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Gamers Aren't (Always) Geeks
wo1verin3 writes "CNN is reporting that not all gamers are the anti-social folk they are hyped to be by parents and the media. Roughly two-thirds of college students play video games, but the image of a nerdy guy who spends all day in a dimly lit room blowing up computer-generated bad guys is off base, according to a new study. Full story here."
No, they might not spend it alone, but they still only socialize with other gamers in a LAN gaming shop or whatnot. Not saying that all people in a LAN game are anti-social nerds, far from it. But still, just because they get out and socialize with other gamers is not saying much in it of itself.
We have so much time, and so little to do - strike that! Reverse it. Tryn Mirell
... are jocks. It's true. Or at least it was 5 years ago. Not a single one of the guys on the football team didn't have a Playstation or N64.
"Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised."
-Marilyn Manson
but the image of a nerdy guy who spends all day in a dimly lit room blowing up computer-generated bad guys is off base
Take THAT, mom! *goes back to GTA:VC in my darkened room
Looks like middle age hasn't been kind to action hero Duke Nukem. In a prerelease press preview, presented by Joe Siegler, the studly hero is bald with a huge beer-gut. "We wanted to flesh out the character of Duke", Siegler said, "we want to make him more a character that his fans can directly relate to".
In the new title, Duke is in a custody dispute with his ex-wife. Apparently, since he lost his job, he's in arrears on his child-support payments. When his (alien) wife kidnaps their kids and leaves for her mothers on Vega VII, it's butt-kicking time!
It pains me that this is news 2X over on slashdot in 2 days. Although it points out that while not all gamers are geeks, many of them ARE or this wouldnt be news. BTW, I'm both a gamer and a geek and proud of being both.
Not to troll, but this was posted on CNN on Sunday Night. I somehow find it hard to believe that no one submitted this for 48 hours. Are the editors just slow? No one is really interested in old news, I think.
Nearly 70 percent of those questioned said they were in elementary school when they first played video games. By junior high and high school, about half said they had tried computer games -- software-driven games from cards to shoot-'em-up adventures such as Doom -- and 43 percent said they had tried online games over the Internet. However, 92 percent of those that played games said that it replaced their regular social life, including dating. Most of the survey participants still had never gone on a date.
Newsflash: Not all users of pornography are losers who can't get girlfriends!
Not that I look at porn. I'm not suggesting that. Oh no.
Even some girls like porn. A girl told me. Well, a friend who knows a girl told me.
Get it here.
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
bullcaca!
yes there are lots of non geeks who play video games. but all the people who i know who are "gamers" do spend their days in dimly lit rooms, not showering, and eating crap all day.
the non geeks play gran turismo for an hour or so while chilling with a few friends on a lazy day. don't deny the existance of geeky gamers. they created the stereotype because of the truth.
Oh, wait. So, schools can finally start profiling all 'students' labeled as 'Gamers'? Oh, boy. This is just getting better and better. Who cares, honestly?
I'd like to see a comparison study of gamers vs. non gamers from the same demographic. Included would be what thier GPA is/was, how far their career has progressed, amount of income, etc... My experience is anedoctal, but in virtually all cases, non-gamers seem to do better then gamers.
That subject is not a troll or flamebait. I'm just trying to point out the absolute silliness of the U.S. media, and the public in general towards "geeks".
Was he supposed to be an example of a non-geek gamer? He looks like an even bigger geek then me!
So Pale Nerdy folks _aren't_ responsible for all the NHL, NFL, Baseball, and NBA games sold each year? (Which HAS to be a racket bigger than Quicken [current year]/TurboTax [current year])
And here I thought they were just playing out their latent desire to be coordinated.
"Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
...guess I should go outside for the first time in my 21 years of life
but the image of a nerdy guy who spends all day in a dimly lit room blowing up computer-generated bad guys is off base
/. and downloading pr0n and the odd bit of coding. All night should be spent in a dimly it room blowing up computer-generated bad guys
We all know daytime is for posting on
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
Articles such as these, just make me mad. Why do people have to conform in society in order to be accepted? Why can't we leverage from richness in variety within our organizational fabric in order to attain greater heights intellectually?
Different points of view are important for progress in technology and science. It's absolutely vital that we continue to nourish the development of the nerdy kid in the dimly lit basement playing Star Wars galaxies. It's more valuable to have him focus on this activity than to obtain social skills that will just hamper him in the pursuit of his research once he completes his post-graduate degree.
I say, bring back the pale geek! Cherish him! Protect him! Buy him the latest Everquest expansion pack! But do not send him out in the wild where he, God forbid, has to interact with other people. They're are a precious resource and should be treated as such.
Wearing pants should always be optional.
Yes people: Even beautiful girls play Wolfenstein!
You mean to say a common stereotype about a social minority which, when it came into existance 20 years ago, was misunderstood and ostracized is UNTRUE? I never would have guessed! What clued you? Was it the fact that Sony makes more off video games than anything else (including TVs)? Maybe it was the fact that Microsoft, one of the largest companies in the world, is entering the market. Or maybe it just finally clicked that if something is that popular it's likely someone other than that weirdo in your neighbor's basement is doing it.
Perhaps CNN stands for Columbus News Network, motto: discovering things other people have known for years.
What exactly is the point of this story? Not all alcoholics beat their wives, but that doesn't mean we should give people cart blanch to get drunk.
It's obvious and scientifically verified that those who play video games are far more likely than their non-gaming piers to avoid social interaction, do poorly in school, resort to violent behavior, and lead unhealthy lifestyles (leading to problems like obesity and depression later in life).
This study shows that there exists a glimmer of hope for chronic gamers, which is good. However, spinning it as if it makes gaming healthy is irresponsible, and indicates a bias on Slashdot's part.
Boromir, son of Faramir, King of Gondor and Minas Tirith
could actually be a 100% real female in real life?!
groovy.
More info on this topic can be seen here.
In other news, it has been determined that not all of the editors at Slashdot post dupes.
The point is that most are MALE... It's still anti-social if all you do is hang around guys...
---
Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
If you watch Yo MTV Raps or whatever the fuck they have on TV now, you always see unemployed homies sitting around a brand new gaming console. So...gamers are either friendless white losers or unemployed minorities.
(I object to the use of the word "geek" next to gamer - it suggests gamers are intelligent!)
I think it still depends on how you do your gaming. Non-geeks are way more likely to be into console games than PC.
Also, the genres of games being made show that it's not just for geeks anymore. A lot more sports games, GTA3, etc.
I think the tendency for FPS and RolePlaying games to be online first, still shows the PC is home of the geek gamers (leading tech edge).
-t
http://unmoldable.com W:"No one of consequence" I:"I must know" W:"Get used to disappointment"
New discovery: not all stereotypes are valid!
