Video game players: Are you getting frustrated here?

[ButterflyBlood]

Upon several recent threads and some I have read in the archives, I have actually seen some comments here that have pissed me off quite a bit. It appears that there are some DUers which still continue to believe that the only people who play video games are pimple faced teenagers living in their parents' basements. I actually did see a comment basically saying that the makes up the entire video game player demographic, as well as crap like "these games must be targeted to kids because they are the only people who play video games" or "I can't see a market outside of the teenagers for this because I can't believe any adult would play these games."

Quick facts: The average age of people who regular buy video games is now mid-20s, and some estimates have as many as one third of regular game buyers being female now. Things have changed since the days of 8-bit NES. I'm 21, I'm living on my own, quite self-dependent, and yes, I play video games, including the very violent ones attacked.

And perhaps the thing that pisses me off most: PEOPLE WHINING ABOUT GAMES THEY HAVE NO PLAYED. I doubt any of the "OMG, we must censor games for the children!" people I see here have played any of the games in question considering some of the things they apparentely believe about them. I remember rolling my eyes reading some parental watchdog group's report on GTA saying that the game awards "bonus points" for raping prostitutes. Something so factually inaccurate would be funny if it weren't for the fact that many people would actually believe it. Remember how so many conservatives blasted Fahrenheit 9/11 without seeing it? Attacking a video game you've never played strikes me as the exact same thing.

This appears to also be one of the few issues where a DU thread and Freeper thread are basically the same. The Freeper threads I've seen on the same issues are virtually identical, a few "think of the children!" nanny-staters and the majority just saying the government ought to butt out. Sad that many Freepers are more reasonable than some DUers on this issue.

But just get the stereotypes out of your head. Yes, adults play video games, many of whom are very productive members of society, and many who do not fit the nerd stereotype at all. Learn about something before criticizing.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

1. I'm with you.

I'm 31 with a wife and child. I play "bad" games yet haven't done anything violent since I was 7 or 8 and had my last fight (though I guess Atari was the cause). I mostly play "thinking" games - strategy like Hearts of Iron, Victoria: Empire Under the Sun, stuff like that. And I gotta have my NCAA Football for PS2 every year.

[Spider Jerusalem]

2. Yes, it's frustrating...

I've seen some incredibly idiotic statements on the subject from some people (including one fool who said it was "hypocritical" for political progressives to oppose the death penalty on the one hand and enjoy violent video games and films on the other).

Actually, I think I've seen MORE stupidity and blather from on this issue than most others...some people seem all too ready to impose censorship on things they happen to be ignorant of. I shall continue to regard these people as obnoxious, uninformed wankers who really ought to shut the fuck up and mind their own goddamned business. (See? Told you it was frustrating :D )

[nookiemonster]

3. Your last sentence sums it up perfectly.

"Learn about something before criticizing"

Ignorance is a big part of the problem. It's fun to fix it, though. I've known folks that would poopoo any notion of playing.

Then I give them the gamepad. Everything changes after that.

Ironic, huh?

:dunce:

[NoSheep]

4. Consider the difference between "liberal" and "politically correct"

Some folks don't think any harder than those they criticize!
open "trap door", insert asshole.

[everythingsxen]

5. Video games are a source of fun and even imagination

therefore they are wrong and evil to those who no longer have a sense of humor or imagination; therefore they must prevent others from having fun.

[dr.zoidberg]

10. That's called catering to your base.

Which is a bunch of nerds that are into that shit. Why anyone would have a hardon for a rendered woman is beyond me.
Edit: I replyed to the wrong post!

[Chovexani]

21. Damn you and your earth logic!

Everyone knows that video games just turn people into violent sociopaths! They never, ever inspire people to become writers, artists and musicians! They never, ever are considered an artform! There are never museum exhibits devoted to video game culture, and there are never sold-out concerts where symphonies play music from video games! Ever! So stop saying that!

:sarcasm:

Why so many DUers suddenly, Hulk-like, turn into Bob Boudelang on this issue astounds me. I suspect it's because they're jealous that somewhere, someone is having a kind of fun that they refuse to understand because of their own preconcieved notions and hangups.

--C.

