Thursday, April 8, 2010

Gaming Interview - Ben Trotter, Fiona Condon

Conversation between Ben Trotter & Fiona Condon:

Do you game?

Ben: Used to a lot in high school, not as much anymore. I usually play first person shooters.

Fiona: I always play a lot of Tetris, even in college, and in high school I used to play video games like Mario Kart and Super Smash and Rock Band for fun sometimes... I have to admit, I got really into the Sims for a while.

How much time?

Ben: Now maybe 1-2 hours a week, in high school I probably played around 2 hours a day.

Fiona: I play maybe a few hours of Tetris a week, actually, which is a little distracting. I do it whenever I have a lull in my day, even while I talk to people or listen to the radio. Back in high school, my gaming was more sporadic - I'd play all the time for a couple of weeks, then give it up for a couple of months.

When did you start?

Ben: My Uncle bought me a Super Nintendo when I was 5 years old. Played games like super mario and donkey kong. Had to read to earn "screen time" and then choose between spending it watching TV or playing video games and I almost always chose to spend it playing video games. Once I was about 9 or 10 my parents gave up on the whole earning screen time idea since it was too much effort to keep track of.

Fiona: Sims - when I was 9 or so. I played other computer games a little in high school, and I guess that's when I started playing video games as well. I actually played some first-person shooters when I was a kid. My brother tried to get me into WoW, but I never got really into it.

What about games appeals to you?

Ben: I find they can be relaxing by temporarily distracting me for from real life... for better or for worse haha. Also it is fun to play with friends online against other people for the same reason that anything competitive is fun, especially when your doing it with your friends.

Fiona: You can really lose yourself in a game - when I was playing Diner Dash, I felt like nothing mattered except that I successfully served the customers. The same with a game like the Sims. It can really take over your mind and provide a lot of the same feelings of reward and pride that you're 'supposed' to get from real-life accomplishments.

No comments: