The Harsh Reality of Gaming in New Zealand

Summary

This video script offers a glimpse into the unique experiences of being a gamer in New Zealand, highlighting both the perks and challenges. The positives include being among the first to play new game releases due to the country's time zone advantage and the close-knit gaming community that often translates into real-life friendships. However, the negatives are also discussed, such as difficulties in finding lobbies for older games, high latency when playing internationally, slower internet speeds compared to other countries, and the social stigma associated with gaming. The script also humorously addresses the common misconception of New Zealand being confused with Australia.

Takeaways

• 🌏 New Zealand's geographic isolation means it often gets new game releases before other countries due to its time zone being at the forefront.
• 🤝 The small population of New Zealand fosters a gaming community where online friends are more likely to become real-life friends.
• 🎮 The close-knit gaming community can lead to unexpected friendships, as exemplified by the story of meeting 'Jim' through GTA 5 and him eventually living with the narrator.
• 📶 New Zealand gamers enjoy fewer server connection issues during game releases due to lower player counts, although this is not a significant advantage.
• 🚫 Difficulty in finding lobbies for older console games is a common issue in New Zealand, making it hard to continue playing favorites like Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.
• 🔌 High ping and poor connection quality when playing with international players are prevalent due to New Zealand's distance from other countries.
• 🌐 New Zealand's internet speeds, while improved, still lag behind those of countries like the US, affecting the gaming experience, especially for online multiplayer games.
• 📡 Internet availability is not as widespread in rural New Zealand, leaving some gamers with poor connections or no access to online gaming.
• ⏰ Gaming events and DLC releases often occur at inconvenient times for New Zealanders due to time zone differences with event-hosting countries.
• 🎮 There is a lingering social stigma around gaming in New Zealand, with some still viewing it as an undesirable hobby, unlike in countries like the US.
• 🏠 It can be challenging to find real-life friends who share the same passion for gaming in New Zealand due to the smaller gaming community and remaining stigma.

Q & A

Why do new game releases often happen first in New Zealand?

New Zealand is at the front of all the time zones, making it the first to experience the New Year. This also means that game releases that are time-specific to midnight in their respective countries can happen first in New Zealand.

What is a unique advantage of gaming in New Zealand due to its small size?

Gamers in New Zealand are more likely to make real-life friends through gaming because of the country's small population, increasing the chances that online friends live nearby.

Can you explain the story of how the gamer became friends with 'Jim' while playing GTA 5?

The gamer was playing GTA 5 and needed an additional player to start a heist. They invited a random player who turned out to be a good communicator and team player. This led to a strong friendship, and eventually, 'Jim' moved to live with the gamer for a year while studying.

Why is it less likely to experience server connection issues in New Zealand when big games are released?

There are fewer players in New Zealand, resulting in less demand on game servers during new releases, which can prevent the server overloads that cause connection issues in more populated regions.

What is the downside of trying to play older games on consoles in New Zealand?

It is nearly impossible to find lobbies for older games in New Zealand due to the small player base, making it difficult to enjoy older titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.

How does the physical distance of New Zealand affect the gaming experience when playing with international players?

The distance results in high latency or ping when connecting to servers hosted outside of New Zealand and Australia, putting local gamers at a disadvantage, especially in fast-paced first-person shooter games.

What are some common issues with internet speeds in New Zealand compared to other countries?

While internet speeds in New Zealand have improved, they still lag behind countries like the US in terms of both speed and cost-effectiveness. Additionally, rural areas may not have widespread access to high-speed internet or 4G connectivity.

Why might a gamer in New Zealand miss out on live gaming events or DLC releases at convenient times?

Many gaming events and DLC releases are scheduled based on US time zones, which can result in inconvenient timing for New Zealanders, such as events happening in the early morning hours.

What is the current perception of gaming in New Zealand according to the script?

Although the stigma around gaming is reducing worldwide, New Zealand still has some way to go, with an existing perception among older generations that gaming is not socially acceptable or is associated with being a 'loser'.

How does the size of New Zealand's population affect the likelihood of finding friends with similar gaming interests in real life?

