Komsan Jandamit has been playing video games ever since his mother bought him a Nintendo Game Boy when he was young. During his teenage years, Mr Komsan would spend up to six hours a day playing video games, with immersive role players being his favourite. Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda and Dragon Quest are just a small selection from a long list.
"[Role-playing games] are like reading a very good novel, where you can play the main protagonist and enjoy the journey," he recalls. "I played mostly by myself, just consuming the fantasy. During that time nothing was online, so forget about playing with other people apart from those that can sit next to you."
He admits that he was addicted to gaming and, although he was also a keen badminton player, his parents had to urge him to rein in his screen time. "During my teenage years I would say that I was addicted. … Throughout my summer holidays, I was just glued to the TV every day."
Since then, gaming has been a part of his life, whether as an obsessed teenager or more recently as a pastime to share with his two daughters. He sees video games as a way to escape into a story, bond with friends and relax.
Six or so of Mr Komsan's friends in his childhood neighbourhood were his gaming companions. He still plays with one of them in his office today. Around 5pm every day, a group of 10 colleagues will gather to play the latest mobile sensation, Realm of Valor. It's a mobile fighting game where teams of five use different characters to defeat one another.
"It's very engaging because you need to be in on the action all of the time and because it's five against five you need quite a bit of teamwork -- it's interesting to see the dynamics when it doesn't work out," he explains.
Mr Komsan is not alone. With more than 1.1 billion gamers in Asia Pacific, video games are becoming an increasingly important part of Asian culture. Huge revenues, professional leagues and a global reach mean that gaming can no longer be seen as a fringe activity.
In some circles, gaming is often criticised for fostering introverted and unsociable behaviour, especially among young people. While Mr Komsan is a keen gamer to say the least, he doesn't think it negatively affects his social life. For him, gaming can be both a solo and a sociable activity, particularly as one gets older.
Mr Komsan, now 39, and his colleagues help to dispel the stereotype that gaming is only for unsociable teenage boys. Like any other activity, be it a sport or other hobby, gaming can be an apparatus for socialising and bonding.
For Mr Komsan, gaming has taken on a different function since the births of his two daughters. Every two days or so, his latest console, the Nintendo Switch, gives him the opportunity to spend time and bond with his children.
"We have a generation gap of around 30 years and video games are something that can bridge that gap pretty well."
BIG BUSINESS
Derek Yu, global marketing director of the Taiwan-based hardware provider Republic of Gamers echoes that sentiment. "Along with providing another type of recreation for people, video games can bring people together," he says. "They can be a catalyst for friendships, and they can even be a means for self-actualisation. Many games are goal-oriented, and those can be great for motivation and discipline.
"Some people play games for recreation, just like others play basketball or golf. But for some people gaming is much more than that -- it's a way of life. Today, there are many people who play games as a profession."
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Mr Yu's statement was supported by Mr Komsan who pointed to these professionals as another reason that he plays games. For him and his colleagues, the presence of a Realm of Valor Thai national team is an important part of the gaming culture and experience.
"I think the latest match between Thailand and Korea had around 500,000 people watching, mostly on YouTube and Facebook. It's just like sports: we have our own national team and we cheer for them," he says.
This professional format, where clubs from across the globe compete in leagues and tournaments, is called e-sports. It has grown exponentially over the past decade. The latest major tournament, The International, had a prize fund of US$24 million with the winning team taking home $10.8 million. To put that in perspective, the total prize pot of The Masters, one of the most celebrated tournaments in men's golf, was a comparatively small $11 million this year.
That's not all. The millions of spectators around the world and the cult-like following of many top players often eclipses many traditional sports in both numbers and passion.
But this is just part of the evolution of an industry that is hugely popular and gaining momentum. This success looks like it's going to continue. According to the market researcher Newzoo, revenues in Asia Pacific will top $51.2 billion this year, with a 9.2% growth year on year, making it the largest market in the world. The second largest market, North America, is projected to generate $27 billion in gaming revenues this year.