[Archae]

6. There is something in both sides.

The video game makers are clearly going for the "shock factor," making games that just BEG to be censored, especially the company "Rockstar," makers of the GTA series, and their latest garbage, where the player controls the title character, "Bully."

BUT...

The absolute last thing I want is some bureaucrat dictating which games can be sold and and ones that can't.

As to stereotyping game players, I think the biggest reason for this sterotyping is the media aimed at gamers.
Magazines, G4 Tech TV, and such.

If any of the people in those are over 25, I'll eat my hat.
Even the sets look like someone's room in a basement.
On G4 Tech TV they did a mini-series on...

"Video Game Vixens."

Yeah, no misogyny or pandering to horny young guys there! :sarcasm:

[ButterflyBlood]

8. That show was mostly a joke

My brother said he watched it because he thought it was kind of funny. He doesn't get turned on polygons.

Of course that demographic is often pandered to on the channel, but that's largely because it's the easiest one too. You also mentioned there are few people on the show over 25, well 18-25 is definately adults, and there seem to be people here that believe no one out of high school plays video games.

[TheMightyFavog]

12. My take on Bully.

I'm seeing Bully as Rockstar's send-up of the British boarding schools.

[Kraklen]

32. Reminds me a bit of Napolean Dynamite.

I'm looking forward to it.

[Kraklen]

31. Yeah, the media is screwing up.

They're under the same mistaken assumptions that the critics (of video games, not legitimate critics) are under.

Take the big Spike TV awards show. It was just terrible. It was aimed at teenage boys, missing the mark by a mile. The announcers weren't even getting the names of the games right, it was a real mess.

Now, there's real gamer media out there. Take the magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly, it's written by gamers in their late twenties for gamers in their late twenties. Things like G4 and the Spike TV awards are regarded as a big insulting joke by them and gamers at large.

It appears that the jerks who make that sort of media and the people who criticize the video games themselves as "garbage" are one and the same.

[DS1]

7. You'll run into pig-headed idjuts that know what's best for you no

matter where you go.

[sakabatou]

9. Yeah, it is really frustrating

Because sometimes, a kid made for kids, can actually be very fun and challenging.

[Pithlet]

11. This 33 year old mother of two gamer agrees.

In fact, I read an article lately about video games and how they're great for mental exercise. Not jut hand eye coordination like most people suspect, but problem solving and other mental skills.

It's just typical snobbery. You see it here at DU just like you do everywhere else. People who think that others who don't like to do, watch and read the exact same things they do are beneath them.

[Jara sang]

13. Get over yourselves!

I kid. I kid because I love.

[Ratty]

14. I'm in my 40s and I play 'em

But only very very few. The vast majority of games do not appeal to me. At the risk of appearing extremely snobbistic, I prefer the deeper intellectually satisfying games like Thief and Deus Ex. You can play those games without harming or killing anybody. If you see a bad guy you can choose to shoot him or, better, throw something to distract him and sneak by with him none the wiser. That's the way I always play. It's often a lot tougher to do it that way, but far more satisfying.

Before the whole "Hot Coffee" controversy, Grand Theft Auto got a very bad rap from the press and people who never played it. It's what's known as a sandbox game. Rather than force a player to follow a set sequence through the game and do things a specific way, it was designed to give the player a set of tools and insert them into specific situations, then let them handle them any way they saw fit. Yes, there are prostitutes and there are police but you don't have to hurt them. There are other ways to play the game. "Sandbox" games are some of the most satisfying of all, and they are very difficult to make. But by their very nature some players can be extremely violent and amoral, while others can be saints, trying to find non-violent methods of solving problems. Killing cops and beating prostitutes is solely a reflection of the player and not the game.

I'd like to set somebody like Jack Thompson and Hillary Clinton down and make them watch somebody play GTA all the way through without harming a single soul. Politicians and activists who do not "get" video games should not make pronouncements about them.

[name not needed]

15. Don't forget the dipshits

that consider playing violent video games and being liberal hypocrisy.

