Do you wish gaming was still "just for nerds"?

[Smooth Operator]

Hell no, I want everyone to see the tons of fun you can get from gaming.
Don't like the nasty downside of shovel-ware selling like hotcakes to people who only recently discovered pictures can move when you push buttons.

 

[Togs]

At first I had all that hipsterish BS attitude towards stuff like the Wii and Zynga but then I started noticing how people didn't role their eyes when they found I was over 15 and still played games, how it was exposing people who would never normally had interest in them to our wonderful hobby and my opinion changed pretty damn quick I tell you.

 

[sheah1]

I don't wanna keep it to myself (I'll find you one day uber cool nerd girlfriend, one day) but I don't like how it's been contaminated in a lot of ways, like the stereotypical CoD player or the growing "Casual" market (which I feel is killing innovation in a lot of ways). Everyone loving Pokemon is pretty damn awesome though.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

To be honest, I think gaming would be better off being a "niche" market. Let's face it, since moving into the mainstream gaming has become more and more comercialized and basically full of shit.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

No I don't, because you aren't. He even replied to you himself, AND others picked up on the fact that you took it the wrong way.

You sound more like you have a bit of a 'size' issue more than anything else.

Ah, whatever. I acknowledge the fact that you don't agree, but best believe I wouldn't have the stance I do if so many people (here on this very site I might add) didn't prove me right. Hell, look at the DA2 fiasco.

But again, whatever. I'm done arguing and I'm sure you are too. So, I'm simply gonna close this and go the fuck on about my business.

Let me take another crack at this as that is kinda bullshit about people on this site. Come again at a different time and you will see just as many console elitists.

Definition of DUMB

1: a lacking the human power of speech
b of a person often offensive : lacking the ability to speak
2: temporarily unable to speak (as from shock or astonishment)
3: not expressed in uttered words
4: silent; also : taciturn
5: lacking some usual attribute or accompaniment; especially : having no means of self-propulsion
6a : lacking intelligence : stupid
b : showing a lack of intelligence
c : requiring no intelligence
7: not having the capability to process data

Number 5 is the meaning of dumb we use when referring to the "dumbing" down or watering down(would be a better word) of games for consoles. This is true as consoles have less input options than PCs. This is good and bad as it leads them to be more economic with controls but can also be restrictive. ME for example is restrictive. I always found that the game being forced to pause everytime you brought up ability wheel really fucked up the flow of combat. The game felt like it was crying out for a keyboard.

I know you are finished arguing but I just thought I'd take a crack at what is actually meant when decent people talking about the "dumbing" down of games for the wider audience on consoles.

 

[SageRuffin]

No, I don't know that you're mostly right. Because you aren't. That's not at all what we're saying or implying. What we're saying is that not everyone is a hardcore gamer, so not everyone likes to give much effort in playing or learning a game, thus developers try to make the game simpler and easier to approach a bigger audience.

And as I said to another, I wouldn't be saying this if I didn't witness so many others - on this very site, haven for intelligent gaming discussion - saying otherwise. Look at the DA2 fiasco; most PC gamers that I've seen/read basically said that if you like DA2 over Origins, you had to be mentally handicapped, and it's by default if you had and enjoyed the console version. All because a few things like stat-juggling and player abilities were made easier to understand. Doesn't mean the game couldn't have been better, of course, but that's another discussion.

What the fuck else am I supposed to think if everywhere I turn I'm getting ridden on for not playing [insert possible here] on a PC and that games are being "dumbed down"? And look at the term itself! As a console player, you honestly believe I'm supposed to just take that phrase with a grain of salt. It's borderline insulting!

And don't get me started on the whole "hardcore gamer" nonsense.

...great. Now I've gone and gotten on a soapbox. Now everyone gonna see this and think I'm whining about being "picked on" like I'm in fucking middle school. :/

So, in order to retain my integrity, I'm closing out and going the fuck on about my business. Good day sir/madam.

 

[SageRuffin]

Snippage.

Okay, that I can understand. As an aficionado of fighting games, I would definitely hate for one of my favorite fighting franchises (say, Soul Calibur) to be reduced to one or two buttons.

But it still sounds like console are to blame. Hell, why not just have multiplatform games like the ME series having certain features that take advantage of certain interfaces; in fact, from the videos I've seen, I completely understand why most people say that the PC is the most user-friendly considering how the game plays. But as far as that's concerned, with the occasional remapping of certain abilities, I think ME(2) plays just fine on consoles.

So in that respect, sure, I took a few terms and inadvertently elevated it into a gross misunderstanding. I'm not a PC gamer, so I hope you and everyone else can understand how I may be up in arms when someone uses the term "dumbing down" (still doesn't excuse some of my actions I know, but there it is).

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Snippage.

Okay, that I can understand. As an aficionado of fighting games, I would definitely hate for one of my favorite fighting franchises (say, Soul Calibur) to be reduced to one or two buttons.

But it still sounds like console are to blame. Hell, why not just have multiplatform games like the ME series having certain features that take advantage of certain interfaces; in fact, from the videos I've seen, I completely understand why most people say that the PC is the most user-friendly considering how the game plays. But as far as that's concerned, with the occasional remapping of certain abilities, I think ME(2) plays just fine on consoles.

So in that respect, sure, I took a few terms and inadvertently elevated it into a gross misunderstanding. I'm not a PC gamer, so I hope you and everyone else can understand how I may be up in arms when someone uses the term "dumbing down" (still doesn't excuse some of my actions I know, but there it is).

Look I can understand you being annoyed if you read the term in the wrong way and some people do use it in that context but when when normal PC gamers use it they mean it has features missing. Yes I would agree that it is fine to have different features on different systems and most devs try to do that anyway so all in all it is not a big problem mostly.

