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Denver, 6:41 PM
Fri Nov 20
53 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/10/09
The Atari 2600 was compelling as all hell when I was 2 years old, but it really took the NES generation for games to take that leap from "I'm controlling stuff on TV!" to "okay, now we're getting somewhere."
So, y'know, 1984. Which was 25 years ago. A 40+ year old now would have been no younger than 15 then - the age at which boys are discovering girls. Video games, especially after the industry's crash, would not have been a priority for that age group in the way it is today. Sure, you'd have some who bought an NES and continued gaming into their adulthood, but it was really the generation coming of gaming age in the mid 1980s that drives the "average gamer is in his mid-20's" stuff that we read about today.
A 50-year old would be old enough that gaming might have had a residual impact, since it's likely they would have had kids in that era and as such had an NES and possibly a Super NES in the home, but too much older than early 50s and you start getting into "blue ocean" territory - there isn't a concern about mature content in gaming because their child-rearing years didn't fall in the right window, but they might be acclimating/re-acclimating to games thanks to the Wii/DS.
Too much younger at all than 40, and you've got folks who were the right age to have gotten on board with games in the PSX era.
So you've got that nice nebulous little window between 40 and 50 where M-rated content is a concern because 1) they have kids now, and 2) "games are for kids" because the industry was in that stage of infancy when they came of age. #sex
11/09/09
I also think there are a disproportionate number of women who don't understand or accept games as an adult pastime. Now I'm not saying there aren't girls who like games, not my point at all. What I am saying is that, in my experience, of the people who don't consider video games a hobby, a much larger number of women view them as childish. I can't ever remember hearing a male under the age of 40 tell someone who plays games to "grow up" or that "games are for kids" but I've heard numerous females in their 20s say things like that. #sex
11/09/09
Hard to pick up chicks wearing my Scribblenauts pre-order hat though. #sex
11/09/09
Hmmm. Actually, he has a relatively good point.
Obviously Kotaku readers are going to be well versed in how "mature" mature games are, but as someone who's worked with elementary school children, I can tell you that soooooo many parents just buy kids games because they're games only to be shocked when they actually see something really graphic on the screen. Examples? Little kids who play Diablo and Counter Strike and wear G-Unit shoes.
Perhaps kids I worked with were seriously neglected, but many still see consoles as gaming device, hence automatically for kids.
Playing games isn't an activity for many 40+ year olds. They didn't have it when they were young, why should they understand that they can also play these games? #sex
11/09/09
Just because you don't like it doesn't make it wrong. #sex
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This statement may be true when it comes to diversity in age range, but blatantly false when it comes to socio-cultural background. #sex
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Let's talk about people once again: over the course of life, tastes evolve or are affirmed. Horizons broadens or narrows, discoveries are made. So as people grow older, just about everyone get to find books, movies or music they enjoy at every step of their cultural journey. This is absolutely not true with video games, so many people just leave them behind or are even never interested in them.
Anecdotal evidence is no evidence at all, but I can't help to be troubled when I look at the very diverse friends of my age group I have around me and notice that almost all the people with scientific or technical educations play video games and almost none of the people with humanities or artistic educations do. #sex
11/09/09
i think one of the biggest differences between video games and other media is that the big games that we, the gaming community, consider good or well made or whatever take much more time and effort to fully experience. watching a good film will take about 2 hours but fully experiencing a game will involve investing much more time. so there may be a game for everyone out there but they may not be willing to invest the time needed #sex
11/09/09
The thing is, relatively speaking video games are new on the scene. I like to think that around the time movies were starting to circulate, there were plenty of old timers who just never got interested in them and continued to only go to the theater to see actual plays. It's the same situation here - the only reason you see this disparity at a specific age line (in this case the forty and aboves not getting it) is because that's right about when video games started to become a reality. They're just like the guys still stuck thinking all movies are Charlie Chaplain and primitive.
