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Hollywood's Depiction of Gamers Getting Better?
Wired is reporting on the Hollywood depiction of games and gamers, and how it has improved (or not) over the years. From the article: "... has Hollywood finally figured out how to realistically depict gaming culture? For years, they've been achingly bad at it. Gamers have long been accustomed to seeing incredibly weird, off-key portrayals in TV and movies. The trouble began with the first wave of TV ads for video games. They'd inevitably portray the player as a spastic in mid-seizure, flailing away on a joystick while jumping and twitching."
I hope I didn't brain my damage.
I don't watch much tv or movies, I prefer games. I do sometimes twitch though.
The days of the digital watch are numbered.
With the revolution wont people be holding their remote, jumping and flailing? ;p
Oh crap, I'm on fire again.
I absolutely loved that scene... in fact, the whole movie seemed to be embedded with references to video games and computer culture: they worked at an electronics store, played video games, stole CD-Rs, sold things on e-bay... And yeah, Andy does have a sweet video game chair. I want that chair.
Real_men_don't_need_spacebars.
They'd inevitably portray the player as a spastic in mid-seizure, flailing away on a joystick while jumping and twitching.
Wait wait wait....are the slashdot editors telling us that that isn't normal? Crap.
Death by snoo-snoo!
When an association is made in the media between two groups such as these, the real question is:
Who's more insulted?
None better gamers than Shaun and his buddy Ed!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365748/
Along with other great aspects about the writing and acting in "The O.C.", the various scenes in which the main characters are playing video games are pretty well done, very similar to what the author of this article described in "The 40-year old virgin".
Tangential mini-review: While the promos for "The O.C." make it out to be extremely shallow typical soap-opera drivel, the writing, acting, and characters are great. So is the show's self-deprecating sense of humor, as it pokes fun at the characters' obsession with a show called "The Valley", which is a parody of "The O.C." itself.
Moderator hint: a comment is neither "Flamebait" nor "Troll" if it is true.
Are Hollywood games getting better? Or is it games are getting worse in genearl and getting as bad as hollywood games? Or a third option is: Games are getting worse, and hollywood games are getting slightly better, and starting to meet each other in an equilibrium of sukiness
When you start at the bottom the only place you can go is up...
Si Hoc Legere Scis Nimium Eruditionis Habes
I don't know that having somebody sitting quite still staring at a screen makes for compelling viewing. Normally the only people who twitch are the ones that don't often play games. Seems to me the more you play the more zombielike you get. Maybe it is interesting in an art house kind of way but since when were hollywood interested in making art house?
I kind of enjoy the hilarity of the hollywood depiction though. I never go to see movies with this type of subject matter thinking I'm going to get a serious journey in the mystical world of gaming anyway.
For me, gaming movies hit a pinnicale when The Wizard (1989) was released.
someone with the name c0d3h4x0r is recommending the O.C. to slashdot.
god help us all@#%@#%$@# END^OF CARRIER
I think that it became most clear to me that filmmakers "understood" video games during the scene introducing Mike Teevee in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. If I caught it right, Mike was playing a modern 3D first-person shooter that looked like Doom 3; and he was playing this on something that looked like an Atari 2600.
And that, my friends, is called cannibalism. Wait -- I mean that that, my friends, seemed an intentional irony, suggesting that there were gamers in the crew. Who would slip such a reference in, but someone with a deep and possibly unhealthy appreciation of video games?
__________
www.dejobaan.com - Deep and possibly unhealthy appreciation of video games.
We're indie. We're working on our 14th game.
I think Hollywood has had its moments where gamers were portrayed in an appropriate light. Take The Wizard for example. What better movie is there where a gamer takes his skills all the way to the top, not to mention along the way being jealous of other mens hardware.... Ooooh damn do I miss the powerglove =P~
How about their representation of games .
,only pushing right on the controller and holding down/madly whacking a button . ..
I must save the fair gnome princes Gorgonela from the stoat palace , wherein lies the Evil Stoat king Rover .
