The Infantilisation of Gaming

[bayonetbrant]

I know I am asking for it, but what is a "knob joke?"

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Knob

[Johnnie]

Okay, I get it.  For use as in:  "How many knobs does it take to screw in a light bulb?" or "Two knobs and an Irishman walk into a bar . . ."

[bayonetbrant]

it's illuminating that in a thread about the infantilisation of gaming, we're not even 20 posts in and we're already talking about boobs and citing Urban Dictionary

[RooksBailey]

Since then any footage ive ever seen has, as Rooks mentioned, had to allude to the skate board bandanna crowd - but then again thats where the money is i suppose. Us old gits buy one game and play it for 10 years where the console kiddies want a new one every 2 weeks (im excluding JD, greybriar, Gus and Jarhead here obviously  :P)

The interesting thing is that while that is the common perception, the truth is that the average gamer is not a kid.  According the the most recent survey I read, the average age of a video gamer is now 31.  And if you dig into the statistics deeper, the numbers are even more interesting:

http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/esa_ef_2014.pdf

29% are under 18
32% are 18-35
39% are 36+

Really, the "kidz crowd" is a minority in gaming.  Yet the industry doesn't reflect that at all.  I think the only time I have seen gaming presented as a non-kid thing was when Walmart ran some BlackOps ads which featured what appears to be 35-40 somethings (this is still a very funny ad):

Interestingly, Pope Francis kinda endorsed video games today in his list of how to be happy:

4. "A healthy sense of leisure." The pleasures of art, literature and playing together with children have been lost, he said.

;D

[JasonPratt]

I have to say, the video reviewers I like the most swear like drunken sailors and tend to be rather hyper. And I kind of wish they wouldn't, as they are perfectly capable of making salient points without the colorful language. But, the colorful language does get them lots of attention. But they also strike me as people who talk that way in real life. So... I'm sure there's a chicken and an egg in here somewhere...  :-\

Print reviewers however, including my favorite ones, are vastly much more professional in their approaches.

[jomni]

Gaming for adults = gambling.
I went to a Game convention and a middle aged woman asked me which Casinos are present.

[BanzaiCat]

Before I ever got into writing reviews, I of course enjoyed the hell out of reading them. I was a huge fan of Computer Gaming World and PC Gamer well back in the day before the late 90s hit. They were very well-spoken and communicated clearly, unlike today. But, I think that's just because there's tons of gaming websites now with thousands of self-proclaimed authors and reviewers (of course, thanks to Teh Internets, every asshole has an opinion now, including me).

I remember writing a letters to a PC Gamer author once, inquiring as to what it took to become a reviewer (this was pre-Internet) and he started his reply with "Wow, that was a well-written missive." So they've always had morons writing them, which honestly then was something of a surprise. Once the Internet hit in full force, that filter died a painful death. Those that are contributing for better or worse to the pool of reviews out there - those that are more aware, anyway - realized this and that they need some kind of shtick to stand out among the chaff. Some incorrectly interpret that to mean "if I get louder and more obnoxious, that'll get me more attention."

[tgb]

I can remember Computer Gaming World back in the Russell Sipe days, when it was written by adults, for adults.

As to boobs, I'll rely on the words of noted philosopher F. Zappa: Anything over a mouthful is wasted.

[bayonetbrant]

I'll rely on the words of noted philosopher F. Zappa: Anything over a mouthful is wasted.

You sure that wasn't Ron Jeremy?

[Sir Slash]

I thought it was Linda Lovelace. What do I know? How about infantilisation of forums?

[BanzaiCat]

^ That's pretty much every thread.  :D

[MengJiao]

^ That's pretty much every thread.  :D

  There's actually a better and more ancient term for all of this stuff: puerile (ie school-boy humor) -- it's not particularly
infantile (sorry Freud), but it does cover boobology and so on.

[Father Ted]

As to boobs, I'll rely on the words of noted philosopher F. Zappa: Anything over a mouthful is wasted.

I'm sure that sentiment is definitively Freudian

[Jack Nastyface]

Okay. I am just slightly drunk on red wine but I am going to rant at you f##kers all the same. Here's what I don't get: when some site like polygon gets all political and socially relevant, you guys are all "wtf...I don't need this sh*t...I just want to blow sh*t up". but then when some other sites just focus on blowing sh*t up, then you are all "why must you be so Immature? ".

FWIW...gaming is what we make it. some of us are drawn to it because of an interest in history or sci-fi or fantasy or whatever. Others like gaming because it's competitive, and still others may like it because it is a social experience even when played solo and shared publicly. In my personal experience, I always try to keep to the high road. If some goof posts about how lame steel beasts is because there are no power-ups, I'll explain that it's a sim and not a game. And if someone else complains that the rate of fire for the mg 34 is too high in call of duty, I'd explain that it's a game and not a sim.

The only way that we are going to change perceptions about gamers and gaming is to be vocal. Eventually, people and reviewers will get it.

Drunken rambling]

[Sir Slash]

I'll drink to being vocal. But object to being crudely vocal Red Wine or none. This site maybe a great many things but hypocritical it is not.  :-X