Why are video games still considered taboo even today?

Gamer Bhoy 89

I imagined back in the 80s and early 90s if you played video-games you were somewhat asocial and a bit of a loner. But even today, games are getting more and more mainstream (I don't think I know anyone my age without a console or at least some-form of gaming system), but there are those out there that still consider playing games as having too much time on one's hands.

I disagree, obviously, as I've played games my entire life and I think my life is perfectly fine. Maybe not taboo, but the stereotype of being a gamer, suddenly meaning that you're a Nigel with nobody to socialize with, can still be classed as a bit of an misconception nowadays, can it not? I remember someone asked me if I played a particular game before (I can't remember fully what game) and I said yeah, he asked me if I cleared it and I said yeah again. Quickly adding to that, the length of time it took me, he then said.... "Sure, that's nothing to be proud of".. Okay, thank you. :rolleyes:

I am mad into video games, I'm 23 and I've had 3 girlfriends (one of which I was with for 6 years), I'm with one a year now. I have a forklift license, I've worked in warehouses and I was an apprentice landscaper. I'm not boasting, or looking for attention in that sense, but I'm merely proving that just because I'm into games as much as I am, it doesn't mean I've never had a girlfriend or a life for that matter.

Did I make any sense in all of that? And does anybody else agree?

ShadowHearth

Some people are just thick and stuck in Flintstones era. Ignore them, that's it.

if that will make you feel better OP I am a gamer and an AFOL too. I get a lot dirtier looks then you can ever imagine.

Retr0gamer

People will always be afraid of something that is new or ignorant.

Videogames is stil a relatively new medium. When the current 20-30 year olds started gaming it wasn't as mainstream or popular as now. It's only now that people who started gaming in the 8-bit era are making it into positions of influence and power and it's becoming a little bit more acceptable.

For females gaming wasn't aimed at them until very recently. You'll notice that for the generation that grew up with the DS as their introduction to gaming there's a huge number of female gamers that got their start with Nintendogs or the Sims. When that generation grows up it will become far more acceptable. These things just take time to catch on, theignorant older crowd die off, leaving behind the generations that grew up with the medium and understand it.

Just look at Comic books. There was the preception of the comic book geek not so long ago but now we have movie directors and writers who grew up with comic books making movies and the comic book blockbuster is now the biggest money spinner for hollywood.

Zillah

It just needs one more generation. The current batch of journalists, politicians and parents grew up in a world where gaming was a niche activity - they've failed to adapt to the new paradigm, and they continue to reinforce the idea that games are somehow aberrant and second-class to more traditional media consumption. In ten years the ones advocating that view will be slightly embarrassing relics and the zeitgeist will move on.

super_furry

The people in charge and in power are still of the generations that grew up without them. It'll only be in the next two or three decades when those who grew up with videogames as an everyday part of their life will be making laws.

richymcdermott

gamercfc wrote: »

I imagined back in the 80s and early 90s if you played video-games you were somewhat asocial and a bit of a loner. But even today, games are getting more and more mainstream (I don't think I know anyone my age without a console or at least some-form of gaming system), but there are those out there that still consider playing games as having too much time on one's hands.

I disagree, obviously, as I've played games my entire life and I think my life is perfectly fine. Maybe not taboo, but the stereotype of being a gamer, suddenly meaning that you're a Nigel with nobody to socialize with, can still be classed as a bit of an misconception nowadays, can it not? I remember someone asked me if I played a particular game before (I can't remember fully what game) and I said yeah, he asked me if I cleared it and I said yeah again. Quickly adding to that, the length of time it took me, he then said.... "Sure, that's nothing to be proud of".. Okay, thank you. :rolleyes:

I am mad into video games, I'm 23 and I've had 3 girlfriends (one of which I was with for 6 years), I'm with one a year now. I have a forklift license, I've worked in warehouses and I was an apprentice landscaper. I'm not boasting, or looking for attention in that sense, but I'm merely proving that just because I'm into games as much as I am, it doesn't mean I've never had a girlfriend or a life for that matter.

Did I make any sense in all of that? And does anybody else agree?

O_O

Jonny7

Using the internet used to be geek stuff

Now we all can't live without it

Computer games will follow suit, farmville and all that.

