary definition like "a disturbing preoccupation with an often unreasonable idea or feeling". Aaron’s definition of an obsession is "something you like to do, so you do it a lot. Then, when you don’t like it anymore, you don’t do it." Aaron sees his life as a series of obsessions; it is simply part of his personality. He used to like a television show called "Red Dwarf." He watched it religiously every week. Now, he only sees it occasionally. It is an obsession that passed.

He remembers the first time he really got into a game. It was a Nintendo game called Dragon Warrior. It took a long time, but he finally got the dragon at the end of the game. It didn’t matter that he didn’t beat the dragon the first time; it just mattered that he got to the end. That is where the excitement lay. This excitement has yet to disappear. It wanes, but is refreshed with each new game. After over 10 years, this "obsession" with video games just hasn’t died.

"Live Vicariously as a Cool Rock Star"

This quote came from the case of a game called Milkcan Live. In this game you must press certain combinations of buttons in rhythm to some music in order to make the protagonist, Lammy, play her guitar well.

Other games are more direct about placing the player in the place of the protagonist. For example, in a game called Metal Gear Solid, the blurb on the cover states "You are Snake, a government agent on a mission to regain control of a secret nuclear weapons base from terrorist hands" (boldface added).

Some might think Aaron’s social life leaves much to be desired. He does spend time with friends, but also likes to spend a lot of time alone. Is he living vicariously through these games he plays? His hesitant answer is "Yes, I guess I do . . . There’s just something cool about pretending you’re a two ton robot!"

Tactical Espionage Action/Adventure

Certain types of games appeal to Aaron’s personality and the vicarious life he sometimes leads. One type is grandiosely called Tactical Espionage Action/Adventure and includes such games as Metal Gear Solid. For this type of game, you must have a tactic. You must think about what you are doing, make a plan, and follow through with it. Aaron says that figuring it out is what makes it fun.

Another is role-playing games like Final Fantasy VIII. The premise for this game is "A member of an elite military team, Squall is forced into a conflict beyond imagination. To survive, he must contend with a desperate rival, a powerful sorceress, and his own mysterious dreams." The action of this game is driven by a plot. However, the action comes slowly. There are times when you watch and don’t participate. This is because it is really supposed to be more like a movie than a game. In these movie like segments, a lot of character development takes place and the plot is revealed as the game progresses. Following this plot is the whole point of playing and is Aaron’s primary attraction to these games.

He also enjoys fighting games because they are faster paced and they remind him of games he used to play in arcades. Also, he is simply good at them. "You like what you are good at," he says, "and I am good at beating people up . . .in video games.

Most of these games have complex plots and storylines, role playing games are the most complex of all. Sequels also have long stories behind them. For example, Aaron told me the story of Tekken 3: "In the first Tekken Heihachi Mishisma sponsored a tournament in order to test his son's (Kazuya’s) fighting ability. Several people came to the tournament . . .Kazuya won. He then threw his father off a cliff [because] Kazuya had to make a deal with the devil in order to win. In Tekken 2, Heihachi proved harder to kill than Kazuya thought, as he climbed back up the cliff. Meanwhile Kazuya took over his father's empire and sponsored a second tournament as a cover for several illegal smuggling operations. Heihachi won and threw Kazuya into a volcano. During this part of the story, Kazuya had seduced Jun. They had a son, Jin. In Tekken 3 Heihachi had expanded his corporation and excavated an Aztec ruin releasing something. Over the next year several fighters disappeared . . . Heihachi found Jin and decided to train him to lure Orge (the god of fighting, the something that was released) and sponsored a third tournament to bring together the best fighters in the world to also lure Orge. The story is actually more involved."

More involved, indeed. He told about each fighter in the tournament (and there are many of them)--their background, their fighting styles, and what happens to them if they win their fight. He gets a lot of his information from magazines about different games, especially fighting games. He loves to read these. He feels that it is better to know a character’s style, strength, and weaknesses before beginning the game. It helps the players prepare themselves the way they might for a real fight. This does not go for other types of games, however. For other types of games, learning information like this would be cheating and "cheating should only be accomplished when it increases the fun." And fun is the only reason you play.

Teaching the "Unworthy Heathens"

(a joke, I assure you)

Aaron spends a lot of time alone, but he is by no means reclusive. While others are in his room while he plays he jokes and laughs and doesn’t get upset at people who talk while he plays. He loves to share the world of video games with others. He is very enthusiastic when talking about this favorite topic. You feel as though he could talk to you nonstop for days about the characters and storylines of each and every game he has ever played or read about.

He prefers to play games like Tekken 3 with others. He tries to teach them what he has learned about the characters and their way of fighting so that they can become better players. However, he has had a hard time finding someone to play with him, because he can beat everyone pretty badly. Still, he continues searching for someone to impart his knowledge to.

Aaron is sitting on the gray carpeted floor of his room. He sits with his legs crossed, back slightly bent, elbows resting on his knees. Across from him sits a black television hooked up to a Sony Playstation. This is the focus of his attention. He is connected the system. As I walk away, I understand a little more about why this is so.

I decided to write a profile narrative article about a person who plays video games after watching several of my male friends playing. It seemed as though every time I went to their apartment, they were playing James Bond or a WWF Wrestling game. I did not understand what the attraction of these games was—so I decided to find out. I decided to interview Aaron, who was not one of the friends that got me interested on the subject, but another acquaintance that I knew loved video games.

The interviewing process was a lot of fun. I sat and watched him play games for a few hours. I got a lot of my information and ideas just from watching his reactions to the games while he was playing them. He showed me an example of each different type of game he had and talked a mile a minute about them all.

When it came time to write the paper, I felt as though I had a lot of information, but could not really tie it together coherently in a traditional essay form. That is why I decided to experiment and include the subtitles. It was interesting to try out a new narrative form, and I think that it worked here. I would have had a lot of trouble writing the paper without them, because they allowed me to move from topic to topic without really tying them together as I would in a continuos piece. However, in the end I think readers are able to make those connections for themselves.

One other thing about my article that might seem strange is the very long quote where Aaron is giving the story of Tekken 3. I realized that this was long, but I once again decided to break traditional structure and put the quote in. The reason I decided to do this was that I wanted to show the audience how interested Aaron was in these games. I think it makes a more powerful statement to have him telling you the story behind this game to illustrate that he knows the complex storylines behind them that to just say, "He knows the complex storylines behind the games."

All in all, I am very pleased with the way this article turned out. I was very hesitant to share it because it was structured differently than what most others in my class were writing, but it got a good response and I am glad that I shared it.