Strange Days Indeed -
October 23, 2001 - Brooke Bolander
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed
within this column are those of the participants and the
moderator, and do not necessarily reflect those of the
GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive
material afoot. You've never been a waste of my time; it's never been a drag. Don't say we didn't warn you.
There are a lot of reasons why getting older sucks, but I think one of the biggest factors has to be the whole 'buying your own games' thing. No more parents paying for everything - you're on your own, sucker. Plus everything just seems to become a little less magical once you hit a certain age. Cynicism kicks in, and the only thing you're left with is the aftertaste of nostalgia. Ahh well. Bitterness ahoy!
Onward!
| Huh huh... |
| I don't know about anyone else, but I sure as hell plan to spend my days in
the nursing home playing games. Thats why I keep so many of the games I
haven't finished! So I can play them when I'm old.
As for being embarassed by it, am I the only one who sometimes won't mention
what game I want to the clerk, I just point and say "that one." Although my
experience as a cashier has taught me that nine times out of ten, store
clerks give absolutely no shit as to what you're buying, I still can't get
over the embarassment of saying something like "Seaman."
- Aaron Gover (aka VincentValintine)
|
I wonder if putting video game consoles in nursing homes might lighten things up a little. I mean, Christ, there's only so many times you can play Bingo or Stare At The Ceiling Hoping For Death before they become old and trite. Give them Mario! Give them Tetris! Heck, give some of the more adventurous codgers RPGs or ICO. Seeing those younguns leaping around might make them feel better...well, either that or it will make them long for their distant youth.
Must...refrain..from...silly...Farrally Brothers-esque..Seaman joke...Make it up to Satan...somehow...
| Game are for babies! |
| Brooke,
To be blunt, I don't think a person can outgrow games. Really, just think about it--does someone "outgrow" movies, or music, or any other form of entertainment? Nah. Gaming might fall out of favor with some people, but I think that's really the extent that can go. What is flat-out retarded is the people that try to tell us gaming for kids; as if holding a controller to experience something fun or enthralling is somehow more childish and immature than holding a remote control. I think you nailed it on the head saying that there are just some people that try to look down on gaming in some vain effort to pass off as sophisticated. Unfortunately, these same people instead usually turn on the TV to watch big things crash and go boom.
The real problem will probably come not in growing too old to enjoy and appreciate games, but in growing too old to find the time to do so. In my experience, gaming tends to suck our poor souls of more time than nearly any other hobby out there. Even as the more mainstream games or getting shorter, you're still going to have to invest a good 10 hours to get through the things. When multiple titles of this ilk are being released at the same time, and you've got a job and a family, things start to get tough (I'd imagine). Sucks to be us, I guess.
-Justin Freeman
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I think most of the people saying gaming is just for kids probably were kids when the systems came out, and that's why they believe that misguided statement. Bobby Bighead owned and played a NES when he was eight, but got tired of gaming by the time he was fourteen. Thus, when he sees other guys his age playing Pikmin on a GameCube, he thinks it's stupid - heck, he played games when he was little, right? Why should these people still be enjoying a hobby he pursued back in middle school?
Just a theory, of course. As for our parents and grandparents looking down their collective noses at games, it's kinda-sorta the same thing. They've watched the kids play with these toys from the time they were wee tykes. When you grow up, you're supposed to put your toys away, correct? So why is Daughter/Son still messing with this stuff?
I hope I'm making sense here.
| Play Games 4 $$$!! |
| Brooke,
I honestly can say I don’t have to worry about talking to non-gamers in the workplace. I work for a computer game company! If there are any “non-gamers” working there, I sure don’t know about it! As for the topic, I don’t think I’ll ever outgrow games. For me, it started out as an innocent hobby (that ended up taking most of my free time), and has evolved into a career in the game industry. I don’t care how old I get, I’ll still be playing games. If I ever get so old that I can’t hold a controller in my hands and play the latest game without help, I hope someone puts me out of my misery!
