Video Games Aren't Just For Antisocial Nerds!

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Whoa! Did you guys know that video games aren't just for anti-social nerds living in their parents' basement? Who knew? :rolleyes:

If you think that the only people who play video games are a bunch of underemployed loners sitting in their parents' basement, think again. The gaming business is huge. Hollywood blockbuster movie huge -- with glitzy trailers to match.
 
Where does anime nerd fall into this equation? I think the stereotype among anime nerds is probably more true than a video game nerd.
 
CNN. It's an article by someone with no knowledge of the industry or interest targeted for the same type of people. Out of touch with the industry and reality of us common folk.
 
How is this even news? The trend of more money in the video game industry has been like this for the past decade if not more.
 
rc3ilynt said:
How is this even news? The trend of more money in the video game industry has been like this for the past decade if not more.
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Trust me, there are still plenty of people out there who think this. Granted, they tend to be older, but there are people alive today who didn't grow up with video games as a part of their life. (Not saying that games didn't exist, but where games were mass consumption items).
 
Staples said:
Where does anime nerd fall into this equation? I think the stereotype among anime nerds is probably more true than a video game nerd.
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They can be pretty bad. I'm an animation fan, not just "anime." I like the medium. I refuse to dress up and I generally don't like talking to people who only watch animation from Japan.
 
Nytegard said:
Trust me, there are still plenty of people out there who think this. Granted, they tend to be older, but there are people alive today who didn't grow up with video games as a part of their life. (Not saying that games didn't exist, but where games were mass consumption items).
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Because some of those older people lived it. In my early twenties I literally lived in my parent's basement and played Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and Commodore 64 games on a 25" tube television. Stopping only to sleep and work a part-time job. Sometimes I played Dungeons and Dragons when I felt the need or ability to tolerate human interaction. Our adventure game mapping software was graph paper and a pencil and we loved it. We walked to school and work in feet of snow; uphill both ways. Our shoes were just old crusts of bread (when we were lucky enough to have bread) and we loved it.
 
Consoles and World of Warcraft kinda made games more socially acceptable since people could hang out with each other in a living room playing Wii Sports Resort together or something and then go online and spend like 8-10 hours in some dungeon thing while they ignored their significant other and any/all pets or responsibilities. Then tablets and smartphones made games possible on the go so when stuff like Angry Birds Space came out after Facebook had already kinda laid the groundwork with Farmville, it was pretty much a done thing that games would become popular and mainstream. Now some kinds of games are still associated with that kinda perception like the shooting ones where you basically pretend play a murderer and go around shooting other players over and over again. I'm not sure if it's a good idea for that kind of thing to ever be made okay by society which is why the professional gaming is tolerable because it further drives the social stigmas by majority/normal outside observers. Still though, this has been a non-big-deal for at least like four or five years (probably when Rovio got famous) and Pogo.com has offered socially acceptable games since at least 2008, but not thanks at all to PC games except for the WoW exception.
 
And who cares what those people think? Let them keep their delusions so long as they don't try to legislate against video games.

For those few who do live in basements, I hope the radon levels have been checked, even basement nerds deserve non-toxic air.
 
Consoles are huge in dorms, besides laptops. All hosuing. And military bases, right?

Macho places
 
Sure do miss the days of playing WoW and shit in my dorm with others. Now there's a good time. I still enjoy some video game time here and there when I can squeeze it in, but it's rare when there are so many things going on with side projects, side start-ups, etc.
 
Staples said:
Where does anime nerd fall into this equation? I think the stereotype among anime nerds is probably more true than a video game nerd.
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I used to believe that. Anime avatar used to mean 100% beta nerd to me. Not anymore but I still have my reservations.
 
pxc said:
Why can't antisocial nerds just have one thing?
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Invent your own tabletop game. But not like Cones of Dunshire, a success... have zero patience for anyone else to learn it.

Become a CRT monitor fanatic and blast any LCD screens.

Something in EVE? The anti-social way. Pretend to be social and then betray people?
 
DocSavage said:
I was telling my friend how cool RWBY was, and she refused to watch it stating she doesn't like american animation. Seemed pretty closed-minded to me.
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She probably thinks you're trying to sit her down for tentacle porn.
 
DocSavage said:
I was telling my friend how cool RWBY was, and she refused to watch it stating she doesn't like american animation. Seemed pretty closed-minded to me.
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The worst is that I strongly believe some of the strongest films in the medium have come from America. Also, Europe is a big provider of great films too. In fact, Watership Down is stronger than the vast majority of anime that I've seen.

That's not to say that anime isn't strong too. Obviously, Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli have created countless prime examples of great, emotionally strong films. It's just many of these people can only cite these series and constantly work towards being "Otaku." I can't stand that. Striving for knowledge and experiences in only one countries output, and not focusing on the medium as a whole. However, it's a fantasy aspect that people are drawn too, and it feeds into this arrested development of theirs. I find the xenophobia to be incredibly oftputting.
 
Antisocial is a bit too strong, perhaps gamers are introverted types. Still I feel it's healthier to interact with people than some stupid machine.

The only game I've ever played is Pinball in Win2K. You couldn't pay me enough money to sit and game.
 
Gaming is interactive, and as such, more mentally stimulating that generic television.
Make the game competitive and multiplayer? All of a sudden you have the same mental stimulation levels as you would in sports.

Of course this puts gaming in a better light than what non-gamers generally do for their own entertainment. So what would the weaker minded of that group do? DENY DENY DENY
 
Beyond the cyberviolent stereotype, this piece reads like an advert for Xbox...
 
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I think there was a study on how FPS games help our memory loss....somewhere out there in Google Land.
 
reb00tin said:
Antisocial is a bit too strong, perhaps gamers are introverted types. Still I feel it's healthier to interact with people than some stupid machine.

The only game I've ever played is Pinball in Win2K. You couldn't pay me enough money to sit and game.
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I suppose it varies greatly. For instance, myself and my 'gang', we aren't introverted in the least, yet I know quite a few car enthusiasts/mechanics that are VERY introverted. Almost polar opposites.

What about video games puts you off so much? If you've got tons of other things to do (as I'm sure most of us do), that's one thing. But the whole notion of gaming can be separated into several categories: competition, leisure/hobby, winding down, etc.
 
Kalabalana said:
Gaming is interactive, and as such, more mentally stimulating that generic television.
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You use the term "generic" but that's rather vague. I don't know if you're citing a show like Duck Dynasty, or Mad Men?

So, maybe you aren't watching the right stuff? I mean, any well done piece of art is "interactive." A story is suppose to ask questions of it's viewer. If you're watching something and not being an active partcipate, then that's mostly on you, or you're not watching the right things.

Very rarely am I engaged with the questions a game is asking me. This is sort of the point I can agree with when it comes to Eberts complaints on gaming and why it isn't an "art." However, that's not to say that I've never had that experience with a game. I have. It's just not super common. It's getting better though.
 
bob616 said:
And who cares what those people think? Let them keep their delusions so long as they don't try to legislate against video games.
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Joe Liberman in the early 90's comes to mind. Old guy with little to no video game knowledge. The guy hasn't given up, either. Ban violent video games! Fuck that. Just be a good parent and not let your kids play it. I'm a grown adult (... kinda?), I can make my own choice on what games to buy and play.
 
TV seems to be more for the anti-social crowd. Stare at a TV, get mad when someone is talking over your favorite show, no need for interaction. Even games have multiplayer interaction.
 
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