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Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

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Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#311

Post by watwut »

sidlls wrote: post #244
iameli wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm fascinated by this opinion. Is Hearthstone a video game? Desert Golfing? Good Sudoku? Words with Friends? Clash Royale? Angry Birds? The Arcana? Wii Sports? Pokémon Go?

I don't understand why it's apparently controversial that we can break a category like computer gaming into a spectrum of activities and styles. We do it in many other areas without such issue, e.g., recreational vs. amateur vs. professional athletics, cooking, artistry, etc. If a report were published that said "250 million adult Americans are cooks" I'd find it objectionable. It's not a meaningful number, either in…

You are using this argument in a thread about whether Candy Crush is a "video game". Not whether it is, shooter, RPG or racing game. Nor whether playing on subway counts as e-sports.

The problem here is that the breakdown is completely arbitrary based on "how much I feel related to people who play it". It is not based on hours played, someone who plays on console less of time can count. It is not by effort spent, someone who plays repetitive grinding games on console still counts. It is not even per who self-identifies as gamer, that is not question in the thread at all. The thread is all about whether candy crush counts as game or videogame.

"250 million adult Americans cook" is perfectly valid thing to write in a report, even of those people don't do special French receipts.

So really, what it is about is that some self-identified gamers take offense on the idea that games which target different demographics can be talked about as a games. And while there are many cultural/emotional things that make it so, it still seem impossible to come up with reasonable definition that excludes candy crush. Candy crush is an insult to most gamers despite majority of them not knowing next thing about that game, except that it was huge success among people they, frankly, find inferior.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#313

Post by tgb »

Funes- wrote: post #262
ArtWomb wrote: post #80

Ghosts of Tsushima may be the best Playstation game I have played EVER. It's a testament to how late in the console release cycle, developers are just now mastering internals. It's the ideal video game: open world, 13-century feudal Japan, Age of the Samurai. High contrast "Kurosawa" mode, 4K HDR is cinematically photoreal. I really hope it remains a Major IP for many years to come ;) https://blog.selfshadow.com/publ…

As every other mainstream game for the last ten to fifteen years, give or take, it's just a forced course of action narratively illustrated by an interrupted sequence of dull cinematic scenes; the player just follows along with very limited space--if any --for exploration, decision-making, flexibility or creativity. The open world experience is ridiculously limited, as well. Does it look good? Sure! (Although every g…

> very limited space--if any--for exploration, decision-making, flexibility or creativity

If that's your criteria, then I really think the last 10-15 years of gaming has seen more of that than the earlier decades. Minecraft, Kerball Space Program, Factorio, Subnautica, Stardew Valley and many more have become mega-hits even if they didn't originate in the mainstream. Their influence on the mainstream games (Fortnite) is undeniable and has forced gaming in better directions, particular towards exploration and creativity. I was a kid in 2000 as well and if you had shown me Minecraft then, I would have been head-over-heels. Sure, there's still on-rails shooters if you want them and a lot of games are "open world" ala Far Cry 3's map-of-checkboxes-to-tick and not "open world" ala Minecraft. But gaming as a whole gives way more options (even just among best-sellers) for creativity, expression, and exploration than ever before. We're in a golden age for the medium right now and if I could experience that through the same eyes I had growing up, I'd be awed.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#314

Post by pedrosorio »

nhumrich wrote: post #310
jachell wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just because video games are popular doesn't mean they are not juvenile and a waste of time :)

actually, it kind of does. Technically, watching TV is a waste of time as well. But watching the latest show, i.e. Game of thrones, office, etc. Is not considered a waste of time, society almost sees it as a requirement.

Watching TV is a waste of time. Watching the latest show wastes one hour a week.

Being a “TV watcher” as in spending several hours a day doing it as your main hobby is not any better than being a “gamer” for dating purposes.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#315

Post by watwut »

nhumrich wrote: post #310
jachell wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just because video games are popular doesn't mean they are not juvenile and a waste of time :)

actually, it kind of does. Technically, watching TV is a waste of time as well. But watching the latest show, i.e. Game of thrones, office, etc. Is not considered a waste of time, society almost sees it as a requirement.

> society almost sees it as a requirement

I never seen office and it never mattered. Majority of people I know never seen Game of Thrones and would not liked it. Some people do like Game of thrones. So no, it is definitely not a requirement by "society". It may be requirement in your own bubble of society, just as some other bubbles treat dota or Witcher III as requirement.

I also cant recall people defending TV watching as not-a-wasted-of-time. There seems to be consensus that it is waste of time. That if you spent whole weekend by watching tv or watched tv till late hours, you should get a grip and self control.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#316

Post by shafyy »

jherdman wrote: post #300
arvinsim wrote: post #296

Even so, society still stereotype video games and video gamers as juvenile and waste of time. This is apparent especially in dating circles, where more often than not, listing video games as hobby for a males is a negative signal to the opposite sex.

Gaming IS a waste of time, as are a number of hobbies. The question is really if you care that you're wasting your time.

According to your definition, when is time not wasted?

