Friday, November 30, 2012

Interview #1

            This post contains an interview with Scott DiMonda, the Editor-In-Chief of Platform Nation. Platform Nation is an organization focusing on gaming news through the support of writers and podcasters.
·         What are your experiences with gaming?
I have been gaming since the Coleco Telstar that I received as a Christmas present, (I was about 8) to today.  I did take a small hiatus from gaming for about 5 years and then I purchased the PlayStation and haven't looked back since.  I own all the major consoles and just have even gotten back into PC gaming. As some may know I even took my gaming to the next level and became a writer at Platform Nation, and worked my way to Editor-in-Chief.  I not only have the aspect from a gamer but as media that sometimes gets a look at things the regular gamer may not see.
·         Do you think video games help or hurt social interaction?
When non-gamers hear the words video games right away they think "Loser in Moms basement", but I like to tell them when was the last time you spoke to your friend while playing a game together that live in another state or even country. So in all I feel it helps social interaction.  The shy kid in school may be the kid you are playing Halo 4 multiplayer pulling off spectacular head shots and having a conversation with his team and not having to worry about the way he looks, the way he handles himself.  He may be the one that opens up while playing games and may be his or hers only means of conversation without being picked on.
·         What are your thoughts of gaming industries promoting their products through various media?
Some of the commercials that come out for games are the real seller of the games.  Let's take Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, that commercial is awesome, but doesn't simulate gameplay, but a lot of people will buy that game because of the commercial.  Video Gaming is a huge business and PR firms take full advantage of getting the exposure for their game, and with all the social media stations available they reach a different target with each one, so it is good.  I am not a Facebook user but I do use Twitter, so if they didn't promote via Twitter I may be left out of the loop.
·         What is your opinion of gaming influencing learning capabilities?
Depending on the game(s).  There are a lot of great games out there that can help people learn.  From reading the captions on the bottom of the screen for those that may not be good readers, to hand eye coordination, we are always learning and if more people realized some of the advantages of gaming may help some with learning disabilities out.
·         How do you think society would differ if gaming cease to exist?
If gaming was to cease to exist I think we would all have different hobbies and may go back to the traditional hobbies from the past.  From stamp collecting to coin collecting (which aren't big anymore, because we all use debit cards anymore and rarely carry cash so collecting coins is harder and stamps aren't big anymore because instead of sending a letter we send an email, so with technologies bar raising so does the way we communicate and act).
References
(Scott DiMonda, Personal Communication, November 12, 2012)

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