After gaming pretty much my whole life, I saw the rise of gaming online and felt it could bring the world closer. Just as Jim Carrey’s character Chip Douglas said in The Cable Guy:
“The future is now! Soon every American home will integrate their television, phone, and computer. You’ll be able to visit the Louvre on one channel or watch female wrestling on another. You can do your shopping at home, or play Mortal Kombat with a friend from Vietnam. There’s no end to the possibilities!”
It was happening but along with online gaming, there came an element of toxicity, so you can imagine the joy I felt being at the HCS event in Raleigh, North Carolina seeing the love of gaming in person.
Although there was a fair amount of “trash talking”, especially at the open bracket stations & among commentators Walshy & Golden Boy, it felt all in good fun. Speaking of the commentators, I’m hoping that the Saturday night Big Team Battle happens at every event.
Meeting & playing against players in person breaks the walls of being able to hide behind the screen & helps humanize it all. It makes the experience more wholesome & less toxic.
My son & I went not knowing what to expect. We have a stream on Twitch called “Prince Pops Play” & we stream all types of games mainly Halo Infinite right now. We loved the HCS event.
We’ve been to all types of major events in stadiums and convention centers, this was one of our favorites. Being able to see gaming on jumbotron-type screens & the Halo sounds over stadium grade speakers takes the love of gaming to the highest heights.
You could just feel the love for gaming as it resonated throughout the whole weekend. Late nights & early mornings, watching & gaming with the best of the best. Plus, getting to meet the people who put it all together & the best players to ever play the game.
I believe with more “in-person” gaming events, it’ll bring more of the human element and can possibly end most of the toxicity that was becoming the norm. This is the dream, more fun gaming.
I’m excited to write more about this and future events. I really believe the gaming industry could greatly benefit from more love and in-person events.
We’re all just ordinary people, we just need to “do something extra” & be extraordinary.
