it's true, all other forms of entertainment are held in higher regard than games, video games if you want to get retro
I don't get it, I view TV or films as lesser forms of entertinment, it's so passive.
Ok, there are games with little going on than killing people...is that any different from film?
You want adult storylines full of emotion? Check out Heavy Rain or Farenheit.
You want dense complex storylines? Check out Metal Gear Solid.
You want works of art? Check out Okami


I also think the most original storytelling I've ever seen came from Metal Gear Solid, the game that realises it's a game, but pretends its not...but you need to be able to work out when it's being the game, and when it's not.

What do you guys think?
Maybe you look down on gaming, or maybe your a gamer yourself.
Maybe you dont even realise your a gamer...played farmville lately?

definitely a gamer here. i have the complete Guild Wars 1 set and if GW 2 ever comes out I want it too. I also play Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons online. as you can see I like roleplaying more than action .in my age group most people don't even know what gaming is, much less play them.

My peers probably think I am foolish, but I don't drink or smoke, what other vices can I have?

It's totally different for girls. If you are a gamer, in general, people think you are a friendless recluse. Granted, I know a lot of gamers that are exactly that (there wouldn't be a stereotype if their wasn't some truth to it).

However, if you are a chick and a gamer and even remotely good looking, you are a wet dream to most gamer geeks. When I started playing WoW I would get hit on in general chat ALL THE TIME once word got out that I was a real actual girl running around in game. I think the game is now so pervasive that the novelty of being a girl in game has worn off (I am now in a guild where we are about 50/50 men to women). IRL I still come across guys that will look at me sideways when I walk into a game store.

Geeks are my people. Why would I care what non-gamers think?

And for the record, people who play Farmville are addicts, not gamers. (Uh-oh. I am an elitist geek! :O )

~spidey

I believe it.

"Cool tiger..."

-- Nephele

I don't "look down" on gaming as such - to do so would make me a hypocrite of immense proportions. With time, it's improving... But until a game immerses you in the depths of doubt, fear, and philosophical musing of a "Seventh Seal", it's pretty much entertainment for the sake of entertainment.

Any recommendations for someone who would like to get into gaming? (Oh Lawd, like I need more distractions.)

In the distant past, I have played playstation games like Mario and Crash Bandicoot. I used to play a PC game and I don't remember what it was. It involved combat and I loved it but it used to make me nauseous after playing it for a while.

Anyway, I like combat games with magic involved. I'm into Science Fiction/Fantasy big time so anything with Sorcerers, witches etc would be awesome.

I was thinking of World of Warcraft. Is that game still good?

Fahrenheit, aka Indigo Prophecy, starts off great and then takes a sharp right turn into Lunacyville in the last third of the game. So I've been told at least: I never got past that poxy flashback section where you're a kid sneaking into a military base.

Metal Gear Solid was interesting enough, though nothing spectacular in my book, but Metal Gear Solid 2 is essentially a huge practical joke played by Hideo Kojima on gamers: the joke is that you essentially bought Metal Gear Solid 1 again, and the icing on the cake is a huge postmodernism lecture right at the end. I've never played Okami myself, so for works of art I'm more inclined to recommend Shadow of the Colossus or Limbo.

As for why gaming is still looked down on, it's still a young medium and a particularly late developer all things considered. After an innocent childhood of whimsy and childlike wonder (Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Super Mario Brothers) it's now in its surly, hormonal teenage years where everything has to be about space marines with guns saving the world's supply of tits from the oppressive Space Empire of the J'okks. It sometimes comes out with flashes of more mature-minded brilliance that hint at great promise in the future (Bioshock, Planescape: Torment, Mass Effect) but at the moment it's still trapped in an adolescent mindset where Halo Reach is considered a sci-fi epic on par with Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Cracked.com's "5 Reasons It's Still Not Cool to Admit You're a Gamer" article sums up the problem quite nicely. We've grown up, but gaming hasn't.

Not to say it won't though. Despite my seemingly negative attitude, I'm one of those optimists who believes games can and will become much better in time and will one day eventually birth its own "Citizen Kane" or "War and Peace." As more people get to grips with how to write for games, which is not the same as writing for movies, comics, books or any other media format, we'll see more titles properly worthy of being called "mature". This is mostly happening in the fringes of the indie scene right now, but we'll see more of it creep into the mainstream as time goes on.