Oberon
|
Damn you. I guess that's the long and short of it for gamers, though. You either grow up and the daily grind of a job sucks up the free time you once used on games, or you get a job involving games and it becomes a mandatory, if not still enjoyable, thing. It seems like every college-bound student and his sister is aiming for a career in computer progamming and the like, because who doesn't want to get paid for making or playing games? It's probably a hell of a lot better than having some nine to five desk job. And don't get me started on game testers...
| They grow up so fast...*sniffle*... |
| Brooke,
It is in my firm belief that gaming does NOT have a age bracket whatsoever.
When games like pong and pac man came out, the people were instantly hooked.
That gaming generation saw it all and has been playing games through it all.
Now sources are saying the average population of gamers is at the age of 23.
I am only 14...I can see my gaming 'obsession' lasting for way longer than
that. Next thing we know it, the gamer’s age average is at 47!
In my observations, people who play games as a hobby at a young age and love
it will be with it for a very long time. It is just that kind of hobby...I
bet it is responsible for more deaths than cigarettes.
I am extremely embarrassed when a non-gamer watches me play a game like
Final Fantasy because they never understand what is going on and what is
happening. The first thing they say is "what the hell?" And I don't blame
them. Imagine your grandparent walking in while playing the part in Final
Fantasy 7 where Tifa and Cloud are trying to find who Cloud is. Damn
embarrassing! They have no idea what is happening and no idea why a game is
tackling issues like that. Their explanation of a game is a munching ball on
screen eating up a bunch of non-munching white little balls. Watch out for
the hovering ghosts!!
People golf, I game. People cook, I game. People sleep, I game. People Eat,
I game. I know it is sad but it is life. And trust me when I say that
people, who have ever approached a good RPG, will never turn back from
gaming.
~Jason
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I have a feeling games are going to grow up with gamers. In a way, they already have - here's my lil' ol' theory.
Atari : An "infant" sort of system. First of it's kind, this darling only child is brought home and treated with mucho cooing, adoring looks, and love. At the same time, most of us are being brought home with much the same aplomb.
NES/ Master System/ Yada yada : The home entertainment systems are taking their first steps, and doing damn well at it, as are (hopefully) most of us. Sure there are mistakes, sure we vomit on the cat and have the ocassional Bible Adventures published, but for the most part things are looking up. Years pass, and...
SNES/Genesis/Etc : The "middle school" sort of years. Some say the SNES days were the glory days, but they're the same people looking back at their youths with a faint twinkle. The systems have learned to walk, talk, and generally do better than they ever did in their "childhoods." Graphics are improving, sound is getting better, and Sega and Nintendo are starting to notice each other and sometimes even fight (remember all those Sega VS Nintendo commercials?) We all know it's really a secret crush. Awwwww. Cute, innit?
N64/Saturn/PSX : We've all grown into healthy, self-aware teens. The graphics have taken a giant leap, songs and sound effects are excellent for the most part, and there are more excellent games than you can shake a pointy stick at. Sega and Nintendo still like to bicker and fight, but it won't be long before they're making kissy-faces and Sonic is on the GBA.
The Future, Conan? : With the advent of the GameCube, the PS2, and yes, even the X-Box, it looks like games are reaching a nice, even maturity stage - right as most of us who grew up with the past systems reach adulthood. Funny how that works, isn't it? Let's hope the maturity factor just keeps rising along with the years.
| And now for something completely different. |
| "120 pounds of headache-induced rage."
That's it?! How tall are you?
jess wunderin,
tokyoneon
|
Everything you wanted to know about the bitch but were afraid to ask. I admit - I'm Lenneth Valkyrie. I know, I know, it suprised me too, but what can I say. Destined for greatness or the insane asylum, take your pic.
| I have seen the enemy, and her name is Tifa "Jumpjugs" Lockhart. |
| Hi Brooke,
I've publicly flaunted my gamerhood many a time. There was once an
assignment in English class where we had to write a poem according to an "I
Am" template. My poem started "I am a hardcore gamer and a casual otaku" and
proceeded to talk about samurai, mobile suits, and Capcom vs. SNK 3. Nobody
knew what the bloody hell I was talking about, but I didn't take any flak
for it. Probably because I'm known for being not quite right in the head,
but that's another, more gruesome story.