 

[Jkudo]

Honestly, no.

Yeah, my excitement in some games has suffered in a way (I used to be giddy for Halo releases until they started doing Mountain Dew promotions and shit to the point where it was insufferable) but we need this.

No, not for acceptance or to be "taken seriously as a medium," but to get rid of the pretentiousness, ivory towers, high horses and preconceptions that plague us so.

Games are art except for the ones that aren't. And my games are the highest art and your Farmville isn't even a game. Consoles are lesser and PCs are supreme, it's all your fault that the industry suffers. All you play is Madden and Call of Duty, I'm a better and smarter gamer because I play Half-Life and Final Fantasy...All that bullshit needs to disappear. The more people that enjoy all sorts of games without needing a reason, the better we'll be as a community, and that means far more to me than games as an "art form." It's not about becoming "cool" or "accepted" or having any sort of comeuppance at all.

I don't believe for half a second that games are suffering due to an expanded audience. The best developers will always be the best and the visionaries will keep trying to innovate. The money-driven devs will continue to be so. Great games and shit games will continue to be released for all platforms, and absolutely no one loses and nothing is changed.

YES!! Pretty much everything i wanted to say. I do not seek acceptance, but i'm sick of all the bullshit.

 

[EinTheCorgi]

Yes I miss the good old days of gaming. There was a kind of honor code witch no one follows now. To many kids growing up on COD and to many casuals who dont care for there fellow players...And do not get me started on that miserable excuse for MLG.

 

[Lenin211]

Would the escapist and all this discussion on gaming exist if it weren't for growing acceptance?

 

[SageRuffin]

Look I can understand you being annoyed if you read the term in the wrong way and some people do use it in that context but when when normal PC gamers use it they mean it has features missing. Yes I would agree that it is fine to have different features on different systems and most devs try to do that anyway so all in all it is not a big problem mostly.

Cool, now that we have that out the way...

I still say that while more people "joining the club" is all well and good, more people also brings with it more idiots.

Or maybe my cynicism has finally reached a low point.

 

[Dastardly]

Probably a good 10-15 years ago I recall walking into an Electronics Boutique in the mall and started browsing the games. Soon after a mother, teenage daughter, and younger son walked into the store. I overheard the teenage girl say "Mom! I can't be seen in here. This is the nerd store!" I quietly chuckled to myself.

Nowadays these same girls are WORKING at EB/Gamestop. Gaming has become a more accepted form of entertainment over the years. Even cool people play video games now.

Do you wish it was still more of a niche hobby, or do you like its growing acceptance?

Generally, the hatred of something getting popular comes back to a fundamental misunderstanding of how this market works.

We tend to think, "Great, now companies are going to spend all their time making games to please these jerk-offs, and no one will be filling my niche anymore." Which isn't true. It may mean that games originally meant only for our niche now have other elements included, sure. But for the most part, it means that other, newer companies are making related products for other people.

Let's say that "before," you were getting one or two games a year that really hit the mark for you. Odds are, you can still find that many releases (if not more) in your niche. The only difference is you have to look a bit harder, because so many other products are advertising in the same space.

When video game "got popular," a ton of other developers popped up to meet increased demand, and I think a lot of people falsely believe that these same developers would have popped up anyway, and would thus be making games for them. That's just not the case. Someone else opening a Burger King doesn't mean less McDonalds for the rest of us.

 

[Jacob Haggarty]

I like its growing acceptance because I'm not a damned hipster.

Well, thats convenient. You seem to have already posted my exact sentiments.

Good show, strange how you knew to do that... you must be a witch.

BURN THE HEATHEN.

 

[ChaoticKraus]

I do not classify myself as a nerd, and i like playing my videogames thank you very much.

Opening up gaming is the best way to bring new ideas and concepts into the medium. And it helps to fight off the conservative, elitist, "I get gaming" bullshit that some "gamers" like to spout.

I think the best thing we can do is to stop labeling ourselves "nerds" and "gamers". Why not simply be someone who plays videogames in their free time?

 

[superdelux]

If you mean get rid of Call Of Duty sheep and kids who's balls haven't dropped then yes, yes i do,

 

[GamingAwesome1]

I love gaming's growing acceptance.

Let's me show more people how I'm fucking awesome at them because I was doing it before it was cool. /hipster


The Devil's Hipster Advocate, for all those saying only Hipsters would have a problem with it being a niche appeal.

 

[iDoom46]

I really don't see the problem. More people playing games just means that there's more people who are enjoying video games and can accept them as a proper medium. And isn't that acceptance something that we're always fighting for? How can we expect someone to understand and accept something when they don't have contact with it and, therefore, can't learn about it?

And its not like we're losing anything. In fact, we're gaining things. Diversity in the "gamer" (I hate that word) community leads to an influx of new, different, interesting ideas and more engaging conversation in a broader forum.

Its not like the hardcore won't still have their little in-jokes. Just because more people understand the joke, doesn't make it less funny. And its not like every person who gets turned on to games is going to go out of the way to learn every little meme we've ever had.

 

[Quazimofo]

Why would I want to keep this enjoyment to myself? That'd be pretty goddamn selfish.

pretty much this, not to mention i get judged much less for liking games.

though i do dislike how so many developers are being folded into the bigger corporations which dumb down/call of duty-ify games to get more money from them via tapping call of duty's audience. (basically a direct result of the increasing popularity of games) luckily, this is not affecting EVERY game, and so there are still a number of great games out there to play. hell. even call of duty or halo is fun to play, but i only really do it with good friends, because then its just the whole mood and the banter that makes it fun as hell.