Tue 3 Feb 2004
So, I was at Judo practice last night (yes, I like a little civilized real-world simulated aggression on occasion ;) Anyway, I started chatting with one of the new guys - the usual small talk stuff. When I mentioned I’m part of the game industry, he got all excited and started talking about his favorite games (ie, Command & Conquer, GTA, etc). One of the other guys overheard our conversation and commented something to the effect of “oh, loser computer nerds!”. We’re all grown ups here…
Now, this is only my fourth week of Judo and that guy has no clue who I am (or if in fact I am a computer nerd (which is debatable)). Ditto for the enthusiastic game player. All of us were wearing the same “clothes” (ie, a Judo gi), so visual cues were somewhat equalized. We are all obviously athletic/etc (in fact, during previous sparring I had “beat up” on the guy who called us nerds - hmm)…
After the nerd comment, I tried a return volley of “hey, games are part of mainstream pop culture. It is not just for pimpled geeks anymore”. I don’t think he was convinced. What is it about games/gamers that still have such a geek stereotype?
Buzzcut has a short piece on gamer stereotypes and suggests that many of these “games are for geeks” people are really just closet gamers afraid to “come out”. Interesting theory. Looks like the guys in Nintendo music cover band, Minibosses, are starting to break that mould - to some extent.
On a related note, it always saddens me when there are no game industry folks on the TED speaking roster. I’ve never been to a TED conference (it’s invite only), but have been following it over the years (I find it is an interesting format). TED = technology entertainment design. Hello, does the medium of games not qualify. They’ve got web folks, movie people, music execs, etc, etc. But, no one from games. I am sure this stigma has something to do with it…
February 3rd, 2004 at 12:30 pm
Hey Jason,
You should email them and ask about it for next year!
Regarding stereotypes, I suspect it is just a carryover of gamer stereotypes from years past, plus a lack of awareness. If you’re not playing games, you may just carry that stereotype around for years and years. Plus, take a look at some of the dorks that are used in ads for Xbox Live and SOCOM 2. :)
February 3rd, 2004 at 1:32 pm
Yeah, looking over the speakers for TED, I can’t imagine why Will Wright, for example, hasn’t been invited yet.
February 3rd, 2004 at 8:30 pm
hey, thanks for the mention! I wrote that stereotype article, and i just think its like the freakin coolest thing ever for you to mention my blog. thanx alot.
-Alec
February 3rd, 2004 at 8:49 pm
It’s a classic example of establishment vs. the new guy. Of course the film and television industries are going to try and shut gaming out of any conferences or committees that would garner the media any more prestige. Gaming poses a very real threat to their target markets. We’re never going to fully get past the “geek” stigma just as the guys who wear all black and prattle endlessly about Godard will never get past the “film geek” tag.
But gaming does deserve more respect from the mainstream than it’s given and the only reason that I can figure that it doesn’t as of yet is that gaming is a very young form of media and most gamers are of a younger generation than the “establishment”. When that changes and gamers “grow up” I think we’ll start to see the recognition.
February 4th, 2004 at 8:41 am
Funny, the sort I meet most often are guys who call themselves gamers but clearly don’t do much beyond shooting things in Quake. I remember meeting one of those at a party; he called himself an “uber-gamer” and when he mentioned he played Civ I thought “Great! Someone to talk to!”, but as soon as I got into tactics and game mechanics he obviously had no idea what I was talking about. He just liked the fighting…
Sigh.