Jason Hitchings Gaming Profile

Hello, my name is Jason Hitchings, and I’m a senior at Penn State studying Design and Development.

Over the years the genre of video game that I spend my most time in is RPGs. I tend to prefer the open world RPGs like Fallout New Vegas, but I also enjoy the slightly more linear RPGs like Mass Effect. I really like putting myself into a game, so I enjoy being able to have my character make the decisions I think I would make as the situation. I also think it’s fun simply making a character that is nothing like myself, and then trying to play the character as realistically as possible based on the personality I gave them. However I also love exploring, which is why I tend to find myself replaying open world games like fallout far more often than I replay one’s like Mass Effect that tend to have smaller maps with little to no reward for leaving the main path. I love stumbling upon an area I’ve somehow never seen before despite the hundreds of hours I’ve already sunk into the game. New Vegas takes this further for me because not only is the environment itself interesting, but there are a lot of silly encounters that you can find if you take the time to look around.

Another genre that I enjoy is Horror, and, more specifically, the Survival Horror genre. Around 2004 I picked up Resident Evil 4, and my love of horror games was born. Because Resident Evil 4 had become one of my favorite games, I wanted to play the older ones in the series as well, and although I was surprised how different the game-play was I found that I was enjoying the slower paced game-play and puzzle solving, so I began looking into similar games and discovered Silent Hill and loved the more psychological horror and uneasiness instead of pure scares that Silent Hill delivered.  Even though it’s been around 13 years since I first picked up resident evil 4, and I’ve since beaten it over and over on multiple consoles, I still find myself enjoying the suspense that comes from it and other similar horror games, which is why even though it’s more action horror than survival, another favorite horror game of mine is dead space. I love the feeling of suspense and terror that comes from limping down a tight corridor, my character with just barely enough health to keep standing, and hoping that I’ll find a health item before something pops out of a vent and kills me. For me the atmosphere of a good horror game is a wonderful, heart pounding experience that can keep me coming back to the genre.

The last genre that I spend most of my time playing is MOBAs. For those that don’t know MOBA’s (Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas) are games like League of Legends (my personal favorite), Dota 2 (a game I’ve played and enjoy, but don’t spend nearly as much time in), Heroes of the Storm, etc. These games are highly team oriented, and require communication with your team as well as high personal skill in order to win. The reason I like these games is because, for the most part, it is impossible for one player to win a match. It requires all of you working together in order to succeed. I find this more challenging and fun then games like Call of Duty or CS:GO where a single player can win a round or game, because in League and Dota if you don’t help your team you are likely to lose, so if you focus on your lane entirely, and refuse to help out a lane that is struggling, chances are that no matter how good you do your team still won’t win. Finally though I like MOBA’s because I feel like every match is different because there are so many different characters each with their own play-style that no two matches feel the same, which keeps me coming back.

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