When people learn to play video games,

they are learning a new literacy.

James Paul Gee. What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy, 2003.

Video games have always been a significant part of my life. It is a form of relaxation, and enjoyment.
More importantly, it gives me a chance to expand my mind and imagination. A hedgehog that runs at
the speed of sound? A dragon-slayer that can shout dragons to death? These are things I couldnt have
never imagined in my wildest dreams. Video game has added colors to my life, yet unknowingly, it also
taught me important lessons that I keep with me to this day.

I have become so engaged in the culture and different aspect of video games. I would sometimes read
up different articles about gaming. Thats how I came across the concept of Semiotic Domains. Semiotic
domains, a term introduced by Paul Gee with a PhD in linguistics, refers to a distinct collective
consciousness shared by people with similar interests, attributes, or skill set. The domain is also defined
by modalities such as images, words, sounds, gestures, and symbols. The modality communicates
meaning to people who understand the language, or literacy, of that semiotic domain. For instance, a
computer science student must become literate in the semiotic domain of Java/ Python. One can argue
that video gaming has its own semiotic domain. Video games can be described as multimodal texts that
belong to a specific a semiotic domain. In order for gamers to be successful in the game, one must learn
the symbols, sounds and language of the game. Paul Gee argued that video game is a language and as
gamers learn the language, they also obtain valuable skills that are applicable in the real world. For
example, gamers have to know that eating mushrooms will make Mario bigger, or that you will never
lose by shooting first (Applicable to most shooting games.)

Like most parents, video gaming is a sign of addiction and anti-socialism. My parents agreed with this
stereotype and refused to purchase any gaming related devices. It wasnt until third grade, that I found
my first crush. My first console was a Play Station 2. Not the bulky, clumsy one, but the newer and
slimmer version. Against my parents wishes, I took it with me whenever we went on vacation, or
holidays to my relatives place. We were inseparable. The first game I bought was Sonic the Hedgehog.
Running through the courses, collecting rings were my favorite activity on a weekend afternoon. My
sister would join me sometimes. Friendly competition may be an understatement. We would rub it in
each others face as we destroyed one another. Sometimes, fights would breakout and wed be
punished by my parents, as they took away my games. To be parted with my PS2 was unbearable. I had
to act fast. I realized the only reason that wed fight was because my sister is a sore loser. Perhaps, I was
being a jerk as well. I decided to tone down my insults and she would try to manage her emotions. It
worked. We got our games back and played more harmoniously. After the incident, I learned a valuable
lesson. How to conspire against my parents. All jokes aside, through video game, I learned the
importance of modesty and teamwork. As Paul Gee described, video game is a language, and its own
semiotic domain. As I was exposed to this language, I was able to learn it and apply it to my real-world
problems.
At that point in my life, I understood the importance of teamwork, modesty, and the art of lying to my
parents. Its time to take it to the next level. This chapter of my video game career, is about how I dealt
with negativities from the online community. As I grew older, I quickly moved on to online gaming. Part
of the reason was, that my first love died a tragic death, as a TV landed on her and completely crushing
her insides. I played several online, team-based video games, LOL, and Overwatch, just to name a few.
These games consist of two team working together for a common goal against the other team. That was
a world full of players from a diverse background and countries. It was also the first time I was exposed
to the terms Flaming, Toxicity and Noobs. (For those who dont have a gaming background,
flaming refers to verbal abuse, toxicity is the general negative attitude towards the play/game, and
noobs is an example of flaming. Noobs refers to amateur, unskilled players.) People are nasty, especially
12-year olds on LOL. I was taken aback by all the name calling, cussing, and aggression. I play games to
have fun, not to have a 12-year old tell me how my family will die a tragic death. The toxic online
community put me off online gaming for a while. However, I quickly realized that, I refuse to let others
take away the joy I get from gaming. I came up with different ways to deal with the toxicity. I would, at
first, ignore the comments and continue playing. However, as we all know, problems dont disappear
when we ignore them. I then came up with a better strategy, humor. I developed a sharp and quick
sense of humor as negative comments rained upon me. As Paul Gee mentioned, gamers learn valuable
skills in the semiotic domain of video gaming, and these skills are often applicable in the real world.
Humor became my armor, as well as my weapon against the toxic online community. I also learned to
quickly deescalate problems with humor.

At the end of the day, many people continue to dismiss video game as a waste of time, and nothing
good ever comes out of it. However, through personal experience and the analysis of semiotic domain
by Paul Gee, I can confidently say that video games do have their perks. The languages of video games
have taught me much throughout the years. Whether it was conspiring against my parents, or using my
sense of humor against the world. These skills and languages that I learned in videogames have
transcend into my real life. Through an enjoyable process, I was about to learn important life lessons.
The language of video game is an important and a valid one. I hope that my readers can also find joy in
learning the language, as well as shooting peoples faces off.