RisanF Vs. Gamers

[risanf]

Is it me, or is today's gamer waaaaay too obsessed with being cool? They talk a lot about how edgy and extreme GTA is, but instead of pushing the envelope on what a game can be, it's closed it, and gamers are shyer than ever when it comes to supporting something different, like Goemon games (Mystical Ninja) that never reach the States. The gaming community represents this, with message boards. review sites, and even strategy guides filled with the same closed-minded, condescending, and snide tone in its efforts to sound cool. For people that argue Freedom of Speech in favor of GTA and against Jack Thompson, these gamers on the message boards are not really interested in what anybody else has to say.

Let me explain further by telling you that my internet gaming ten years ago was filled with Mario sprite comics, debates on whether Zelda or Malon was a better love interest for Link, and original NES Ninja Gaiden fanfiction written by an author who also turned out a mean Ranma 1/2 story. You can't find this kind of discussion on gaming message boards; they'd probably insult you for showing a creative passion for anything other than the acceptable blood and gore. You CAN find this discussion of TV message boards, anime boards, literature boards, and especially cartoon boards, which interestingly enough are all things gamers don't gravitate to. And this is a shame, because those are the boards I find the most interesting, fun people.

I'm not out to ban GTA games or censor this kind of gamer; all of this stuff has the right to be here as much as anybody else. I just want to get back to the kind of gaming I remember, and let these gamers be on their side of the pond. I want to get back to character discussions, theorizing, and fanfics, and I want to play games that cater to that kind of person. In short, I want a gaming community for geeks that are proud to be geeks, not for geeks trying to be cool.

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Bear in mind that I don't think all gamers are like this; it's a generalization, but one I've found think holds true for much of the gaming community. I also think that the crux of the manner may not be the violence so much as it is the attitude about it. After all, Onimusha is as violent as Devil May Cry, but Onimusha has that quirky RPG feel and an involving story that's absent in Devil May Cry. Similarity, the Angry Video Game Nerd utilizes cursing and scatological humor, but you can feel his love for 80s culture in every video.

To me, it's all about Nerd Pride, not Nerd Guilt. For all the gaming communities talking about violence and mayhem, they're as stuffy as the people who blast Harry Potter for having "witchcraft" in it. They're not rebels; they're the establishment.

[pai]

I see what you mean, and I think I see this as a difference in origins of games as well. I'm going to shift the focus to western made games vs. eastern made games. I go to a school where they have a Game Art major. And how things appear to be is that you're cool if you like western games like Halo, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, etc. If you like eastern-made games like Final Fantasy, BlazBlue, or whatever you're sorta looked down on. Then again it's understandable because if you want to get into the industry you should be more knowledgeable on the games that you'll most likely end up making which would be something like Call of Duty or the next BioWare RPG as opposed to the next Vanillaware game or Atlus RPG. But I digress.

[risanf]

Oct 9, 2010 16:47:56 GMT -5 pai said:

I see what you mean, and I think I see this as a difference in origins of games as well. I'm going to shift the focus to western made games vs. eastern made games. I go to a school where they have a Game Art major. And how things appear to be is that you're cool if you like western games like Halo, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, etc. If you like eastern-made games like Final Fantasy, BlazBlue, or whatever you're sorta looked down on. Then again it's understandable because if you want to get into the industry you should be more knowledgeable on the games that you'll most likely end up making which would be something like Call of Duty or the next BioWare RPG as opposed to the next Vanillaware game or Atlus RPG. But I digress.

Yes, the modern gaming scene seems to hate otaku-ism, which is a subculture that generally takes quirkiness at face value. You'll notice that cries of "weeaboo" and other slurs against anime fans generally come from gamers. What makes this silly to me is that modern gaming, scene with its focus on gore and attitude, is also a subculture every bit as nerdy as otaku-ism (and you have to be a internet junkie to know what "weeaboo" means anyway). The modern gaming scene claims to be edgy and rebellious, but I actually find it to be cynical, grouchy, and exclusionary, so much so that it doesn't even seem to recognize the problem when it comes to other people's experience with gaming.

There are lots of games that appeal to lots of different people, but the forums and sites only focus on one personality type. It's like if you were a fan of Phineas and Ferb, but could only find forums and sites for fans of Hell's Kitchen. I think Nintendo realizes the problem here, which is why their Wii focuses a lot of their energies on kids and older people. Naturally, a lot of gamers hate the Wii.