I told you so Mom! I'm not a geek!!!
*twitch*
A recent study found that not all jocks are mental midgets. Recent findings also indicate that cheerleaders may not actually tend towards sexual promiscuity!
But seriously... it took them this long to figure that out?
But there's still hope! And you - yes, YOU - can make a difference!
Clearly, we've been slacking off. This article is a clarion call for all us nerdy guys who do spend all day in dimly lit rooms blowing up computer-generated bad guys, to stop reading this and get the hell back to those pimp gaming rigs we spent hours casemodding, and get back to what's important in life: fragging n00b azz!
We've got an image to uphold, dammit!
Not all netadmin's are geeks either. Some of them are MCSEs.
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
So, was the submitter subliminally associating a Geek with some punk ?
Last time I checked it consisted of 2 different things (not incompatible, BTW).
Trolling using another account since 2005.
You worthless sack of dung.
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I consider that bullshit.
It's either they were talking to the wrong people or the wrong people were responding to the survey.
I was a "gamer" since the C64 days. I was not allowed to have a console machine when I was younger (parents told me I had a computer and it played games, that was that... fair enough). I got hooked on Quake1CTF in my freshman year of college... I still went out w/my friends drinking, I was an active D1 athlete, and I was dating. I had several friends that I played CTF with that were exactly the same.
I figure that they interviewed Internet junkies or the "typical gamer" which is not interesting to the opposite sex.
I want better information on the type of individuals interviewed before we start jumping to conclusions.
"Not all goatse.cx viewers are slashdot-geeks! Film at 11!"
Trolling is a art,
Apparently they forgot to survey the Rochester Institute of Technology where 2/3 of the school is "nerdy guys who spend all day in a dimly lit room blowing up computer-generated bad guys."
The other 33%? According to RIT, it's women. I have yet to believe.
Proud to be a RITean!
they still only socialize with other gamers
Excuse me, but what is your point? Golfers hang out with other golfers, quilters hang out with other quilters, runners hang out with other runners...
Anyone with a hobby, likely socializes with others who have the same hobby.
"I'll have a Guinness, no wait, make that a Coors Light" -Grad student I work with, who shall remain anonymous...
As reported by wo1verin3
It Is the Nature of Information to Transgress Artificial Boundaries
of your claims, Mr Troll. You never have posted any pictures that I've seen to back up your claims. Furthermore, you are a flaming failure already, so what would really be the point of setting your dick on fire?
flaming failure troll
why does first post ellude you?
still just a failure
WRT to addiction side of it though, here's an interesting study of gaming addiction.
wo1verin3 writes "CNN is reporting that not all Slashdot readers are the anti-social folk they are hyped to be by parents and the media. Roughly two-thirds of college students play video games, but the image of a nerdy guy who spends all day in a dimly lit room blowing up computer-generated bad guys is off base, according to a new study. Full story here."
Every lan party I have ever been to has been anti-social folk. That is why we are at a lan party, and not out drinking, and sleeping with the opposite sex.
Nerdy guys, and Nerdy girls shooting each other, and vying for mines.
Since we've grown up, we are more attractive, hold better jobs, drive nicer cars, etc.
But we are still all a mangled verison of that.
http://use.perl.org
This means you.
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
...someone /. this thread so I can go back to playing Uplink. It's vital training for my future employment!
>
However, the draw to computer science (and thus geekdom) is largely steeped in gaming. For example, a few years ago I returned to my high school for "career day". I was the guy who gave the talk on what students needed to focus on in college in order to end up sucessfully working as a software developer. First, I asked this question:
They all raised their hands. All but one kid put his hand down. Almost all the hands went back up.I too was drawn into writing code for a living because of games. I wrote countless games in Basic on my Commodore Vic20 (and saved them to cassette tape!) when I was in grade school, but the cold reality of the industry became clear to me after graduating college in the early 90's - that game development is a competitive low paying path for the most part :-(
So maybe attracting kids into computer science is one aspect of gaming that could be viewed positively - as opposed to the visions of the unshowered jobless clowns playing Evercrack all day.
Oh come on...this better not come as a surprise. Has the media really warped everyone's minds enough to have us all believe the only people that play games are geeks? Since the dawn of time, games were fun. My parents used to play the Atari 2600 (Mmm...remember Yar's Revenge?) with me all the time. And they are far from being geeks. And my grandmother was addicted to Burger Time on Intellivision.
I think the perception is that when you walk by the computer cluster at school, you see the kids playing Netrek and go "games are for geeks" and then you step outside and see the "jocks" playing football. What you DON'T see is everyone grabbing a beer and blowing each other up at Halo or Twisted Metal. In fact, I can think of more metal-heads and punks playing games than geeks...
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts...for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang
More anti-social geeks means more tech jobs for us social geeks.
Who is IBM going to hire? The smelly, snorting, pale guy who can't relate to anyone, or the equally qualified, good-looking (or at least clean/not fat), sociable, interesting guy? (Or girl.. Diction arguments will make me laugh at you.)
IT or coding skill isn't the primary factor in employment. The big fat gamer guy will smell up the office and scare vendors with his creepy rants on the art of maxing-out stats in Final Fantasy XX-II-1.4.
So yes, we should encourage geeks to be anti-social, physically weak and large, pale, and otherwise poor career candidates. Labour-scarcity-induced-raise, here I come!
GeekNights!
Late Night Radio for Geeks!
Get the real news from the BBC, moron.
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The last line is not a quote from the article. PhsysicsGenius is a known troll karma whoring to get himself out of negative karma land. Please do not feed the trolls.
The fact that a study needed to be done to discover this is just very sad. I didn't think people were actually dumb enough to believe all the stereotypes that the media feeds them. Whats even sadder is that the media will not change this perception anytime soon, but I digress, I must get back to my game of WC3x
You may have put the cart before the hoarse here, has anyone proved that gaming causes the poor socialization and obesity? It seems far more likely to me that those types are resorting to games as their last hope. Look at how many comments there are here about "online games *are* social", as though brief, obscene text messages about "fragging" could take the place of real interaction. It's obvious that that pretending their are Somebody online is the only thing that keeps them going and taking that away from them is just mean spirited on your part.
..that doesn't exist, and produces product nobody consumes.
hahahaha!
..don't panic
CNN has "Surprising findings about video game players"
:)
Well, if you are a 40+ year old person who uses the computer only to play Solitaire and solve spreadsheets, yes, that could be surprising (the fact that most computer players are NOT geeks or recluses).
This should however come as a natural for everybody who maybe learned to type sooner than (s)he could handwrite...
The "game world" is just an extension of the real world, with several advantages (interaction possibilities, a huge potential community, somebody "available" to talk to at any given time) and disadvantages (Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna' get (F.Gump) - never know who will be or how will be the next person you encounter and interact with).
