"Friendly" Rant: The Latest "Crush" in Gaming

Just when you thought the world couldn’t become a lonelier place, GameCrush has decided to up the ante on the level of despair the Internet brings to a new generation. What is GameCrush?

“an entirely new interactive social gaming experience allowing gamers to meet, match and pay to play online games with other users (PlayDates). GameCrush is the only online service that allows gamers to choose a companion to spice up their favorite online games. Both Players and PlayDates define the experience they want - either “flirty” or “dirty”, choosing from some of the most popular console titles and casual web-based games.”

–cited from their press release. Thoughts after the jump...

With it, a new gateway to seclusion, awkwardness and concepts taboo to American culture have been opened. Granted, companionship has always been for sale, but typically it’s for a late night fap session across a 900 number or a dirty street corner. First hearing about this site from an article by Daemon Hatfield, the idea seemed ludicrous to me. Why anyone wants to pay $6.60 for ten minutes of ego boosting from the opposite sex in online competition is beyond me, but apparently “we” do? Or so GameCrush leads us to believe, as the public Beta has crippled their servers and the site is currently down. The liner on their page currently reads:

“The GameCrush Public Beta is temporarily unavailable due to the incredible user response (more than 10,000 inquiries in five minutes). We are adding new servers to provide players with the best PlayDate experience possible. Games with GameCrush PlayDates start at $6.60 for ten minutes.”

It is impossible to deny that online gaming has taken the gaming community by storm in the latest console generation. For a time, I recall spending late nights in my dorm playing split-screen Halo matches with my friends, but now I have the option of pwning 256 strangers across the globe. For some, this may have isolated us more than ever and the fact that a site like GameCrush could exist confirms that. While I engage in co-op gaming with the opposite sex (i.e. MY GIRLFRIEND) on a regular basis, online gaming has never filled a need outside of sharing a game. When I game online with friends and family, it is fun because those are people I relate to and with whom I share conversations. The same goes for when I am on the couch at home gaming next to my lady friend. I shudder to think of a future where human interaction is limited to a headset and web cam. Perhaps people are too busy for interactions outside the bare necessity these days. So when they get home from whatever it is they do, they find it easier to buy friendship, rather than build it.

Another thing about this I find amusing is Sega’s recent release of Yakuza 3 to the west. In Japan, this game prominently featured the use of Hostess Clubs, but was stripped of these gameplay elements because Sega felt it “wouldn’t resonate as much” with Americans. However, looking at the Hostess Club dichotomy and the niche service that GameCrush hopes to offer, I can’t seem to distinguish a difference. A Hostess Club, from my understanding, is a place where a person pays for the attention and affection of another. This attention may only to gain a sense of fulfillment, not sexual pleasure. This fulfillment is achieved by creating a human connection through booze and cash, over personal time and energy. If GameCrush was actually inundated with 10,000 inquiries over 5 minutes, then I am sure the concept of a Hostess Club would have resonated quite well with Americans.

To close, John Donne once stated that “No man is an island, entire of itself”, which I take to mean, humans cannot thrive in isolation. Then again, John Donne didn’t have a headset and webcam.

For more information on GameCrush you can go to their site here or their press site here.