Anyone with any serious interest in gaming should definitely check out Extra Credits on The Escapist. It's by a group of industry types and discusses things like diversity, gameplay, narrative, symbolism and other lofty concepts most people don't associate with games as an artform.



Minecraft. You could not ask for a simpler, more basic introduction to gaming. Unfortunately it's still in beta, with all the assorted problems that come with that, but as it stands right now it's still a lot of fun. And I'm not just saying this because it keeps sucking me in for hours at a time. I start off intending to chop a tree here or mine a cave there, then five hours later I've built a concrete skyscraper stretching up into low-orbit.

Gaming can be intimidating at first glance; the average console controller has evolved from a d-pad and two buttons to something that looks like it's used to train space fighter pilots in the year 3XXX. Thankfully nearly all games nowadays, barring solo or indie stuff, put a lot of effort into accessible tutorial modes designed to ease new-or-non-gamers into the basic mechanics. Some companies do this brilliantly, like Valve, who actually incorporate developer's friends and family members into QA testing.

I actually wanted to mention shadow of the colossus as an example of games as art (aswell as the first one, "Ico" I think it was) but couldn't remember it's name, I'm looking forward to their their third game later this year.
I mentioned Okami more for it's visual style more than anything else (though it is a great game anyway), it's beautiful, if you haven't seen it I recommend looking it up.

Oh and I'm only listing computer games because thats pretty much the only gaming I do, unless occasionally playing getthopoly counts
I'm not limiting it to those types of games.

Damnfuckingstraightexceptforblockhead. That game is amazing.

@Spiderlimbs: I hear you there. Not to sound conceited, but I had about six or more guys crushing on me in high school (I didn't return any of their feelings cuz I just saw them all as friends ). Not to talk down on girls who actually fit the stereotypical description, but none of the girls who walked on the nerdier side of life in my high school where fat, loner chicks.

It's odd coming from a person like me, but I kinda miss that sort of attention, because lo and behold, the gamers/anime people at my college are so obnoxiously exclusive about their clique. Case and point, at the end of the last semester, they started to hold their anime meeting in one of our classrooms right before class started. The first day they did this and some of us stepped into the classroom, they didn't go "oh hi! Have you come for the meeting?" but instead, "ummm, we're having a meeting in here." They couldn't have known that we were students waiting for a class or just late attendees.

What was even more annoying - and a little sad - was that they all fit the description of a stereotypical nerd. I'll leave you all to imagine what the lot of them looked liked, but it was no wonder they would have scowled at people who looked like me and brother (and I'm not going to be modest: me and brother are average to mildly attractive in the looks department). I guess "nerd culture" is having a power/identity struggle in recent years, since there are people who merely like the look of a classic nerd (big glasses and such) and fake the interests in them *cough!*hipsters!*cough!* but it was these attributes that made geeks the way they were because they were made outcasts for being "four-eyes" and reading comic books (not unlike goths).

I'm not going to be simple-minded and say that there aren't any Girls-Gone-Wild-esque gamer chicks that aren't being paid by E3 or Comic-Con to walk around in slutty pikachu cosplay, but I do think that they are exploiting that type of gamer-girl a bit. They never seem to broadcast the image of an "average" gamer girl: they either have to be super porn-star hot or really unattractive.

As for me, I just got back into the gaming spirit a few months ago, and I have a lot to catch up on, to say the very least. I had Shadow of the Colossus in my possession for the longest time but I never got around to playing it before I had to return it to my friend (probably have to swipe it back from him....).

Thank you! I'll check it out.

I think gaming is looked down for 2 major reasons:

Most people don't want to be thought of as a geek/nerd and because of this:



Out of all of the underground communities, I would always hear how the geek/nerd community was the most open minded and was above the clique mentality that plagued the other communities. After years of hard experience(especially as a female geek), I've found this to be bullshit. Some geeks/nerds(like my classmates in IT for example) are open to everyone, but they're no better than others about problems with elitism.

Parts of the geek/nerd community are trying so hard to stay a "boys club" that decides who "should" be "one of them". Don't you dare be attractive and/or a girl*points to self as a example*.

