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 Post subject: Is gaming (and gamers) accepted by modern society?
PostPosted: Mon Jun 23, 2003 9:58 pm 
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The title says it all. Does gaming, and the people who play them, have a bad reputation? Are gamers still looked upon as social outcasts? Or has our modern society accepted gaming? Discuss.

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 23, 2003 10:02 pm 
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Well, it depends on which form of gaming you mean. Console gaming, Computer gaming or Tabletop gaming?

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 24, 2003 12:11 am 
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When I say gaming, I mean video games, not table-top board games. Console and PC games are, in my opinion, in the same 'gaming' category.

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 24, 2003 6:31 am 
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You would be suprised how much video gaming is widely accepted in the military, Pc's are common, but the console (playstation) is king.

Also a suprising amount of anime watchers and closet-techies can be found amoung the ranks.


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 24, 2003 8:38 am 
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I'd say that computer / video gaming has become mainstream enough that -- provided you aren't an Everquest addict who never leaves your room -- gamers aren't looked down on.

Now, LARP'ers, those are still looked down on, to the best of my knowledge.


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 24, 2003 8:55 am 
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Kylaer wrote:
Now, LARP'ers, those are still looked down on, to the best of my knowledge.


LARPs are looked down upon by other D&D and Vampire players, and not without reason.

And gaming has become a slot of mainstream culture, the way I see it. You can see ads for games on MTV, CN, ABC, and MSNBC pretty frequently, and that's an indicator for how much they've become accepted into the fold of pop culture.

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 24, 2003 9:18 am 
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Look at a local cyberclub, and look at the makeup therein.

Gamers are mainstream now. You KNOW it is when you see gamer/gangster combinations in a lot of people.

-MiB

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 24, 2003 9:39 am 
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Could be just my view, but I'm anything BUT mainstream. But that may be for other reasons other than gaming. Though talking about Garanding Nazis in the school halls probably didn't help.

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 1:53 am 
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Well, things don't have to be mainstream to be excepted. Being homosexual definately isn't mainstream to most of the population, yet it's being more and more excepted. There are still a lot of people who think Final Fantasy is a book, or they're all like "Oh, that retarded movie". So while I think it's definately being more accepted, IE people don't freak out 'bout videogames and such, it still isn't mainstream.

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 6:37 am 
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Put it this way, you know the PA stri where they're discussing they're favorite weapons... happened to me a few times with humerous concequences.

Seriously though, it has lost its 'nerdy' stigma, at least among the younger generations. Most 40+ people still think that all gamers are nerds though. The joys of middle-age.

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Last edited by thekillmaster on Wed Jun 25, 2003 6:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 6:37 am 
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See, I disagree. I think it pretty much has become mainstream. Hardyl anyone I meet has not played a video game, whether it be a console machine, or even usta coin-op stand up machine. If someone says they've never touched one in their lives, people give them odd looks like "what the hell cave did you crawl out of" Jocks, wanna be thugs, geeks, all of em stand united and equal when it comes to console gaming. The playstation saw to that. SNES had an effect to the direction, buti t wasn't big enough. It was when the playstation opened up that it really hit. simplicity of it's controls, beauty of it's graphics, and easy simple games that were still addictive saw to that. That's what brought in the biggest amount of the peopple playing today, especially those who 10 years ago wouldn't be caught dead with a controller in hand.

Also, if you look at which generation is now deciding what is considered mainstream, and acceptable. We grew up with gaming machines, we're the nintendo generation, and it's showing.

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 Post subject: "Mario made me jump off a cliff!"
PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 7:36 am 
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I'd have to say it's definitely mainstream, at least among people of a certain age. I mean, just look at the sales figures (ignoring for the moment the frequently-misleading comparisions to first-run movie ticket sales) As those people age, eventually the majority of society will have grown up playing video games. So at that point they'll be fully mainstream, to whatever extent they aren't already (And perhaps then we can end the idiotic political crusade against violent videogames by people who don't even play them).