Then there's the times when I've faced down "casual" gamers. As depicted in
Penny Arcade's "The Sucking" series, they were jocks who pretty much played
sports games. When I told them that my favorites were 2D fighters they said
"Like Mortal Kombat?" and I nearly viciously decapitated them right there.
Hell, I would've taken Street Fighter, but Mortal Kombat? That game sucked
even when it was new. Then one of them said "Isn't that a waste of money?
Once you beat it it's over." My blood boiled with rage.
Excuse my going off on a tangent, but that needed to be said. Now on to
other things.
I don't believe that I'll ever stop being a gamer. I'll just become less of
one. When I finally get into my late twentys and early thirtys, I'll begin
training my kid/kids in the ways of the gamer, and it will all be worth it.
Yeah. The training will consist of many New Game +s of Chrono Trigger and
many sessions of KoF. Very yeah.
-Rune, whose foot stings for some unknown reason
|
Gaming won't ever die out, as long as the nerdling masses get out there, find other nerdlings to spawn with, and have litters who are thus initiated into the ways of The Gamer. If, however, gamers lock themselves up in darkened rooms with their beloved radiation-spewing boxes of wuv and never come out, half of the population will grow old and die without procreating. In other words, games will effectively wipe out part of humanity. God help us all.
| "No way, man - I'm gonna play forever!...forever...!" |
| Brooke,
You know, I never thought the day would come when I was "too old" for gaming, but I think it may be closing in. Right now, I've pretty much given up table top roleplaying. I used to be the DM of our group, and that was great. I loved creating, building, writing, scripting, pretty much everthying that had to do with creating your own little world. Now though... I got together with some friends the other day to play for old times and the magic, if you will, just wasn't there.
Is this happening with gaming? Yeah, I think it may be. I haven't played any games this semester except for Capcom/SNK2 and GuiltyGearX, games that I can pick up and drop with ease. I haven't even looked at an RPG. I still plan on buying DWVII in a week and half, I wouldn't miss that game for anything. But when will I play it? I'm also planning on picking up Hoshigami, but I don't know that I'll get any use out of that either.
In the past during school, I'd always hoped that I'd be able to phase games out for awhile so I could actually do my homework, but now that I have, it's a little scary. This is something I've been doing for the majority of my life, and it's not a hobby that I'm looking forward to dropping, but I'm thinking that within a year it's going to happen.
- Shaun
|
There's a bit of uncertainty in the back of my mind as to how well games and consoles will do as the years pass and gamers lose more and more of their time and cash to social events, jobs, and the eventual family thing. Society has never really had an entire generation grow up with games before - face it, we're the first to have them from the cradle to nowadays - so who knows if today's gamers will still be playing twenty years down the line? It's really easy to say you will be, but when that special someone shows up in your life, the games take a backseat.
Closing Comments:
Okay, I had a topic letter to post for this, but I seem to have lost it. So I'll try to remember what the gist of it was, horribly butchering the original premise in the process - yay!
Where has the fun in games gone? Not innovation, not art, but just plain fun? You remember all those wacky, weird games like Toe Jam And Earl - what happened to stuff like that? There just doesn't seem to be a big market on "Fun" games any more; it's like it died out with the 16-bit days or something. So...well, why? When was the last time you had sheer, unadulterated fun with a game - not a challenge, not a competitive field-day, just fun, the kind of thing that brought a giggle to your lips and a smile acorss your face. And why has the market for that kind of thing disappeared so rapidly? Give me an essay on fun, ladies and gents.
-Brooke Bolander, watching the light go out of the world.
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