Caual Gamers in Game Stores.

[MikeTheElf]

Sometimes, when I go to game stores, i see casual gamers, casual gamer kids and *chocke* soccer moms. thats normal, but sometimes, they make extremely retarded statements, such as:
Kid: "daddy, but I really want it! cmon!" refering to a game he never saw before (when I saw this it was about curious geaorge)
Soccer Mom: "you cant have that, its not your age" (refering to Spiderman 2)
Caual Gamer: "Oh this game has bazookas in it. im gonna buy it!" (refering to ratchet and clank. its a great game, but for violence, its not worth it)
Did you ever feel like punching these people in the face?

I think most people have forgotten that:
A)Kids beg for anything that looks remotely interesting- not just video games.
B)Despite the fact that almost every parent will buy their kid a game (or let the kid buy it)without checking the esrp rating, some parents do.
C)Violence (or the hinting of violence) is probably the biggest lure for anything nowadays, especially video games: so anything that has a picture of a gun on the cover is going to sell to the general gamer quicker than something else.

Yes, I feel like punching many people in the face, but I realized that won't stop them.

 

[Doug]

I do not feel like punching casual gamers in the face. I feel like punching stupid people in the face. Casual gamer/soccer mom/kid does not = stupid person automatically.

Those people are gods compared to a duo I encountered one day. They were in the store bugging the clerks about what they owned, asking why they didn't own said game, and then going and boasting about having systems that didn't exist. The kid had said he 'special ordered' the 'x-cube' off of ebay and because of it he was better than everyone else in the store. When he asked one clerk what his favorite system was, he said the SNES and the kid asked him if he was poor or something. C'mon now.

There are just unintelligent, bratty, people in the world.

Agreed, although I will admit to feeling unjustifably angry at people who don't get games and try and act like they do, which is pretty stupid of me, but none of us are perfect, heh...

Btw, you've probably seen this before, but let the Gord into your life!
http://www.actsofgord.com/index.php

And I managed to find an link to a copy of the last section on his site that was oddly unaccessable on the main site (the links to each subsection were dead):
http://www.myths.com/pub/humor/gord/apocalypse/index.html

 

[poleboy]

When did "casual gamer" become "stupid brat"?
Also, why do people keep insisting that the term "casual gamer" exists outside an EA board room meeting?

 

[Iron Mal]

These 'casual gamers' are normal people. You know, the people that get to have sex with women. Sometimes, these people like to buy video games because they want to turn their brains off and kill stuff for a while. Y'all can go back to jerking yourselves off to japanese cartoon porn and diligently reading your gamer magazines, I'm going to go get some head from my real life girlfriend.

I've noticed that the two furthest extremes when it comes to gamers are 'hardcore' gamers (who seem to believe that anyone who can't get into the top 10 of any online scoreboard are somewhat inferior), they will useually hurl abuse about the other guy/gal being a noob and how they raped them last night on Halo (they take it far too seriously).

On the other end of the scale you will get the people who have an almost fanatical hatred of gamers/nerds/people with either a pc or console. They seem to take a rather black and white view of: if you play games, then you are automatically a social reject who never see sunlight (or other people for that matter) and are extremely petty (we are at fanboy alert 5). They will often use the stereotype that gamers are inept when it comes to relations with the opposite sex (with the other typical observation of these poor fellows having to resort to porn/erotic anime) while they, the 'normal' people, are happily engaged in a sexually active relationship (we take their word on that).

Then you get the people in the middle of these extremes who don't really care, shrug their sholders and get back to whatever they were doing.

 

[stompy]

Actually, I don't. I generally ignore all others in the store except the store clerk, so I don't notice any idiots around.

 

[JaguarWong]

If ever a thread needed derailing it's this one.

 

[darthsmily]

I am actually more sick of seeing some of these "hardcore" gamers (especially teenagers) buying their games like they are some dirty secret.
Just annoys me that they think they have to hide their hobbie because some "cool kid" might tease them about it if they somehow found out.