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 Post subject: Mainstream??????????????????
PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 8:18 am 
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How could gaming not be more part of our society? Go to any store, including some hardware stores. Available items for sale: personal computers, game consoles, games of all varieties, literature to accompany or compliment said games, hell, even D and D is available in general merchandise stores.
No need to find specialty shops, mail order from overseas, etc.
To assess anything for its level of public acceptance, just go shopping. If it is readily available and at a reasonable price, it is part of our lives.
There are some poeple who will not accept, (those who decry harry potter books as the works of satan are a good example), but they are usually only a vocal minority, and can be ignored, just don't forget them altogether, as they could pull a fast one using the courts/elected officials.
Even the 40+ age group does not have a problem with gaming and gamers (I live around and work with a lot of 'em), and the only negative view is about the total amount of time spent on the games. Take a break once in a while, don't live for/by the game, problem solved.
Accepted? >>> YES.
Watched? >>> YES, with normal concern, as with any societal trend.


By the way, I just need to say...... WORK SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!


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PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 11:23 am 
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VandalHeart wrote:
It was when the playstation opened up that it really hit. simplicity of it's controls...


I beg to differ on that point...

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 1:45 pm 
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Well, there's a difference between society accepting gaming and society accepting capital-G Gamers. When you get right down to it, most people that society would consider "nerds" enjoy some of the same things that most of society enjoys; they just take that enjoyment to the extreme. Take the Star Wars movies, for example; they're a well-established, mainstream aspect of pop culture, but if you spend too much time discussing them in-depth, or read dozens of novels based on the movies, or spend huge amounts of money on merchandise related to the movies, you will be considered a loser. This could be said more generally of sci-fi movies in general. To use another example, in Japan, anime is an established aspect of mainstream culture, but people who devote large amounts of time to it are looked down upon almost as much as they are here in the States. Really, any aspect of mainstream culture, from movies to television to music, can be nerdified if turned into a lifestyle. Basically, it's all a question of level of devotion.


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PostPosted: Thu Jun 26, 2003 3:46 am 
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Herbal Enema wrote:
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I love my nes :D.

But why is it on a hob? :o Teh horror... teh horror...

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 27, 2003 12:47 pm 
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Yeah, the NES had really simple controls. But then so did the atari. It's the combination of things that made the PS the big hit. compare it's controls with something like the sega systems which had the 6 buttons for the thumb alone. Also, the stick controllers made things a bit more simple as well, much closer to arcade style stuff.

But, i do grant the point. NES was simpler. Man, I miss my NES at times.

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PostPosted: Sat Jun 28, 2003 11:31 am 
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VandalHeart wrote:
But, i do grant the point. NES was simpler. Man, I miss my NES at times.


*nods* Crystalis all the way.

As to the subject at hand, the truly hardcore junkie gamer will lways be seen as an outsider, but this is the same with any person who goes to the extreme in what he does. As a whole, I think gaming is pretty well accepted now. A lot of this is thanks to the brilliant promotion on the part of Sony and the companies making games for the various systems. Nothing in my recent memory will ever top Crash Bandicoot going up to Nintendo HQ and trying to call out Mario.

Hell, I predict even CCGs will even find greater acceptence in the years to come, as I see how many rugrats are being raised on Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh. Long live the Saturday morning half-hour commercials!

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PostPosted: Sat Jun 28, 2003 12:01 pm 
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Nowadays if someone asks me what I did over the weekend and I tell them I was at a LAN party. Basically everyone but the hardcore preppies think is sounds like fun.

Ah fond memories of Gangsta-style Duck Hunt competitions.


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PostPosted: Sat Jun 28, 2003 3:03 pm 
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i think icy hit it right on the head when he said that it's all about the degree of your addiction in gaming. Also, i think it has partly to do with the types of games you like too, as RPGs still aren't quite as accepted as 'mainstream', while sports games and Fighters have been staples of the gaming community for years.

though as far as LARPers and TT gaming goes, i doubt that'll ever be mainstream, as it's too much of a 'niche' area.

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