Tyra Banks show "Decodes video game player"
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I was checking Morgan Webb's wiki page for a psychology degree; I didn't find one. I'm pretty sure she made some general points about gamers that sounded somewhat coherent and then when she was actually on the show just listed off a pre-planned outline of what a gamer is, using no facts or evidence. Oh well, it's the Tyra Banks show, it's not like anyone related to that will understand playing video games.
I'm gonna QFT this. GAMING. IS. NOT. PERFECT. And the longer we, as gamers, fail to realize this, the harder it will be for people to take us seriously. Yes, most gamers out there know some self-control and can put down the controller whenever we want to. But that doesn't give us, who can do that, an excuse to blindly defend those who have lost that self-control and encourage them to continue a self-destructive habit. Just because YOU don't have a problem, doesn't mean it's impossible for it to be a problem. And I understand how the media can be misleading about games, gamers and gamer culture, and worry so much about problem gaming compared to other forms of media, but there is one bit of justification for that, that doesn't exist in other media: some games are designed to try to keep you playing for perhaps unhealthy lengths of time, if you don't have the willpower to step away from the computer or console. Perhaps we need a reminder of this:squid5580 said:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2487-The-Skinner-Box
And yeah, Webb really did do a good job of trying to defend the games guys play, and didn't just go lockstep with what Tyra really seemed to want her to say. Tyra seemed to have to stretch to try to spin what Webb was saying in her favor. But the point is, we really don't know how much this guy was really playing, and how little time he was spending with his girlfriend. Perhaps he really was spending ALL his free time outside work playing games to the point of shutting himself into his place, and didn't realize how much it was affecting others. This guy is 23, he is old enough to make his own decisions, sure. But if he has been with this woman since high school, and they were really considering getting really serious with their relationship or even perhaps getting married, sacrifices have to be made. And something that important can't be just written off just because, as the quoted post put it, "I R GAMER derp". And if we are seriously suggesting that that guy should just toss aside his girlfriend of at least 5 years to simply play more games, I think we might have to look more closely at the things we advocate for the sake of games. Sometimes, games DO cause problems, and we can't just blindly ignore them for the sake of defending the "gamer" title.
Here's another good Extra Credits on it:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2005-Gamer
So, as a friend of mine put it, "I firmly believe in calming the f**k down." All this knee-jerk reaction isn't helping the cause of bringing games into the mainstream. We've got to accept the fact that there is the bad that goes with the good of gaming, as there is with all media. Further denial of this will only set games back even further from growing into general acceptance as a good thing.
E! own G4. I know, it is sad. But, yeah I don't think she wanted to be there either. G4 probably threatend to not renew her contract, like Olivia Munn. Now she has to do everything they say.emeraldrafael said:
When did that happen? What kinda evil is at works? This is WHORE-Ible!!!theonlyblaze2 said:
<youtube=tSWSi5Wa06A>
Oka, I'll stop. I just like to use that. Makes me smile. XD
But yeah. I know its dumb to say, BUt they should let Munn, Webb, Sessler, and Peraira (I'm certain I misspelled that) run the channel. But meh. This needs to be resolved quickly in the generation.
My response. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ2G111spckemeraldrafael said:
I don't know how to embed, I just started posting. They should let the leads run the channel, but I don't think G4 will be around much longer. Or it will become another Spike.
From what I gathered,
The boyfriend looks like he is trying not to break up with his girlfriend on the spot, and the only thing that made it worth his time was the fact he was talking to fairly well known people. He doesn't sound like he has a problem, and if she didn't like how much time he was spending on video games, she should have talked to him about it instead of dragging him to the show.
The girlfriend has decided that videogames are taking too much time from his 'worship my girlfriend' time.
Tyra as usual is a complete idiot and rude at the same time. Nothing less then what I could expect from a women
Webb ran damage contol. I do however have an issue with webb's classification of people, does my fanatical love of grand strategy have anything to do with my urge to conquer the states of the EU when I hear Wagner?
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In the guy's position, I would of waited for the curtain to go up, then announced that due to her demand to show up to this show- it would have never reached there if I were the man and it wasn't a surprise, since talks would either fix the problem quickly, or there would of been a break up before it reached the talk show intervension stage- that I was breaking up with her, followed by exit stage left.
The boyfriend looks like he is trying not to break up with his girlfriend on the spot, and the only thing that made it worth his time was the fact he was talking to fairly well known people. He doesn't sound like he has a problem, and if she didn't like how much time he was spending on video games, she should have talked to him about it instead of dragging him to the show.
The girlfriend has decided that videogames are taking too much time from his 'worship my girlfriend' time.
Tyra as usual is a complete idiot and rude at the same time. Nothing less then what I could expect from a women
Webb ran damage contol. I do however have an issue with webb's classification of people, does my fanatical love of grand strategy have anything to do with my urge to conquer the states of the EU when I hear Wagner?
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In the guy's position, I would of waited for the curtain to go up, then announced that due to her demand to show up to this show- it would have never reached there if I were the man and it wasn't a surprise, since talks would either fix the problem quickly, or there would of been a break up before it reached the talk show intervension stage- that I was breaking up with her, followed by exit stage left.
So apparently I'm a secret Romantic who is trying to fight something in the world through video games. Huh?
I thought this was going to be Vagina Theatre, painting all non-gamer girls in a bad light, and while I'll keep my opinion on Tyra in this episode and especially that guy's girlfriend to myself, Morgan Webb isn't some *****, she was a hell of a lot more respectful than any of the women in that audience would have been. We as gamers have to accept that yeah, games aren't real and while non-gamers can never understand the very real feelings we have while playing them, games are still escapism in a lot of ways. Look at the title of this webzine. One of the reasons I stuck around!
