Thinky stuff: Gaming Diaries

Nowadays, gaming diaries are all the rage. These are essentially "chronicles" or journals of a player's adventures in any game they are currently playing. From Far Cry 2 to Sims 3 and Morrowind, gaming diaries appeal to the narcissistic quality of people by allowing them the opportunity to share their personal stories, actions, and thoughts that take place in virtual worlds. After all, who would want to read about Johnny's boring real everyday life when they can hear about how he kills orcs and demons in World of Warcraft, right?

This works on many levels. Firstly, it puts the games being recorded, on a pedestal. Sims 3 for instance, gets positive rep through the highly popular blog Alice & Kev that chronicles the lives of two Sims in the game. This encourages many of the blog's readers to buy the game and experience the TV soap-like drama excitement for themselves.


Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Alec Meer writes of his thieving exploits and travels through the odd lands of Morrowind. There is no shortage of weirdness crossing his path, and the readers are left wondering whether those events could happen to anyone who played the game or were solely unique to Alec's playthrough. As such, readers would be encouraged to pick up the game and have a go too.

Second level on which gaming diaries work, they are a convergence between the interactive and literary. The gameplay itself becomes a form of higher art as it is appreciated by the masses, not just by the single player. The writer him or herself will have a heightened sense of enjoyment for the game because their exploits are being followed by others and so will consciously make interesting choices.


For those interested in making their own blogs, RPGs make for good game diaries. Especially those that allow much freedom of movement and choices, like Fallout 3, Oblivion, etc (notice Bethesda's monopoly) as these are the games that will allow for unique experiences tailored for every individual player.

Games like Far Cry 2 and GTA IV can work too with their expansive environments, but ultimately, you eventually shoot and talk through the same things as everyone else.


Amazing things can happen in games. And it's only right that you'd want to share it with others. With Alice & Kev, something profound took place. In the comments I read at each post, people treated the Sims as if they were real people. They empathized with the plight of Alice as she grew up with an abusive father and intense poverty. They cried for her when she donated her first paycheck selflessly to charity, despite her own struggle for financial stability.

It was exactly as Will Wright had meant it to be, the Sims were no longer just puppets under an omniscient player's control, but had their own lives, and we were just invisible observers, held in awe and wonderment at the reflection of humanity in these virtual characters. As I said, the game is propelled to a new level of appreciation, and it's all thanks to gaming diaries.