Lunchtime Discussion: The Price of Gaming
It's not just about the money.Published 22/12/2009 at 12:00 by Gamoc
GW: Just How ‘Social’ is Online Gaming? [23]
GW: What Does Gaming Mean to You? [21]
GW: Is Console Gaming Turning Elitist? [29]
This is going to be the second-to-last Lunchtime Discussion before Monday 28th, due to being busy with things and because, well, it’s Christmas, who wants to discuss stuff when we could be playing stuff?
It’s expensive to be a gamer. Games costs a lot of money, sure, but that’s not all I’m speaking about. Now it may well cost me £40 for a brand new game, but that’s perfectly fine considering that, from a decent game, I can get much more entertainment for much longer than most other media, it’s more the social price that I’m thinking about right now.
Gaming is constantly under attack, whether from idiot lawyers or just from people who aren’t into gaming. Have you ever mentioned something to do with gaming and been looked at like you’re frothing at the mouth (that frothing thing only happened once), or been reading OPM only to get glanced at by passers-by like you’re lovingly caressing a machete? Meanwhile, if you sit on a reasonably full train, you’ll hear conversations about make-up from various women, wonderfully articulate men commenting on the weather (‘Fuck me, snow!’), a group of 12 year olds wearing more make-up than an entire play’s cast and children treating the train like their very own high velocity climbing frame whilst their parents sit there with a child hanging from their shoulder.
In what way is gaming worse than any of the above conversations? I sit at home and I play through my very own movie instead of wasting away on a couch in front of a TV full of idiots who think they can sing, or I play online with a large group of real people, communicating with real team mates I have never and will never meet instead of, say, catching chlamydia from them in the alleyway behind a club in town. I can comment on the weather without profanity if I chose to, rather than introducing a whole new generation to my own brand of idiocy.
In many ways, online gaming in particular is more social than going to a club that simultaneously hammers my ear drums, makes me slowly melt and introduces me to the risk of getting my head kicked in by an angry scouser who thinks I was eyeing his woman who isn’t there. What exactly is going to happen to me in Modern Warfare 2? They’re only shooting me if you decide to extrapolate my consciousness onto the in-game character I’m using, and even so, the most they can do is ‘hurt’ the bunch of pixels I’m piloting around a virtual level with bullets so virtual the only hints that they exist are the fact I’m pressing fire and that the other bunch of pixels I was pointing at has fallen over.
Meanwhile, the British public drinks themselves into a stupor, sexes (yes, I used ’sex’ as a verb) people they don’t know, whilst their face is caked in make-up and/or their shirt is covered in the vodka they spilt because they missed their mouth. Don’t get me wrong, I go to pub and clubs quite a bit, but I’m not that…terrible. Who are you to judge me? Do you remember last night? How’s the bastard child – oh, that’s right, you left before he was born, didn’t you? Just how did you manage that, since you’re a woman?
The difference between gaming and all of this? Stigma, born from a certain idiot lawyer who shares his a name with that of a gun and those other idiots that believe him. Anyone who even considers gaming to be dangerous is maybe just a bit uneducated, anyone who is told he is wrong over and over but proceeds to wave his gigantic ego about like a sword forged from the finest idiot in the fires of Mount Moron is a flat-out head case. Now when I mention gaming around the wrong type of person, their nose curls up like a salted snail whilst I stand there being judged like a serial killer.
The stigma is more than just that, though. It’s long been an assumption that only ‘geeks’ or ‘nerds’ play games, and that we’re all totally and utterly inept when it comes to, uh, what are they called? Oh right, ‘people’. Whatever they are. Well, not only is that not true, but geeks inherit the world and created the frickin’ future. iPods? PCs? TVs? All created by people who would be considered ‘geeks’ by the unwashed masses, yet if it wasn’t for them the entire planet would still be pushing a hoop with a stick. WITH A STICK.
So how about a little respect, eh?
Comments
Please note that all comments are the opinion of the individual author and not TheSixthAxis.
seedaripper1973 | 22/12/2009 12:05
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bloody geeks..i shit em…
shields_t | 22/12/2009 12:08
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I think the Playstation and subsequently the XBox and now Wii have done a fair bit to bring people’s attitudes of gamers away from the idea of “nerdy kids”, but it is sad that games are now blamed for a lot of the world’s wrongs. Only this morning I heard that games are being blamed again for childhood obesity, well I’d say the issue is more that they don’t exercise enough and eat too much crap. I manage to go out running and am still happy to pick up my PS3 or XBox controller and play on my latest game purchases. I don’t consider myself socially inept, because I do that, maybe other people do, but it really doesn’t bother me.
bunimomike | 22/12/2009 12:08
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We need to change peoples’ perceptions of gaming by informing when “outsiders” are curious about our hobby. Invite them to watch/play or at least comprehend what you have to say just before they shop you to the police for sleeping with a hooker (GTA style). The biggest thing that hits home is when I draw parallels between what I’m doing and what they’re doing. My folks are retired and watch a tremendous amount of TV. I said “but my gaming is no different. Actually, it’s more entertaining because it’s interactive and I do only 5 hours of that a week. You two gits are stapled to the sodding sofa!”. I love my Mum and Dad, as you can see.