I hope I don't need to remind anybody that information can be both a curse or a blessing, and that's what you get when you're "on-line-gaming" - sometimes too much information... It's up to you to deal with it.
In conclusion: everybody's playing, has played or will be playing...something... sooner or later. There are no limits to the categories that will play computer games.
So, stop acting surprised
On-line games are all about interaction and socual aspects, how do you expect to find somebody else playing it?
I mean, you wouldn't expect to find nuns playing American football, but you would definetely expect mathematicians playing chess...
By reading this signature you agree to not disagree with the post you just read.
And i own all geek at CS !!!!
HAHAHAHA. Like a low number User ID means anything. It just shows that even people who have been on slashdot for a long time can still fall prey to a weak troll. Read the article again and see if that 92% is anywhere in there. I can't believe that you said "look at my UID." Oh that is classic. It is like saying "I can't be dumb, look how long I've been reading slashdot."
You have ALL SO FAILED IT!!!! There is no chance now. Make your time.
This utterance is way out of spec for a class-C biped. Please re-structure your comment for an elementary grade-4 level reader so that it may be more easily assimilated by the masses. Thank you.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
This is NOT actually in the article.
...now I'm not even cool compared to other gamers.
Thanks Slashdot, you ruined my day.
IMHO I believe everyone is attacking the wrong side of the problem. Social issues are just budding only recently. Why is this? Gamings been around for a while. It hasn't been common widespread until the last 5 years. And now its about to explode. What is going on here? Much of it has to do with the fact that these games are now Internet Multiplayer.
[1] Internet has made the gaming activity less non-social over conventional games from past. I guess this is good atleast people are interacting with others instead of just "the machine"
[2] It has also made gaming more anti-social by reducing accountability through anonymous screen names and providing a means to act out fantasy irresponsibilities. ie. killing, stealing, maiming, torturing among other players. This is bad. Even if we understand this is fantasy, are we letting the dark side enjoy too much time out of its box? Nobody would call you deranged if you pulled the wings off a fly. Do it all day and I'd say its getting to you.
[2] It has made the activity more addicting due to the unpredictable nature of other player interactions, almost replacing social real life interaction.
So now they are spending the time socializing in virtual environments, when they could be with their next door neighboor in the vacinity of moms, dads, other kids, older, younger, shop owners, policemen, firefighters, accounts, doctors, garbage collectors, and any other people that might be wandering as they ride on their bike down their street.
My point being our children are growing up spending a good chunk of time in an environment where consequences are not real. And please nothing about "They know the difference between real and games". Judgement be what it is, behavior is learned. Especially when its repetitive. Everyday. For 3-5 hours a day.
"Last one in is a rotten goblin!" - Kepp
I didn't post that. I think someone is being a jerkoff.
You should have logged in to post that! I would have sigged you.
Really from the article:
Apparently added by PhysicsGenius:
Or were the last two sentences deleted from the CNN story before I read it?
"Beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- B. Franklin
But you didn't really read it sufficiently closely to notice that the bit quoted by PhysicsGenius about never having had dates wasn't in the article .
HE MADE IT UP
It was made up, in order to troll the gullible, many of whom may actually have a low UID (isn't that a method of contraception?)
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
don't mod it up
mod it down
I'd have thought it was rather obvious that a great deal of gamers aren't geeks...
unlss 1 konsidrs typen liek dis geeky lol omg rofl u n00b!11!1!
By reading this you acknowledge that you have read it.
Anti-Social: Unabomber
Non-Social: Warcraft gamer
Get it right.
Black Adder's the only good thing to come out of that place.
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In my findings, at least in the tech field, hardcore gamers tend to fair better than non gamers. Hardcore gamers tend to know something about hardware and how to get the most out of it. Even when it's not strictly hardware, the hardcore gamers I've known have known enough to fix a multitude of network and other issues. You can't overclock and case mod sucessfully if you don't know your hardware.
That was the tech field. In other fields I find that casual gamers fair better in many cases than non-gamers or hardcore gamers (yes, hardcore gamers have their place). Face it. Gaming requires large amounts of abstract, or at least alternative thinking. I've found myself implementing the types of strategies I've used in video games to organize my work habbits. Item placements, order of operations, that sort of thing, all honed from video games. Hardcore gamers in other-than computer fields can do well, but based on what I've seen they don't work in other fields, and when they do it's usually flipping burgers or something until they can get another techie job.
I don't think I've worked with a single person on a job simular basis who wasn't at least a casual gamer since I've been in the tech field. I've only seen non-gamers in other fields, usually the ones that hired me to take care of their computers.
The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
There are a few meanings of the word "anti-social", everything from mass murdering rapists and software pirates, to people who prefer their own company. I will accept that the mass murdering rapist type definition of anti-social as being bad, but this does not appear to be the topic of the article. For the purpose of this post, consider anti-social to mean someone who prefers their own company.
What I do not understand is why people who prefer their own company are considered somehow "broken". I do not know of any facet of human physiology which REQUIRES other human contact beyond a base desire to procreate. Why is there such a bad connotation to being anti-social?
Society itself does not need a hive mind. In fact, I would argue just as strongly that it is dangerous, irresponsible and something we all should actively try to prevent in our children. The world needs independent thinkers, people who think outside the box and come up with original solutions. People who don't let the hive mind dictate their response. Somehow I see from high school that civics classes about the glory of democracy has led people to a very wrong conclusion: that the majority is always right. That's such a horribly incorrect thought that is so pervasive (esp in MTV pop-culture) that it makes me want to lock myself in a room and slay myself with a BFG-10k.
I am hard pressed to come up with any thing the hive MIND has produced that has either been correct or somehow useful. The hive mind has historically resulted in: slavery, bigotry, religion (in the "belief in unfounded/unproven philosophy in the face of contrary evidence" sense), senseless wars, mass murder, and most horribly reality television. Let's face it, "society" is valuable only as a workforce commodity. When it comes to thinking, we're better off with Forrest Gump than any 10 people.
Why is it that those who choose to not "join in" are persecuted? I contribute to the whole, and I make it possible for us all to walk forward. I do so just as much as the next guy. I am not taking anything away by not talking to you. Even if I firmly believe that you are all incredibly stupid and not worth my time, I'm not really hurting you am I? As long as I do my job & earn my keep, I have fulfilled my obligation to others. Leave us alone.
Ironically, I introduced my senior at work, who is more than twice my age and approaching retirement, to PDAs and he reintroduced me to video games. After less than six months working together he bought a handheld and i bought a PS2. Erik Erikson, the Einstein of psychosocial stuff, had a book with the title of "Play". In that book he mentions a follow-up to a study of some children, whom when interviewed decades later were found that those of them who managed to retain a playful attitude to the world had the most satisfying lives.