As the medium matures (in the age sense, not necessarily in the content they present) it'll eventually become just like the other media standards and there won't really be an age difference. Or if there is, it'll be because of social values instead of the new-ness of it. #sex
11/09/09
I had a lot of trouble deciding what to do after high school.
I tried programming... too exhausting.
I tried a combination of psychology and sociology... too much in general.
tried just getting a job... somehow ended up as a sautee cook...
finally I'm back at school doing sort of a combo of web and game design.
Guess what? At every single one of the above I found hardcore gamers who all had very diverse tastes. #sex
11/09/09
The first commercial video game is when? 1972? That's 37 years ago. The first commercial movie screening is 1895. And yes, in the infancy of movies, many people decried the stupidity of the content while some were amazed by the potential of the medium, but do you think people were still having this debate in 1932? The maturity, diversity and level of artistic achievement of movies by the '30s dwarf the almost total insignificance of close to four decades of commercial video games. To match movies, video games are basically 20 years behind schedule. #sex
11/09/09
Maybe I am blind or overly pessimistic, but for me the biggest difference between video games and other media is that there are not games for everyone. Imagine if 99% of movies were made in Hollywood. If 99% of literature was fantasy. There still would be some great movies and books, but would everyone enjoy these media as much? I don't think so. #sex
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I think people are really looking at this wrong. It's not a "you get this age and you just don't get it anymore" kind of thing, but rather "gaming is not only a fairly new concept, but it has only really matured within the last decade or two, before that it was largely for kids and a niche market" kind of thing. Because the older peeps grew up largely where games were a niche market and mostly considered a toy, they simply did not develop the appreciation that the younger audience has for gaming. There are of course exceptions in both groups because of this. But I honestly believe that is what they are saying.
If none of that makes any sense, let me know and I'll do my best to translate it into something intelligent. XD
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Why have i yet to buy this game, i mean c'mon i like purple and all...so why? #sex
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Hmm! it seems that my "Perv-O-Meter" is on the fritz again. #sex
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I use a Grummel Net top of the line industrial strength "Perv-O-Meter"
So any random meter won't be enough for my hypertensive...reflexes #sex
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But i can't play it right now...due to a angry girlfriend ^_^ #sex
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I am good friends with Mr. Soul Less, CEO of Solus Technologies, which is how I got my hands on a prototype. =D #sex
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@Curse lily: Can... can I join in this awestruck thread too? :3
I... have Professor Prinny if you want him...
/randomNESS
11/09/09
And the kicks...well i call them sweet touch of love (^_~)
@(Starman) Count Von Count: Why certainly my dear old friend, after all there no party without a prinny ^_^
P.s lol you change your name once again. #sex
11/09/09
@Curse lily: Well it's all in good faith of our fellow favorite Muppet Vampire, Count von Count!
And don't forget to follow up on your local Public Station's Bulletin Announcement and count a number to 20 every day!
Now, I am intrigued by the Rad level of perversion that this thread has become contaminated with...
All perversion, but no pictures? Shame on you Curse lily (^_^)
11/09/09
@(Starman) Count Von Count: You ask and you shall received ^_^ #sex
11/09/09
My lord... that is one fine ass you have showed me.
I am in your gratitude... forever in your gratitude... OTZ
Now if only your angry girlfriend could be won over easily like that ^_^
11/09/09
Seriously she's more scary than the Weeping angels, and trust me those bastards scare the hell out of me. #sex
11/09/09
You have completely won me over with that quote, proving to me that you are a great Doctor Who fan indeed. ^__^
And maybe you should show her who's boss by showing her what will happen to angry ansgty people like here. Yep, nothing like a good scare will fix her up. #sex
11/09/09
@(Starman) Count Von Count: I hate those things, i'm literally looking over my shoulders right now (((( ；ﾟДﾟ))) #sex
11/09/09
....Actually, I'd prefer locking myself in the TARDIS right now /≥__≤\
HELL EXTERMINATE ME WITH YOUR GF FOR ALL I CARE!!
