Author Topic: The Day the Gaming Died.  (Read 7123 times)

JP Dogberry

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The Day the Gaming Died.
« on: September 09, 2004, 05:06:40 AM »
What happened?

A few years ago, I was the worlds biggest gamer. I owned a few consoles, played games in ALL my free time, and every cent of my money went to videogames or videogame magazines. I was limited to a $10 week pocket money, but owned about sixteen cartridges and four crates of mags.

I walked into an EB the other day, and found that nothing interested me. I have the cahs now to have walked out with any game I wanted and not even cared. Thing is, if they had been free, I wouldn't have bothered. None of those games seemed worth my time, letalone my money,

I'm currently playing Painkiller, which is kidna fun, an ok shooter. The Tribes Vengence demo is also cool, and I liked the demo of Evil Genius, but I wouldn't buy either of those games. I play my Gamecube occasionlly, but more for virtual tourism and relaxation and nostalgia than actual games. Also, I play old SNES games. And Nethack.

Furthermore, while I was in the store, I felt the odd one out. When I walk into my comic store, I feel I've entered a nerd sanctuary, a place where I can let it be known I am a nerd and not be thought less of for it. In this game store, I felt like hiding it. It was full of popular type people. The guy behind the counter talked as though casual gamign was the norm.

When did Gaming die, and why? What have these people done to my precious hobby?
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Onion of Death

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Re: The Day the Gaming Died.
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2004, 07:30:00 AM »
Madden, my friend. Madden.

EA Sports made casual gaming "cool", for which they should be burned at the stake for. And not just any stake. This one will have rusty nails sticking out of it.
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Re: The Day the Gaming Died.
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2004, 09:42:12 AM »
I don't see what's wrong with casual gaming. Enforcing a separation between casual and absorbing gaming only enforces stereotypes that "nerds" are the victims of. Casual gaming gives you common ground with new people and allows connections and, though it sounds excessively idealist and utopian for such a small thing, is a beginning of the destruction of social barriers that cause some of the worst things about society, particularly teen culture.

And JP, this isn't the traumatic crisis you think it is. Sometimes there just aren't any good new games. Don't grow up to be like Gabe and Tycho. Or at the very least, don't make them your only role models.

Dex1138

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Re: The Day the Gaming Died.
« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2004, 09:49:29 AM »
IMO, gaming 'died' back in the early 90s when real arcades started being replaced by fighting/shooting/driving/dancing games and skeeball. But that's not really the gaming your talking about. :) I don't own any consoles and maybe buy 2-3 pc games a year. I never go into EB, always Best Buy. Can't stand the EB stores, they're too small and poorly organized.
On the flip side, a local toy store got in a Dragon's Lair Special Edition arcade machine (has DL, DL2 and Space Ace!) so I have a new place to watse my lunch hour :)

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Re: The Day the Gaming Died.
« Reply #4 on: September 09, 2004, 09:56:23 AM »
Yes SE. That is exactly what I was trying to tell JP over the messenger dealy. Plus I think he's this way because he is much like a wine connensuier. He has a taste for things that are much more elaborate and exquisite than most people (gamers).
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JP Dogberry

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Re: The Day the Gaming Died.
« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2004, 10:01:17 AM »
There's nothing wrong with playing games casually. The problem is that people who play games casually end up spending more on gaming overall, and thus dictating the market of what games are produced. The problem with that is that the most populer games charts look like this:

The Sims
The Sims
The Sims
The Sims
Tony Hawk 48
John Smith Generic Extreme sport
Juan Smith Obscure Extreme SPort
The Sims.
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Re: The Day the Gaming Died.
« Reply #6 on: September 09, 2004, 10:20:31 AM »
and we care what the most popular games are why?

Ok, yes, it does help dictate what types of games will be made in the future, but as long as there's a place to sell other games, they'll be made too. And the other option is that we have fewer games at all because the industry isn't profitable enough.

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Re: The Day the Gaming Died.
« Reply #7 on: September 09, 2004, 02:53:29 PM »
You have to remember that while the market may cater to the casual gamer (Sims and Sports) crowd, the games themselves are made by hard core gamers (everything else). As long as the nerds at BioWare and Blizzard and Irrational and so on have jobs, there will be games for gamers.
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Lieutenant Kije

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Re: The Day the Gaming Died.
« Reply #8 on: September 09, 2004, 03:34:06 PM »
Or maybe you just don't like PC/console games as much anymore.  It happened to me, and I feel fine.

JP Dogberry

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Re: The Day the Gaming Died.
« Reply #9 on: September 09, 2004, 09:32:06 PM »
Are therestill games for gamers? As I said, I went through the stores, and found nothing of interest.
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GorgonlaVacaTremendo

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Re: The Day the Gaming Died.
« Reply #10 on: September 09, 2004, 09:48:19 PM »
I stopped even havin gmy consul hooked up before I even bought it, I only game with friends.  It's not that there isn't anything good, it's just that you have drifted from the hobby and don't need it anymore.
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Maxwell

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Re: The Day the Gaming Died.
« Reply #11 on: September 09, 2004, 09:51:42 PM »
same here, I only play games when freinds are over, like crystal chronicles or tales of symphonia or super smash melee... otherwise I go outside and hit stuff with sticks...
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Re: The Day the Gaming Died.
« Reply #12 on: September 10, 2004, 08:55:15 PM »
Quote
I walked into an EB the other day, and found that nothing interested me.


JP, I think there's something here that others haven't quite picked up on yet.  Have you considered that you're just getting older?

I'm not implying that video games aren't for adults.  However, I've noticed that as I've aged, games have stopped holding the power over me that they once did.  I can't just sit and play games for hours on end like I did back in high school.  

Perhaps I've played so many that the others just don't feel original.  I don't think this is a problem with the game designers--I just think that people change, and as we do, so do our interests.

The last game I can remember playing--REALLY playing--was FF7.  Ever since then, gaming has been a fun hobby, but far less of an obsession--and time drain--than it once was.

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Maxwell

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Re: The Day the Gaming Died.
« Reply #13 on: September 10, 2004, 09:32:04 PM »
I actually considered getting older, I just didnt mention it cuz I thought it was a given, I mean two or three years ago I played games like crazy... my freind kevin and I once played a game for 22 hours...non-stop. I mean zero braks. but now I cant play for more than like tswo hoursa tops.
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Re: The Day the Gaming Died.
« Reply #14 on: September 10, 2004, 09:59:09 PM »
Zero Braks.

Ah, that's what Space Ghost always wished for....
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