While I'm a huge nerd, and only partially a gamer, this is retardedly obvious. At least for my age/status bracket, 20something college student. I know plenty of people who aren't nerds who love video games- jockish type folks, lots of stoners, girl/boyfriends of these people... Hell, I've known plenty of 30 year old un-married women who were totally into gaming, but in a non-nerd and non-obsessive way.
old news... next!
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
Yeah, CS _was_ a rather addictive fad. I wish I could regret the fact that I dedicated at least an hour per day (for several months) playing it.
However, something good did come from it. Once you decide to stop playing CS, you honestly don't miss the crappy game, and it makes it so much easier to swear off video game addictions completely, and simply feel content with gaming only in moderation.
I just feel sorry for those of ya'll still addicted to Everquest. Unlike Half-Life (cs), that game really is junk.
Whether or not the stereotype proves to be true, there will always be obsessive/compulsive behaviours with games. (or alcohol or anything that causes dependance when abused)
My concern is about physical activity. Any time spent in front of a computer is time spending very limited energy (and often eating junk food). With an obesity rate growing fast all over North America, actions must be taken in order to send our kids play outside.
"all your base are belong to us" :)
LoL. That's what you wanted to say, right?
By reading this signature you agree to not disagree with the post you just read.
Oh.
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Was quite proud of the fact that she could go to her sorority's formal, get completely trashed, and STILL kick the asses of the guys in her dorm after she returned at 2 AM.
:)
Drunken gaming was VERY common at school.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
from the horses mouth. asp?Rep ort=93&Section=ReportLevel1&Field=Level1ID&ID= 400
http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/reports
70% of respondants reported playing games 'at least once in a while'
yeah, so everyone who picks up a controller for a quick try at nfl blitz or GTA or DOOM -OR- solitaire or a flash web game once every couple weeks is a 'gamer'.
trust me, there are still all sorts of stereotypical superdorks over here in computer gaming land. but sure, if you include casual gamers, you get a prettier picture.
i'm sure if they delved at all into the people who play for even 5-10 hours a week they'd seem some reinforcement of the stereotype.
you know something is fishy when the study shows that more women than men play games. which isn't a slam on any gamers - but more an indication that we're talking about two different types of gamers.
as gamers, we know the stereotype is the PRG nut, or FPS fanatic who sits alone in a dark room, skipping classes, likely with an elaborate online social life. but here, they're trying to sweep that away by saying that yes, people like hearts and solitaire and golden tee golf too.
maybe the study is just showing that computer gaming isn't a negative thing ( gamers study just as much as non gamers, again, remember their definition of 'gamer') - but the 'journalists' are reporting it without any understanding of games, gamers, or the study. which i guess shouldn't be a surprise really.
what shlock.
// "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
from the gimme-my-pringles-and-mtn-dew-and-turn- of -the-lights dept.
Play that funky music white boy!
The next door neighbor boy spends his average summer day inside about 4 hours playing video games. He also spends a substantial amount of his allowance and money I give him to wash my car on video games. To top it off, he spends a good portion of his time thinking about video games, talking about video games, and buying/trying out video games.
In my day, we would blow an allowance in an arcade, but it just seems kids spend a lot more money and invest a lot more time into them nowadays.
In part, I think it accounts for the decline in event sales. (Termed Arena events) Kids just aren't interested as much in live action / interaction anymore. This contrasts to my childhood where going to play a video game was just that, GOING to play. Video arcades at least allowed interactions, walking, standing, and well... an event. What is eventfull about sitting on your bed?
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
It's a shame that priestly vocations have been so vilified, when many of these young "geeks" might thrive in an intellectual, all male, celibate atmosphere. I know I do my part, whenever I hear of a "LAND" party near my parish, I stop by with flyers advertising the local Mass. Sometimes I even bring in a young priest who "cut his teeth" on games like Asteroids or Space Invaders, who can better relate to these gamers.
A. Rightmann
Being a college student, and having spent two years in dorm life, I can tell you it's a rarity not to see a came console in most people's rooms, be they jock, geek, or otherwise. The most commonly played titles are sports games, mostly Madden 200X and NBA games. Bond and Mario Kart were the N64 games. Fighters are popular, but you only really saw various iterations of Mortal Kombat. I never really saw any of the female population playing console games, but quite a few enjoyed PC games like The Sims, Rollercoaster Tycoon, and simple puzzle games like Snood (which tookover everyone's life during exam week).
-- From my Best Friend (Written to me over ICQ): "i was gonna go to a party...but i had to reinstall windows"
If you walk into my room you'll find monitors, cases and parts all over. I don't know a single person at my school who knows half as much about video games as I do.
Meanwhile, I was the president of my junior class, and during my relationship with a very *hot* and certainly not geeky girlfriend, I had to be pretty damn careful because other girls seemed to be trying to ruin our relationship (but don't we all *think* that). All this, and the only nights I spend out are with my girlfriend and with my silicon friends. And yes, I have plenty of other friends, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten where I am now.
I've seen plenty of people balance these out. And I'm not including the people with an xbox and an n64, I'm talking about the kids who brag about their graphics cards. I admit the two conflict. During my relationship I came to a point where I decided, "You know what, I haven't been playing enough video games" and so I would stay up a couple of hours later after spending the night with her. Certainly there are the couple that feel awkward away from the flickering screen, but I've known that's a horrible generality for years
//"It takes less time to play a few games than to go downtown or see a movie with your friends. It's easier to meet them online and shoot at them," McNulty says, chuckling."//
.. doesn't half the fun of going to movies exist in hanging out and TALKING FACE to FACE with friends? Communication is 90% NON-VERBAL. You don't get that dynamic "chatting online" during a freakin' game. It's impossible.
Uh, excuse me
This leads to closet/anti-social behaviour and anti-community bents that are so prevelant in our fractured society. When's the last time anyone had a "block party?"
are exactly that and nothing more, gamers..
naturally, people want to get lay...
Hey golfer golfer ... hey golfer golfer ... SWING! golfer golfer...
... sorry. I know it's off-topic, but if you've heard the clip, it's funny as hell.
Almost everyone at my college plays counterstrike. I suppose that as soon as it reaches a certain penetration, it becomes a social norm.
Sidenote: Clarissa says it has nothing to do with any desire to challenge ourselves. They're games and they're fun, damnit.
This may be off-topic. But I think it's interesting to know what games the gamers prefer. My list is limited to console titles to keep it fair...
1. Grand Theft Auto 3 + Vice City (PS2/PC)
2. Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World (SNES)
3. Perfect Dark (N64)
4. Goldeneye (N64)
5. Gran Turismo 3 (2, 1) (PS2/PS1)
Okay, you may disagree with me. I like Halo, but I don't like it more than these games. These are just my all-time favorites that I still pick up fairly regularly.
