The Coolest Gaming Day Ever

[EUOL]

Okay, so my ward (church group) had an activity for some of us older 'menaces to society' (ie, non-married people.)  It was organized by a group of women, and to attract the men, they somehow got ahold of three professional digital projectors, then hooked an X-Box to one, a Playstation 2 to the second, and a Gamecube to the third.  They lined them up in a row and pointed them at a large wall side-by-side, hooked each one up with four controllers, then got copies of Halo, Mario Cart, and several other multi-player games.  Add to this mix a large amount of chips, brownies, and cookies.  

I just have to say that I'm very impressed by the ladies' resourcefulness and cleverness.  They even tried to play the games with us.
 

[JP Dogberry]

That's Mario Kart with a 'K'.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

EUOL, you MUST marry one of these girls and train her in the ways of TWG, like your father before you.....

[fuzzyoctopus]

Yes, you have to give those women the points for intelligence and resourcefulness.   And find one who won't steal your wardrobe too, if you must.  (I only steal J.T.'s clothes because we wear the same size in just about everything.)

[Tekiel]

Dang!  Why didn't I think of that while I was down there?

[EUOL]

The thing is, mixing video games with women presents all sorts of problems. For instance, when a lady asks "Are you good at video games?" you are left with a conundrum.  The natural male instinct is to say "Yes, I'm awesome at <insert whatever the girl wants to know if you can do>."  General male conditioning reasons that if other guys are good at something, the girl will be impressed if you're even better at it.

However, revealing yourself to be proficient at video games also implies a certain level of geekness.  If you tell the lady that you excel at them, you could seriously hurt your chances with her, depending on what she thinks of games in general.  So, what do you decide?  Do you build yourself as an almighty deity of gaming prowess, or do you play it safe and pretend that you 'generally don't have time for those kinds of things?'  Problematic indeed.

Even if you set this particular problem aside, mixing females with video games presents other difficulties.  The most prominent one appears when one of the women wants to play the game with you.  No offense to the fairer sex, but chances are good that she's painfully bad at video games.  So, do you trounce her, do you beat her modestly, or do you try and let her win (which can be quite the task)?

This problem is compounded if there are other guys playing at the same time.  For--of course--you can't just let *them* win.  You have to dominate the field, even if one of the four cars in your Mario Cart game happens to be driven by a woman.   So, a masculine battle of power ensues, and the poor girl becomes a casualty of war--or, more likely, just another obstacle in the race course.  This will probably confuse, annoy, or frustrate her.  

Life would be so much easier if all women would acknowledge that a man's ability to prove himself supremely capable of navigating a digital go-cart driven by anthropomorphic mushrooms is the modern equivalent of killing a wooly mammoth with one's own bare hands.

[Brenna]

funny...most of *my* female friends can beat the pants off of any male when playing a video game...

Chris and I are fairly matched in most video games, actually. And no, he doesn't try to lose.  

[EUOL]

Ah, but you're hardly the average female, Brenna.  Aren't you the one who made your husband an embroidered Cthulu wall hanging?

[Spriggan]

actualy Video games are seen less nerdy now adays then just 5 years ago, thanks largly to the PS2 and XBox.  PC gamers are seen as more nerdy then console players, but there's no real negative stigma places on gammers anymore.  And as an article on gamespot shows, women over 40 play more online games then any other age group of either sex.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

a man's ability to prove himself supremely capable of navigating a digital go-cart driven by anthropomorphic mushrooms is the modern equivalent of killing a wooly mammoth with one's own bare hands

best. quote. ever.
(ok, I exaggerate, but it's a pretty good one).

I don't think it's that big a problem. if the girl set up a ward activity around video games, you won't have too much trouble telling her you're good. you woo, then train.

[fuzzyoctopus]

I'm painfully bad at video games, (well, I can do the rhythm games pretty well, so I guess it's good I married a gamer who likes them) especially driving/racing games like Mario Kart. And I know I'm horrible, and  The only thing I can't stand is being told, "Oh, it's ok sweetie, you'll do better next time."  Ok, I suck and I know I suck.  But don't embarrass me in front of your friends, I can do that myself.  I can't STAND being patronized, even if its meant in a good way.

We've had a few arguments about this point.

[EUOL]

lol.  Thanks for backing me up, Fuzzy.

I think it remains that men are generally going to be better at video games, if only because many of them have been gaming since they were kids.  I doubt few girls spent as much time on the Nintendo as my friends and I.

Sprig: Perhaps that's true generally, but ask yourself this: How is gaming regarded by the LDS culture?  How does our mom regard it?  How about Graham's (Sprig and my cousin) wife?  There's still a strong stigma, I think.  Even I have it, a bit.  You have to admit, playing video games isn't exactly the most productive thing a guy could do with his time.

[fuzzyoctopus]

I think you're right, EUOL, but I also think it's changing a little bit - now that the gamers are grown up and having kids of their own things aren't quite the same.

Also, compare how socially acceptable playing video games is to playing D&D or other pen/paper RPGs.

[Brenna]

Aren't you the one who made your husband an embroidered Cthulu wall hanging?

Well, it was actually a "Hello Cthulu" wall hanging (a combination of Hello Kitty [EVIL!] and Cthulu)....but I see your point.

I guess I just had a different childhood--my family played computer games together [everything from Kings Quest to Doom], and my sisters and I grew up playing the Nintendo.


Maybe it's because my dad only had daughters?

[EUOL]

On a tangential, but interesting note, I had an amusing conversation today.  During lunch, a female friend and I somehow got on the topic of how unfair it is that women have to wear all that uncomfortable clothing, put on makeup, and generally do all of those feminine things tat are so annyoing.  (I've noticed that women enjoy this topic.  It's always accompanied by a healthy undertone of 'I hope you, as a male, appreciate all this work we go through for you.)

Anyway, the following is an excerpt from her rant:

"We women have to put up with all kinds of terrible things!  We have to wear skirts that make it hard to drive, we have to wear pantyhose...  You men..."

At this point she paused, glancing at me.  "Well," she continued, "I suppose you *do* have to put up with women.  Maybe the world's fair after all."