First person Shooter Games

First Person Shooter Games in Real Life
Jason Campbell
English 121
Deborah Zeringue
6/4/12

First Person Shooter Games in Real Life

Shooter games have been around since man made the first projectile weapons, and his children tried to emulate the hunt. From running around with sticks, pretending to shoot the other kids, to the more evolved forms we have today. Today there are a variety of these types of games, though mainly these games are found on entertainment consoles. To experience these types of games for yourself in real life, without the controller, there are two to choose from, Airsoft or Paintball, and while similar, have many key differences, such as equipment used, projectiles, and game formats.

Airsoft and paintball both have very similar game formats, and type of equipment used. Paintball utilizes a weapon called a “marker” to propel a paint filled gelatin shell ball using compressed air or CO2, while an airsoft weapon, called a “replica”, uses battery power to fire a 6mm plastic BB from a very realistic looking weapon. Projectiles fired from the paintball marker are used to hit the other players and mark them with paint, and when they are hit, they are out of that current game by being called “dead”. The same goes with airsoft as well, but as there is no paint, it relies on the “honor system” or to call out when you have been hit. The team that still has players considered “alive” capture said flag, and return it to their base and call victory. Being a shooter based game, the object is to eliminate the other teams players and capture a flag placed somewhere on the field. This is repeated numerous times all day, or until everyone is tired and ready to go home.

No matter how similar the games of airsoft and paintball are, there are many differences. Cost of equipment to play airsoft, and be competitive, can cost anywhere from 200 dollars for a decent setup to 1000 dollar full camouflage load out. A set up that would be considered competitive would include: Camouflage pants and shirt, and AEG, or automatic electric gun, ammo, a tactical vest, and extra magazines for your replica. Paintball, on the other hand, can start out costing almost 2500 dollars for a competitive marker setup including: marker, pod belt for carrying extra paintballs, jersey and pants for tournament style play, facemask, and a hopper for the paintballs used in the marker. One of the other main difference is the type and cost of the ammunition to play. Airsoft is by far the cheaper game to play based on ammunition alone. A bottle full of airsoft bb’s (about 5000 pellets) costs around 20 dollars, where as a case of 2000 paintballs is around the 65-80 dollar range.

One other thing that is similar but different is the game play. While airsoft actively preaches camouflaging and stealth, paintball is flashier with brightly colored jerseys. Airsoft is best played in a field that has natural cover, as it mimics military strategy and tactics, as where paintball is played on a turf field with inflatable cover called bunkers. Paintball players use these bunkers as cover to shoot from at the other team, while providing cover for themselves. Airsoft games are capable of being almost an hour long each, as you stalk the other team, and paintball has seen games finished as fast as 30 seconds.

In conclusion, while both games share many key points, they are radically different. Paintball and airsoft have not been around long in the scope of things, but are what most of the shooter games have evolved into. While different in the types of equipment and ammunition used, and format played, these are two excellent shooter games to play yourself, without the need for controller and game console. Who knows what the future will bring in the shooter games industry, but people will look forward to progress none the less.