I must fight the endless armies of Snorg
My reward for this achievement will be a high score slightly larger than the last time
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
Swingers with Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau had a great scene where a few of the main characters were playing a Genesis hockey game before they went out clubbing.
"Do the trick to make their heads bleed"
I'm sure some people would agree with me when I say that Hollywood is actually redefining the general view of video gamers. For example, a good science fiction movie is almost guaranteed to have a video game released with it. Even television has ascended to such a level of 'interactive media' with shows and mini-series like Lost, which feed upon human interaction with mysterious websites to generate intrigue and hype.
In a sense we're playing the game before we're even buying it.
Sigs are for Terrorists.
It's so bad. Now if ONLY someone would put this on DVD or release a .torrent...
"has Hollywood finally figured out how to realistically depict gaming culture?"
Anyone who thinks this is a recent trend needs to check out what I call the "Video Hockey Trilogy." The movies "Swingers," "Beautiful Girls," and "Chasing Amy" all had pretty prominent scenes where main characters in the movie sat around and played video hockey. These weren't the guys from "War Games" or "Cloak and Dagger." They were just normal people who enjoyed playing hockey on the Genesis ("Beautiful Girls" MIGHT have been an SNES). They also played it pretty realistically. Nobody looked like they were having seizures except for a character from "Swingers." The seizure like movements there were in line with what you would expect from the character.
The O.C isn't great. The O.C is the equivalent of junk food at best. Acceptable from time to time but only a tasteless person wouldn't get tired of it very quickly.
I hope you do realize that you've just described about half the side-scrolling games from the 2D era, right?
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
take a cue from some "funny" videos that are released from time to time on joke websites, in which gamers are taped without their knowledge while playing...
I remember one example of a kid playing online multiplayer Halo2 with the headset and going into game-rage, cursing into his headset, throwing his controller on the ground, just because he was getting pwn3d repeatedly.
Here is a fairly accurate portrayal...
No . next question.
Ok, more reference, check Uwe Bowell movies, the next generation of game movies and the Doom movie, hollywood still has the idea that gamers are teenagers who use "Xtreme" as an adjective and consume beer and pizza (or other stimulants) instead of eating and sleeping. I think they got us mixed up with the surfers and skateboard stereotypes. If they depict a gamer in a movie (not just in one stupid scene), it will probably be under those characteristics. (check the ngage and block buster ads for further reference)
Go ahead MOD my day!
More opinions here
"The trouble began with the first wave of TV ads for video games. They'd inevitably portray the player as a spastic in mid-seizure, flailing away on a joystick while jumping and twitching.""
I think there are two reasons for the change.
First, the game grpahics are much better now -- they can focus on portraying the game itself. Back in the day, they had to convey exciting gameplay by depicting excited gamers.
Second, the market has changed. The industry has changed its primary market from kids and teenagers, to young adults and just plain adults. In terms of movies, I think the entertainment industry is just a little behind the curve -- it wasn't so long ago that Twitchy McJump was the typical gamer.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
Point of order: alcohol is a depressent, not a stimulant.
As to the original topic, does Hollywood depict *anything* accurately?
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
As to the original topic, does Hollywood depict *anything* accurately?
/. post. But through their mystic abilities and the magic of mass media they have been able to reap massive profits from something called Wayne's World.
Of course, Hollywood's average work lacks the credibility and verisimilitude of, say, the average
This calls for more than just your run of the mill +3 dagger!
Free Adam Smith! (Or best offer.)
Hollywood didn't always give us the "spazed" gamer. Anyone remember "The Wizard", where that little kid was a video game ace? Okay, maybe he wasn't exactly normal, but he was a heck of a lot more content at gaming than anything else Hollywood has done.
:)
I align myself with him in a way. When I'm playing a game, I'm not jerking the controller or keyboard towards where my character's going. I talk to myself sometimes when I'm playing, either to comment myself or when something throws me off (very rarely do I even mumble explicitives out loud when I'm playing.)
"The Wizard" wasn't just a movie made about video gaming: think how much the main character contrasted with the tv ads' and other movies' image of the gamer. BTW, the only time I ever spaz out is at DDR