But what DID you do to piss your girlfriend off? #sex
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11/09/09
@Curse lily: Aww that sucks, though it's silly she gets mad over a silly promise as you said :P
I hope you get better, Helena, that's all I want to wish you.
Now don't forget to avoid those Super Soaker Water Zombies next week when Waters of Mars comes out, alright? (^_~) #sex
11/09/09
"Oh this Pokemon game is 'E' that's good for my five year old right?"
"Well... can he read?"
"Not really."
"Then Pokemon isn't a game for him, there's a ton of text in that game."
"How about Tetris?"
"Aaah... no reading really, buuut that's not really something for a five year old either."
They don't understand that the video game rating system isn't exactly like the movie system, similar, but not the same. #sex
11/09/09
Its stacking blocks, they can do that since they were two.
Though Pokemon did strike me as odd when i got it and on the back it now says "basic reading is required to enjoy this game"
Wait, surely the movie rating is for content not difficulty? So if they see a game with an E rating they'll see it as the same as if they se an E rating on a film.
It's not like folks thinks an 18 rating means "This is a really deep film and a 15 year old won't be able to wrap their heads around. Damn look its on VHS, they probs don't even know how to start the thing up" #sex
11/09/09
Both generalizations have large numbers of exceptions. #sex
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11/09/09
Anyway, I was thinking of a similar point - that it's a lot like anime and how some people think it's all for kids because it's a "cartoon," where those who get it, like gaming, realize it's just a medium and no more for kids than movies are.
Also, MOOOROOOBOOOSHIIIIIIII! #sex
11/09/09
That said, cartoons don't have to be for kids. Even in America we're *finally* starting to realize this, with shows like Family Guy... Granted we still have a long way to go to get from "mature humor" to actual compelling storylines that you see in anime, but oh well... #sex
11/09/09
I grew up watching the old Warner Bros., Tom and Jerry and Tex Avery cartoons. Sure they were censored (not to the extent they are now...perish the thought that you may show a bunny with high explosives o_O), and I recognized that there were plenty to see that was meant for my age group, but also plenty for my parents' age group (especially the Wolf and Red cartoons).
But even though I remember the early anime titles that showed in this country back then (Astroboy, Speed Racer and Kimba, among others), I saw early on that animation could be used to convey more mature messages (good examples of this are the animation adaptation of Austin Briggs' When the Wind Blows, and Grave of the Fireflies).
But unfortunately, many in the US have very narrow ideas about what constitutes animation. And when something comes along and disturbs the paradigm, then they get upset (of course that tends to be true in just about anything, really). I remember an early critique of Project Ako (hardly the paragon of maturity, but fun nonetheless), when US Manga/CPM released it here. It was in a column called "KidVid"and the
columnist was absolutely horrified by what he saw (starting off by characterizing Anime as being exclusively adult...obviously didn't grow up with Astroboy or didn't know that was anime too...probably the latter).
But still, I think that's true that if people don't know what it is they fear it more (a Time article on "Cyberporn" in the mid-90s made the clueless think everyone on-line was having porn crammed into their e-mail boxes...several people at work who knew I was on-line at the time asked me if I was looking for porn on there (no, I wasn't ^_^). So games get typecast as either for kids or made by the devil to corrupt the lil' tykes, and anime is all Kodomo no Jikan and Urotsukidoji.
Eh. If they think that, it's their business; let them wallow in the cesspool of their own ignorance.
(well, when I was a kid, comics were considered a corrupting influence by many of my teachers; my mom had no problem with me reading them, and by the time I was in 4th grade I had the equivalent vocabulary of a 2nd year college student, according to their own testing :p) #sex
11/09/09
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This stereotype will slowly die off as gaming and gamers get older. Once people over 40 are people who grew up with games, then the stereotype slowly fade away. But games need to become as ubiquitous as movies and television.
I'm in my mid 30's and many years ago I used to wonder when I would 'grow out' of videogames. Now I realize that I will enjoy this hobby until I can no longer hold a controller in my hands. #sex
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