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Games As The New Pub
The Guardian Gamesblog has a column up talking about a panel held at the Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival last week. A discussion was held with several folks from the online world development business, where they discussed games as new social playgrounds or pubs. From the article: "In Korea, the gamers play online games together. It's a social replacement. It's a way for non-social people to socialise. They've even started developing games for bored girlfriends of the guys who're playing Starcraft with their mates."
Now if I could only get my girlfriend to play games...
From the post:
It may be a way for non-social people to socialize, if you really want to call it that. But it's hardly, and never will be a social replacement for people who really like to socialize.
I've never really "got" games so I admit a personal bias, but I've never seen any evidence in wave after wave of new technology and new generations of games there is any indication games are a social replacement. I see the same people playing the same games in some variation, but I see no exodus of people-to-people socialization to interaction via gaming.
Yes, there will always be gamers and yes, I see a place for games and gamers, but it's a niche demographic. And, it's probably not worth a lot of investment of time to write games for the girlfriends of the gamers. Either they too like to play games or they don't. They're more likely to be happy finding a good TV show, a good magazine (or a crummy one for that matter), or a new boyfriend.
Gamers have girlfriends now?! Why doesn't anyone tell me these things?!!!
Accept any challenge, No matter the odds.
They've even started developing games for bored girlfriends of the guys who're playing Starcraft with their mates."
a.k.a. "Cheating"
I agree. I always get nervous at the thought of approaching that tall, blonde broad over there. You know, the one busy collecting treasures. Maybe I can induce her interest by offering her a token of my kindness -- perhaps a couple gold coins.
Well, I guess you could draw parallels between games and pubs -- gold will always court a woman :)
For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.
Koreans were the easiest opponent in Starcraft when I played. Today they're probably pretty good. The reason Koreans were the easiest opponent was that they all hung out in gaming pubs. In gaming pubs, you exchange information on what is the best strategy, but seldom does original thought originate from them. You would always fight zergling/muta rushes that were so predictable that it was simple to counter them. Now many people died to this zergling/muta rush because the Korean players had it down to a science. They played a lot, and they really got their strategy down efficient, and that was their downfall when I or any other pro played them.
:) Starcraft(not Broodwar), had a balance that was unique. If a pro squared off against a non-pro, the game would be over far before the third tiered units came onto the field. If a pro squared off against another pro, and there was no mutual respect involved, the one who made the first mistake lost well before tier 3. If a pro squared off against another pro, and one side respected the other, it'd win, unless it made a mistake(The superior economy + defense beats any attack). Finally if both pros squared off against each other, and both gave mutual respect, then the game could really become a tier 3 nightmare. It was very rare for 2 pros meet each other. It was even more rare for 2 pros to meet each other and show respect for each other.
Now you could play someone of another nationality who doesn't have a gaming pub, and you'd have no idea of what to expect because people that don't hang out in gaming pubs tend to wing it and develop their own strategy. Typically people who don't hang out in gaming pubs used strategies that were original but not refined. I can only remember a handful of people in the world that had original strategies that were completely refined.
Thats about it for my post, I'll just conclude with some memories of Starcraft
God spoke to me.
That may be true in Korea, but I don't think that it's true in the US.
* Gamers devote more than triple the amount of time spent playing games each week to exercising or playing sports, volunteering in the community, religious activities, creative endeavors, cultural activities, and reading.
* In total, gamers spend 23.4 hours per week on these activities, compared to 6.8 hours per week playing games.
* Seventy-nine percent of game players of all ages report exercising or playing sports an average of 20 hours a month.
* Forty-five percent of gamers volunteer an average 5.4 hours per month.
* Ninety-three percent of game players also report reading books or daily newspapers on a regular basis, while sixty-two percent consistently attend cultural events, such as concerts, museums, or the theater.
* Fifty percent of gamers are regularly involved in creative activities, such as painting, writing, or playing an instrument. In addition, adult gamers exhibit a high level of interest in current events, with 94 percent following news and current events, and 78 percent reporting that they vote in most of the elections for which they are eligible.
http://www.theesa.com/facts/gamer_data.php
Oh, I know that one. It's played with one ethernet cable and it's called "Plug out, plug in!"
One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say. - Will Duran
This is nothing new. Take your average MUD/MUSH/MUCK/MOO/WHATEVER. Look around it, and you'll find some people playing/involved in plots. Unless it's a really big event, though, you'll find more of them in "bar scenes" or out-of-character areas having conversation.
Although I have to thank the high-end MMORPG operators and gamemasters for creating sparkly, attractive, and perhaps even slightly ADD-inflicting environments. They've attracted enough people that playing online can be considered "a technologically sophisticated social norm" instead of a "creepy internet addiction."
You cannot truly appreciate Dilbert until you read it in the original Klingon.