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Gaming As Image Statement
In an editorial entitled Will Anybody Care That You Liked Gaming Before It Was Cool?, GameGirlAdvance editor ClockworkGrue discusses aspects of PSP Glamour, and what it means when gaming devices become sex symbols. From the article: "It's great that gaming can be trendy, and that the 300 pound guy on the train the other day and Paris Hilton are both PSP owners. Maybe now there'll be some demand for game-related clothing that breaks the basement-casual standard?" Update: 04/15 11:13 GMT by Z : To fix broken link.
I don't understand why it is such a revelation that people play video games. Honestly, I don't think this is earth-shattering news. Growing up, my father was a heavy proponent of the "get your ass outside, play sports, and break a limb" philosophy. As a result I am a very athletic. I go to the gym regularly and I play basketball / softball in leagues. However, my father also enjoyed taking me to arcades. He too, liked picking up the occasional video game. We played Parsec and Blast-o on our Texas Instruments game console. As a result, I am involved in a gaming group and I play CS:Source and World of Warcraft. My father comes over my place frequently and we watch sports together. One day, I fired up the PS2 and showed him Madden 2005. He could not believe how far video games have progressed and what is capable now with the technology that is out there. He certainly wasn't any good at the game, but we had FUN playing the game together. ...isn't that what it's all about? Having fun?
Why do gamers hate the activity they love? Why, in the article, did we feel the need to stereotype a gamer as the "300 lb. man sitting on the train". You know folks, there are gamers out there who are probably MORE attractive than Paris Hilton. ...oh yeah, I forgot, attractive female gamers are a myth. My bad.
I understand there are people who sit in front of their computers and play EQ / WoW all day. Hell, I have a friend who is five years out of college, doesn't have a job, but has plenty of time to beat Ocarina of Time for the nth time.
Why are these people (along with the 300lb. man) the community-appointed representatives of the hobby we adore?
Respect It.
It is a natural thing to assume that a video game culture exists. Video games have been amazingly popular since the 80's, and have only grown in popularity since then. What companies haven't figured out is how to penetrate the market.
Want to know why? Companies have no idea what the typical gamer is like. The stereotype has changed so much, it's impossible to get everyone and their dog to like exactly the same thing. Gamers are everything from sweaty perverted nerds (as seen in Dead or Alive 3 commercials), people desperate to be cool (as seen by this link), a bunch of lazy kids (as seen in any commercial you can think of where kid X doesn't want to do homework then suddenly pigs out on pizza product Y), and... well... you get the picture.
What the corporate world doesn't realize is that everyone plays games. You can't get the attention of the 13-year-old sex depraved "gamer" without shunning a few "grrl gamers" and serious adults. Likewise, you're not going to get much love from the adult/retro crowd without sacrificing the interests of "Hal0-Xb0x-R0xx0rz3000" and his buddies in Junior High. Sony and Blockbuster and anybody else that can jump on the bandwagon are trying as hard as they can to fit the "gamer" peg into the square hole, but they don't realize that the "gamer" peg is only one of the pieces out there. And that is why there are so many loyalties and fanboys for every product you can imagine.