We've all seen someone with a tattoo from a band or a video game or even an anime. Now, to most it's just a nerdy fanboy/girl thing to do because they don't have anything more important. But, to the fans and to those who understand or share that love it's much more. First off, I can guarantee you a large part of the reason anyone would get a tattoo from a game or an anime is not because they love it more than anything else, but because of what it's done for them. Just like a band you really love because you listened to their cd non-stop after your year long relationship ended, a game/anime can be the same. For those of you who have never seen Gundam Wing and hate anime, you should watch it. In it's original form, it's incredibly charged with emotion. Games can do the same thing. As an example, a friend of mine loves the game Finally Fantasy VIII more than any other game in the world. Why? Because it's a video game he can play? No, because it's a story, a story he can relate to, one he connects with. Video games and what not have a lot more meaning than most people want to realize.
At A Glance Author Naouta Contact [email protected] When Six months ago Artist T.J. Studio SkinQuake Location Indiana It's not just shooting and winning anymore. In the game Chrono Cross, there's an item called the Frozen Flame. Not only does it stand from a plethora of things in the actual game, but it's very idea is intriguing at least to me. I personally believe life is full of contradictions we have to sort through and find answers from. What is a bigger contradiction that a FROZEN Flame? Just about nothing. So, sure it's from a game and I love it for being from that game, but it also has so much of a deeper meaning that I'm in fact considering getting it done. Games are littered with various little symbols and articles like this. Some people get characters tattooed on because they adore them for whatever reason, but I bet if you really talked to them they'd admit it's because they admire the person.
Of course, all of these points don't void the fact that people get game tattoos because they love games. I'm just saying that on first glance you may say, "Oh god, another Zelda tattoo." Deeper down than that is this, though. The most commonly tattooed Zelda symbol is the Trifoce (The three triangles). Why do people get it? A, it's easy to recognize. B, it's from their favorite game. And C, most important of all, because it stands as a symbol of strength, courage, love, power, and so on. Combine that with the immense amount of joy brought to the fans of the Zelda series and I think you have a pretty meaningful symbol.
Now, take that last fact into mind. As you may be able to sit around all day and listen to your favorite bands albums over and over, gamers can sit and beat the same game over and over. Most people who don't game don't realize the immense amount of meaning games can have to people. In part just because of the fun, but also, games have stories now, they're like movies or novels that you can play. So, my point is that in this is that people really become attached to the games they play. You can hear a certain song or a certain phrase and it'll remind you of the time you played this one game, and that will remind of you the big fight you were having or how good that summer was, whatever.
As a final point, there's the idea of a community. Gamers are often looked at as nerds or geeks or whatever. But, inside the gaming community there's a lot of respect and a strong sense of connection. If I ever saw someone with a game tattoo in person and I recognized it I'd say, "Oh wow, I love that game." And then we'd probably have a quick talk about it and that'd be that, we wouldn't even have to know each other's names. So, it's sort of a symbol to everyone, a bold way of saying, "Yeah, I game and I love it, what the fuck do you have to say about it?". It's bold and it's a good way to represent what you love.
All in all, I'm saying that gaming tattoos are something we see pretty rarely compared to like Kanji tats and I think that's honestly because people are afraid of being considered a nerd. That's not right, a tattoo should be a symbol of something you love, something that holds meaning to you. If that's a video game, good for you. Show it to everyone. So, do this, next time you see someone with a tattoo from a game, don't ask, what game is that from, ask them why they got it and what it means to them.