With a smaller population, there are fewer gamers in New Zealand, making it potentially more challenging to find friends in real life who share the same gaming interests compared to more populous countries.

Why is there often confusion between New Zealand and Australia?

New Zealand and Australia are geographically close, and some people mistakenly believe they are the same or in the same location. However, they are separate countries with distinct cultures and identities.

Outlines

00:00

🌏 Life as a Gamer in New Zealand: The Upsides

The speaker introduces the video by highlighting the unique position of New Zealand in the world's time zones, which often allows gamers to access new game releases earlier than the rest of the world. They also discuss the close-knit gaming community, where online friends are more likely to become real-life friends due to the country's small size. The speaker shares personal anecdotes about making friends through games, such as playing 'GTA 5' and forming a lasting friendship with a fellow gamer named Jim. They also mention the less crowded servers during game releases, which can result in fewer connection issues compared to more populated regions.

05:00

🎮 Challenges of Gaming in New Zealand: The Downside

The speaker delves into the difficulties faced by gamers in New Zealand, such as the inability to find active lobbies in older games on consoles, the high latency when playing with international players, and the relatively slow internet speeds compared to other countries. They also touch on the lack of widespread internet access in rural areas, the inconvenient timing of gaming events and DLC releases due to time zone differences, and the lingering social stigma associated with gaming in New Zealand. The speaker acknowledges the progress made in the gaming industry over the past decade but emphasizes that there is still significant room for improvement.

10:01

🏠 Cultural Insights and Misconceptions About New Zealand

In the final paragraph, the speaker addresses common misconceptions about New Zealand, particularly the confusion with Australia. They emphasize the distinctness of the two countries and provide some context about the size and population of New Zealand. The speaker reflects on the cultural challenges faced by gamers, such as the remaining social stigma and the difficulty of finding fellow gamers with similar interests. They conclude by expressing hope for the continued growth and acceptance of gaming in New Zealand and invite viewers to share their own experiences and thoughts on the topic.

Keywords

💡New Zealand

New Zealand is a sovereign island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It is known for its diverse landscapes, rich cultural heritage, and unique wildlife. In the video's context, it serves as the geographical setting for the gamer's experiences, highlighting the unique challenges and benefits of gaming in this region. The script mentions New Zealand's isolation and its impact on gaming, such as getting new game releases first due to its time zone.

💡Gaming

Gaming refers to the activity of playing video games and is the central theme of the video. The script discusses various aspects of gaming in New Zealand, including the social connections formed through gaming, the difficulties of finding lobbies for older games, and the stigma associated with gaming in the country.

💡Time Zones

Time zones are regions of the Earth that observe the same standard time due to being at a similar longitudinal position. In the script, the time zone of New Zealand is highlighted as a reason why gamers there often get new game releases before the rest of the world, as New Zealand is at the front of the time zones, experiencing New Year first.

💡Call of Duty

Call of Duty is a popular first-person shooter video game franchise. The script uses it as an example to illustrate the excitement of being able to play new releases early due to New Zealand's time zone advantage, as well as the disappointment of not being able to find lobbies for older games in the series.

💡GTA 5

Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5) is an open-world action-adventure game that serves as an example in the script to discuss the social aspects of gaming, such as forming real-life friendships with people met through online gaming sessions.

💡Internet Speeds

Internet speeds refer to the data transfer rates of internet connections. The script discusses the relatively slower internet speeds in New Zealand compared to other countries like the US, which can affect the gaming experience, especially for online multiplayer games.

💡Ping

Ping, in gaming, refers to the network latency between a player's computer and the game server. The script mentions the high ping experienced by New Zealand gamers when playing with international servers, which can lead to a disadvantage in competitive online gaming.

💡DLCs

DLC stands for Downloadable Content, which are additional content packages for video games. The script points out that the release times for DLCs can be inconvenient for New Zealand gamers due to the time difference with the US, where many game companies are based.

💡Stigma

Stigma refers to a mark of disgrace or discredit associated with a person or thing. In the context of the video, it discusses the social stigma associated with gaming in New Zealand, where it is seen as less socially acceptable compared to other countries like the US.

