videogames - still geeky? discuss

[muse hunter]

Videogames have come a long way into mainstream acceptance but i still feel that as a hobby videogames are still veiwed as... well, geeky. Its okay to have one console under your TV even more credit if its the latest sony and microsoft console, but what would the mainstream perception be of some one with numerous consoles under their tele? especially unfashionable nintendo, sega, or retro consoles. Would i be seen by many as a bit of a saddo? maybe a bit of a anorak, stuck in the same mainstream perception as trainspotters? I believe i have been called sad before for owning older consoles, maybe the majority of people feel the same, is this a sign that videogames haven't acheieved the mainstream penetration as we believe?

I am allowed to talk about classic music and movies form the 80's to anyone, however if i try to change the conversation to how great a game defender still is i would most certainly get a cold reaction, the kind you would usually only get if you just sat down after having just jumped on the bar table pulled your pants down and waved your willy about. Many people i know still believe that videogames are still for children, but hitting straight back to those same people that drinking to you puke is something some 14yr old kid would do brings no success.

But maybe videogames are hugely acceptable buy only if you follow the mainstream's view of whats acceptable. Mainstream in general are scared of whats different, its okay to play on a ps2, play on a jap saturn and you've gone too far, broken the boundaries, your now officailly a weirdo. The same is found in other mediums, music for example, the majority listens to samey pop music and commercialised urban music, however i like rock and metal, so i'm supposed to be a freak. Its probably just human nature to attack what is different. Are videogames still geeky? maybe, whats your view?

[Bleeders]

I guess many still view video games as a "geeky" passtime, but by the same token, the people throwing these sort of tags around are one in the same that buy Heat Magazine, watch soaps and reality TV, so generally their opinion is nothing more than a turd coming out of their mouth.

[Kongster]

I don't really care if people think video games are geeky tbh. Video games is one of the best forms of entertainment there is, and if people think it's geeky then that's their problem.

[Sony Fanboy]

Gamers don't help their cause by accusing 'mainstream' or 'chav' gamers.

Video games will never be accepted as mainstream entertainment in the same regard as films or music as it lacks the human image. Whereas people can talk about personalities of musicians/actors, most talk around games tend to be around the technical aspects or mechanics (especially during promotional events like reviews and shows like E3); which is not the kind of subject people tend to talk about.

[peeveen]

Certain games are seen as cool, but blanket "videogaming" is still seen as geeky, I reckon. For instance, there are a load of guys out there hee-hawing at the crazy capers of GTA, and that's COOL, but present them with Killer7 or SOTC or something and it will be UNCOOL.

I embrace my videogame geekiness: I wear my Super Mario, Space Invaders and Metal Slug t-shirts with pride.

[supersmithy]

In todays society, doing anything that isn't "the norm" (play GTA, watch big brother and get wasted every weekend) is looked down upon. I'm sure people who play the more obscure sports, or have a hobby such as D+D or roleplaying will get the piss taken out of them, normally by chavs.

I've never met anyone in my life of a decent intellect that looks down on someone for their choice of hobby (unless of course its kiddy fiddling or something), most people accept that every human being is different, and its their choice to do what they want in their spare time, be it smother their nipples in jam, or play sega mega drive.

However, as a lot of the UK is populated by unemployed dole scrounging chavs, "different" people will get the piss taken out of them. At the end of the day, who gives a **** what other people think, especially when its people with an IQ of 3.

[spagmasterswift]

Is there a difference between somebody who plays and enjoys Killer7 & SOTC for example and somebody who can tell you exactly how it was made, what code was used, you know all that technology stuff?

I tend to see the peeps on here that can explain to me what resolution screen setting I should be using and what cable etc as geeky - but props to them for having the knowledge! - YEAH YOUR ALL ****ING GEEKS TO ME

Geeky isn't a bad word anymore is it? I guess its about the intent behind the word...

Further more hasn't 'The Geek' been given a more positive role and assimilated into the 'group' recently? Jack Bauer wouldn't be **** without Edgar Stylez

Not sure Videogaming is still seen as being geeky - maybe childish...?

[NekoFever]

Games in general certainly are still geeky because although the industry as a whole is bigger than it's ever been, there are only a handful of games that most people will have - FIFA, GTA, Tiger Woods, Need For Speed, etc. It takes something big to get them to deviate from those games and most of the more unique stuff just doesn't sell. The UK release (if you can call it that) of We Love Katamari springs to mind when most of the specialist shops didn't even seem to know what it was.

On the subject of having multiple and retro consoles, that's seen as geeky just because of how many boxes you have to have under the TV. Even if you watch movies from decades ago you only need one box, a DVD player. Similarly with classical music you only need one CD player. The time it'll become more "acceptable" is when you need one machine to play them all, whether that's sticking a chipped Xbox under the TV or more legal means like the Wii virtual console. People give me a funny look when I have a Laserdisc player under my TV, after all.

[marcus]

Until videogames are at the level of that sequence in the movie The Island where Scarlett and that other guy fight it out VR style (anyone who has seen the movie will remember this, it had Xbox branding ironically), which even to a non-gamer really kicked ass - then yes, gaming will always be viewed as being geeky

[Dirty Sanchez]

Way too many generalisations and half truths here.

What is new is in the public space, the media. That goes for games, movies and music. It doesn't mean that the majority are following this exclusively.

Years ago computing was new and 'geeky'. Looking round my office there are very few that fit the 'geeky' image. The presentation in media is where most of these preconceptions come from.

I'm considered different at work as I have no interest in football, just interested in rugby. Despite popular opinion, in the media again, rugby is not just for public schoolboys and the old school tie.

I tend to talk about rugby with others that are interested in it, likewise with games. Being weird is trying to shoehorn your hobby into conversations where nobody is particularly interested, not everyone finds the same things as you interesting.

Having a broad range of interests is far more important to me than trying to dispute or disprove I'm a geek.

[Yoshimax]

Was Neo "Geeky" ???

Exactly

[gingerj]

D+D

Please let that stand for say Didier Drogba and not Dungeon and Dragons which I think it means. If it's the latter then YES it's geeky I mean going off the radar.

[supersmithy]

*throws a D20 at gingerj*

[J0e Musashi]

Was Neo "Geeky" ???

Exactly

It was and still is at the top of the "Geeky" tree in regards to videogames.

[Jay]

Yes. Even at the software company I work for, being into videogames is deemed as geeky. I think it'll change eventually, but no it hasn't lost its stigma just yet.

btw, aren't people getting a little sick of so-called 'chav' bashing? It's ironic in a thread about being looked down upon for being 'different'.

Jay