As videogames continue their climb to become respected forms of art and entertainment, Panama doesn’t fall behind. I jumped in the video game bandwagon during its second generation (as of 2007, we’re on the 7^th cycle) I can’t deny that stem of my roots even if I wanted to. More than two decades later, we’ve come a long way in terms of technology and, in some cases, maturity in the entertainment we sink ourselves into.

This VG revolution is coming at us like a freight train, and I couldn’t be more glad about it; the only problem is that, back when I was younger, the social aspects of playing video games reared their ugly heads early and many of the people I used to play video games with dropped the hobby as fast as they did toys, most probably because it’s implied that after you reach a certain age you’re simply not supposed to want to play with action figures, replacing your desire to play Ninja Turtles vs. The Justice League with your desire to play with girls’ vaginas.

The validity of this argument is, of course, irrelevant; the point I’m trying to make with this whole thing is that ever since Nintendo paved the way for the dreaded “casual gamer” with the Nintendo DS and Wii, there has been a dire need to cross the T’s and dot the I’s in regards to gamers as a community. Like every group, assembly and society that becomes big enough to require order, there needs to be a zeitgeist by the members of said community to establish rules, regulations and even delegate duties in order to maintain a sense of organization.

I know that the current generation and, to a decreasingly lesser extent, previous generations (like my own) are less afraid to embrace those things that formed them in their childhoods to the people they are now. I speak of all forms of entertainment: movies, cartoons, anime, action figures, video games, role-playing games, and the like. You can see it now with the current trend of superhero and “nostalgia” movies that have come down the pike in recent years.

With videogames, the medium is now going through the struggle movies went through when they first started coming out over a century ago, and what comics went through in the 1930’s with “The Seduction of the Innocent;” allegations of violence, depravity and extreme obsession with videogames are the only things the average person ever hears on the media, and even though that’s somewhat of a step up from the ludicrous “videogames are for kids” poop stain, it’s still pretty damaging and just as misinformed. The fight now is to have videogames be taking seriously as a form of entertainment (and even an art form); as technology advances and we get consoles with ten times the muscle previous generations had, we get more and more memorable titles, games that will surely mark many in our present day as much (if not more) than their favorite movies, shows and other forms of pop culture.

With this validity there needs to be order if the community wants to maintain it. I’m sure that out of this need for organization and credibility all of the video gaming clans got together to form the Panama Gamers League (or PGL, for short). From the JSpotPanama.com group, the PGL is Panama’s first REAL organized gamer league and takes it upon itself to organize tournaments, keep a national ranking and points chart of all registered gamers, provide media exposure, as well as award trophies, medals and prizes to the best. I also think it’s unbelievably cool that there’s a place online I can go to so I can find some Xbox Live friends from Panama because for the love of Marley, most of the people on XBL are dirty tampons anyway and I don’t like to have my gaming experience tainted (see? I made a bonus funny in there. You know, because they’re dirty tampons and they “taint” my experience? Bah, to hell with it) by how many times a prepubescent cumrag such as “LolCatz117″ can call me assface while I play “Halo 3″ on multiplayer. From the press release that was sent to PortoDiao.com, translated from Spanish:

Our vision is to create awareness of all gamers and the community in general, as well as to project that videogames are a competitive sport of the highest degree. We want to encourage participation with the hell of an excellent organization structure for tournaments, as well as great prices by way of sponsorships.

Out of our vision, we have set out the following objectives:

1. To increase the amount of active gamers in Panama
2. To create a healthy, friendly level of competition amongst PGL members
3. To offer excellent events to both gamers and the general public, where they can feel good about taking part in this project.

I think it’s commendable that something like this has been created; it was about time something like this came out of the woodwork. The folks at PBL have tournaments of everything under the sun in both consoles and PC, so if you’re in Panama, a gamer, and with no one to frag with, you should sign up by checking out their website.

These types of communities can only help to unite people who are astray and are looking for people to share a common interest with. Besides, I sure as hell empathize with finding other people to bitch about how expensive it’s become to be a gamer. For all of its replay value and constant fellation the single player game gives you for every cool thing you do, “Halo 3″ is not worth the $85.40 I blindly spent on it so I could play that very weekend. And my copy isn’t some tricked-out special edition with naked digital babes or something made of suede packaged with it; no, dear reader, Rob got the standard, poor man’s version of the game because that how this motherfucker rolls.

Of course, you are right to assume that I was delirious when I bought it for that price and should lay off the white-out sniffing, but that’s one of the things that Panama hasn’t quite caught on with yet: since not many people have the latest consoles because they’re too expensive, retailers spike up the prices in order to make a more immediate profit. As a result, they’re selling the Premium Xbox 360 (which I bought at Amazon for $350 because I don’t like to get cash-raped) at $550. I’m sure I’ve ranted about this before, but this issue sticks up my craw like an itch you can’t reach. That’s $200 more (sans tax), and to keep with the multiples-of-20 theme they spike the regular retail price of games from $60 to $80 just so they make sure the consumer feels every inch of the market’s throbbing, capitalist cock.

To end things on a good note, though, because being a gamer is expensive; those who have chosen the medium as a hobby have to stick together. As a gamer myself (one of the many labels I wear as badges of honor) I like to have a place where I can get and give advice on the games worth buying, just so I don’t curse the digital gods when I spend top dollar on a game I’ll most likely end up using as a coaster. It’s great that a league is in place, because back in the day we didn’t have any of that, and hopefully those who are part of it can police and regulate everything for the rest of us who are simply trying to get by unscratched.

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