Obviously you've never read Slashdot.
Easy, a computer geek is someone who makes computers their hobby.
However the article does a lot to enhance the "gamers are geeks" sterotype.
Don't belive me? Look at the kid in the picture.
A geek is a person who understands his computer and probably does his own repairs and upgrades.
Anybody can swing a hammer, but that doesn't make them a carpenter.
The guy who got through out of my university, who shouted (I swear this is true) "You can't throw me out! I'm a wizard!"
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Hmmm, I don't know how to react to that one... I don't think seminary is quite the right word for it, but yes, many would thrive in that atmosphere. I probably would be better off there, but then there's %0 chance of finding someone, as opposed to the %0.00005 chance I have now.
The geek/gamer revolution is really incredible, and an insane (probably not isolated) case of what happens when teen gamers grow up can be found in the evolution of the (recently troubled! hosting issues) tribalwar.com forum community.
This largely teen/early twenties group of gamers started off like any other gaming community, but they just blasted off from there. The LAN's these guys have organized have had 200-300 attendees, and they ALL KNOW EACH OTHER! Some of these kids are growing up, getting good jobs, and they're all helping each other out, staying in touch. They go out for a night of clubbing in New York -- and they bring their digital cameras to document it, and they post their pictures on the forums for others to live vicarously through them. "Pics or it didn't happen" has become a mantra there.
They help each other find apartments, sometimes even jobs, they room together, and they have LAN's whenever the urge arises.
An interesting example: one member of the TW community grew up and joined the Navy. With all of the money he's been saving, he was able to buy a beachfront house and property in the Florida Keys, all while being a 'internet geek'. He grew up, got responsible, and has more girls than he can handle (pics or it didn't happen) -- and he's a gamer geek. He's on the forums, he's playing the games. And he opened his house to ANYONE in the game community that could make it down to Florida, for a massive "Beach Party Extravaganza".
From the 35-year-old dude who wielded a claymore as UVALAN's "Security guard" (CF I think), to the people that proudly post pictures of their brand new BMW's, houses, chic 4-star restaurants, and children -- this is a community with a great proportion of thriving, economically stable, responsible people, who also happen to be part of a massive gaming subculture.
At what point do these people stop being "geeks"? At what point does the gaming "subculture" stop being "sub"?
Yup - I'm a geek. Pale, obessesed and anti-social. I don't like playing video games. Does that make me an outcast from the geek fraternity?
Simple rules for playing computer games:
- If you can't write it yourself, spend time learning how instead of wasting your life playing.
- Now that you CAN write it yourself, do it. It's more satisfying.
- If you can write video games, decide if you really want to engineer them, or something else.
- Assuming that you have written the game, play it until you get bored.
My preference has been "something else". Some like to write games and I won't hold it against them.
Real "geeks" don't have enough time to mess around actually PLAYING these things. Well, maybe they do, and I tip my hat, because I don't.
Ratboy.
Just another "Cubible(sic) Joe" 2 17 3061
Don't tell me no one caught actress Sally Field telling Jay Leno last night that she has to strictly limit her time playing Zelda to keep it from getting out of hand. She went on to say that she'd played Zelda first on the "Nintendo" and now on "the Cube".
All geeks, indeed! Hrmmph!
"We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." --The American President (20.1.2009)
Which is why it (mildly) bugged me that the headlines for this study's results said something like "Surprising Facts About Gamers." Why should this be surprising? It's only those who never lost their narrow view of what these games are about and who plays them who are surprised - anyone who plays the games, reads about them, or looks at the people in EB could tell you that there's no one subculture surrounding them. Yes, perhaps the hardcore gamer still mostly fits the picture, but why should the extreme examples define the majority? With games moving into the mainstream in a huge way, it's damaging to the industry's and the individual gamer's image to allow these ignorant stereotypes to be perpetuated.
Just my $.02 + karma bonus. Now I'll be thinking about Jedi Knight II all day until I can get home and play it...
Was that out loud?
obligatory penny-arcade link
What is eventfull about sitting on your bed?
Depends on who is sitting there beside you.
You will never "find" time for anything. You must "make" it.
Yeah, you young whippersnappers. We didn't have your on-line games and 64-bit graphics. We had crappy, pixelated Intellivision where all the sports games only had two teams; Red and Blue.
That's the way it was and we LIKED IT!!!
Paranoia means having all the facts. ~William S. Burroughs
After reading this, all i could think was "who cares?". So there are nerdy geeks trapped in thier mom's basement obsessed with whatever game of the week. I'm a geek. I've also been out in the world talking and socializing with "real" people. You know what? People are boring(at least in rural Canada). Same stoooopid conversations about hockey and mad cow disease. I'd rather be at home reading whatever obscure text tickles my fancy that week. Maybe when the world is a more interesting place I'll come out of my hole.
Is this some kind of perverse Onion article gone legit? Maybe CNN could do a "Not All Old People are Angry Can-Wielding Geezers" article and see how well that goes over with the mass audience. Grr.
Monster Zero is the reason we cannot live on the surface, but must live forever live underground like this.
WOW! 60% of women surveyed play games? I would give my left nut, well, probably not, but would really really like to meet a girl (women actually) that loves to play Counter-Strike. I would fall in love then.
I figure that they interviewed Internet junkies or the "typical gamer" which is not interesting to the opposite sex
Nonsense, everybody will put their game on pause for a shag. Most "hardcore" gamers have a low self esteem, so they can't be bothered to go out to get pist and try to pick up some birds. The feeling of rejection doesn't weigh up to the feeling of shooting out some monsters guts.
Aren't nothin but a bunch of pixel-pushers. Go out side and breath some fresh air!! :)
"It's not taking the place of studying; nor is it taking away from other activities,"
This has got to be wrong. Our time is finite. *Anything* that you do that takes up time means less time left over for the other stuff.
Either that or they've found a way to increase the number of hours in the day. Can I have some of that please?
My Karma: ran over your Dogma
StrawberryFrog
Just because you're by yourself doesn't mean you're thinking independently, or at all. As far as I can see, the two categories are unrelated.
It's odd to read so many people using the word "gamers" when it means something different to so many people.
When I hear the term gamers, I think of boardgamers (as in Spielboy.com).
Other people think of RPG gamers; others think of MMORPG gamers; and still others think of FPS gamers.
-nd
Why is it that I cant go to a large LAN party these days without hearing "I dont know anything about computers, I just play counter-strike". A serious quote from the dumb jock sitting next to me at the last major LAN Party I attended.