 

[SargentToughie]

I am actually more sick of seeing some of these "hardcore" gamers (especially teenagers) buying their games like they are some dirty secret.
Just annoys me that they think they have to hide their hobbie because some "cool kid" might tease them about it if they somehow found out.

I completely agree, I was sick of being the only person that openly loved games at my school before I joined band...

 

[Q9R42]

Here's a breakdown of what I think:
30% god, I wanna punch those people in the face.
20% I should probably tell them, it wouldn't be a good idea to get that game.
40% Ignore them
10% AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRGRH! stop it!

hahaha! He already said it!

 

[Lord Krunk]

When did "casual gamer" become "stupid brat"?

Hear, hear.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

I only get annoyed at those kinds of people when they eat up all the new releases that are actually decent before I have a chance to get to 'em.

Any time other than that, I just sit back and watch them pour more development money into my hobby.

This.

 

[Jumplion]

I've only seen one casual gaming pair in my local Gamestop, and they were already on their way out of the story with their little daughter with some girly DS game. That's fine, i could't give two shits and a pickle. Let the girl (supposedly) enjoy her Bratz game, as long as I don't meet up with her and she became a real brat.

And thank god the woman actually LOOKED at hte ESRB rating on SPiderman 2! Why are you complaining about that?

 

[Susan Arendt]

Enough with the rampant gaming snobbery. Your definition of "fun" and "good game" are not the only correct ones. If someone enjoys playing a game because it has pretty ponies, or a rocket launcher, or any other reason, the bottom line is they are still having fun -- which is the entire point, last time I checked. It's that very elitist attitude that prevents many people from ever picking up a controller in the first place. Don't we WANT more people playing games and having fun?

As others have mentioned, brats and non-core gamers are not synonyms, and you'll see bad and uninformed behavior in any retail environment. Clothes, CDs, toys, whatever.

 

[Amnestic]

As long as no one tells me my gaming purchases are stupid, I won't tell them the same thing. The wonderful thing about humanity is diversity. People like different things. If someone wants to play "Barbie's Pony Adventure" then that's cool. As long as they're enjoying it. If anyone asks for my opinion on what they should buy/what I enjoy, I'd be glad to divulge it in the hopes that they make a purchase more suited to their enjoyment. Like racing games? Cool, not my thing but okay. Not a fan of shoot em ups? Well, they're not everyone's kettle of fish.

Really, hostility isn't needed. In an age where video games are becoming accepted by some and demonised by others, shouldn't we extend a hand to people with helpful advice rather than scorn? It's hardly a wonder people see some gamers as socially inept losers when their sole interaction with the 'hardcore' crowd has been one of unpleasantness.

That said, anyone who criticises my games can go screw themselves. I play what I enjoy. I'm so terribly sorry it doesn't meet your personal standards of what is and isn't a good game.

 

[squid5580]

I don't know if it is because I live in Canada or because I live in a fairly small town but my experiences at EB or Gamestop are completely different. Everyone walking around has big grins on thier faces (with the exception of the kids who get told NO). I have gotten into a few friendly debates with complete strangers as to why we liked or disliked a game. I almost always find going into the stores is a pleasant experience.

 

[Jumplion]

The only time I would ever interupt somebody's gaming purchase is if;

1. I'm the employee
2. The person is asking what their child could possibly like
3. If the kid honestly doesn't know what game he wants (like "I dunno, I could get this" or something like that)

Other than that, let them enjoy the Barbie game for all it's worth (to them atleast).

 

[Solo508]

Have to agree with Quistnix. Its quite a stupid thing to complain about. I remember being a kid and having to give change or having to bring my mum to the store, I couldn't have cared less what some depressed old git on his pedestal thought.

 

[.J.a.T.]

Thank GOD I only buy my games online these days. Seriously...

I remember this one time when... (damn I feel really old now...) ...this some kid was browsing the shelves and then went whining to his mom how he wanted this and that game. The mother didn't buy it, since it was rated too high for the little brat.

Then the "casual" game came and took the very game from the shelve and bought it.

Funnies thing is, the game was the game was some random game about horses. And the buyer was a male. And at least 13 years old. I think I laughed a bit.