Is there such a thing as gaming culture?

Deleted. See comment below.

I think with xbox 360 and ps3 are becoming more and more a entertain system than just a video game system. That is definitely helping bring things to another level. Where Chess has been around forever I can see my great-great-grandkids still playing it and still play Mario games as well. Its a great topic! ALSO! I love the site.

It's going to be a great day when our children's children start sharing their own Tetris tips.

It's going to be a great day when our children's children start sharing their own Tetris tips.

Great video man – well done on taking action!

I feel like I kinda “know” you now… all because of video

Gideon

I think with the message my website is trying to build, really focusing on the emotion I have about specific topics, will really drive the idea home for everyone. I feel like when I write, I tend to overstate. When I talk, it's all coming from an honest place. I don't get to choose my words and sometimes, what gets blurted out is usually the best thing to be said.

Thanks so much Gideon!

My opinion:

There has always been video game culture, like traditional game culture. If you think about any deep genre following like “Versus” gaming, i.e. Street Fighter & it's predecessors, their culture is so deeply rooted, the developers look to them for direction.

*I have a few points here so wait till the end before you start thinking of a reply.

Now lets just keep calling games like poker or chess “traditional” for arguments sake. So traditional games work the same way… some people are casual gamers & will play here & there. Others are so involved that they create a culture around it. Another thought also, is that these games have to be learned to to be played. Thus a comradery amongst players, a culture is developed. Now to be good at it, to learn strategy and so on, takes practice. You must play over & over with different skill levels to achieve this. Similar to something like Super Street Fighter, the finishing moves to Mortal Combat, or how to jump levels in Mario Brothers. You learn through trial & error, or a great tip someone told you as they were looking over your shoulder waiting for their turn. (“Thanks for the tip, DAP my friend”)

Since the casual gamer is now at the forefront & social networking is adherent in almost all gaming, this learning curve is diminishing & games are being developed to meet all skill levels. So the casual gamer now can have a conversation about about unlocking the 100% Redeemed Achievement in Red Dead Redemption with a hardcore gamer on lunch break at work. The bridge that was so far & few in between these two players, no longer exists as it might have had 10, even 5 years ago.

So yes, I do believe there was gaming culture in the days of Y'ore, it's just evolved just like everything else has. We will always be looking for entertainment, but nothing beats a good conversation between comrades.

*In the Mall Parking Lot: “I destroyed your high score in Double Dragon! B.A.D. in 1st place!”

*X-BOX MESSAGE INBOX: “Look who has the new high score in Pac-Man Championship Edish!”

I think you need to define what you mean by “culture” in order to answer this question. For one, what does it mean for a niche community to form a culture? Is there a minimum number of group members? Is their a minimum number of shared traits or do we require an outside observer to name a group as having culture?

As I see, gaming culture is not a new idea at all. Developers of early games in the 80s, even text based games, often communicated with other designers. You could say a small culture grew among them. Communication resulted in trends and shared ideas. While this group of designers, and players, was very small, you might still be able to say it had a culture.

Similarly, pinball designers, collectors, and even repairmen could be said to have a culture in the late 80s and early nineties. It would not be strange to say a gaming culture existed amongst players at arcades also. The quarter placed on an arcade cabinet, designating who would play next, for example, was a cultural creation built and sustained by video game players.

Modern gamer culture seems to exist anew because it has grown rapidly, suddenly becoming a widely recognized identity. Internet communities has strengthened some aspects of gamer culture, abolished others, and created new niche cultures anew (video game fan fiction among them). The modern breadth of gaming culture makes it look like a new idea, separate from other past times like chess or poker, when it is not. Changing and growing? Absolutely. New? Absolutely not.

You know what Jorge, you're absolutely correct.

I think a more accurate point should have been “why is gaming culture being more recognized? what is making something that was on the fringes, more in the spotlight?”

You hit a strong point detailing even the niche of pinball freaks. I mean, I've been a huge SEGA fan and the only other good friend I had to obsess with it was my upstairs neighbor. To me, our conversations were all that I needed to be happy. Only now, I can align with millions of SEGA fans world-wide and that's becoming (more) socially acceptable.

You're right Jayson.

I think a more valid point I should have raised was, “What is it about today's technology that is making gaming an even more cultured experience?”

I think the whole “water cooler” game tips thing is a totally excellent point. I remember all the “I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD DO THATs!” I'd get when I told people you could equip a Riot Shield with Scavenger and throwing knives to basically get unlimited throwing knives, as long as you scored kills.

I think the point I was trying to really hit upon was “what changed? what has made it more socially acceptable to share this culture so freely?”

I think you’re right and I’m really glad you called me out on the misstep in communications.

The better point that I should have made was “what is making current video game culture expand in the way it is now? What’s making it as big and as relevant as other ‘game’ cultures?”

Hi Jeff. First some definition stuff, I think you mean to talk about videogame culture, and even there, you're talking about modern videogame culture (post-CD-ROM era) with its gameplay conventions and standards. Using the broader definition, game culture has been around since the beginning of history, as evidenced by things like the ancient Olympic Games and Mayan ball courts. So from here on, when I say “games” I mean “videogames.”

I think that game culture is really a reflection of the extent to which games are now prevalent in society. The ESA reports that around 2/3rds of American households play games regularly. Even more telling, a Pew Research study indicates that 98% of all American teenagers self-reported as playing games on a regular basis. So actually, I don't think it's “game culture” so much as it's just plain old “culture.”

Thanks.
Found out ’bout y’all via Amanda’s piece @ WorldChanging.
Kindly keep up the good FUN!!!
paul t. horan

Thanks Paul! I shall keep it up!