Professor
English
15 May 2015 Birth of the New American Gods: The Video Game God There are gods, old and new, among us and little do people know they are born by humans. The Video Game god is a new god because people spend time, money, and worship games in a new ways which allows this new god to exist. People can say it’s in the past where gods have been created through worship but the creations of these gods haven’t stop just because people just stop worshipping certain named deities, but only have been forgotten. These gods still live today and are still being created by human beings; in similar ways gods have been created in the past, but people subconsciously do it. A new god that can be seen today in our time can be the Video Game God, and this god has been created by people all over the globe. The Video Game God is a new god that people spent hours, days, even weeks on enjoying the entertainment, influences and effect the god has had on human, and what the god provides to his people. Before proving that there is a Video Game God that exists in the modern world, one needs to understand what a god truly is. After reading Neil Gaiman novel one can grasp a better understanding that religion isn’t needed for a god to exist and that, “Religions are, by definition, metaphors, after all: God is a dream, a hope, a woman, an ironist, a father, a city, a house of many rooms[…]” (Gaiman). In this part of the chapter people can understand how religion isn’t needed and is rather non-existent and is used something for to have faith and good fortune to luckily come when needed. One thing people need to understand is that gods in our past are created by human’s beliefs, stories, faith, and worship, and that “Gods die. And when they truly die they are unmourned and unremembered. Ideas are more difficult to kill than people, but they can be killed, in the end.” (Gaiman). In Gaiman novel people can see how Shadow meets and are told about a lot of forgotten gods that mankind has relied on in the past revealing how it is humanity who creates these divine beings but they are also sometimes their killer by forgetting them. Gods in Gaiman novel can be created on purpose or sometimes involuntary, but need to meet certain criteria’s to live. One point is clear throughout the novel is that these gods need a few things to come to life and survive; that being sacrifices in hope of favors, followers that can see what they represent, and to be worshipped. Now that there is a clear idea to what and how gods are created, people can now see why that there’s the possibility of one of the new American gods is the Video Game God. One of the ingredients to why people should believe there’s a Video Game God is that a lot of people sacrifice their time to play video games and are repaid by the entertainment and surprising benefits the god returns to them. Now people must also understand that making a sacrifice to a god does not mean giving an animal or human sacrifice but when they sacrifice something to these gods, people are giving a part of themselves, not literally, to these gods which can be anything. Another thing that must be pointed out is that these newer gods are involuntary created and people involuntary sacrifice things to these gods. The Video Game God accepts and takes people time, and in return provides his followers with entertainment, and control of an entirely different reality. The Video Game God takes the time and money of everyone and anyone who plays video games around the globe, and little do people know but “Currently there are more than half a billion people worldwide playing computer and videogames at least an hour a day -- and 183 million in the U.S. alone” ( McGonigal). Not only is there a big portion of the world population sacrificing their time but also these “Consumers spent 20.77 billion dollars on video games, hardware and accessories in 2012. In 2014, this number is predicted to be $24 billion” (Galarneua). Here people can see how the Video Game God has an enormous amount of followers on a global scale. An example of another new god like this can be seen in Gaiman novel where Lucy and Shadow discus about the TV’s, “The TV's the altar. I'm what people are sacrificing to. ‘What do they sacrifice?' asked Shadow. 'Their time, mostly,' said Lucy. 'Sometimes each other” (Gaiman). Here with Gaiman characters people can see how humans involuntary give their time to the TV’s but in fact they are sacrificing their time to a god. The previous example applies to the Video Game God as well with video game consoles, PC’s, smart phones, and any other devices that play video games being the god altar. But this god isn’t selfish he does give back to his followers as they are rewarded for worshipping and their sacrifices as well. The Video Game God provides his followers control over different realities other than the ones they live in such as the games they play and even in their dreams and are also able to meet other like themselves socializing and getting along better. In other words humans are able to better themselves through this god games, and even, “scientific research shows that gameplay does contribute to our quality of life, by producing positive emotions and stronger social relationships. And for gamers who prefer tough, challenging games, they can build up our problem-solving resilience -- so we learn faster from our mistakes, and become resilient in the face of failure”(McGonigal). The followers of the gaming god allows he’s worshippers, in other words, the people who point their attention towards game and enjoy them, the ability to see and meet things in a whole new way. The New gods are just like those that of our ancestors but just take up new roles and created in new ways that humanity don’t notice. The Video Game God meets certain criteria’s and these criteria’s are proof that this god can exist as he provides and gives to those who worship and sacrifice to him and can represent a sense of control and benefits those who follow him. Gaiman novel shows people how gods can be created and forgotten and ways they must survive and be born; this novel itself helps people understand what these gods can do for humanity. Even if these gods’ favor goes unknown, they helps provide how newer gods are made too. This god games provide the steps into a new reality where people are in control and in doing so the people who worship this are rewarded with the benefits of being more human. This new American god is one people should believe in and even if people don’t they can have the thought that this god has possibly helped them in the past when they’ve played a game or two.

Works Cited Galarneau, Lisa. "2014 Global Gaming Stats: Who's Playing What, and Why? | Big Fish Blog." Big Fish Blog 2014 Global Gaming Stats Whos Playing What and Why Comments. Big Fish, 16 Jan. 2014. Web. 15 May 2015. Gaiman, Neil. American Gods. New York: HarperCollins, 2011. Print. Mcgonial, Jane. "We Spend 3 Billion Hours a Week as a Planet Playing Videogames. Is It worth It? How Could It Be MORE worth It? | A Conversation on TED.com." We Spend 3 Billion Hours...| A Conversation on TED.com. Ted, 11 Feb. 2011. Web. 15 May 2015.