May 10, 2003

In the beginning man tested his worthiness through battle. As man grew more advanced came the great coliseums where men fought for honour. Now in the modern era it seems that men test their mettle through Mortal Combat.. Yeah right, let’s face it, from those great historic times we’ve been reduced to simple 3D games which make these Tech Warriors feel like Roman era gladiators. To outsiders these weird people were commonly referred to as major Khwaars or losers or if you were more creative, “Super Loser Nerd Troopers (SLNT)”. Of course, after these cool folks tried this dumb game they were hooked on faster than the country’s politicians were to money. Almost suddenly it became cool. It became a phenomenon “The gaming phenomenon”.

The gaming phenomenon struck Pakistan faster and harder than the World Cup ever did. Gaming arenas sprouted up all over Karachi like wild fire. You couldn’t go anywhere without being close to an arena, almost like you can’t go anywhere without being near a beggar. In several notable areas as many as 6-7 networking gaming arenas simultaneously operate with great success, each with its own loyal customers. The continued growth of these arenas lay with the “Hip Youth” market segment. These gaming house owners, many of them themselves young entrepreneurs, in their early 20’s, realized that it wasn’t going to grow in the long run without one very important thing “The Cool” factor. At first glance these seemed to be just another fad for the nation’s notoriously fickle youth. As parents waited for their children to be hooked on to the next best thing, it became increasingly apparent that network gaming was here to stay.

Let’s look at who plays, where gamers play, why gamers are drawn to play. Having done extensive research on this topic (which I thoroughly enjoyed) I can safely say one thing. These cyber stadiums are extremely addictive, or it is better to say the games played are very addictive. They provide a unique challenging atmosphere where gamers of all ages come and test their skills as gladiators in games such as Red Alert, Warcraft 3 and Doom. However, the all time most popular game without a shadow of a doubt is Counter Strike. This game has revolutionized the fledgling cyber arenas, hundreds of people flock to these places solely to play it. Probably the best thing about Counter Strike (for the owners) is that the game was created to be interactive. A game people mostly like to play among a large number of friends.

Cyber stadiums in general come in all shapes and sizes. Although most gaming arenas are restrictive to the higher classes, cheaper arenas have opened to let loose this craze as well. What makes this so interesting is the fact that a gaming arena is the only place (in Pakistan at least) where status is completely meritocratic. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a rich politician’s son or the son of a shopkeeper; it all depends on skill, reflex and temperament. This would probably explain the mass appeal of the game to numerous different social groups. However, it must be remembered that these arenas are by no means inexpensive — prices range from 40-75 rupees an hour, but it must be noted that there are usually special deals at different arenas lowering the price at off-peak times and for buying hours at bulk. These are essential in attracting new customers as well as providing incentives for the already hopelessly hooked ones. Why play so much? As true for many things in life practice does make perfect.

Does everyone who wants to play have fair access to these new hot spots? No way. One would have to be giftedly naive to assume that children from both poor and wealthy backgrounds have the same kind of access to these gaming networks. After all’s said and done, if you’re an avid gamer game time isn’t cheap. However, I have heard a couple of guys actually getting some part time jobs (like writing articles!), to cover the cost of their insane pleasures of life.

One characteristic that does stand out is that it’s a heavily male dominated phenomenon, for most part it is not totally surprising. Almost all the games I indulged in during my painstaking research were extremely violent and graphically so. Hence and not surprisingly I found extremely few girls frequenting these places. When I questioned one of the few but apparently loyal female gamers about why so few girls play at cyber arenas she said quite simply: “Generally it’s too violent for their taste and that it should be left to boys”.

It also struck me that even at smaller cyber arenas, there always seemed to be a loyal customer of sorts, but even there no female techno warriors appeared in any clique. Most of them appeared there sporadically, in sharp contrast. As so many guys regularly frequent the place it’s not really surprising that it almost inevitably becomes a male social hangout, specially considering that there are such few places existing in our society that parents actually feel comfortable sending their kids nowadays.

Through the safety factor as well as the monotony of concerts/exhibitions which take place, admittedly these are also places where fights seldom occur but there is usually some sort of security present to assure parents that their children’s safety is adequately looked after. They don’t mind if their kids blow the brains out of their school friends in the virtual world as long as they are safe.

Gaming arenas may have been termed as nothing more than a fad when it first appeared but it is quickly proving to be more than that. It’s a long term craze. With most cyber stadiums expanding rather than shrinking, it’s hard to see them disappear into obscurity. The big question is, are there enough players for those new shiny leather seats? Quite simply, yes. There are grooves of avid gamers always waiting for that empty seat. The moral purpose of cyber arenas — they give the youth a place where they can vent their frustrations without physically hurting anyone. If you aren’t hooked on yet it’s okay. After all has been said, there are only violent guy type games to play. On a brighter note at least they aren’t as harmful as drugs.

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)