💡Australia

Australia is a country often confused with New Zealand due to its proximity. The script humorously addresses the common misconception that New Zealand and Australia are the same or in the same location, emphasizing the distinct identity of New Zealand.

💡Social Acceptability

Social acceptability refers to the degree to which an activity or behavior is considered normal or approved by society. The script notes that while gaming has become more socially acceptable in New Zealand over the past decade, there is still some way to go compared to countries like the US.

Highlights

New Zealand is often confused with Australia, but they are distinct countries.

New Zealand gamers get new game releases first due to the country's time zone advantage.

Gamers in New Zealand are likely to make real-life friends through gaming due to the small population.

A personal story of forming a close friendship through online gaming in New Zealand.

New Zealand's smaller population can lead to less server strain and fewer connection issues at game launches.

Difficulty finding lobbies for older games on consoles in New Zealand due to the shrinking player base.

High ping and poor connections when playing with people outside of New Zealand and Australia.

Comparing internet speeds in New Zealand to those in the US and the UK, noting the disparity.

Limited internet availability in rural New Zealand affecting the gaming experience.

Inconvenient timing of gaming events and DLC releases for New Zealanders.

A lingering stigma around gaming in New Zealand, contrasting with more accepting cultures.

Challenges in finding real-life friends with shared gaming interests in New Zealand.

Misconceptions that New Zealand and Australia are the same or in the same location.

The growth of the gaming industry in New Zealand over the past decade.

A call to action for viewers to share their experiences and thoughts on the video's content.

