Competitive Much?
by Pete
Recently I have been playing some games on the Wii with my girlfriend and the whole scenario got me wondering about how competitive I really am and how I seem to vary my game playing to suit my opponent. Generally, as a confirmed apathetic with severe meh tendencies you’d be forgiven for thinking I’d not be bothered about winning or losing so long as the effort involved didn’t break through the meh and bring me out into the realms of eh?
I am a competitive soul it seems, as I do try hard to do my best to win in a game, sometimes even barracking my opponent or attempting distraction at key points. We all do it! Don’t look at me askance like that! I’ll wager a good few of our readers and writers are guilty of a nudge or a cough at key times even in jest. I’m not saying I go all out to put them off their game but a random nudge disguised as a slip or, in the case of say a racing game, a side swipe to push them off course is as much a part of the fun as the playing itself.
Games like 10 Pin Bowling (or the Wii’s 100 Pin) bring out the Champion in me, all be it in an understated way in keeping with my relaxed outlook on life. Driving games get me trying as hard as I can to win too, especially ones like Need For Speed where winning is the only way to progress! 2nd place will rarely do unless I’m playing against friends… then it’s all governed by my feeling of my own ability vs. theirs vs. who’s more experienced in the game itself. I’ll happily take a 2nd or 3rd place against someone I know is much better than me in those instances, though I’ll still try my damnedest to win.
Advantage.... n00b
One game in recent times that did bring out the killer instinct in me was Virtua Tennis 3. Apologies to Victor for bringing this up once again but it’s a stand out moment for me where my competitive drive was brought to life quite forcefully after realising it was something I appeared to be quite good at.
When Victor produced the game and offered me a match I was happily accepting of the fact that my butt was going to be well and truly whooped by someone who knew the game well and had challenged and overcome everyone they came into contact with. I was relaxed and safe in the knowledge that as a total n00b I’d have acquitted myself well if I managed to score a few points against him and if I’d won a couple of games or even a set here and there I could count myself lucky and be proud that I put up a reasonable fight. After the first couple of matches though (which I won) I found myself working harder and harder to win, all spurred on by his explosive outbursts (aimed towards his on screen persona I’m reliably informed). The more we played, the more I tried my hardest to win in order to maintain my unbeaten record (small as it was) against a man I had been reliably informed played the game against all he could and inevitably beat them solid. It was a fine moment for me and I have to admit a little bit of evilness in that the more I won, the funnier it was, and whilst I may have looked calm and serene on the outside, I was frantic on the inside trying to win!
Another area where my competitive side is piqued are the all too infrequent sessions Markuz and I have of playing Command and Conquer when I visit. I’m sure we’d play more if we could ever get the online side to work but that has eluded us for a while now and we’re reduced to LAN games when I’m up at GL HQ. They’re always fun even though he is a much better tactician than I and he wins nearly every time we play.
Our games are never this restrained or polite, and usually utter carnage!
In those games my competitiveness is set aside momentarily whilst I learn what it was he did to beat me so soundly and then try and remember those tactics for the next time we play. This resulted in one of our best ever battles and my first ever win against him after my copying of his previous game plan forced him into a retreat and complete rethink of his own tic tacs. We were about 80% through the game and he had to start building new structures and defences after realising I was emulating him and that his current set up wouldn’t stand a chance. This led to his inevitable demise and my Cheshire Cat grin as the Victory screen flashed before me and his cries of “BASTARD!” rang from upstairs.
By contrast though, if I’m playing a game I know I’m good at against an opponent who is inexperienced or just not great at the game I tend to play down my abilities in order to let them have a better experience with it. That’s not to say that I let them win… hell no, but I do try not to annihilate them right off the bat as that can be a little upsetting. It’s the care bear in me that I feel I have to be nice until they’re more used to the game or better experienced, then I up my play to bring the best out of them and make them play better with it. Hopefully I manage that without appearing patronising or condescending too much. It’s not meant to be! It’s just a small shepherding instinct that overrides the need to win in order to allow everyone to have fun. I think a part of that comes from being married to a woman who got a strop on every time she lost regardless of her abilities and experience with the games we played. It was easier to play down my own side so she at least felt she’d put up a good fight when losing. Mind you, there were occasions when I got fed up with doing that and played my usual way to make a point. And I’ll occasionally still do that if someone gets uppity about their abilities. It’s a side of me I don’t let out often! lol
All in all I play games for fun. I’ll happily do my best to beat the AI opponents as they have no thought or feeling but when playing against friends I curb that competitive streak a little here and there and just enjoy the banter and camaraderie that comes from the social aspect of multiplayer gaming.
After all, nobody REALLY wants to see me Grizzly now do they? 
Last five articles by Pete
- Gauntlet - Preview
- Death Road - Review
- The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing - Review
- Old Faithfuls
- RaiderZ and Neverwinter - Preview
Heh… nice one Pete, I knew you couldn’t be that apathetic all the bleeding time.