Penn

Because some games confirm people's notions of the type of people games are aimed at.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGvrwY1qUBU

I played DMC and felt genuinely embarrassed that I was playing it, and that if any non-gamer had seen some parts of it, their notion of gaming being for young teenage boys would have been all but confirmed. Same goes for some parts of God of War (hugely OTT violence), pretty much any DLC for Dead or Alive 5 (skimpy bikinis for the female fighters) etc.

Like anything, there's the good and the bad. Video games are still considered taboo because there are still games which justify the reasons why it is. And it's hard for non-gamers to accept the good without them associating it with the bad.

Sulla Felix

Penn wrote: »

Because some games confirm people's notions of the type of people games are aimed at.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGvrwY1qUBU

I played DMC and felt genuinely embarrassed that I was playing it, and that if any non-gamer had seen some parts of it, their notion of gaming being for young teenage boys would have been all but confirmed. Same goes for some parts of God of War (hugely OTT violence), pretty much any DLC for Dead or Alive 5 (skimpy bikinis for the female fighters) etc.

Like anything, there's the good and the bad. Video games are still considered taboo because there are still games which justify the reasons why it is. And it's hard for non-gamers to accept the good without them associating it with the bad.

Nobody reads fifty shades or twilight and then decides that all literature is for teenage girls / lonely housewives.

Penn

Sulla Felix wrote: »

Nobody reads fifty shades or twilight and then decides that all literature is for teenage girls / lonely housewives.

Of course not because that's not a notion which has been associated with books.

Think of it this way: You repeatedly tell a friend that The Wire is the greatest tv show ever. He doesn't believe you. Then one day, you happen to be watching The Wire while your friend walks in, but the scene it happens to be on is one of the gay characters kissing his boyfriend. It's very doubtful that your friend will think you might be right and that it is the greatest tv show ever.

Likewise, if someone who knows nothing about games walked in the room while I was playing that part of DMC, or even something like Bayonetta where her hair-suit turns into something so she's half-naked and she giggles like a Japanese schoolgirl, it would only confirm their preconceived notions about gaming. Whereas if I was playing something like The Walking Dead or Heavy Rain and they saw a bit of it, they might realise how gaming has evolved beyond what they expect it to be.

Sarky

Film still gets people calling it a cancer on society, and it's over a century old. Video games are what? 40? It's still the new kid, so it's going to get picked on for another good while. They probably won't get fully accepted in our lifetime. Society is awfully resistant to anything that changes it. Although the internet has sped things up considerably by making information available to almost anyone almost instantly, so I guess you never know...

And yeah, it doesn't help that a lot of gamers are immature enough to think crass shameless stuff like the above DMC bits are worth having in games. If you want gratuitous tits and really badly-written dirty talk in your entertainment, go buy some porn. Or hook up with someone with a high sex drive.

Duggy747

We'll always face horseshìte like that though generally these days whenever I find people dissing those who play games they are in the minority who hold the opinion and get a right bollocking :pac:

The ones with the biggest opinion of it are the ones with the less experience of it.

The only ones who grind my teeth are those TV "discussions" about gaming which usually feature 1 guy representing gaming and 3 others against it..................1 of them being the obligatory randomer who keeps announcing out that "As a mother......" to whoops and honks from the audience.

Eurgh, anyone remember that time the Late Late Show had a "discussion" video games about 2 years ago?

richymcdermott

on a serious note people who talked **** about videogames but end up watching eastenders, x factor and cornation street and jersey shore needs a smack

Overheal

richymcdermott wrote: »

O_O

I never wanted it to end...