"The success of the gaming industry is a culmination of various conditions. The readiness of network infrastructure, the maturity of gaming hardware, the availability and scalability of games … the culture of social media and sharing/streaming -- all of these factors have helped the industry grow," says Mr Yu.
PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS
There are many people, however, who see the rise of gaming as a threat to society and traditional culture, especially in the more conservative regions of Asia. They view gaming, whether correctly or not, as an unhealthy hobby that can lead to addiction and isolation.
"Gaming has been blamed for many ills but in some cases it is just a trigger for problems that had their roots in other causes," says Dr Apichat Jariyavilas, a psychiatrist with the Department of Mental Health
Apichat Jariyavilas, a psychiatrist and spokesman for Thailand's Department of Mental Health, says gaming can have similar psychological effects to taking hard drugs. The neurotransmitters released while playing create the same feelings of excitement and can lead to addiction.
He highlights the fact that although in the past addiction was largely confined to young people, it is now occurring in all ages.
Dr Apichat points to the increasing accessibility of games as a reason for the rise in addiction. Gaming is no longer confined to the home or gaming centres but can be taken to work and school via a mobile or tablet.
Newzoo's 2017 global report indicated that there were now 2.1 billion people gaming on a mobile device. Mobile gaming constitutes 42% of the overall market.
While there are cases where gamers require medication for anxiety, insomnia and depression, for many people gaming is just the trigger for their problems. Dr Apichat adds. The root cause is often a traumatic experience or social problem that can require counselling to address.
Dr Apichat is far from damning of the whole industry. He points to the benefits gaming can have on creativity, concentration and stress release. For example, in Japan, video games have been used successfully to stimulate the minds of the elderly and slow the ageing of the brain.
A study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found that gaming can noticeably improve both a person's selective and sustained attention. There is also evidence that gaming increases the size and competence of the visuo-spatial part of the brain, which controls the ability to identify visual and spatial relationships.
While the study supported the view that gaming can be addictive, this is not universally accepted and is disputed by other psychologists.
For Mr Komsan, his self-control was vital to controlling his addiction, something he says came with age. Dr Apichat agrees, saying most people don't have a problem with addiction to video games because they have self-control.
In combination with the increased accessibility that mobile gaming provides, Dr Apichat says the structure of modern games can lead to addiction. Most games nowadays can be played indefinitely rather than having a set completion point.
Instead of the finality of a checkmate in chess or running out of letters in Scrabble, endless levels and a multiplayer mode encourages obsessive play, he adds.
CAPITALIST PROGRAMMING?
Yuval Noah Harari has another, yet similar, interpretation of the structure of video games. In his book Homo Deus, the Israeli historian proposes that modern games help to program capitalist tendencies into players. They are designed, not necessarily intentionally, in a way that promotes capitalist principles of greed, investment and growth.
"Premodern games such as chess assumed a stagnant economy. You begin a game of chess with 16 pieces, and you never finish a game with more … you cannot produce new pawns nor upgrade your knights into tanks. So chess players never have to consider investment," he has written.
He goes on to compare this to modern strategy games such as Minecraft, Civilisation and Clash of Clans, where players start with a small village or a collection of resources.
"You have to invest [your] income wisely. You have to choose between unproductive but still necessary tools such as soldiers, and productive assets such as more villages, fields and mines. The winning strategy is usually to invest the barest minimum in non-productive essentials, while maximising your productive assets."
Prof Harari sees these games as a manifestation of society's broader love of capitalism. While this argument makes up only a small part of a much larger book, Prof Harari provides an interesting interpretation. Given the ubiquitous nature of games, it might be important to note their broader implications.
Newzoo's 2017 global market report declares that gaming is rapidly becoming the world's favourite pastime, surpassing traditional sports and hobbies. Whether for better or for worse, the growth, innovation and momentum in the industry means that video games are becoming an increasingly significant part of society.