Ludo silences and video game silence

A gamer's diary

When you imagine a straight white dude playing video games, the image is pretty damning. A slob in boxers, a ring of cheezel dust down his shirt, yelling slurs into a lit-up headset. His headphones are filled with the cries of others like him: all shooting at each other in simulated, violent gunfire.

This has never really been true of me, or any of the gamers I know. As technology has improved, video games have become soothing platforms, filled with unexpected negative spaces and silences. Even in the cartoon glow of the multiplayer violence of Fortnite, the vast majority of the battle is spent roaming around an empty map. When I join my other middle-aged friends, it feels akin to a relaxed catch-up with intermittent gunplay every ten minutes or so.

But then again - is it me, or is it video games? Is this just some sign of maturity for us both?