Taltos

Ah gee Penn - why did you have to post that vid. Put me right off that game.
As to your comment re Bayonetta - my wife walked in at that scene - was already not really enjoying it at that point but the reaction it elicited made damn sure the game was traded in a few days later...

richymcdermott

Overheal wrote: »

I never wanted it to end...

he should of been in sonic and all stars transformed :mad:

Myrddin

gamercfc wrote: »

Ibut there are those out there that still consider playing games as having too much time on one's hands

I've found more often than not, that its these same people who think the above, that spend all their free time drinking in a pub, dying with a hangover for the weekend, while spending a small fortune on cigarettes & spending what little they have left in the bookmakers. So yeah, I tend not to pay it all that much attention...gaming, there's much worse you could be doing imo

Gamer Bhoy 89

EnterNow wrote: »

I've found more often than not, that its these same people who think the above, that spend all their free time drinking in a pub, dying with a hangover for the weekend, while spending a small fortune on cigarettes & spending what little they have left in the bookmakers. So yeah, I tend not to pay it all that much attention...gaming, there's much worse you could be doing imo

I couldn't agree more. The lad that told me "that's nothing to be proud of", there's pics of him in Foundry every weekend. and his posts are contaminated in "dyin of *insert not-so-serious illness here*" from the night before.

Don't get me wrong. I love a good p*ss up at the weekends, can be the best nights out of my life. Which makes me state another point. I don't stick to one thing and be ignorant towards everything else like the aforementioned types of people you mentioned. I play games but it doesn't mean I don't like goin out & havin' a buzz. I wish it was vice-versa with certain other people as-well but ya can't change the world unfortunately

Overheal

richymcdermott wrote: »

he should of been in sonic and all stars transformed :mad:

I was talking about the forklift!

richymcdermott

i know but needed an opening :pac:

Zillah

Penn wrote: »

Then one day, you happen to be watching The Wire while your friend walks in, but the scene it happens to be on is one of the gay characters kissing his boyfriend. It's very doubtful that your friend will think you might be right and that it is the greatest tv show ever.

Because good TV shows don't have gay people in them?

Swap "one of the gay characters kissing his boyfriend" with "one of the black characters kissing his girlfriend" in what you said and you might realise the problem with it.

Melion

I got my first "console" in the very early 90's, a Commodore 64. From then until about 2009 i played games A LOT, i worked in Gamestop for a while(when it was Gamesworld and then switched to Gamestop), then in the Software "zone" in Smyths for almost 2 years. Then my daughter was born in 2009 and my 360 became a DVD player and nothing else, i dont think i used it for a game for over 2 years. No game really grabbed my attention in that time, i thought i had done what a lot of people i know did, i thought i had just grown out of games. Then i got a PS3 last Xmas and its like i never stopped playing games. A lot of people just stop playing because there is nothing there to grab their attention, i dont think its a taboo subject.

Penn

Zillah wrote: »

Because good TV shows don't have gay people in them?

Swap "one of the gay characters kissing his boyfriend" with "one of the black characters kissing his girlfriend" in what you said and you might realise the problem with it.

My point was that it would be something which the person wouldn't expect to see, wouldn't have been what the first person who was praising the show would have mentioned (not that he should, but if they were describing the show as about the lives of police, drugs culture, politics etc), and isn't what the show is about, but that small glimpse would become what that person bases his views on. Likewise if I was praising Bayonetta's gameplay, the detailed level design and the combat system, and someone walked in and saw her half naked and her hair becoming a dragon or whatever, their brief glimpse of the game wouldn't change their views of games.

But fair enough, I probably could have used a better example.

You could have used the typical "parents walk in on a great movie JUST on the sex bit and then go 'is THIS what you watch?' " example :pac:

That dmc video o.O

the_syco

Duggy747 wrote: »

The only ones who grind my teeth are those TV "discussions" about gaming which usually feature 1 guy representing gaming and 3 others against it..................1 of them being the obligatory randomer who keeps announcing out that "As a mother......" to whoops and honks from the audience.

Would like for someone to call the b|tch up on buying GTA for her 7 year old kid and thinking that it's not right for someone his age to play such a game, ignoring the fact that it's a 15's or 18's game!

richymcdermott wrote: »

on a serious note people who talked **** about videogames but end up watching eastenders, x factor and cornation street and jersey shore needs a smack

Ah yes, the "video games is anti-social" whilst watching TV for 5 hours straight. I have no time for these people.

Mr.Saturn

EnterNow wrote: »

I've found more often than not, that its these same people who think the above, that spend all their free time drinking in a pub, dying with a hangover for the weekend, while spending a small fortune on cigarettes & spending what little they have left in the bookmakers. So yeah, I tend not to pay it all that much attention...gaming, there's much worse you could be doing imo

Bingo! Natural selection will iron this out quick enough to make these arguments against gaming not worth bothering with, really.

