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This is the Reason Why Gamers Aren't Taken Seriously

Posted by Cole Stryker

Did this image excite you? Well you're the reason why gamers lack cultural legitimacy.

Just joking. There are many more reasons why gamers are looked down on, but our fetishization of collectables, skins, and assorted promotional hardware is one thing that sets us apart. Who cares about the color of a console?

Sure, every hobby has its obsessive collectors, but I don't think there exists a pastime that elicits such widespread chatter when a new peripheral, add-on, skin, or promotional input device is released. I think this is partially due to the phenomenon that video games exist where art and technology meet. You can find plenty of film buffs who couldn't give a rip if their watching a film on 1080p, but technology has a much more direct impact on the consumer experience with video games.

A real step will have been made when gamers stop caring about hardware and branding and can focus entirely on what happens on-screen. Probably won't happen for a long time, but by golly it would usher in a golden age.

(insert obligatory joke about how it will match the RRoD better)

The Original XBox: The New Sega Saturn?

The Portable Xbox 360 and Hand Warmer

+ DIGG

+ DEL.ICIO.US

+ REDDIT

Posted Feb 24 2009, 04:00 PM

Filed under: xbox 360, cole stryker, culture, collections

Comments

LBD "Nytetrayn" said:

I don't much care about the color of my consoles (though I admit I did want a black GameCube when it came time to buy one, but they were all sold out, so Indigo it was).

Portables, on the other hand, I feel are much more "personal," and I like being able to select a particular color or deco.

February 24, 2009 10:33 PM

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.