Transcripts

welcome to New Zealand a place

completely separated from everywhere

else in the world and also a place that

commonly gets confused with Australia if

you don't know already we are not the

same now as most of my audience is not

from New Zealand I thought I'd make a

video sharing with you guys what it's

like to be a gamer living in New Zealand

you know what let's start with the

positives not that there is that many

but hey number one we often get new game

releases first in New Zealand before

anyone else in the world and this is

actually pretty cool but the reason for

this is New Zealand is actually pretty

much at the front of all the time zones

so basically New Year happens to us

first we are in the future but this is

quite cool cuz I remember especially

growing up when the new Call of Duty

would come out or whatever we could

actually play it first because a lot of

games actually come out at different

times per country so they might do it at

midnight for example but it'll be

midnight for that specific country so

this means if like the new Cod for

example comes out at midnight for New

Zealand we're going to be able to play

it first compared to people say in the

US who get it at midnight their time in

a way we're playing it before anyone

else in the world number two another

positive of being a gamer in New Zealand

is the friends you make through gaming

are actually a lot more likely to become

real life friends because New Zealand is

so small if you're gaming and you just

play in a random Lobby and you know you

talking voice chat or whatever or you

join someone's party this is pretty

decent chance they might actually live

somewhere close to where you are way

back in the day when I was still in

school I was playing I think it was GTA

5 and there was maybe like two or three

of us and we were doing a heist and of

course back in the OG days of GTA online

you had to have a full four player team

to actually start a heist you couldn't

do it with less than that so we were

just inviting randoms because we didn't

have anyone to play with so I think we

just needed one person to join us just a

random and we were obviously thinking oh

well this is not going to go well you

know you know how it is when you invite

a random to your game you just don't

expect them to perform well especially a

lot of the time you can't even talk to

them they might not have a mic and then

you're missing out on the comms as well

anyway we invite this random to the game

and he's actually talking in game chat

we left our party we joined game chat to

make a long story short we became really

good friends really cool guy we played

heist with him and he went on to become

a really good mate of ours but not just

this we actually ended up becoming

friends with one of his other

schoolmates so basically his friend was

now our friend and you know what to make

it easy let's just call him Jim good old

Jim so we became friends with Jim now

now Jim was actually planning on moving

lower in the North Island in New Zealand

to study because where he was from

there's basically no institutes to study

it and I just pitched the idea to him

I'm like you know what bro why don't you

come live with me study in paliston

north where I'm from I didn't actually

think you know it would happen but it

actually did he was keenz so he lived

with me for like a whole year and we

were honestly really good friends and it

was such a cool experience but this is

kind of just an example of how if you

make friends through gaming a lot of the

time they can actually end up becoming

friends in real life as opposed to

somewhere I don't know like in the US

you know you're going to run into a lot

more people that are a lot further away

from you just because there's so many

people whereas New Zealand it's not

massive it's really small compared to

other countries and we might also play

with people in Australia but there's a

lot more chance you'll also be playing

with people in New Zealand as well so

pretty cool benefit and the last

positive I've got now honestly trust me

I did try and think of a lot of

positives but this is kind of all I got

but the last positive of being a gamer

in New Zealand is it's actually less

likely to experience player count like

server connection issues with big games

on release because the servers just

don't have as many people playing on

them so if it's a game like for example

when GTA 5 came out when the online

aspect of the game came out I don't know

if you guys remember but the servers

were absolutely terrible and there was

such a massive demand being put on the

servers from all the players that it

basically ended up with the game not

working people couldn't even load into

online but here in New Zealand I

actually remember when GTA online came

out and I don't even think I had any

server related issues that at all

playing online just because there's less

people in New Zealand and to be fair I

was actually playing in lobbies with

people from overseas as well like even

in Europe but most of the time it was

people in New Zealand or Australia that

I was playing with so less demand being

put on the servers it's not really like

a massive positive though cuz it's it's

kind of like in rare circumstances but

it's a positive nonetheless and I

thought you know what I don't want to

make it too much about the negative so

I've got to be honest now quick

disclaimer this is not me complaining

about being a gamer in New Zealand this

is simply me just highlighting some of

the common problems that exist as a

gamer in New Zealand anyway that being

said let's get into the negatives and

spoiler alert there's quite a bit the

first one is it's impossible to find any

lobbies on old games especially on

Console so I'm a console player and I've

made it known before that Call of Duty

Black Ops 3 is my favorite Call of Duty

and that game's basically ancient now

right but you know there's been the odd

times when I've tried to load up the

game and like find a Lobby or even just

a couple of mates and I you know why not

let's just see if there's anyone playing

multiplayer nothing dead there's not one

lobby you can find it's honestly like

never going to happen there might be the

rare occurrence when you might find a

game after like 5 minutes of trying on a

good day you know you just can't really

predict it but it's basically impossible

and this is really sad cuz I love that

game so much it was my favorite Cod and

I can't even continue to play it really

unless I just do do custom games or

zombies with friends or if I had like 11

mates playing then we could do like a

public match but that's just not going

to happen that's just kind of an example

of old games if you want to play you

can't really do that so a little bit

Gathering cuz I know I've seen a lot of

