When you think of a person who plays games, firstoff you would probably associate him/her with loneliness and social difficulty. However gaming allows a new type of culture to develop in the real world.
Personally, some of the best times that I have had with my friends have been at our "Gaming Nights". We started doing these while I was doing my GCSE's when Halo 2 first came out. It started with about 4 of us playing over each others houses after school on fridays and bringing all our consoles and just chilling out with pizza. We then realised that if we all chipped in, we could play 16 player on Halo 2. This, we then found, was one of the best decisions any competitively fueled man could make. It was fantastic being able to have team games, in which, 2 teams were in different rooms in order to keep tactics secret, occasionally yelling to the other team across the hall "you suck!!" or "can you handle that?!". Great fun.
I then started inviting friends from outside school who liked to play Halo. These nights have introduced people that would never have met otherwise and that are now very close friends. We still do gaming nights whenever possible and we still end up hysterically laughing when a team member makes a complete fool of themself. As time has gone on, I have realised, it's not just us that does this often: Many of my other groups of friends have started holding similar events which has given even more reason for them to hang out with people they never would usually through inviting others along.
Ultimately, the games arent mainly why we enjoy these nights. They act as a catalyst for our jokes and competitiveness and it makes for a great time and an excuse to just laugh with your friends with pizza and beer (which is what we all want right?!). Whenever I see one of these friends again, it's almost guaranteed that at some point the question will come up "so whens the next gaming night?!". In fact, if it weren't for the gaming nights, I probably would not have stayed in contact with some of them after I moved schools in sixth form.
Many other gaming cultures have emerged in society generally, such as online social events and MMORPG. Gaming has extended into the rest of our culture. There arent many places you can go and not hear some kids talking about the games they are currently playing and film continues to take influence from games.
Online gaming has opened all kinds of new possiblities. One of my best friends even keeps in contact with his brother almost completely though meeting up online to play a couple of games, or chat over Xbox Live. Although many over indulge in this and it can be unhealthy in many respects, it has become a vital part of the modern world. "Virtual friends" can know you just as well as somebody you see every day. Games could even (dare I say it) help you make friends and meet people.
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