I am a nerd. I wear glasses (albeit for reading), I love books, am a member of several council libraries, lover of all Apple products and Age of Empires lover. Give me a nice strategy game such as mah-jong and I am a happy camper. Zelda was a childhood favourite and so were Doom, Pacman, and Street Fighter. You get the idea

To my parents everlasting disappointment I have not grown out of my childhood affection for computer games and I have even inculcated (their words not mine) my little sister into the ‘gaming world.’ I remember when playing games as a 13 yr old and now even nine years later as a 22 year old was considered, well, sad and pathetic are two words that come to mind. The name ‘gamer’ brings to mind the pimply-faced-awkward-gangly-four-eyed-geeky-nerd housed in the parent’s basement or garage wasting away their years in front of a computer. But the last few years has really changed the gaming landscape and the types of people that are part of this world.

My first ever thought that maybe being a computer games nerd wasn’t really THAT nerdy was when Snakes (remember that awesome game?!) became a school wide hit for everyone with a nokia phone. To be someone you HAD to have a Nokia phone and HAD to play Snakes! (I thought since when had having a high score in a game about a wiggly hungry snake become a popularity essential?).

Nowadays, it is common to see huge public launches for gaming consoles, such as Microsoft’s Xbox 360s Kinect and Nintendo’s Wii, and hear of their subsequent sell out success! NORMAL not hard core gamers are camping out to get their hands on the latest gaming gadgets! What about the huge success of Apple’s Apps Store? Waaaaayyyy back in 2007 Bill Gates touted the idea of bringing gaming from computers to consoles and finally to mobile devices. I call it cross platform pollination! And we can see that reality happening in today’s mobile devices such as the iPhone. Not to mention the latest and potentially greatest cross platform pollination launch – Windows Phone 7 and its intersection with Xbox Live! Technology integration at its game-est form J

On your next public transport ride take your earphones out of your ears and have a good look around. I guarantee you’ll find people flipping out their Nintendo DS’s, Gameboy’s and their iPhone’s tapping away furiously trying to beat their previous high score! Rather than thinking ‘loser’ you might possibly think hmm maybe I should download that app and try it out?

Gaming is no longer about sitting in the dark with the only illumination being your computer screen. It’s about fun fast games with crazy interfaces elegantly combined with the latest technology and a dash of escapism J

Fifteen years ago if you had said, “hey I like computer games and want to be a game developer” people would have laughed in your face. But in today’s world, a geek’s world, that’s a real possibility and an admirable aspiration. That’s not to say that the usual occupations and aspirations are not prevalent. Just that nowadays being a geek and gamer are accepted and admired facets of people’s lives.

Though this is my viewpoint I can’t help but wonder how did we reach this point? How did gamers, gaming technology and computer geeks suddenly become the frontrunners of cool? The creators of today’s culture? The ones we look toward for inspiration and aspiration? What was the tipping point in favour of geeks and computer games? What has captured our imagination fascination and held it for over decade?