I’m living with my gf now and after a year she’s gotten used to my daily gaming but I can tell she doesen’t find how I can be interested in it. I’m definately gonna show her this link.

P.S. gamers with gf’s, try to find a easy game she’ll like and get her playing. I bet it’ll help. Hasen’t worked for me yet but I just started with it.

Also the word ‘addict’ is a great tool for the girlfriend to use to typecast her boyfriend. Its used in a vast array of situations to overstate a situation and restrict access of individuals.

But seriously, what was that dude thinking, going on the Tyra Banks Show?

and i think you are right its not all the guy’s fault even though they are making it seem like he is the bad guy in this.
i think the woman is just jealous of the video game being such a huge part of the guys life. I mean the guy said gaming has been part of his life before she came around. if she cant handle that then find another guy dont try to change him

i too found it to be stupid that they were trying to convince the guy it wasnt real life. he isnt a child he knows what is real and what isnt.

I find nothing wrong with a guy that likes to play video games. I love to game myself. (and to be honest i like guys that know how to game)
its just fun. entertaining.

For one, a professional psychologist or psychiatrist would NEVER make a value judgement on your behalf. They would also never tell you what to do or make any decisions on your behalf. They understand YOU must come to understand your own actions by yourself, and change them by yourself. They cannot force you to change your actions; they can only lead you to understanding.

Tyra and Morgan, on the other hand, has essentially done the absolute opposite. Tyra makes the judgement that video games are “bad” before any words are even spoken. Morgan then further categorizes the “gamers” into 3 arbitrary categories (She mentions FFVII, and then makes the assumption that it contains Orcs and Elves… Because, you know, Sephiroth is SUCH a hotty, that people mistakes him for an elf! Riiight…. -_-’) and then makes the decision FOR him–essentially, to spend less time playing video games and more time with his girlfriend.

Absolutely the worst advice anyone can give to anyone–but hey, I’m sure the Tyra Banks Show pays the bills <_<.

This is really true for any sort of talk show hosts, they think their perception is the “correct” one, and anyone that disagrees are, well, “abnormal” and requires “correcting”. Pathetic, really.

Writing about these sorts of incidents really does show that our industry still has a long road ahead as many of you have suggested.

I think that casual gaming for our medium is critical to create audience expansion and reach our ultimate goal of acceptance. I hope to continue pressing this issue of acceptance in later posts.

But while we may roll our eyes to the likes of what Banks has to say about gaming, the reality is a lot more people watched that show and agreed with it than read this blogpost and actually *thought* about what was being said. I too am interested to see when gaming will become a commonplace activity accepted by society as a norm.

Also, subscribing to your feed now

I think opinions are slowly (very) starting to change as video game platforms break out of the bedroom and establish themselves alongside the TV in the lounge and a wider diversity of games are introduced. I somehow get the feeling however that it’s going to be many years before video games are completely accepted and not demonized.

1. Tyra should be slapped
2. Richard is not representative of all male gamers. In fact, I am really disappointed by his participation on this show (or I should say, lack thereof). I hope that he had no idea what he was getting into consenting to go onto this show and confronted his girlfriend about it afterwards.
3. Morgan, you are truly a disappointment. Apparently it’s the money that does the talking. Way to help further confuse those that do not understand games and we appreciate your effort to further fortify the stereotype of women.

Help me, Dr.Tyra! I am sadly afflicted with a disease — I am a gamer.

Yeah I totally agree Abe, its something that I have been pondering over a lot recently. I wonder when our medium will actually hit that point of social acceptance. Despite the strong progress in recent years I think that it will still take more effort to see change.

She could’ve found a way in which he can convince his fiancee to share his passion for console gaming instead of merely parrotting Tyra’s advice that he put down the controller and devote more time to her.

Society in general needs to give its head a shake and realize that video games are some peoples way of unwinding after a hard day a work etc, just like going to the bar or reading etc etc etc.

If she thinks for a minute that she would be where she is without the fact that she was a girl and plays games…she is kidding herself. She is not that attractive (I think she is hideous), and her annoying tone is painful to watch.

Morgan, head back to the trailer. Your roots are showing.

This kind of thing was talked about on a Diggnation episode a few months ago and I think Alex and Kevin came to a great conclusion. The problem isn’t with the boyfriend or the girlfriend it’s with them as a relationship. They have to willing to understand each other. If I was that dude though I’d be giving her the fling. If she’s taken it that far then I’d just move on.

Great finish Dan.
“This is what happens when two bad models get together and discuss video games.”