people in the US that'll come back to

old games and you can still find full

lobbies it's crazy so I was even

watching I think M MK music the other

day and he went back onto I think it was

yeah it was Black Ops 4 and he even

found a game of blackout and I was like

what that's insane now to be fair there

are some games where you can actually

like pick your servers or you can still

play with people outside of New Zealand

and Australia which is fair enough but

this also leads me into the next

negative of being a gamer in New Zealand

and that's that the connection or ping

is terrible when playing with people

outside of New Zealand and Australia and

it's just cuz we're so far away from

like every other country in the world if

we do find a Lobby obviously it won't be

like a New Zealand hosted lobby but if

we do find a Lobby where the servers

hosted somewhere else in the world Al

Pang is going to be terrible you can't

even compete especially for like you

know first person shooters those kinds

of games you're going to be playing at a

massive disadvantage and it definitely

makes things hard and another negative

and this actually kind of ties in with a

next negative and that's that our

internet speeds are absolutely crap

compared to overseas like the US and

everything now I will admit New Zealand

has come a long way we used to be pretty

bad with our internet speeds but now

we've got fiber obviously we've had that

for a long time but the top of the top

is probably nothing compared to the US

so I'll put on screen a few examples of

the typical kind of internet speeds here

so these are like the typical kind of

speeds you can expect to get on a

standard internet plan here now I did

say that it has come long ways you can

actually get some really good fiber

speeds here in New Zealand but you have

to pay a lot for it whereas I feel like

overseas the prices aren't actually as

bad I know in Australia it's actually

pretty bad it might even be worse for

New Zealand but you know us UK I think

you guys have it a lot better with your

internet speeds especially the price of

it as well so I think we've got a lot of

catching up to do actually another

negative I just thought of this now it's

not even on my list but the Internet

isn't as like widely available in New

Zealand as it is overseas we don't even

have like 4G and all of that in the

rural areas so we've still got a long

way to go so this means that people that

live in the countryside like on farms

and in rural areas basically have no

access to playing online or if they do

it's on very terrible internet like the

connection is horrible so we've got a

lot of catching up to do with our

internet speeds the next negative is

when gaming events happen especially

like outside of New Zealand and as well

as DLCs and stuff they go live at the

least convenient times for us so an

example of this was actually with the

Xbox game showcase on the 9th of June

now for us this was actually the 10th of

June for New Zealand but because it was

obviously like a US event the time for

us in New Zealand was shocking when the

when the showcase went live so it went

live for us at 5:00 a.m. on the 10th of

June which is like terrible because I'm

not getting up at 5 a.m. to watch that

and if I did it's very inconvenient

whereas a lot of the time you know in

the US it's at a great time because it's

obviously a US hosted event they want

more people watching and this is the

same for DLCs and stuff like if they

come out you know early hours of the

morning for New Zealand it's like the

perfect time in the US not a massive one

but it's still a little bit annoying cuz

you know there's nothing like watching

something live another negative of being

a gamer in New Zealand is there's

actually a bit of a stigma with gaming

being bad for you now obviously there's

a little bit of a stigma worldwide with

like gaming always being known as like

you know if you're a gamer you're a

loser kind of thing in some places

around the world now obviously we've

come a long way with the stigma being

removed and gaming is a lot more like

socially acceptable but in New Zealand

it's actually still pretty behind

because we've got a lot of the oldtimers

and they just don't understand it

there's a lot more more that traditional

you know you got to be outside a little

bit of that like I said it has gotten

better the gaming industry in New

Zealand has actually come up like a lot

but nonetheless there is a little bit of

a stigma still with gaming in New

Zealand being a kind of like loser thing

I guess to do whereas I know in the US

it's a lot more socially acceptable but

hey we're getting there now the next

negative is it's also hard to find

friends in real life that also have the

same interest in gaming cuz like I was

saying there's a little bit of that

stigma still with gaming so so I think

chances are if I was to you know make

friends with someone in real life the

chances of them being a gamer might not

be as high as if I lived somewhere in

like the US for example now obviously if

I'm going to be friends with them they

probably will be a gamer because that's

the kind of person I would be friends of

or someone that shares other common

interests of mine but yeah just because

there's less gamers in New Zealand it

can be a little bit hard I think in that

regard okay the last negative now this

one was mentioned earlier in the actual

intro of this video but everyone loves

to think for some reason that New

Zealand and Australia are in the same

place they are not the same country they

are not in the same place so New Zealand

is a very small country compared to

Australia and it's just next to

Australia it's not the same country you

guys in the US will be laughing at how

small we are I think there's like 5

million people in New Zealand which is

nothing for you guys but quite a lot for

us so yeah that's a little bit of an

insight as to what life is like as a

gamer in New Zealand and there are a lot

of negatives but this isn't me trying to

complain this is just kind of what it's

like and I I do love the fact that the

gaming industry has increased like

significantly in New Zealand over the

past 10 years heaps so it's really cool

I'm really happy about that and it's

definitely a lot more socially

acceptable to be a gamer in New Zealand

but I thought it just might be an

interesting video for you guys that live

overseas in in the US or UK just to have

a bit of insight what it's like to live

on the other side of the world I'd love

to know from you guys though where are

you located in the world and do you

share any any of these common problems I

have or are you living the dream if you

guys did enjoy this video let me know by

dropping me a comment below and liking

the video it really does mean a lot to

me and I will see you in the next one

take care

[Music]