You don't see any truth in what she was saying? Fantasy games do represent an ideal world where the bad guy loses and plucky heroic underdogs gain strength and get the girl. Shooters are for letting off aggression in a fast-paced way (not for me, but for plenty of you). Sports games are for feeling success, for experiencing that celebrity-athlete lifestyle that a lot of guys aspire to.
No, I can't keep it to myself anymore- fuck you bitches. Rather than respect a man as a real and valuable human being worth understanding the normal, respectful way, you're "decoding" them like a science experiment. Don't ask the guy, he might not know. Better get a female "expert" to solve this problem for us. Games are for kids, they don't matter! Hang out with your prissy ***** girlfriend from high school! Don't give up on the little princess and find someone with even the smallest amount of respect for you, hell no! /sarcasm /rant
You don't see any truth in what she was saying? Fantasy games do represent an ideal world where the bad guy loses and plucky heroic underdogs gain strength and get the girl. Shooters are for letting off aggression in a fast-paced way (not for me, but for plenty of you). Sports games are for feeling success, for experiencing that celebrity-athlete lifestyle that a lot of guys aspire to.
No, I can't keep it to myself anymore- fuck you bitches. Rather than respect a man as a real and valuable human being worth understanding the normal, respectful way, you're "decoding" them like a science experiment. Don't ask the guy, he might not know. Better get a female "expert" to solve this problem for us. Games are for kids, they don't matter! Hang out with your prissy ***** girlfriend from high school! Don't give up on the little princess and find someone with even the smallest amount of respect for you, hell no! /sarcasm /rant
Fair point, my problem with it however is this is just a snipet of what happens in my country where you can't seem to listen to a radio or watch tv without finding a channel that is debating video games and kids and that is what truly pisses me off but my biggest problem with this video is that they suggest that these video games are for children not men, and altough short,no-one disagrees with that. I will say that this isn't the worst video I have seen of video games being debated on tv but I am sure people will walkaway the worst impressions on video games. If it is any indications of what the threads above are commenting on then think what the people who watch these shows think. I think the reason we are insecure is that we are afraid that these people will find some way to censor games just because they don't understand them I mean look at the mass effect debate look how blown out of context that was and everyone was taking it on board as the truth even though there was somebody there to deny those allegations and I think that is what frightens us the most.squid5580 said:
You play video games but you are not a gamer now I saw something very interesting on this and just wandering what you define as a gamer?
Also am I gaming obsessed? maybe I mean I play games I learn how to make games so I can secure a position in the games industry, but you know what I also involve myself in extra curricular activities spend time with friends. Do I have a girlfriend. No. Why? Because at the moment it isn't something I can really handle with so many things going on I don't really think I could spend anytime with a girlfriend that wouldn't cut into seeing my friends. I know that IF you do have a girlfriend you need to spend time with her but again I think a couple of these people may just be ignorant.
Well first off the whole 13yr old was a crack. A joke. A bit of a burn perhaps. But if we can't laugh at ourselves or at the very least let a minor infraction like that slide we have a problem. I mean there is a huge difference between this and say the Mass Effect Sex Box scandal, the kid who killed his family because he played Devil May Cry (even though he was imitating Neo from the Matrix) or a car accident being blamed on video games because, no word of a lie, there was a copy of NFS found in the car that caused the accident. Those are a good reason to get pissed off and rise to the defense of our beloved hobby. But Tyra's little comments there came from an obvious non gamer. One who doesn't care or really understand our hobby. Just like you can't understand your Mom playing Farmville for the past 2 years (for example) and "gamers" make cracks about that all the time. There is absolutely no difference between what she said and any comment making fun of something like that.connall said:
And you misunderstood a bit. By definition I am a "hardcore gamer". I am addicted to gaming. I just tried to quit. I went 5 months not playing any real games and ended up burning my free time playing casual games. And I was miserable. But as soon as I went over to a buddy's place and he shoved a controller in my hand to play some NHL 11 (and I HATE sports games with an absolute passion) I was much happier. It felt like coming home. But I come to a thread like this and I am ashamed to call myself one. Not because of the video but because of the responses like the one I quoted. We want our hobby or pastime or whatever you want to label it as to be taken seriously. To be able to enjoy it in relative peace. And I am all for that. I'd be the first to tell a guy like Jack Thompson to stick it where the sun don't shine (hopefully in a tactful and diplomatic manner). But responses like that are far worse than anything that went on in the video. And far more damaging since it is coming from an insider instead of one born of ignorance or a lack of interest of gaming. And if we ever want to break the stereotypes, if we want to ever be taken seriously, we have to start dissociating ourselves from this "gamer" mentality.
We are at war. Fight smart. We as a community need to quit loading the gun, flipping the safety off, and then handing the enemy the gun.
The fact that Tyra thinks this will relate to viewers is a good insight that somewhere in the production of the show, people know it's not uncommon for men to play games. And it's sort of obvious if you aren't looking to be offended as a gamer. His biggest grievance is sort of clearly not true from the way the show is presented. It's 'this is something a lot of women can relate to' not 'this is some weirdo who plays video games as an adult, lets all poke fun'.squid5580 said:
People are making mountains out of molehills here. For me the worst part was Webbs pop-psychology which amounted to genre stereotyping.
When she said Final Fantasy VII is a silly game I loaded my gun.
In all seriousness this was a dumb piece of daytime television drivel aimed at people who don't understand games and will never understand games. Stupid to be sure, but not the video game hatefest I expected it to be.
In all seriousness this was a dumb piece of daytime television drivel aimed at people who don't understand games and will never understand games. Stupid to be sure, but not the video game hatefest I expected it to be.