I Think “Irked” is the Proper Word to Use Here

Here in the lovely realm of Communication Studies that I call my home, as well as in the world of some other social sciences, we’re pretty big on stereotypes. Stereotypes give us these preconceived notions that tell us how we’re going to act with other people. Yes, stereotypes are often painted in a negative light, and when you hear about them they’re more than likely being used that way, but thinking outside of that box, it is simple to see how we use them in our daily lives.

Everyone’s beliefs factor in to their stereotypes, and more often than not, we see that we, as gamers, are rarely credited with a positive stereotype. Michael Abbott once spoke on a podcast (an episode that I cannot remember) that even he, as a professor, gets strange looks when people walk by his office and see him playing something on his PS2 (thus giving me a model to aspire to: an in-office PS2). Even in the world of academia, and in an age when videogames are such a prominent media, gamers and gaming are still looked at as something off-base by those outside of our world.

For a class assignment, I chose the topic of communicating while playing games, specifically, whether players prefer online or local co-op. However, when discussing the assignment with someone, a comment was made that irked me at the time, yet for brevity’s sake, I chose to look past it. This comment was along the lines that it was strange for me to choose communicating while playing games as a topic, because videogames are primarily an isolated activity. Like I said, I didn’t comment on it, but it’s had me thinking about it since yesterday.

How many people of the world still hold this view? In days when online co-op shooter Left 4 Dead has gigantic billboards and the Wii is bringing together people in living rooms across the nation, while also letting thousands of people play locally or online in Mario Kart, do people still view games as primarily anti-social activities? I know the nights my friends and I get together for some L4D online, or gather at my house for some Rock Band 2 would argue otherwise.

I’m Pretty Sure Venn Diagrams are Necessary Here

Nope, not Fable 2. I’ll come back to that. I’ve got another train of thought.

I currently still live at home with my family, and for the holiday, my dad decided to buy Wii Fit as a “family gift”. I’ll admit that I have not touched the Wii since I put down Super Mario Galaxy back in January. On the other hand, my parents have gotten quite a bit of use out of the game playing Wii Sports. They sometimes take to calling the WIi the “Wii Machine”, which brings an entirely different image to mind, but that is neither here nor there. They’re particularly fond of the bowling in Wii Sports. My parents used to be very enthusiastic about bowling. They own their own bowling balls, and I’ve seen my father bowl a perfect game. However, as they’ve gotten older, my mother’s knees have gotten bad, so Wii Sports gives them an opportunity to do what they used to love in an entirely new way. They also enjoy the fact that they can use their Miis for an even more immersive (and I’m using that word sparingly here) experience.

So, on Christmas day we set up Wii Fit and everyone found out their BMI and COB and all that jazz, and took turns on the mini games. I lost interest after finding out that I am almost overweight and slightly off balance, but the rest of them had fun with the hula hoops, ski jumps, etc. They weren’t even doing it for the health aspect, they were just enjoying small chunks of pseudo-games that they were able to play. As I watched, it was extremely clear that this game was, without a doubt, the epitome of non-gamer, casual gaming.

My dad also bought my mother AMF Bowling World Lanes, also for the Wii. This is a strange game. It’s made by Bethesda, or at least an offshoot of Bethesda. You know, Fallout 3, that game that I love from only weeks ago. They hated it, and wanted to return it. It is a bowling game in which you pick a stereotypically ethnic bowler, and bowl around the world. My parents were excited with the prospect of a potentially more “realistic” Wii bowling game. However, the lack of Mii support frustrated them. They liked how Wii Sports let them live out their old bowling days vicariously through their Miis. Instead now, my mom was playing as a cowboy, and she was not pleased. They also did not like the fact that they had to go through menus, select bowlers and locations, and then on top of that, the controls were more complex than those of Wii Sports, so they could not hook the ball the way they used to.

That brings me to my point here. Who exactly is a game like this made for? The onslaught of Wii shovelware is made with the mindset that they’ll be able to hit this newfound casual demographic that owns a Wii with Wii Sports and rarely anything else. The people in this demographic, however, are hard to please.

They like things simple and easy. To be frank, they like things that Nintendo is making. After explaining to my parents that not every company uses the Miis, they were pretty disappointed. What’s the chances of them buying another third party Wii title now that they know that there will not be more of the same, but something totally different that may be completely foreign to them? I know my parents aren’t going to be the only ones in this boat.