Monday, November 6, 2017

Traditional "Gaming" Is STILL Alive & Well at Loria! (pt. 2)



       Because of the microchip, the internet and the satellite, we are enjoying an efficiency in everyday life and business that is utterly mind-boggling. What cars, jet planes and space shuttles have done for "physical travel", the inventions out of MIT and Silicon Valley have done for "information travel" - whether that communication is in the form of a movie, a photo or a simple verbal message.
       On that point, I specifically address the "entertainment' aspect of technology in the present-day world.  Such satellite-based digital/wireless technology recently turned another momentous corner in 2016 with the release of Pokemon Go!, thus melding the real world with the virtual (at least to a certain extent anyway).   The game soundly combined the the technologies of GPS, CGI and wireless connectivity.  But because the players wander out into the "real world" to play this game, real-world public safety issues compelled that region of the virtual world to all but disappear.  
       But now, there are a multitude of virtual reality games in which millions of players can simultaneously compete with each other through a worldwide wireless network of connectivity - without wandering out into the real world. Even though the public safety issues inherent in a game like Pokemon Go! were eliminated, the latest games using worldwide particiapation tie still the player's senses entirely to the game - a game in which reality only exists, well...virtually.
       Even though the games are technological marvels (and they really are) what has this kind of "entertainment" does this do to a young person's perception of "reality"?  As I asked in a previous post, "Will the real 'real world' please step forward?".
       The point is:  You can only be "virtually" killed or injured in a digital video game.  A swipe of the index finger "accomplishes" things in the virtual world that otherwise take quite a bit more effort in the real world.  People are not required to be in the same room to compete with each other, which of course is one of the points of this game in the first place.  It's also one of the points of this article - but more as a 'cautionary tale'.  These virtual world acquaintances among players do not require any real world social skills.  It's like being isolated, yet in a large crowd.  That lack of true interaction among young people in their recreational time may create a population of adults that won't know how to effectively communicate "in person".  And that's the point.

       


or...

       As we have become ever-increasingly caught up in the virtual world, we dwell in a world where we seem to be "here, but not here".  You know the scene, a group of four convene in a family restaurant and all four are entranced by whatever device they possess (well, the device that possesses them may be more like it).  They're connected to everything except each other.  This is a popular lament among those who predate the technology revolution.
       Suffice it to say that the real world has been permanently revolutionized by this kind of technology - no question about it - and it's not going anywhere but up.  The efficiency of everyday business tasks has exponentially soared. Personal convenience has been re-defined.  Remote communications around the globe have, in a sense, shrunk the world.  That's the natural progression of these things anyway - for better or worse.  
       But as mentioned in an earlier post, basic "human" things have gone down in the process.  Frequently, things like in-person conversations, basic social interaction skills, handwriting skills, actual 'person-to person' camaraderie among family and friends have taken a back-seat in everyday life if not altogether banished.  We're a very distracted society - no question about that either.
       For those in search of a returning to more "organic" ways of having forms of entertainment in the real world with real people in the same real room (the original "chat room" if you will), do not be discouraged!  Loria offers what we like to call "traditional gaming".  Yes, behind this genuine editorial is a sales-pitch for the type of gaming that encourages "real world" camaraderie and competition.
       So if you're tired of being led around by remote control in the world of digital gaming and wish to play games in the real world, do not despair.  Loria, as a stubborn purveyor of "traditional gaming" for more than one-hundred years, offers an extensive array of these games - from our wide variety of home and commercial slate-top pool-tables to table-tennis, foosball tables, air-hockey, shuffleboard and combination poker/dining tables and bars, with stools and chairs to match!  We have been the "go to" place for over two decades for league quality steel-tip darts, dartboards and dart accessories - as well as the "royal" game of chess (including an LED-lit version), an assortment of plastic-coated playing cards, dominoes and even bingo!  
       As a fourth generation family-business, we have a hard time surrendering what we deem important in entertainment - being in the real world with real people having fun together - unlike the virtual world of digital gaming, where too often we're "here, but not here".  I don't condemn the world of digital gaming.  I just know that it shouldn't dominate our lives when it comes to entertainment because then our real lives just become "virtual" as well.  Even in the world of entertainment, making pleasant memories with family and friends means being in the same room with them (at least for the most part). 
       For more information on our variety of "traditional gaming", please visit our showroom in Yonkers, New York and/or our website:  LoriaPoolTables.com

By Roger V. Loria, Jr.

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