[ButterflyBlood]

18. They remind me of fundies in a way

You can't be liberal unless you adhere to 100% of their standards, just as the fundies say you an't be Christian unless you adhere to 100% of their standards.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

33. Ooooh...I totally forgot about that one.

I had to walk away from the keyboard when I saw that, because if I posted what I wanted to post, I would have been banned in a nanosecond.
So I was nice. Heck, I stayed out of the "DU Video Game Wars of July, 2005" completely.

[youthere]

16. I poo-poo video games...

mainly because I suck at them. Sour grapes you know.

[AmandaRuth]

17. Agree.

Look at me!

I love video games, but I am tired when people think that the only people playing them are nerds.

Although, ask my parents and they'll say that I am a huge geek/nerd.

[NaturalHigh]

19. I very rearely play video games....

mainly because I don't have the patience to learn how. Things were so much simpler back when I was playing Defender and Asteroids on my old Atari system. My son is a video game ninja, though, and I have no problem with that. He enjoys playing and telling me every new thing he's done on them. Frankly, I think it's better for him than just sitting in front of the TV.

[Chovexani]

20. Preach brother/sister gamerperson!

And it's the main reason why I've not been around here too much lately; it's like banging your head against a brick wall.

Jesus, not even those of us who ARE nerds(and I wear that as a badge of pride) fit that stupid stereotype.

[REP]

22. Not a Gamer But I Agree

Personally, gaming isn't my thing. Just because it isn't my thing, though, doesn't mean that it's worthless. A lot of people can't make that distinction.

One of the biggest gamers I know is 41 and a very successful software engineer. Why he wants to spend even more time on a computer after coming home from work I don't know, but he enjoys it. I enjoy arguing politics on the interweb. He doesn't get that. C'est la vie.

[jmm]

23. I worked in a toy store when Vice City came out

Frequently I had had grown men come in and tell me they were buying not just the game but a PS2 because their grandchildren or son in laws got them hooked. Not as many women said they were buying it for themself but many admitted to me that they were planning on playing it with the person they were buying it for.

[Borgnine]

24. There's a tiny faction of people here...

...who are hell bent on anyone having a good time. No video games! Only ignorant blodothirsty teenage boys play video games. No television! After all, there's only garbage on television without anything that can remotely be considered intelligent. Reading is okay, but you must submit the book you'd like to read and the comittee will approve it in three to five weeks. Boycott any product that's base of operations is in a red state! Whatever is you're doing, it's not liberal enough!

Why are you smiling? Don't you know Bush is in control of the White House? We must be sullen sourpusses for the remaining three years, living in the woods without electricity and taking craps in ditches. Don't you think about using that toliet paper brand! That was manufactured in Texas, you fascist!

[ButterflyBlood]

26. There are people who hate all fun on both the left and right

Interestingly both often claim that it is all a tool of the other side.

[Borgnine]

28. Agreed.

And I love video games, both the ultra-violent ones (GTA: Vice City remains a favorite, not so much for the organized crime but for the 1980's atmosphere that was captured to a tee) and the more innocent ones (as soon as I have kids I'll have to introduce them to the Donkey Kong Country games). I don't understand the mentality that they're kid's fair. They may have started out that way, but now that generation (me) has grown up, and the industry grew up with us.

[WindRavenX]

25. Big Final Fantast/ Metal Gear addict here

Full time student who works 20 + hours a week. I still have some pimples though :)

Oh, and I'm a girl. HA!

[Chovexani]

27. Hey you!

Sometimes I think we were separated at birth, hehe.

I miss the little Auron pic you had in your sig. *sighs dreamily*

*gets working on her Square bishounen fanshrine*

[MetaTrope]

29. Hey, if we're spreading computer game love...

I love Japanese dating sims! They've actually got stories and characters, and the emotional impact can be elevating or heartrending (at an average of 8 hours of gameplay towards each of any number of multiple endings, the impact is akin to watching a long TV serial or reading a novel). It's a pity this sort of thing gets laughed off in American culture, where the nearest the medium comes to "romance" is the consumerist meat market of The Sims.

[Kraklen]

30. Trolls and phony liberals.

As the author of what was probably the largest recent thread on video games, I can say with some degree of confidence that the overwhelming majority of DUers are fully supportive of gamers. In fact, there are only a few people against them, and they were mostly trolls, phony liberals, shriveled old prudes, and just plain bonkers.