I ain't arguing against appraisal, reviewal and whatnot, but the opposition to gaming, generally-speaking, comes from folk who you'd never want
arguing any case for you in the first place.

Retr0gamer

A lot of people also think that the creation of games is a waste of time when a lot of games development is making new breakthroughs in computer science in Networking, AI and heavy graphics processing and even computer hardware and architecture. A lot of this work would normally only have been done by academics with very limited resources. Game development is really pushing computer science forward and without this commercial impetus we would be a lot further behind technologically.

Sycopat

I find as I get older, other people care less what you do with your free time.

Some women occasionally still think it's inappropriate for women to play games, but those numbers are dwindling (and they tend to be the vacuous sort, whose male equivalents are unaware of video games that aren't fifa or COD)

When I talk to older people with little or no experience of games, their questioning tends to be more from ignorance than judgement (and they'll ask similar questions of anyone with a hobby they don't share, and expect as much in return.) so that's fine. Any ribbing is generally good natured and two way.

I'm also finding I get more tired more quickly of the teenage machismo that infests gaming though. It doesn't offend me, it's just boring and makes me think I'm playing with idiots.

Which makes me want to talk about it less in public in case I run into someone who hasn't gotten beyond that point, and have to hold a conversation about something I love with a person I despise.

johnny_ultimate

Penn wrote: »

My point was that it would be something which the person wouldn't expect to see, wouldn't have been what the first person who was praising the show would have mentioned (not that he should, but if they were describing the show as about the lives of police, drugs culture, politics etc), and isn't what the show is about, but that small glimpse would become what that person bases his views on. Likewise if I was praising Bayonetta's gameplay, the detailed level design and the combat system, and someone walked in and saw her half naked and her hair becoming a dragon or whatever, their brief glimpse of the game wouldn't change their views of games.

But fair enough, I probably could have used a better example.

There's a difference between wacky (s)exploitation (and I say that as a Bayonetta fan) and sensibly portraying homosexuality to the point they're incomparable. The Wire's intelligent, subtle portrayals of a wide range of cultures, races, sexualities etc... is an absolutely pivotal part of what makes it such a success - it would just be another convoluted crime procedural without that. In fact, it's that extra layer that is lacking in so many games, where even many otherwise well crafted games seem a bit hollow and outdated. A cultural landscape as diverse as The Wire's would make gaming an altogether more inclusive, interesting medium. When games can have openly gay characters without making a big hairy deal out of it (or indeed simply not making them ludicrous stereotypes) that'll be a day every gamer should be proud of.

One thing I've always felt is a pivotal towards making society at large understand gaming is that we need to take it more seriously. By the time cinema was the same as age as gaming, Battleship Potemkin was ten years old. There was a foundational cinematic storytelling language in place that still defines the way films are made, and everyone was excited to participate in it. It was an incredibly rich and challenging medium, and viewers, critics and filmmakers were engaging with it in fascinating, formative ways. Obviously a lot of the responsibility is on the creators to make stuff that's interesting and provocative (that's happening at an ever accelerating pace, thankfully), but it's vital that gamers and writers really start diving in and figuring out how all this stuff works and take it more seriously than just mere entertainment or a product. I'm not surprised most 'serious' sources have yet to start covering gaming in anything other than the shallowest depth - frankly, with a handful of exceptions, either do we.

richymcdermott

retr0 comment is correct videogames are alot more than just to kill time and there are alot of benefits than the normal 12 year old kid screaming **** in the mic in a cod game.

with the likes of motion controls from the wii men and women young and old now have become active and we have seen wii in hospitals and centers keeping people active.

http://news.sky.com/story/618361/nintendo-wii-finds-disabled-appeal

even with the video below we see the xbox kinetic in surgery rooms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5Ep3oqicVU

Mr.Saturn

If we're going that way, here's a decent paper on games and their potential aid in the precision and efficiency of training, laparoscopic surgeons.

http://archsurg.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=399740

I'll eat my own teeth if the Daily Mail'd ever ran with that. It doesn't sell. It's a damning indictment of a culture that'd rather believe their child's hobbies are leading them astray than to any sort of betterment, however minimal.