I dont know what it is about counter-strike players, because you dont see it at all really with other game players like Q3 or UT2k3, but the new breed of CS gamers are complete fucking idiots. Jocks that saw a friend laying down AWP rounds in Dust and thought it would be l33t to get in on the action on their integrated-video-P2-Compaq-o-rama. I swear to god if it wasnt for the fact that the Half-Life engine will run on a 133MHz toaster this wouldnt be a problem.
Go back to football throwing, head bashing, mindless sports games and get the f*ck out of my LAN Party.
Im dreaming ofa big bndwdth, That can resist the
There's nothing wrong with being a lone wolf... as long as it doesn't go too far.
Lots of people have personality traits of one type or another... it is only when it interferes with functioning (ie. leads to arrest, health problems, etc) that it becomes classified as a frank disorder. Personality disorders are considered Axis-II in the DSM-IV manual of psychiatric disorders. (axis I disorders would be schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc).
For a fair list of personality disorders and some of their characteristics, check this link: info about personality disorders
Probably lots of geeks have traits of schizoid or schizotypal personalities, and maintain high-functioning, productive careers. By definition, these individuals do not have a personality disorder... only a trait or tendency.
I'd bet few geeks truly have outright antisocial personality disorder (Check out the antisocial link)... doesn't sound like too many geeks I know. It stands to reason that most geeks are smart enough to figure out that getting your ass kicked and getting arrested sucks. Ergo, most geeks are probably not "antisocials" in the true sense of the word... either that, or they learn to sublimate those impulses into other activities.
Disorder is all a question of how big a problem your personality is causing you. If there's no problem (apart from a slightly misanthropic attitude), there's no disorder.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
How about chats, how about culteral diversity? I've met tons of people in "real life" from online. Some gamers, some chatters, etc etc.
Heck, I've learned tons about other countries from the "online experience" that I would never have known. When I travel, if I run near somebody who I know online I might just arrange to stop and visit.
Now, some people may use the 'net to hide because a veil on anonymity, but many of us use it to find - besides fresh meaty noobs for the slaughter - people with similar interests.
No, I don't go down to the nearest gym or basketball court and meet people. Those things don't interest me (other recreation such as blading does, but most of that is solo). Meeting people online gives me a little social interaction - and lets me meet a diverse range of people. When it comes to people I do meet in real life, I know a bit more about them, and know that we at least have some common interests.
Where would you rather meet somebody... in a bar pissed out of his/her mind, or in a chatroom or online game session? Not everybody hides who they are... you'd be surprised at the amount who are quite more open online, which makes meeting them much better than the bar/etc.
I've seen several food advertisements--fast food, pizza, soda, etc, in which a bunch of cool dudes are hanging out playing videogames while scarfing down whatever product is being advertised.
For the advertisers, this targets their ads to people who play videogames. But on the other hand, it portrays gaming as a social pasttime of attractive, popular people.
This is something that has bothered me...well, barely bothered me, but bothered nonetheless. Why is it that almost every female video game character is, in some way, a sex object? I'd be perfectly content with playing a game that had, as a main character, a female that didn't have a rack bigger than her head. Tomb Raider immediately comes to mind.
OK, maybe a sorceress in Diablo qualifies, but you hardly get a good view of the character... Blizzard can afford to make the character unattractive because she's too small to matter. Seriously, when was the last time you played a game that had a male main character that, in another situation (ie: not shooting at bad guys), would be a sex object?
IWARS.
People, in general, disappoint me. Politicians even more so.
Stereotypes are there because they are perceived, whether the perceptions are actually accurate is another question. I'm the chick who hides in the kitchen at parties, (first grab at food and the company of those creative enough to be putting things together and not just consuming the results.)Not all non-geeks are living it up. They have hobbies, too, they have everyday obsessions. I've asked.
I'm not really a geek. Do i have an active social life? Yes, although it probably isn't 'active' in the college coed sense. Do i game? yes, occasionally, although see above re: college coed. I'm just not as into the social games, EITHER kind, and it would never occur to me to pay for an online group game. My point is that i agree with Saige: 'social' needs to be a little more clearly defined here. (i can hear bill watterson of Calvin and Hobbes fame... 'Define "well adjusted."')
For me, a lot of my social does get done online. Group conversations (not random chatrooms), posting boards, things like that, because that's where my mobility lies. I do get out, i do meet people, but i don't go to bars and clubs like my work peers do. I do have an S/O and we did meet in a bookstore. (A science fiction bookstore. Technically, right outside a science fiction bookstore.)
I think we had this discussion somewhere about the stereotype against girls playing pinball, too. There are girls who hide in basements reading comic books and playing computer games and there are some of them who are fantastic and some of them who aren't. Not all girl geeks are alike, either. Stereotypes by nature only describe a spectrum, not an individual (that's a generalisation again. *sigh*) Adding 'girl' to a label might shock some people, but it won't shock girls, because we know that we're people, and that we do things. Some girls play football, some girls play rugby (and tend to be even tougher than the girls who play football, in my opinion, and i mean BOTH kinds of football) some girls can sew renaissance costumes and then wear them to beat the tar out of some unfortunate SCAdian, some girls play video games. some do all or none of the above. (My rugby days are over.) The world works that way.
So i see no reason why the geek world should work any differently, namely why it should consist, well, completely of geeks. There isn't some threshold at which point the robot trundles up and stamps your forehead with the secret seal- (and if it were, i wouldn't tell you what the threshold was it was or what the seal looked like, although i will say that it's only visible by the light of a monitor, a flexible worklamp, or a librarian's special geekreader lenses) so while the rest of the world gasps in shock, the geeks will peacefully keep on with what they were doing. Including the girls.
"I'd say 'Have a good time,' but arson is still illegal.
its way too brigh in her, I cant see teh scree
...two anime ("Serial Experiment Lain" and "Legend of Black Heaven") that have scenes were a mother is sitting down and playing a Playstation with her young son. We need more parents actually playing video games with their children, sharing in the experience with them, and offering their point of view. This needs to be done the very first day that a game console is brought into the home. It needs to be done at least once a week or so. You must engage yourself in your child's life in order to know them.
I have seen far too many people using a game console as a surrogate babysitter and never, ever playing with their children. These people are irresponsible parents. There are far too many.
Everyone who uses stereotypes are racist, bigoted, neo-Nazis!
(If you don't get the irony, go back to school.)
Right on! As we all know, all generalizations are false.
That's because all the games on consoles are mindless drivel that requires about as many braincells as watching sports.
Unfortunately, playing more complex games currently requires significant computer skills as well as a level of interest sufficient to validate continual hardware spending. We won't see true casual gamers until consoles finally catch up to PC games in terms of complexity. I was a somewhat serious gamer for much of my time as an undergrad but since then I've lapsed because I'm no longer willing to blow money on largely useless hardware. I'd like to be a casual gamer, but I won't until I can play something like CounterStrike online, with a mouse and keyboard, for four years on a $300 console.
