Does upcoming film help gaming or further stereotype it?
After more than 30 years in gaming, I have always found the different ways gaming is portrayed in the mainstream interesting. Sometimes I find humor in it, sometimes it’s made me mad and still other times it has made me shake my head.
Today’s gaming culture is far gone from the “kids thing” it used to be painted as, even if a great deal of the mainstream media still paints it that way. With celebrities becoming more involved and museums recognizing video gaming history, it could be said that gaming culture has finally reached the same level of respect as other forms of entertainment such as television and film.
This summer a video gaming film is set to debut. Noobz, a film about a gaming team heading off to a major gaming tournament, is set to make it’s worldwide debut on June 6 at the Nokia Theatre, right as the E3 Expo is in town.
Upon watching the trailer I am given mixed emotions. Some of it made me chuckle a little, such as the little kid on the other end of the XBox headset, the team name being spelled as “riegn” (the type of horrible misspelling one cannot play a game online without coming across), and a little homage to classic arcade gaming.
However, I can’t help but feel this film also pushes stereotypes of video gamers that simply don’t apply to the majority of gamers today. The film seems to feature a number of foul-mouthed little kids, girlfriends that hate games and bash their boyfriends for playing them and loudmouthed stoner types that simply have nothing else to do.
I feel I speak for a large number of gamers out there when I say I tired of the “video gamers are basement dwelling virgins” stereotype a long time ago. As a happily married man and father of two children, I can tell you firsthand that I know more die-hard gamers just like me, with families and an awareness of the world around them. My wife is also a gamer, something else that is pretty common these days as well.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB1zJU08IiA[/youtube]
Basically, I’m mixed. I want to say that anything that puts gaming center stage is a good thing for gaming culture, but I’m also reminded that this isn’t the first time I felt this kind of embarassment as well. I was annoyed at how The Wizard and Video Power portrayed gamers back in the day and have a similar gut feeling about Noobz now. The trailer reminds me more of why I started going into private party chats on Call of Duty instead of listening to the main lobby.
Therefore I am opening up the floor for discussion about this one. Please take a moment to watch the trailer to your left and comment below or contact me via Twitter or direct message if you like.
Is Noobz a good thing for gaming culture, or does it base itself off of too many gaming stereotypes?
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