Nintendo want video games to be accepted and played by everybody. Is this really possible? Developers and publishers think so looking at the variety of games available. But what do the public think? I’ve a couple of experiences in the last week that says games are not and never will be accepted as mainstream entertainment for everyone.
A work colleague of mine, she’s perhaps early 40’s and she won’t thank me for saying that, expressed utter surprise to learn that I play video games. She couldn’t get her head around why an adult would want to play games and why I didn’t have a “proper” hobby. She said, “I thought those things were just for children?” I didn’t even try to explain.
While on flights to and from Bergamo last week I read a book. Mr Biffo’s Confessions of a Chatroom Freak. A highly entertaining book which is as funny as it is weird. Strange things go on in chatrooms it seems. My wife also read some of the book on the return flight and her reactions to what she was reading drew some strange looks from our fellow passengers and the flight crew. But not as funny as the looks I got when I got my DS out. I’m serious! This guy in the row opposite to me, that just happened to be watching a movie on a device with what looked like a 4” screen, perhaps he was compensating for what he lacked in other areas, caught my eye and proceeded to raise an eyebrow, shake his head and go back to his film. This happened a few times during the flight, perhaps he was envious but I got the feeling he thought the DS was beneath him in some way.
I was playing Yoshi’s Island so I suppose for the uninitiated it looks like a kids game. For those that know the game they'll also know that it’s an extremely challenging platformer but does have typically Nintendo cutesy graphics. I changed games switching to Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training but I got the impression that it wouldn’t have mattered what game I played. I even decided to play some Atari classics on my GBA Micro just to see what would happen. The Micro certainly received stares but I think it was more disbelief. I think I was imagining that his eyebrows really were able to touch his hairline but I couldn’t be sure.
Perhaps it’s my own self-consciousness that is the problem when gaming in public. I’ll always remember feeling conspicuous when getting my old Atari Lynx out in public. Not so much when playing my original Game Boy but the Game Boy has a certain cool factor attached to it.
Questions, questions. Was Mr 4” Screen, who incidentally had to be the first one out of his seat when we landed and couldn’t resist checking his mobile phone while the plane taxied even though there had just been an announcement saying, “don’t switch on mobile telephones until you are outside of the aircraft”, a closet gamer that couldn’t bring himself to play in public or was he really scoffing because his was bigger and for grown ups? Was I experiencing a mild form of Air Rage? Am I paranoid gamer, that played too much Goldeneye back in the day and now avoids all CCTV cameras at any cost, or have you been in a similar situation? Will video games ever be mainstream entertainment and be recognised as a fulfilling and honourable pastime?
It’s GAMEOV3R Forum time!
A work colleague of mine, she’s perhaps early 40’s and she won’t thank me for saying that, expressed utter surprise to learn that I play video games. She couldn’t get her head around why an adult would want to play games and why I didn’t have a “proper” hobby. She said, “I thought those things were just for children?” I didn’t even try to explain.
While on flights to and from Bergamo last week I read a book. Mr Biffo’s Confessions of a Chatroom Freak. A highly entertaining book which is as funny as it is weird. Strange things go on in chatrooms it seems. My wife also read some of the book on the return flight and her reactions to what she was reading drew some strange looks from our fellow passengers and the flight crew. But not as funny as the looks I got when I got my DS out. I’m serious! This guy in the row opposite to me, that just happened to be watching a movie on a device with what looked like a 4” screen, perhaps he was compensating for what he lacked in other areas, caught my eye and proceeded to raise an eyebrow, shake his head and go back to his film. This happened a few times during the flight, perhaps he was envious but I got the feeling he thought the DS was beneath him in some way.
I was playing Yoshi’s Island so I suppose for the uninitiated it looks like a kids game. For those that know the game they'll also know that it’s an extremely challenging platformer but does have typically Nintendo cutesy graphics. I changed games switching to Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training but I got the impression that it wouldn’t have mattered what game I played. I even decided to play some Atari classics on my GBA Micro just to see what would happen. The Micro certainly received stares but I think it was more disbelief. I think I was imagining that his eyebrows really were able to touch his hairline but I couldn’t be sure.
Perhaps it’s my own self-consciousness that is the problem when gaming in public. I’ll always remember feeling conspicuous when getting my old Atari Lynx out in public. Not so much when playing my original Game Boy but the Game Boy has a certain cool factor attached to it.
Questions, questions. Was Mr 4” Screen, who incidentally had to be the first one out of his seat when we landed and couldn’t resist checking his mobile phone while the plane taxied even though there had just been an announcement saying, “don’t switch on mobile telephones until you are outside of the aircraft”, a closet gamer that couldn’t bring himself to play in public or was he really scoffing because his was bigger and for grown ups? Was I experiencing a mild form of Air Rage? Am I paranoid gamer, that played too much Goldeneye back in the day and now avoids all CCTV cameras at any cost, or have you been in a similar situation? Will video games ever be mainstream entertainment and be recognised as a fulfilling and honourable pastime?
It’s GAMEOV3R Forum time!
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