(I haven't even talked about online gaming, which is something I always hear horror stories about. Yet the gaming scene seems to love online gaming for some reason)

[MasterEcabob]

While I agree that a lot of the gaming "community" surrounding western shoot 'em up games can be pretty bad, I don't really think you can dismiss the entire western gaming culture just based on the fans of a few popular series. For every Halo or Call of Duty there is at least one Portal or Viva Pinata or other unique, fun game with a more supportive community.

[Sheogorath]

Way to stereotype all gamers, dude. I'm a gamer, and I couldn't care less what most so-called gamers consider cool. Yeah, blood and violence are awesome, but that's not 100% of gaming. I mean, look at Epic Mickey coming out here at the end of November. I'd take that over the whole of the God of War franchise any day based on what I've seen of Epic Mickey and know first-hand of God of War. It all comes down to the individual, and what you're talking about is a sweeping generalization of the bulk of the gaming community, with each passing day more and more of whom haven't even played Super Mario Bros. on it's original platform (Famicom in Japan, NES everywhere else) or played a campaign of D&D or similar pen and paper RPG.

Now, I'm not saying God of War and similar games have no appeal, far from it, but if you're only seeing people who bark about Halo and all that, then you're clearly looking in the wrong communities, cause I know of more than a few gaming communities (here's a hint: While not specifically a gaming community, our very own DH features discussion, limited as it is, about gaming) that are anything but what you're talking about.

Me? I want to write. Whatever it is, I want to write. And if the right people get word of my writing talents and it moves on from there that I'm part of the story team for the next hotly anticipated RPG or part of a revival pro wrestling in America, then all the better. I have all the things that make my life worth living to me to thank for my desire to write. Video games, the story driving any given wrestling match, a cartoon series that actually has a plot, you name it. If I like it, chances are I've written a story that incorporates it in some way. That said, if I have a story I want to share, then I'm going to post it in a place it'll be read. Of course, if it's a place where people are going to rag on it because it's not what they're talking about despite being related because it's video games or wrestling or whatever, then obviously, it's not a place I want people to read what I wrote.

[risanf]

Oct 18, 2010 9:02:59 GMT -5 Sheogorath said:

Way to stereotype all gamers, dude. I'm a gamer, and I couldn't care less what most so-called gamers consider cool. Yeah, blood and violence are awesome, but that's not 100% of gaming. I mean, look at Epic Mickey coming out here at the end of November. I'd take that over the whole of the God of War franchise any day based on what I've seen of Epic Mickey and know first-hand of God of War. It all comes down to the individual, and what you're talking about is a sweeping generalization of the bulk of the gaming community, with each passing day more and more of whom haven't even played Super Mario Bros. on it's original platform (Famicom in Japan, NES everywhere else) or played a campaign of D&D or similar pen and paper RPG.

Now, I'm not saying God of War and similar games have no appeal, far from it, but if you're only seeing people who bark about Halo and all that, then you're clearly looking in the wrong communities, cause I know of more than a few gaming communities (here's a hint: While not specifically a gaming community, our very own DH features discussion, limited as it is, about gaming) that are anything but what you're talking about.

Me? I want to write. Whatever it is, I want to write. And if the right people get word of my writing talents and it moves on from there that I'm part of the story team for the next hotly anticipated RPG or part of a revival pro wrestling in America, then all the better. I have all the things that make my life worth living to me to thank for my desire to write. Video games, the story driving any given wrestling match, a cartoon series that actually has a plot, you name it. If I like it, chances are I've written a story that incorporates it in some way. That said, if I have a story I want to share, then I'm going to post it in a place it'll be read. Of course, if it's a place where people are going to rag on it because it's not what they're talking about despite being related because it's video games or wrestling or whatever, then obviously, it's not a place I want people to read what I wrote.

I don't see why you're accusing me of stereotyping when I stated that I wasn't talking every single gamer out there. Nevertheless, the generalization I made about modern gamer attitudes is extremely common, affects the atmosphere of most of the big gaming sites, and alienates gamers like me. There's no need to lecture me about better gaming forum since I already said I am actually looking for such forums. Nothing I said was personal.

On DH gaming forum: I've noticed that most good gaming board seem to be offshoots of cartoon or anime forums rather than boards dedicated solely to gaming. But you go to one of the so-called "mainstream" sites, and it's snide putdowns, anime hate, cursing, and sheer hypocrisy. This is why I'm interested in the new wave of gamers the Wii is bringing in; because it reveals violent gaming to be as much of a nitch as my kind of gaming.