Analyzing Contributions towards Negative Video Game Culture
May 20, 2008
Video game culture; I find this so awfully difficult to write about yet so compelled to submit to the keyboard every time. Culture, culture, what is culture? It is an issue that I have been grappling with in this blog a couple of times already, each time concluding with mixed results. This time around though I think that I have formed a better methodology to approach the topic so let’s see what happens.
So Why Culture?
My interest in video game culture recently received a jump start when I read an article from Write the Game’s Keira Peney which summarized the various opinions on video game culture among us bloggers. Unfortunately I can’t say that I have read much on how other bloggers feel about gamer culture, which is probably why this article has opened a whole new can of worms which I’d like to explore.
It interested me why so many other people were also interested in gaming culture, it kinda surprised me a little as well. Once I got to the end of the article though and continued on to read the other articles referenced in the paper it all became clear. We have all been looking at culture from the same mind set.
What you’ll notice if you read any of the articles (including this one by me) is that we are all concerned about the growing negative social behaviour growing within our industry. Be it video game fandom, the negative overtones in online play and/or juvenile behaviour converging around online discussion boards; these are all issues of concern. We are all concerned because such behaviour is devouring the reputation of our industry and is restraining the growth of our identity as people. So therefore, in order to better understand this situation we have turned to culture (on the whole) as the answer.
Now that I am conscious of this I would like to step back and provide my own ideas about what elements within video game culture has spurred on this epidemic. Culture is, of course a complex issue and cannot be defined simply by a list of trends and occurrences. I’d like to acknowledge that. I’d also like to point out that culture is messy and you might notice, it is something that cannot be defined hence why I have had trouble differentiating video game culture as a whole from this negative social activity (another facet of video game culture itself).
What I am posting though is what I see to me dominate contributors to these issues. If you have your own ideas then be sure to let me know below or via email.
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Tags: co-operative play, competitive gaming, multiplayer
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A Call For Respect
May 6, 2008
DP’s Editing Notes: I spent a long time thinking about how to approach this article and upon completion I feel genuinely disappointed that I have not expressed my feelings to a level of accuracy that makes me feel content. I might sound like a broken record but I am truly having a difficult time in fully understanding the ins and outs of the issue of culture (on many levels), an issue which fascinates me. I feel that this article may perhaps in some instances sound illogical and possibly domineering. Still I find it necessary to share with you my observations so if any of this makes a vague bit of sense then please share your thoughts.
I’m still thinking about culture and I just can’t shake a few ideas that are bothering me. I’ve talked before about Casual Gaming and this whole hierarchical view that seems to manifest in a significant portion of the gaming community. Where the core gamers view themselves as somehow superior to other, less experienced players.
What I have recently discovered from these articles is just how frustrated I am with fan culture. So I have decided to use myself as the example and explore how and why I react in particular ways to fan culture and if I myself hold some sort of bias/grudge in a similar way.
My Observations and Interpretations
My first such experience was over the recent holiday break where I visited a sale for a particular video game store. This isn’t just you standard game store though, this place sells anime/manga/games and is exceptional when it comes to video game collectables, rarities and hard to find game titles. So this place is obviously a breeding ground for fan culture. *rubs hands together with glee*
As expected, some of the customers and their gaming friends did get on my nerves while I was in the store. So I paused and observed their behaviour a little and plundered the depths of my mind to find what it was exactly that hit an uncomfortable nerve.
My conclusion was in their conversation. My interpretation of their utterances was that it seemed as though many of the fans lacked a certain context about various games lined up on the shelves. Even though they would rampantly talk about certain games, it appeared as though they had only a loose interpretation of the historical relevance and impact of the game as well as other bits of relevant, factual information. Despite their lack of knowledgable context they seemed particularly willing to take the approach of “resident expert” on the subject.
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Tags: fan culture, game stores, respect
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Put on Your Game Face
April 24, 2008
I am aware that in the past few weeks I have been talking “around” games instead of focusing on software. Of late my interests have been firmly rooted in gaming culture and issues. The reason being is that recently I’ve found myself drawing numerous uncertainties and blanks with gaming culture. For the first time in a long time I have come across something that is beyond me, that I clearly cannot comprehend with the degree of precision that I’d like. So in order to gain a wider view and sharper magnification of these topics I want to use this blog as a launching pad to further discuss these issues.
The title of this article is Put on Your Game Face which I find to be a fitting title. In the past two years, I have been studying at University and mixing with a diverse set of people. With this I have become increasingly conscious of a behavioral pattern of mine. What I am talking about is the way I react within the presence of different people.
Fortunately the majority of my University friends are female and because of this I find that when we talk together I always alleviate from anything video game related. I try my best not to talk about games unless it is necessary or an appropriate turn in the conversation’s direction. I do this as a sign of respect, it is one of the philosophies that I try to uphold (read more here).
This process is something that I have never really had any issues with and its nothing that you yourselves probably don’t already have a subconscious understanding of. What really struck me though, was the following story:
Two weeks ago I was waiting for a bus in the city and this girl approached me and asked if I catch this particular train line in which I do actually catch. I answered and then she asked me; “Are you a gamer?”.
I’m not sure how she knew it (worth following up though) but somehow she had seeked out my gamer qualities. It turns out that she was one too, quite the role playing fan as well (read: Final Fantasy VII fangirl). I found out more about her on the preceding bus ride and we inevitably stumbled upon the topic of games sometime within our conversation. I asked her if she was a fan of the Metal Gear series and she said that she had played all the games and had throughly enjoyed them (alarm bells ringing, I know). So I followed on, sharing my hypothesises on various Metal Gear Solid 4 plot ideas. It was in this moment (as well as several other, later occurring instances) that I realized that I was beginning to excuse myself for talking so indepthly about games, that I had began to delve into some deep discussion and in response I was effectively trying to change the topic. She gave the notification for me to ignore this and carry onwards which I did but with some continued hesitation.
About an hour later, while I was falling asleep in a lecture (it was a good lecture but I was tired) my mind began to wander into an analysis of this situation. What I had realized was that in this exchange my subconscious was clicking back and forth between gamer friend and typical female friend. This situation has me completely floored and really caught me unaware. It made me ponder how I see people in such ways in relation to this hobby of mind.
I found this to be a highly educational experience on my behalf so I thought that it might prove to be an experience worth sharing. I believe that we all maintain a certain level of constraint in these types of scenarios, that we all have an idea of how to handle such interactions with different people. What about you? What are your ideas on this event? Does this sort of scenario happen to you? And how do you manage gaming with other identities? Please let me know.
- Link MeTags: real life, responsibilities
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