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Gaming Communities Cause Of TV Ratings Decline?
Bendebecker writes "We all know about the falling popularity of television this season, but Mike Malone of ABC News has a very interesting viewpoint on why this is happening. He seems to think that the growing popularity of online gaming communities (the example he gives is Counter-Strike) are causing the decline, which is particularly noticeable among the young male demographic."
What is this "TV" thing?
Life in Orange County
everyone's just sick of reality tv
slashdot, news for crazed liberal socialist zealots
Lately?
"They redundantly repeated themselves over and over again incessantly without end ad infinitum" -- ibid.
First violent behavior, and now this? When will the madness end?
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In other news, Levi Strauss reported rapidly increasing demand for larger and larger waist sizes of their most popular product, 501 jeans, especially amongst the young male demographic.
In other news, the latest U.S. census figures indicate that young men are choosing to live in their mothers' basements well beyond the college years.
In other news, more and more women complain about a severe shortage of men who can talk about more things than Counter Strike...
> did u see teh story about wathcing less tv??/
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> gota go, homework
Last I checked there weren't millions of people playing CS.
Can't wait for the TV studios to get wind of bittorrent.
I know what the real cause is of falling ratings. These things called books! They capture a potential TV victim for hours without even one advertisement! How fucking dare they. They are stealing money that is ours.
-- taking over the world, we are.
true, but the whole movie lost major points for the sole reason of having peewee "fap fap fap" herman in it...
"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms,
As far as I'm concerned marginalizing such serious computer gaming is just as daft as marginalinzing Wimbeldon, The PGA or the World Cup would be. They're all just "games," and all of them only draw their import from the fact that people give them import.
That's an interesting point. I think that online games have much more import than televised ones, because I can *participate* in the games online. It's entertaining to watch sports, I guess, but online, when the outcome of the game depends on me personally (and my teammates of course), it tends to get my adrenaline going a bit better.
Not many televised sports involve machine guns and rocket launchers, either. That would be pretty cool if they did, though:
Shoom... KA-BLAM!
Announcer: "Oh! And the quarterback is toast! Wait... it looks like a penalty's been called on this play..."
Ref: "Spawn camping, Number 51, Axis... fifteen yard penalty."
Ph-nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
think the author is on the right track, but he's a little late blaming CStrike. Two years ago maybe, but CS is on the decline. Video games as a whole, though, are picking up
As you note, Counterstrike was just an example of this trend, the author cited the sims, another example. On the whole, I am ecstatic about this shift from TV.
I am convinced that the passive nature of television is to a great extent to blame for the laziness of modern society (don't stop feeding your kid soda and candy, give him ritlin and be done with it). Seeing a shift towards a pass-time which requires active thought (and in the case of the mod community, programming) is a thoroughly encouraging.
Who knows, in twenty years, western civ might get back to being a reasonably responsible society! Of course, we'll be a reasonably responsible society with poor grammar, versed in tactics, with an encyclopedic knowledge of firearms, so I'd keep a medpac handy.
"Inattention makes clowns of us all" -Bean
In other news, more and more women complain about a severe shortage of men who can talk about more things than Counter Strike...
Whoo, score! Soon, scifi geeks like myself will become prized commodities on the meat market now that former jocks have turned into pathetic gaming geeks.^-^
Is this a sigs-optional kind of place? 'Cause I am totally down with that if you know what I mean.