I freely admit to being too competitive, though it does sometimes worry me how it comes across… constant refrains of “oh for fuck’s sake” and “who the fuck is shooting me?!” may not go down too well with people I normally get on well with, and less still with people who are a bit more ambivalent to start with. And my penchant when playing split screen multiplayer to get up and dance a little jig and sing a smug victory song after winning is almost grotesque. Heh.
There are certain words that come to mind every time I remember that dark, dark day. None can be repeated on a gaming forum. All I can say is that a rematch is inevitable and when our paths cross again in August, I will bring the pain. I have thought of nothing else, dreamed of nothing else and will set the world right, when I see you again.
You have been warned!
The amount of times we’ve all smirked, cheered, and raced away laughing, leaving someone in a smouldering wreck in Burnout are probably too numerous to count. And as for the fluffy bear thing…hmmm, I’ve seen you actvely pursue and destroy others in Burnout ‘just because’, followed by that chuckle over the headset!
I suppose I’ve never been too competetive over the actual games…or at least, if I was, I’m not so much anymore. It is always great to win or be first, but I suppose that because I never expect to, usually coming into multiplayer aspects of games waaaay after everyone else has become experts at them, it never worries me too much.
Im a nightmare when it comes to competitive games. I describe myself as being very laid back, i think i am in most things, except for maybe a game of gears of war 2 multiplayer or Modern Warfare 2. The mic has to be muted because if im killed im usually swearing like a sailor at the TV.
This hit a chord with me as I do the exact same thing. Especially when playing Mario Kart with the girlfriend. I like to win, but I like everyone who I’m playing with to have fun. Unless of course its a random opponent online. In which case I go straight for the juggler… when I can. I’m usually rubbish!
@ Preacher…. the apathy is there even when I’m being competetive
It’s just lessened somewhat!
@ Victor….. are you SURE you really want to go there again?
In front of everyone? 
@ Lorna…chuckle? Moi?? I’m sure you must be thinking of someone else.
@ Mark S… play some with Markuz and I and you won’t need a muted mic I promise. Far from it! We embrace the swearing but not the sailors
@ Ste… I used to go straight for the juggler but got thrown out of the circus tent
Mr Pete, your thoughts very much mirror my own. Can you remember that time two weeks back when Pumba pig beat you at Halo 3? Of course you can’t. You remember laughing your ass off at something silly that was said.
Sure there are a handful of friends I’d like to do nothing more than beat into a pixelated pulp, but that stems from their unsolicited bragging more than anything else. Even then, it’s not a case of winning the GAME. I could could come second from last, it doesn’t matter as long as my friendly rival placed bottom.
Ps. The accompanying video of Victor had me laughing my rear end off. I think we’ve all been there at some point! It’s great that he still managed to make a joke of it.
I can’t relate to this at all as I’m perhaps the least competitive person here… and if anyone dares challenge that I’ll have them! Seriously though, I couldn’t care less what my gamerscore was or what high score I managed to achieve… whether I complete a game or not. It’s all about enjoyment for me – if something’s worth playing then I’ll play it to the best of my ability but never really try to hone my skills… except for Trials HD. That game made me competitive because it was fun to see Victor’s score get more and more behind mine, but that was purely for laughs and nothing more.
I think it’s because I’ve never really allowed myself to have competition in life, other than myself. I strive to better myself as an individual on a daily basis and that’s pretty much where it ends. As long as I feel like I’m learning something new and reaching new heights on a personal basis, competition never comes in to it.
Except for flat spins.
I used to be very competitive in gaming and loved to win, loved to be the MvP, never happy in 2nd and seriously frustrated if I couldn’t even make the top section of the leaderboard. I used to play a lot of Battlefield 2 and my record was fantastic, I could outscore anyone by a huge stretch. And not because I was any good at the game, I wasn’t bad but I only achieved this because I made the most of the scoring system. I was never on the frontline, leading the charge through enemy lines, I was running around the back of the bases, capturing flags, destroying objectives, obeying Commander orders and playing support.
I got pretty fed up of the effort and the Gold Star reward started to lose it’s fascination with me. But right when I was ready to give that up and just play the game, i noticed in the chat pane (oddly on the right of the screen which for some reason made it entirely out of my eyeline being used to every other game having it on the left) that the top-dogs were getting real pissed off with me scoring so high yet rarely attaining a positive K/D ratio. I never knew anyone in these 64 player servers but once people started to single me out and try and arrange a kick-vote (which always failed) , then I was mega competitve, then it was on.
Then I’d be talking to my non-clanned members over the headset (rare for me) and actively doing everything i could to score, just to make sure I beat these douchebags. I couldn’t stand just how competitve they’d make the game and how they’d insist on being top dog, wether they were on the winning side or not. Thats when the irony hit and I gave it up.
I’ve never looked back at it. I love playing Halo and those rare occasions where I come top are ace, but I never go for it anymore, I play for fun.
Amongst friends it gets very very personal though but always with the Bear adopted air of total non-chalance
Great read Pete