Since the starting of the new millennium dawned upon humanity, technology has rapidly progressed through many different mediums. One of those channels of upgraded technology has been through the gaming market. When I was growing up, the Super Nintendo was the main game console that was on the market. With all the glory of 8 and 16 bit games, my friends and I smiled every second of gameplay. Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, Donkey Kong Country, Rocky the Rodent, Kirby’s Dream Course, Uniracers, among many other games just kept the entertainment flowing for hours. It was during this generation of gaming that things just seemed simplified and relaxing. There wasn’t as much gaming competition as one would think back during the early 90’s because we didn’t have a way to connect with the world, experience our goals and achievements through gameplay, and trash talk to other opponents. It was this principle that mainly created my persona when it comes to gaming and my life experiences; always be happy and respectful. 

When my friends and I would play games like Super Mario Kart, we would compete against one another like any person would. However, there was no pressure in playing the games with your friends because you already have a bond with them, unlike strangers that you would meet on the Internet in this digital age. So instead of saying anything hurtful, rude, racist, among many other negatives, we would always joke around with one another with positive reinforcements. It was this type of culture and neighborhood that I grew up in, one that went against all the negatives life would throw at you, but somehow always see the optimistic approach of the situation. This again, is what made me a happy person. Even to this day, I stay cool, calm, and collected when everything else around me tends to explode around me. This includes the gaming world. 

Current day gaming has evolved into an electronic sport, one that takes the same emotions, intensity, and passion that regular sports do. Just like regular sports that we all take part and watch on television, electronic sports have many similarities that are rather surprising to see. The one characteristic that has become over exposed in electronic gaming though is trash talking, as many times a week I hear people say something negative or mean towards me. Being an old school player of Gears of War, I’ve had my fair share of people who would pull every trick in the book they had at me. Calling me names, saying something about my family, crude or sexual inquiries, among other daunting negativity that shouldn’t ever be heard. Even through this wave of exploiting someone with pessimistic views, I have always found a way to tell the other team “good game” when the match is over. 

Take an example from just the other day while I was playing Gears of War 3 online with followers from the stream. We played three consecutive matches in a row against an individual opponent the other day. Even though our team had several people with different skill sets, the opponent mocked us the first game. Saying things that included “You can’t use your shotgun”, “I can beat you all. 5 versus 1 right now”, “You are all (expletives)”. This was after the first game when we were declared the winners, but before the game, we didn’t hear anybody else on the other team say a word. The following match, the same opponent was in the game and started talking the same words to us before the match started. He went on to state that “None of you can beat me in a shotgun battle” yet again. During the match, I successfully defeated him two-three times when he approached me in a shotgun fight. After the match, he continued to talk trash about my teammates (which is still uncalled for), but ended up being respectful to me following the second game. 

Throughout these games, I kept saying things to the other team like “Good game”, “If I met you in life I would give you a handshake for the competition”, “That was a close and exciting game” just to name a few. Not only did I make someone who was being negative like me as a player/person, but also I changed the perception that the person had on me just by being nice. I could have said many ridiculing things back to the player, but I stayed on my path of being who I am and how I grew up with gaming.  Competition is fierce, overwhelming, exciting, among many other adjectives that could describe it. However, we need to learn to stay positive and give constructive criticism that would make us better at what we do. We need to change our actions in gaming and start to teach and follow the morale of “being a professional”. In a gaming community where 7 out of 10 games I will hear negative words, I always find a way to stay calm. Just by being simple, positive, happy, and respectful, I have become the mold of “The Happy Gamer”.