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#317

Post by belorn »

watwut wrote: post #286
belorn wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you seen the hours some people put into farmville and farmville-like games? Overnight play? Checked. Addicted? Checked. Sleep deprived? Checked. Physical pain from holding the phone and looking at a small screen? Checked. Raging behavior? Mood is definitively effected, especially when the social aspect has a negative turn.

I know farmville, candy crush and the like playing people. I also know AAA online pubg, world of warcraft etc games playing people. The worst behavior I have seen definitely did not came from farmville candy crush crowd. Also, overall, steam sales seems to cost way more money I have ever seen being spent on games. And not just that, spending a lot of money on steam sales is point of pride for gamers - who ten turn ar…

Personally I have observed a person with worse farmville addiction than any pc related addiction I have personally seen. Two accounts on farmville, one on a farmville-clone, each three played at the same time competitive for top ranking, with guilds and guild drama, and candy-crush games on the side.

If we are talking about spending, thankfully the above person did at least restrict themselves to > Rage and affected mood are two different things.

No. Mood swings because of a game is the same regardless if its short bursts or long and moody. If a person allow a game (and the social groups in it) to have lasting negative effect on their mood then that is a problem regardless what kind of game it is.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#318

Post by mercer »

Funes- wrote: post #262
ArtWomb wrote: post #80

Ghosts of Tsushima may be the best Playstation game I have played EVER. It's a testament to how late in the console release cycle, developers are just now mastering internals. It's the ideal video game: open world, 13-century feudal Japan, Age of the Samurai. High contrast "Kurosawa" mode, 4K HDR is cinematically photoreal. I really hope it remains a Major IP for many years to come ;) https://blog.selfshadow.com/publ…

As every other mainstream game for the last ten to fifteen years, give or take, it's just a forced course of action narratively illustrated by an interrupted sequence of dull cinematic scenes; the player just follows along with very limited space--if any --for exploration, decision-making, flexibility or creativity. The open world experience is ridiculously limited, as well. Does it look good? Sure! (Although every g…

> Let's be honest here: videogames aren't nearly as elaborate as many of them were just one or two decades ago, when many developers were having fun making them and putting in tons of effort without as many market constrictions and demands. Then you have, on the other hand, indie games, which tend to be just a glorified demo which uses technical limitations to its advantage, mainly aesthetically.

I'll agree with other commenters pointing out the wealth of amazing games that fit neither category you describe. Hollow Knight, for example, feels like a small team just went bananas offering a ridiculous amount of high quality content for a low price. I could name a whole bunch more that others haven't already. They're far from 'glorified demos that use technical limitations to their advantage'. Hollow Knight has been considered perhaps the best 'Metroidvania' by critics and fans alike.

Even a game like Celeste, which perhaps gets closer to being 'technically limited' and literally came from a demo game jam, is one of the best platformers I've played in my life.

The way I see it, your argument has some degree of merit insofar that the 'mainstream' of gaming got a ton bigger, more global, and more lucrative. This also happened to film and music.

But it's needlessly pessimistic to conclude that as a result there's less quality.

I'm a very picky gamer and since I don't make some artificial distinction between triple-A games and 'indie games', I could spend a hefty chunk of money on a monthly basis buying only the games I consider truly amazing. This has not been the case historically, at least in my experience.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#319

Post by nicofcurti »

shafyy wrote: post #316
jherdman wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gaming IS a waste of time, as are a number of hobbies. The question is really if you care that you're wasting your time.

According to your definition, when is time not wasted?

I think he means waste as in "doing something that carries no real benefit to yourself", and if that's the case then you're probably grinding instead of actually enjoying a game.

FF VII teaches you real values. LoL teaches you absolutely nothing besides resilience when getting bashed for going 0/1

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#320

Post by ramblerman »

Funes- wrote: post #262
ArtWomb wrote: post #80

Ghosts of Tsushima may be the best Playstation game I have played EVER. It's a testament to how late in the console release cycle, developers are just now mastering internals. It's the ideal video game: open world, 13-century feudal Japan, Age of the Samurai. High contrast "Kurosawa" mode, 4K HDR is cinematically photoreal. I really hope it remains a Major IP for many years to come ;) https://blog.selfshadow.com/publ…

As every other mainstream game for the last ten to fifteen years, give or take, it's just a forced course of action narratively illustrated by an interrupted sequence of dull cinematic scenes; the player just follows along with very limited space--if any --for exploration, decision-making, flexibility or creativity. The open world experience is ridiculously limited, as well. Does it look good? Sure! (Although every g…

> If somebody showed me how videogames would look when I was a kid, in 2000, twenty years in the future, I would have been incredibly disappointed.

I highly doubt it.

the witcher 2, GTA5, factorio, DOTA2, Rust. I would have dreamed to play anoy of those. You can even watch DOTA2 like its a football game with pro commentators and incredible money on the line.

Your critique of some of these bigger titles and studios is not wrong, but you are generalizing it into a farce of the modern gaming world.

Did you consider perhaps you changed, and don't have the same wonder and ability to immerse yourself in games as you did 20 years ago.

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