bunimomike | 22/12/2009 12:10
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Oh yeh, by the way. A slice of death will sort this all out. As we all get older, younger generations will become more and more accustomed to gaming, meaning that it won’t have the stigma it currently has today. Sure, there’ll always be the outdoors-ee types but sod ‘em. They’ll be the weirdos soon enough.
shields_t | 22/12/2009 12:58
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Outdoorsy types? Like the trainspotters I used to see at Northampton station on a daily basis -they’re a lot weirder than us lot!
bunimomike | 22/12/2009 13:22
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They’re just poor gamers.
TaFfinSki | 22/12/2009 12:11
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Nice article. You really don’t like make-up do you
tobo_56 | 22/12/2009 12:15
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I know a person who is so stupid the dont even know 1+1 and yet they’re brilliant at games, so there’s proof that smart geeks don’t only play games, dumbasses do to
jimmy-google | 22/12/2009 12:16
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I think that was one of my favourite articles I’ve ever read on TSA
3shirts | 22/12/2009 12:17
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I met a woman in home the other day who was 56. I think that really goes to show the wider appeal of gaming these days. We are the first generation of adults who have had gaming in their entire life so I think, once we are old, it will be firmly a part of life just like TV is now
jimmy-google | 22/12/2009 12:28
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My Dad’s 50 and has a ps3 but spends most of his time playing ps1 tomb raider games on his psp – I can even get my mum spending hours on tetris. Gaming is getting into homes more and more now. It’s only a matter of time before the old fashion views of gaming fade away.
bunimomike | 22/12/2009 12:31
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Older women can groom too.
tantalus_blank | 22/12/2009 12:41
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I lol’d
mynameisblair | 22/12/2009 12:23
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“WITH A STICK”
Brilliant.
BOOM!
Gamoc | 22/12/2009 12:29
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BOOM to the power of BOOM!
mynameisblair | 22/12/2009 13:47
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Clean up on aisle BOOM!
Roynaldo | 22/12/2009 12:43
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I at one point or another have been many of those “people” that you mention, bar the make up
And I can tell you now, being a gamer is the far better option than anything else.
Fresh191 | 22/12/2009 13:05
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584 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2009
Great read. I agree that gamers are looked at in a slightly shite tinted light but I have to say its all wrong.
Look at these ‘make-up’ people, these people that drink themselves into a stuper every weekend doing physical damage to themselves and other people. They make this country look terrible but we (by we I mean the government) dont give a shit because they are making so much money of these in-breeders drinking their own body weight in alco-pops each week.
As for the childhood obesity blame, its total bullshit. I was obese as a child and I was Very active and hardly played games at all, bad food was the problem then and I think it still is with kids today.
Raen | 22/12/2009 13:28
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Um have you not seen the frequent anti-binge drinking ads on telly?
lewis815 | 22/12/2009 15:46
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Geez stereotyping much.. I go out a hell of a lot, didn’t realise that I’m making the country look terrible =/
lewis815 | 22/12/2009 15:48
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Other than with my terrible dancing of course..
Joe | 22/12/2009 13:07
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gaming is expensive yes, but so is smoking, drugs and booze which people regularly partake in…
at least our entertainment is not expensive suicude…
bunimomike | 22/12/2009 13:57
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Fair ol’ point. My neighbour doesn’t think twice about putting down £100 on a good evening out (including taxi home, etc) so gaming isn’t THAT expensive a hobby/pastime when you think about it.
tobo_56 | 22/12/2009 14:36
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Gaming can be suicide, there was kid who got stuck on Mw2 i think there was a thread about him, (and a rlly embarassing video
) There are people like him who get carried away and tbh his life is ruined anyways
legalisemurder | 22/12/2009 21:17
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What if you drink,smoke,take drugs and play video games?I don’t think gaming has the stigma it once had.After i bought MW2 i went for a pint,was looking at the box and the three dudes at the bar next to me all started talking about it and how great it was .I’ve seen old ladies on buses with DS’s.Its a double edged sword though.I think i preferred things before all the noobs started arriving.
Phil_E | 22/12/2009 13:24
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funny read.
haz360 | 22/12/2009 13:46
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Brilliant article. Totally agree with everything said.
Deadpixel | 22/12/2009 16:27
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Stigma; it’s NOT a game…
iNsAnE_gAmInG | 22/12/2009 20:40
* Banned *
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Gaming is an expensive hobby and a bit of a waste of money as it would be far better to spend the money on sports equipment so at least you get fit from your investment.
However, I am lazy and relaxed, therefore have no problem throwing £40 at retailers to receive a new game every so often, I am just glad I have a great social life to accompany my gaming habits.