In fact, it's not just the boys causing trouble, female geeks/nerds are vicious to other female geeks/nerds(just like most non geek girls. I swear I'm the only girl sometimes who doesn't feel the need to do this shit). Most female geeks/nerds who are tomboys think they're "real" geeks/nerds and see girly geek/nerds as "trying to be cute" and/or "impress their boyfriends" who make it harder for them to be taken seriously(female gamers are stereotyped as being casual gamers).

*sighs* Yeah, the geek/nerd community is a mess and like with most goths in real life, I keep my distance. I just don't feel like having to "prove" myself.

What's ironic about all of this is that gaming is becoming more mainstream thanks to Nintendo and their Wii (with Playstation and Xbox trying to catch up with their own version of it), but then comes the infamous "Casual vs Hardcore Gaming" war that's destroying what's left of the geek/nerd community. You just can't win.

I am definitely a gamer, PC gaming all the way! I don't game as much as I used to (esp. since getting on the internet) but I still do sometimes. Most recently the MMO Rift beta, Mass Effect 2, Blur, Everquest II (but Rift blows it away, as with WoW too!) Star Trek On-line, Assassin's Creed, Bioshock 2, to name some...

-- Sun Feb 06, 2011 2:43 pm --


World of Warcraft is pretty cool but is aging fast. There is a new MMO called Rift coming out soon that is absolutely amazing. I can also recommend Mass Effect 2 if you like sci-fi (it has lots of combat and a good storyline). Assassin's Creed is cool too.

Yeah, for sure. I still get guys adding me to X-Box Live in HOARDS when I play CoD MW2 online. They're all amazed by a female playing a game, since I guess its very rare. But, I also play games with males in person, like my friends and my boyfriend.

Hahaha, and yeah, the recluse thing is a stereotype, and I've known people who were like that, but my boyfriend and his best friend used to game together (they still do, but not as often due to both having girlfriends now ), but they're not geeky hermits in any way.

I still hardly ever come across other girls who game, and when I do, its usually only things like Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Singstar, and DDR. I have one female friend I know in real life who plays other games, like shooting games and the such.

I think the reason people look down on gaming is based on the stereotypical gamer. The media portrays gamers as living in their parents' basement in their 30's/40's, doing nothing but playing video games, and other nerdy things. But thats not true for most gamers, from what I know. My friends who play games, they also work for a living, and/or go to school, have social lives, etc. The games are more for their down time.

Yeah, gaming is one of those last bastions of chauvinism (along with Japanese corporate boardrooms and private gentlemen's clubs) still flying the "No girls allowed" flag. It's important to note however that this is but a tiny, albeit very vocal, minority of neckbearded cellar-dwellers caked in cheeto dust, in an otherwise diverse and well-adjusted subculture. Gaming has become a lot more gender-inclusive over the years: a survey done in 2004 by the Entertainment Software Association revealed 25% of console gamers and 39% of PC gamers were women. Another study done in 2009 showed women accounted for 40% of the entire gamer population, with 34% being women over the age of eighteen.

Some sad lonely virgins can't get over that fact alas, hence their hostility towards women.
Classic Queen Bee syndrome. Some women who hang out in such circles, particularly if they don't look too hot and are the only female member, can be viciously possessive of their little nerd boy harems. They see new arrivals as a threat to the wellspring of attention they usually get from their maladjusted little coterie, especially if the new arrival is better-looking.

Oh gods, don't get me started on the rigamarole that is the Casual vs Hardcore "debate". Like the hostility towards women mentioned earlier it's caused by a small minority who simply don't like new people playing in their special little clubhouse, so they concoct this bullshit dichotomy to make themselves feel better. I guarantee you the original Super Mario Brothers or Tetris would be condemned as "pissy casual shit for people who don't know REAL gaming" if they were released today.

A friend of mine wrote a brief article on the subject recently.
http://themovieblog.com/2011/02/are-vid ... ike-movies

I am an avid gamer and believe that recent games have had some of the most in depth and submersive storytelling ever, creating entire worlds, even universes, which is much more than any film has ever done. Just look at Mass Effect. Unfortunately the image of gamers being nerds spending all their time confined to the basement will never be shaken as there are many people who do just that. As for gaming as a girl I tend to play as the opposite sex in RPG's and have a gender neutral gamertag on xbox live, so I reduce the hassle of sexist remarks or people coming onto me.