I assume the gaming industry doesn't give a fuck about people like me because they're too busy cat-fighting and circle-jerking but I suspect when one of them clues in casual gamers will be a major industry.
Heh... you said "dicktion"... heh...
How about chats, how about culteral diversity? I've met tons of people in "real life" from online. Some gamers, some chatters, etc etc.
How about them? It's nice that we have this diversity and tools to access them.
Now, some people may use the 'net to hide because a veil on anonymity, but many of us use it to find - besides fresh meaty noobs for the slaughter - people with similar interests.
Certainly, not everybody hides in the net, and not everyone is a predator. I hope not. But I think it's not a far fetched guess that most people use psuedonames. I may give out where I live to someone I meet in real life depending on how I "perceive" the person, but rarely on the net. The point? Trust. It's a different model and approach. We wouldn't have messages to warn people (especially kids) about giving out information unless we had a problem now would we?
Meeting people online gives me a little social interaction - and lets me meet a diverse range of people.
For some meeting people online is fine. Meeting them in life is great. You've used the internet as a tool to "broaden your horizons" and "meet new people". I'm quite happy for you.
Had I made this post to make you think my idea was to somehow eliminate the Internet (cause you know I have such power), or to express my doubt in humanity (since slashdot is such a good replacement for psychiatric help), it isn't. It's only to bring up the major issues that are outstanding, and in my experience are the predominant behaviors that will "grow up" later to become problems.
Why bring it up? Maybe I want to "bring you down" with all this "doom and gloom". Maybe I want to find out if anyone has any sources, information, insight about organizations, projects, research being done to address it. Atleast find out if I'm the only one seeing this, or if others concur.
Where would you rather meet somebody... in a bar pissed out of his/her mind, or in a chatroom or online game session?
People I meet in a bar pissed drunk I may be inclined to meet more often in a bar pissed drunk. Theres a good chance I may want to talk to them online for convenience sake too. People I meet in chat/games I may be more inclined to meet more often in chat/game. It may be a rare occurence that I may want to meet them in real.
Call me cautious or paranoid or snub. Call it whatever you will but I don't think its uncommon.
BTW, I like the fact that your email address isn't shown and your website has no information about you, yet.
"Last one in is a rotten goblin!" - Kepp
but the image of a nerdy guy who spends all day in a dimly lit room blowing up computer-generated bad guys is off base
I heard the Oval Office is very well lit, and the computer-generated "bad guys" are now so realistic its hard to tell the difference between them and real people.
*rimshot*
Why are you knocking Ray Charles? The man plays piano without his eyes. You probably can't play piano with your overrated hand-eye coordination. I'm certain that if there was a way to convert different areas of a game screen into audio, he'd kick your ass at hockey.
Since you are severely analogy-challenged, perhaps you should stick to simpler language like, "all of them have poor hand-eye coordination."
But this is /.--a place where some geeks act out on their desire to be cool.
Laws are for people with no friends.
Ironically, that was sarcasm.
...to know that the trash-talking enemy I just blew up was probably wearing Abercrombie.
I knew this already -- in fact, most online gamers are 6'2" 250# and seasoned kenpo masters who will not hesitate to track people down at their houses and kick their asses.
Well -- that's what they say when they lose, anyway.
That was short, but pointless...
I am so not a "gamer". I am not a geek at all. I couldn't write code to save my life. I can write some HTML, but nothing extravagant. I do work at a bank all day and I like nothing more than to go home, turn on Halo and shoot some people/aliens in the head and blow stuff up. I have spent entire weekends playing games never seeing the light of day or answering the phone, but I am not anti-social. You just need time away from everyone and there is nothing wrong with that. Not sure why it's coming as a big surprise that um, yes, women game (and read Dragonlance and The Forgotten Realms instead of Cosmo and Allure everyday. Oh, and yes, some of us do like pr0n too...) and not all people who spend time gaming either on a console or PC are reclusive and are loser geeks with no lives. Idiots. Maybe I will stop reading CNN and just rely on Us Magazine for all my news. I can find out what spa Brad and Jennifer like these days.........
I am neither fat not thin. I used to be a U.S. Marine up until last year. I read slashdot. I run Linux(yes I compile my own kernels), OS X, and windows. I am happily married w/ 2 kids. I am politically conservative but not necessarily a Republican. I go to church. I don't have a degree but I graduated high school. I would like to think I don't fit the gamer/geek steriotype and I like it that way.
S/F
Haven't you ever played drinking Halo??? Every time you die you have to have a shot. It gets very interesting after the first game.
I think a lot of us here are misusing the word "antisocial." Antisocial generally refers to a person who performs criminal activities (usually violent), whereas an "unsocial" person shuns other people.
There is a difference between a hardcore gamer and an addicted gamer. There are people who live for games and their jobs are usually good enough to provide enough money to pay the rent, food and their subscription.
You may have met them if you played Everquest, Asheron's Call, Anarchy Online, Ultima Online, Planetside, Star Wars Galaxies, et al. I have met many people who do nothing but play games, they get up in the morning, eat cereal while the computer is booting up (some don't log out), from then on they only get up to go to the bathroom or get more food, then late at night they fall asleep. Some try to hold down McJobs (sadly they work the schedule around the time when they want to play).
Not all are the nerdy types, majority are just average folks who are either unhappy with the life they have or found a better one online.
All these academics can analyze things to death, but the addicted gamers are not the ones who will sit around and answer their silly surveys, they have bigger and better things to kill in the game.
That was really it....
Loved the reply.
http://use.perl.org
Stupid story, who cares, if you find something in life you enjoy that doesn't hurt other people I say more power to you. It is only the bitter dystopians that I have a problem with. Enjoy games, LAN parties, pen and paper RPGs, whatever I don't see why it is less valid than having fun going to see tall men throw a round ball in a hoop...
Onward to the Aether Sphere!
Many people are uncomfortable with the idea of being on their own. Put them in a room by themselves, and they get restless and bored. I think most of these people can't deal with the idea that some people can entertain themselves in this situation (read a book, play a video game, whatever) and they see introverts as people that must be defective in some way. When the news media focuses on people that are both antisocial and introverts (Ted Kaczynski for example), people start to think anyone that's introverted must be antisocial. This explains why people freak out about the possibility of their kid falling into the "gamer" stereotype.
Being an introvert doesn't mean you don't like the company of other people - what it does mean is you have the ability to work independently, and may find that interacting with other people (especially those you don't know well) requires a lot of energy and doesn't come naturally. Of course, many worthwhile/fun activities aren't easy to do. There is nothing wrong with this, even if popular (usa) culture says you have to be an extravert.
Remember the days when Republicans were the party of fiscal responsibility?
