| allaboutthegames885 said: @ onikenshi: A console isn't great because of graphics, it's great because of the experiences that it delivers... And what could you get from the Neo Geo that you couldn't find in the arcades at that time? The only thing I could think of is privacy, and who needs that when it comes to gaming? Gaming is supposed to be a social experience, a community experience... When did gaming start conjuring up the image of the fat, introverted geek that lives in his parents' basement doing nothing but grinding on his video games for who-knows-what-reason? I'll tell you when, it was the 5th generation, around the time when the Saturn, N64, and your Playstation brands first came to light... The Game Boy's magic ability to make gaming a public thing was wearing thin and was only counteracted at a counter-cultural level by the Game Link Cable... Gaming became the thing you did at home, but lied about never doing just to be cool... And here I am on a rant because of what somebody said about graphics... My point is that you don't judge consoles on what their games look like, and you don't judge gamers on what one thinks that a typical gamer looks like... And furthermore, I applaud the ESRB's efforts to shake that image from people's heads because, while I am a fat, introverted geek, I don't really want people to consider me a stereotype, because I am a human being, and no real human being is a stereotype... *beats chest proudly* |
Video gaming was definitely more social in the 16-bit era. Also the social aspect is a big part why I preferred the Genesis to the SNES. I had a lot of fun pwning friends and family in various Genesis sports games (Sports Talk Baseball, The Joe Montana line of football games, EA NHL games, EA FIFA games, Road Rash, NBA Jam, etc.) Things have become more social this gen with online gaming but even that just isn't the same. Online, many gamers feel that anonymity gives them the green light to be a jerk to other players. There is a big difference between some random 12 year old kid online calling you a n00b and your friend trash talking you. The former scenario is macho bravado bullshit whereas the latter is just fun and games.
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