Video games have transcended generations since its birth back in 1958 with the game Pong. It has been a pass time and a getaway for some from the realities of this world. Video games have given boundless creativity and have brought to life, figuratively speaking, our whimsical fantasies. We are able to recreate, rewrite, or replay history with video games. It enables us to coordinate with our brain and our hands to show your skills with the sticks (go watch the EVO fighting championships for "Street Fighter 4" and you'll know what I'm talking about).

There is a new breed of athlete (though not physically inclined, but mentally empowered) that are arising from video games. Everyone wants to see the best of the best in anything. Whether is in bowling, chess, wood splitting, or video games. We want to know who is better. The world of video games and even broader, games, in general, settle those disputes.

Now, all of a sudden video gaming is an addiction?

If gaming can be classified as an addiction then everything can be classified as an addiction. Cause essentially life is a game itself (That's just me being salty, but really it's not an addiction). I think that the minority of "addiction prone" gamers messes it up for the majority of gamers. I used gaming as a way to stay off the streets and found friends who shared the same ideology. It just so happen to be that the safest place we could all meet up was in a Call of Duty lobby. We laughed and shared stories and antagonized each other as if we were siblings. To this day I keep in touch with those guys cause that was a brotherhood we built. You are still interacting with real human beings. In a more para-social way though.

For someone to say that gaming is an addiction has not experienced real gaming. And real gaming is not a raging 13-year-old who is mad about not being able to crack the top 50 when he plays "Fortnite." Real gaming is when you are immersed in the game like you would be in a movie. It has its own characters and plots. It allows you to choose your destiny and become something that you couldn't in real life.

Gaming is not an addiction. To say it is an addiction is pushing the narrative that being a gamer can lead to a disease. That is something that is simply not true.

And I am living proof.