Today it is more likely that the third that don't play games are the geeks and not the others. The same way, nowadays it seems that the real freaks are those who dont appear freaks.
__
Sig: Marine Stock Photos
that slashdot needs a 'no shit' topic. This amazes me not. And what is this about parent groups and the media spreading FUD? Never!
Please don't hurts us, we never trolls master.
====
Crudely Drawn Games
I've played a MUD (GemStone III) for about 8 years.
;)
About two years in a met a girl and hung around with her in game, and after 4 or so years, she decided that we should meet and hang out for the week, despite about a 1500-mile distance issue. She was a pretty hardcore player. Definitely consumed 15-20 hours a week of her time (I played about 10-15 in comparison).
Well, went to T.F. Green in Providence to pick her up. Just waiting around... holding up a sign with her last name on it. Then all of a sudden some attractive, blonde, Britney Spears lookalike comes up to me and hugs me shouting "Rob" quite happily.
Yeah, I'd say that the stereotype is pretty off-base!
----- ----- -----
You really ment to submit was 640K.
Maybe you should to get another degree inorder to earnu more. You then might be able to start earning 32MBs of RAM!
They lie, you mean to tell me gamers are not like what penny-arcade and countless web sites prove?
Far as I can tell they all have an IQ less then 10, are easly amused by comics that subsitues wit with cursing, belive and quote any drivel from said site/comic, are degrading the English language, etc.
I don't think they will ever interact with humans. They would rather spending what ever "free" time they have away from sitting on their fat asses playing games by sitting a a computer, posting intelligible drivel which revoves around system flame wars, who has the best system their daddy can by them, p0rn, boosting their low self-esteem by insulting others, etc then get up off their asses and act social.
This whole article is FUD....
Oh, now I get it.
Fuck You
Do you play videogames?
1. Yes
2. No
Are you a big huge dork?
1. Yes
2. No
C'mon, how valid do you think this survey is?
i personally own 3 ataris (2600s), a c64 (whose monitor serves nicely as my tv and probably has a better, albeit small, picture than most hdtvs nowadays), game gear, gba, gba sp, dreamcast, ps1, ps2, gamecube, personal pc, laptop, and just got my parents to buy back my old nes that i sold to someone years ago.
to put it ALL in perspective: I'm a 23 year old woman. So where does that leave me? It still puts me in a minority, in fact a rather small minority in these parts, and in this minority I usually am completely pre-judged. I also code, and I've sold electronics in the past as well, and do things that aren't 'usually what girls do'. What *is* usual about what females do? (aside from be moody)... IMO there is nothing unusual about what I do. I just happen to be female instead of male. And it's nice to be a minority, especially when it comes to a Soul Calibur 2 tournament. ;)
"But I can't get an ocean that's deep enough for my day..." ~The Frames, "Fitzcarraldo"
I mean think about it.
Go back just even a hundred years ago, and all the talk is about: "He spends all his time with a book under his nose."
Then, we see the rise of: "Those damn kids, all they care about is that radio." **
And eventually: "You need to get out more, quit watching that damned TV all day."
And now: "He plays video games all the time. He is SO weird, and anti-social."
It just seems to me that any sort of entertainment/interaction that isn't a part of the majority form of said activity gets given the thumbs down out of hand by the general consensus.
On a side note, I think what is really interesting is that the current media sources are willing to blame the user of this product; but for other possibly addictive activities the blame is on the supplier. Smokers are demonized, but when a large cash sum is offered it is no longer their fault; they had been manipulated by the companies. Alcoholics were enticed by the snazzy Ads showing people enjoying themselves and their sexy naked bodies that guaranteed you a shot at Britney, its not really their fault. Hell, even the current US War on (some) Drugs penalizes the supplier more than the user.
You do know how much $$$ the gaming industry has under its belt, right? No? Please do the google for me then, too tired myself.
It just seems that the activities that have no definite chemical/physical drawback are the ones that get sent to the "Get outside more you freak" bin. The same bin that says (I kid you not) "I don't like you because of what you do. You should come hang out in my area, and do what I do."
** Ok, I guess about that one. I didn't live in a time where radio was the only media outlet, and haven't had any exposure to anti-radio fountain-heads. Maybe the Reverend in Footloose counts tho.
-- I am become sig, destroyer of posts.
n/t
the computer is online
i am not at it
what a waste of ressources
CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Roughly two-thirds of college students read slashdot, but the image of a nerdy guy who spends all day in a dimly lit room typing first-posts and old in-jokes is off base, according to a new study.
College slashdotters are not necessarily male -- or anti-social hermits. And while about a third of those surveyed admitted reading slashdot during class, it generally doesn't conflict with their studies, says the researcher who conducted the survey for the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
"It's not taking the place of studying; nor is it taking away from other activities," says researcher Steve Jones, chairman of communications department at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "What they seem to have done is incorporated slashdotting into a very multitask-oriented lifestyle."
In addition to the survey data, Jones drew his conclusion from observations he and fellow researchers made while watching students in college computer labs -- many of them writing papers, then taking short breaks to read slashdot and send online messages to friends.
Often, he says, groups of students stop to look at the comments their friends are writing.
"What we found is that it's a very social activity," Jones says.
The survey, released Sunday, was compiled from questionnaires completed last year by 1,162 college students on 27 campuses nationwide. Its results have a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Among other things, surveyors found that 65 percent of those who responded were regular or occasional slashdot readers. Most said they read in their rooms or parents' homes.
Nearly half said slashdotting keeps them from studying "some" or "a lot" -- though their study habits matched closely with those reported by college students in general, Jones said.
"There's this stereotype of slashdot readers wasting time, goofing off, that really isn't valid," says Marcia Grabowecky, a Northwestern University psychologist who has studied visual perception in humans, including those who read slashdot.
Reading slashdot is so common for this age group, it's almost second nature, Jones says. "It's common maybe in a way USENET was years ago," he says.
Nearly 70 percent of those questioned said they were in elementary school when they first heard about the site. By junior high and high school, about half said they had visited at least once, and 43 percent said they had an account there.
David McNulty, a 19-year-old computer science major at the University of Maine, started reading slashdot at age 5. He now hosts slashdotter parties and joins online discussions with people who live across the world.
McNulty says he stopped reading during his first semester because he was worried it would hurt his grades, but he found that his social life suffered.
He started reading again and says it hasn't affected his studies.
"It takes less time to read a few stories than to go downtown or see a movie with your friends. It's easier to meet them online and write with them," McNulty says, chuckling.
The survey also found that, while reading slashdot has a reputation as a male-dominated pastime, women are avid... uhm... I'd better stop now.
You know, Microsoft's street address also says a lot about their mentality.
it said, that women buy more CORN then men... ;)
the computer is online
i am not at it
what a waste of ressources
Bravo. No questions. Pure genius. -mb.