What are these 'gamers' you speak of?
- December 18, 2008 3:19 PM |
- By Paul Jay
by Paul Jay, CBCNews.ca.
Christmas is traditionally a slow news time, and here at the CBC we feel it too as we try to report on the stories we think Canadians want to know about in the tech and science fields. Having said all that, consider this story from the Associated Press filed today, entitled 'Big video game fans prove crucial to the industry.'
Here's the lead:
They stand in line outside stores waiting for midnight launches of new video games. When they get home after a long day, they plop down in front of the TV not to sit back and watch, but to play. They're known as "core gamers."
The story then goes onto explain that video games are different from TV. As Arizona State University student Wyatt Du Frane explains, " A movie is only a couple of hours. A video game is more like a book or a TV series, where you can kind of continue the story."
Now, we know people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. But does anyone else reading this feel like they just stepped into a time warp of, say, 1994, back in the days when Doom was king of the first-person shooters?
Eventually, the story gets to the point - which is that despite making inroads with casual gamers through titles like Guitar Hero and Wii Play, game makers are heavily reliant on hard-core gamers to get them through tough economic times.
And in that sense, things are different: in 1994, the recession was almost over here in Canada, while today it appears to be just getting started.
UDATE: Hi folks - thanks for your comments below. Up until recently, gaming hasn't been an editorial focus for CBC.ca but that is changing. A little while ago, we began running a monthly gaming column anchored on the Arts page but also on Tech/Science and we regularly publish features, such as our recent look at the history of video games.
Given that a number of staffers here are avid gamers, we'd love to do as much on gaming as time permits. If you'd like to see more, please keep letting us know so we can help build a case for expanding our coverage. Thanks again for reading!
About the Authors
- Tara Kimura
is a multimedia producer for CBCNews.ca.
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Comments (15)
What rubbish!
I was expecting a wish list of electronics, or even dream list of this years best video games, as chosen by yours truly. This article was more useless then Jesse Browns Radio show 'Search Engine'.
Its looking like the only big name console maker that won't have a hard time will be Nintendo. So many casual gamers are just eating up the Wii, it's ridiculous. Theres nothing I regret more at the moment then buying the Wii, considering how much of a gamer I am.
The 360 and PS3 are gonna have a tough time, and hopefully developers won't move over to the Wii.
Looks like I'm gonna be keeping World of Warcraft for awhile.
Jason from Halifax, if you want to see a column on the year's best games here on CBC.ca, you'll have to write it yourself. Come to think of it, why not? Just post it here.
I'm puzzled why CBC generally ignores gaming. When they do run a story or column on games then it always appears in the science and technology section rather than, say, entertainment. I've asked about this in comments to several stories and e-mailed CBC directly, but never had any response.
Perhaps they either don't believe that many people are interested in games, despite figures like those quoted in the AP article indicating that gaming is bigger business than home video.
I'm puzzled why CBC generally ignores gaming. When they do run a story or column on games then it always appears in the science and technology section rather than, say, entertainment.
Amen...I used to have my work day gaming crave cut just a little bit by the CP/AP news items at the bottom of the Science & Tech section (game reviews, new releases, etc), but even those haven't appeared for the last few weeks.
How about a dedicated Gaming section, CBC? You intended to have one 2 years ago (I bookmarked the column and vainly waited for you to update it beyond one review!), and there is obviously enough interest in one.
Games have come a long way in the last 20 years since I really started playing. Games are so much more real and in-depth these days, making them much more addictive. I would put games up there with drinking and drugs these days. Games can really help someone excape from reality, pretty much in the same way drinking or drugs can. They also foster to a new society, I can see how some people are replacing the face to face interactions with online interactions. We only need a name for this online generation, I'm not sure if I'm Generation X, Y or Z, maybe I'm Generation CPU??? LOL
-Gaming has come a long ways since I started about 20 years ago. Today's games are so in-depth, and realistic. Today's games can be very addictive, along the same lines as drinking, gambling and drugs. They can help a person escape any drudgery in their lives in the same manner. Games will continue to blur the lines between fantasy and realism as I can see it.
