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Miyamoto Concerned About Gamer Image Stereotype
kukyfrope writes "In a recent interview with MTV News, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto voiced his concern for the stereotypical image of gamers as kids alone in a dark room. He says that Nintendo wishes to change that image with the Wii, a sentiment made obvious by the wide array of people shown playing Wii in Nintendo's recent promotional videos." From the article: "I think it's time to break free from that stereotypical definition of what a gamer is, because until we do, we'll never truly be part of the national or worldwide culture."
This doesn't seem to be a big problem in Western countries as much as it is in Japan. In America I play games with my friends all the time and we're hardly 'the bottom of the barrel' but here in Japan I've yet to hear something good about people that play games, though huge amounts of people do it, just in secret. But it could also be the way Japanese society works, namely it's a very casted and stereotype producing system.
Gamers in Korea are worshipped as Gods. Why can't all countries be like that? :(
Rather than read an article about an article why not just go directly here? It's a very informative interview, I really look forward to Super Mario Galaxy and how the Wii controller will work in that type of game.
Regular Meta Moderators are not more likely to get mod points.
That's why I love my Gamecube. I love all the four-player games available on it. I can not stress how much fun I've had on a weekend with my friends playing SSBM, passing the controller around, and just generally having a good time.
I will be purchasing a Wii, and the extra controllers, and will be taking it to a friend's house rather immediately.
Those who believe the Internet is private,
find their privates are on the Internet.
This doesn't seem to be as much of a problem with console gamers as it is with gamers on PCs. It's much easier to imagine someone playing in a group of friends on a console than it is on a computer.
It's not the "stereotypical definition of what a gamer is", it's the lack of games that non-hardcore gamers want to play.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
I was about to say that the stereotype of living in your parent's basement is wildly inaccurate, but one of my best friends who is 28 just moved back in to his mother's house, in the basement, where he plays WoW...
The Atari 2600 was originalyl marketed this way. They tried to appeal to the sense of family gathering around the TV to play Pong or whatever. All their early ads had photos of families in them to reinforce this idea. In reality though, kids who spent much of their time in arcades were the lion's share of the market for the 2600 and that's why consoles have been developed and marketed towards this crowd for the most part.
All well and good for him to say that, but at least here in the US, part of the very typical group dynamic is an exclusive sense of elitism even if the group is relatively 'low' on the social dominance scale.
/.ers at people who find Windows XP perfectly adequate. The 'geek hierarchy' writ large.
Thus rather than saying "OK, we need to broaden our appeal, let's try to get lots of people gaming!" (a message that would of course appeal to a BUSINESS selling good to the identified market segment), the members of the group behave rudely, and reject any broadening of the franchise to "outsiders".
Look, for example, at the level of scorn directed at casual players of World of Warcraft by 'hardcore' players in-game. Or (for a broader, but similar example) the sneers of derision by
Sure, it's a defensive reaction based entirely on protecting the ego. The lame geek KNOWS he lives in his parents' basement, KNOWS that while spending 12 hours a day playing a video game he's missing out on other social activities that are widely considered to be more constructive, KNOWS that virtual wish-fulfillment might be very satisfying, but really doesn't compare to actually accomplishing anything.
But to welcome in the unwashed masses into his 'world'? That would be to at least partially accept their 'yardstick' of normalcy, against which his self-image would measure smaller. Who would welcome that?
-Styopa
Oh darn, it just got modded funny. Guess I was wrong :(
"When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
I've given up most online games not because I don't like to play anymore, but I don't want to put up with the subcultures that grow up within them.
You better watch out, there may be dogs about . .
With respect: you've passed through the looking-glass.
At home, in uhMURRkuh, you are so thoroughly immersed in your culture and sub-culture that you're not aware of it. You might as well ask whether a fish notices water.
Abroad, in Japan, or elsewhere, you have to deal with a new culture, and how you "slot in" to that new culture. While I accept (and know from my own cultural/linguistic experiences) that many things *are* in fact different in each culture, I have noticed that the very strangeness of a new culture totally changes your relationship/perception with even those parts that are most analogous to your "home" experience.
In your case, you're seeing a great deal of negativity in Japan against people who play videogames, even though you know that millions of people must be playing videogames. Hadn't it occurred to you that precisely the same negativity exists in your home culture? It probably has, at some level, but since you're so comfortably ensconced in your sub-cultural niche, you never gave it much thought. It has taken a cultural dislocation to make you see there are other ways of thinking about games and gaming.
This, folks, is why people *should* travel. Experiencing other cultures doesn't just mean drinking their liquor--although that's part of it, as well.