Communications

Hooked on electronic games? No need to panic!

The Granby CEGEP hosted a videogame competition attended by 75 people from October 20 to 22, 2006. Participants played off against each other for two days using a networked computer system. The winner, Dafou, was so thrilled with the $250 scholarship he won that he sent an enthusiastic message to the organizers: “Seriously, I had way too much fun. I can’t get over it, even though it’s finished and I have to go back to work today.”

The event, dubbed a LAN party (from the term Local Area Network), was just one of 33 such happenings organized in Quebec last year. A few months earlier, 400 people vied for the championship at the ETS LAN, organized by the École de technologie supérieure de Montréal. Other LAN parties were held in Saint-Hyacinthe, Sept-Iles, Chibougamau and Rouyn-Noranda.

Though it’s new in Quebec (the first LAN party only took place in November 2001), “electronic sport” (e-sport) is very big in Europe, where thousands of fans contend for scholarships worth up to 100,000 euros. There’s even a World Cup of electronic sport. “The typical gamer is a guy (in 95% of cases) between the ages of 16 and 22, who may spend up to 10 hours at the computer without a break getting ready for a competition,” explains Samuelle Ducrocq-Henry, who is currently conducting doctoral research on the subject. 

She considers electronic game competitions a new type of sport. “These games demand concentration, reflexes and precision. I believe this sport combines elements of archery, chess, live music and car racing. Since people compete in teams, a strong spirit of camaraderie develops between e-sport fans,” she says. In competitions, teams with two, three or four members cross swords in games like Warcraft or Counter-strike. The winners of the first round proceed to the elimination round, and the champions are crowned after five to 10 games, depending on the number of teams in the tournament.

To learn more about this emerging phenomenon, the doctoral student embarked on an ethnographic research project that has taken her from LAN party to LAN party. She has distributed questionnaires to about 300 gamers in the network and interviewed dozens of them as well. After following some gamers for two or three years, she feels she can draw a few conclusions.

“Many people worry when they see young people playing video games alone in their rooms. I don’t think there’s any cause for concern. Yes, the real addicts give heart and soul to perfect their techniques. But this is a period of adolescence that’s already typified by excess. After two or three years, usually when they get a girlfriend, take a job or go back to school, their interest takes a nosedive and they stop.”

She even believes that former gamers have an advantage in the labour force. “Technically, they’re very skilled and can work in a multitasking environment. Some companies in the U.S. seek them out for management positions.”

But the media make such a fuss about gamers’ loss of identity. Do virtual characters invade the minds of gaming addicts? “Not in this type of game, because the team spirit is fundamental to their success,” says Ducrocq-Henry, who has completed most of her thesis in a joint program with the UdeM., UQAM and Concordia. Besides, the fact that gamers have to meet physically in the same place to compete promotes human exchanges and contacts. The expert notes that there have been no unfortunate incidents at LAN parties in Quebec. “That speaks volumes. Don’t forget that you’ve got hundreds of excited teens in a room for two or three days in a row…”