T.V has its place, but it is not interactive like gaming, you don't control where T.V is headed, well for the most part, reality shows are trying to get people more involved, but it is not the same as games. People want to be the Hero, the Villain or the Star for themselves, not see it dictated to them on T.V.
It will be interesting to see where gaming goes. A whole new society is forming - online, more and more people are replacing the face-to-face interactions with the online interactions. We only need a name for this new generation, I'm not sure if I'm generation X, Y or Z, maybe I'm generation U... Tube. LOL
How about a response from somebody at CBC?
How about a response OTHER than deleting the half of my comment in which I suggested that you are deliberately ignoring your readers?
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Hi Matt - Your comment was posted exactly the way it was received. CBC.ca policy is that a post is either published as it arrives in its entirety, or rejected if it contravenes the abuse/offensive language policy - ie. we don't edit comments for spelling errors, length, etc. If there was more to your note, please resend and we'll post it. (The posting system automatically rejects HTML due to the danger of linking to malicious websites, so your post can't include links).]
I'd love to see more stories about gaming on the CBC. Although most news will be how the Wii is selling like hot cakes.
Best purchase I ever made, been gaming since the NES days. Its nice how its making new types of experences to game instead of the same old, go to room a - shoot everything moves goto room b and repete. Not to mention it is the best console to own if you have friends. If you don't though ... well ... its a waste of money.
What about some discussions on the topic of the future forms of existence that gaming may take? For example: when the day that computing power, memory and software artificial intelligence become sufficiently capable of creating "electronic entities" that are equal to or superior to human intelligence, will they have the same right as a human? Should they? Or how about a war strategy game, first person shooter or role playing game that is populated by such entities? How would you feel about killing them even if it is "just a game"? I would have to say that even though such beings are not real they same way we are, they would at least exist and just because they exist differently than we do doesn't mean that they should be any less worthy of respect as a form of life.
What about the ethics of a virtual Mario™ that decides that he doesn't want to be in video games anymore. Is his identity his own or does it belong to Nintendo™?
The gaming industry need to mature, no doubt about it. No other medium (radio, tv, movies, books, theatre, etc) has a stigma attached to it that oozes adolescent boys. It's not that they are the only audience, just that they remain the most vocal and have become the "face" of gaming, hence the core gamer crowd and its importance to the industry. The core gamer is the one who will tell his/her friends, post in forums, blogs, social networking, and generally spread the word of any game or platform; in many cases, that word is spread much more effectively then advertisements or official gaming sites. Unfortunately for the industry, if the quality of the product or your service is poor, it's going to hit with more intensity than any positive words. Core gamers have loud opinions.
I don't believe that relying on core gamers in "tough economic times" is going to do it. If the industry is looking for support, it needs to offer better service and better products that have broad appeal.
I love games
Don't bash the wii I would like to think of myself of a pretty hard gamer when I find a game I like and Call of duty:WOW for the wii is a great game been glued to it whenever possible!
Keep on with the video games columns as i do enjoy them and the postings from other gamers and non-gamers. I am a gamer with many gamer friends who are in their late 20's and early 30's. Gaming stereotypes might suggest we are geeky outcasts with little social application in life, but we all have girlfriends/wives, children, good jobs and yes, we have many friends who are not gamers as well. We all grew up training through calico, atari, sega, Turbo Graphics 16, ninendo, gameboy, SNES, Playstation 1,2 &3, Xbox, WII, and several PC games. I can trace back pretty far to see how far gaming has come as I've been an active participant for most of my life and plan on seeing how games develop into the future. I appreciate the adult dialogue in a CBC forum and I am excited to see where games and technology go from here.
Responding to Keith from Alberta....
As gamers I think we should be Generation "WASD". Any pc gamer should recognize that particular configuration of keys.