Local man dances, awaits revolution

Today I started an internship at Electronic Arts, the world's largest game company, but before that I found myself faced with a long weekend where I had moved in to my apartment, but had no obligations. To put it another way, I was facing a three-day battle with boredom. From my small arsenal of distractions I pulled Doug Pray's excellent documentary, Scratch, about the history and culture of DJs within hip-hop.

Well, me being myself and all, I got to thinking about hip-hop and videogames. Then today, I was talking to some co-workers over lunch and one of them mentioned that EAs games are getting pushed now by MTV types as part of "the lifestyle." He marveled at how games had moved up in social acceptability (something we've discussed a few times here) to get to that point.

Now personally, I didn't see such a problem. The elements of hip-hop: DJ, MC, B-boy/girl, and Graffitti each require their own kind of geekiness (normal people don't pour through record shops for hours looking for a good 30-second break somewhere in a record, for example). So, other than probably being too invested in their own geekdom to have time for gaming, there really isn't so much of a disconnect.

What this got me thinking about then was did videogaming have much in common with hip-hop besides geekiness and being common targets for the blame for society's woes? Something beyond Parappa and Frequency? Does "gamer culture" have values? There are some companies out there trying to sell "gamer culture" but what does that mean other than playing games? Penny Arcade's recent toy drive, calling for people who consider themselves "gamers" to donate toys or money to help sick children in an effort to show that "gamers" are good-hearted folk, suggests that there is at least a little internal desire to explicitly create a gamer cultural identity, rather than simply rely on outsiders to classify and describe as they choose. Are there others out there?

Now I think I'm going to go price a set of turntables on ebay.

Comments

[Draigon]

Love the subject name. :)

I can't help but think this has something to do with society as a whole becoming more geeky. The unusual people, the oddities of culture, the freaks, counter cultures and the like are more than tolerated -- they are greeted with respectable interest. The abnormal became normal. I think that creates an atmosphere for things like hip-hop and gaming to shed the negative stereotypes that come from intense people deeply involved in their artform.

What's a good description of gamer culture? No idea. It has changed so much, so quickly in just the past 2 years alone. Right now it seems too eclectic for me to nail down into a rough category that you might be able to do for hip-hop which has had time to level off. Then again, I tend to describe culture sets directly after their marketing (since people into marketing have to know what appeals to each culture anyway). So maybe the answer can be found there.

[Char]

I would have to say that it is not necessarily the society getting more geeky but more people in the creative class. More people are doing jobs that are not "working class" or manual labor. Since people in the creative class are usually open to new ideas and different cultures, I would not be surprised that a lot of people in the creative class are gamers or know gamers. Which in turn would help the gamer culture emerge into the "main stream of society."

What makes up the gamer culture who really knows. You could most likely ask 25 people and get 25 different answers. I am sure someone thinks they know but I think the gamer culture is still evolving and what makes the gamer culture today will be different tomorrow.

[stuzzy]

"Gamer culture" doesn't mean anything other than playing games, in my humble opinion.

I think the reason gaming is becoming more socially acceptable is simply because the people who grew up playing pong, atari, intellivision, zork, and lived through the first video game craze are now getting older, and still playing games. The respectability gaming is garnering is a rub-off of the respectable jobs they now have and respectable lives they now lead, and the always respectable amounts of money they now have to spend on games.

I no longer have to save, save, save as I did as a kid so I can buy Frogger for my Atari. Now I can just go out to the store and buy any game I want for my PS2 or my ultra sleek gaming machine, pretty much anytime I want because I have a decent job making a respectable amount of money, and 50 bucks doesn't seem as huge amount of money as it did when I was a kid.
Don't get me wrong, 50 bucks is still 50 bucks but now I'm more likely to have it to blow now than I did then.

I don't really see the connect between hip hop and gaming myself. I remember sitting at my friends house through my teenage years drinking beer playing the original Madden football for hours on end (mostly getting my butt kicked). We were both "punks" so did it somehow make gaming "punk"? I imagine there were some guys on the high school football team doing the same thing.

I feel no internal drive myself to create any kind of gamer cultural identity, and frankly I think anybody who tries will ultimately fail, as I think gamers tend to be a broad cross section of society (Dude! you play PS2 also? Cool, I never would have figured). Even more women are playing video games now so you can't even really define it as a "guy" thing.

I disagree with you Draigon. I would argue that if there is a gaming culture then it hasn't changed since the first game was invented oh so many years ago, (couldn't even tell you what that was) and by game I mean all games (board, cards, etc). Isn't the ultimate goal to have fun and relax? When did that change?

[Andrew]

Then again, I tend to describe culture sets directly after their marketing (since people into marketing have to know what appeals to each culture anyway). So maybe the answer can be found there.

If that's true than the average gamer is the guy who really like the Video Game Awards on SpikeTV.

[Draigon]

Haha, Andrew, I meant marketing that works. Those are people that either didn't do their research or had no intention of attracting the gaming crowd.

[Cal]

I never thought about the whole gaming to hip-hop thing. That connected quite a few dots in my head. It made me think how much similar the two are. Scratch is possibly my favorite movie of all time. If you are serious about buying some decks and have any questions about anything e-mail me or IM me @ DJ 30 cal

[Gary]

Very interesting thoughts. I believe a lot of what you brought up shares a lot of similaries on theories related to racial/ethinic identities. Analogous to fighting racial stereotyping, gamers embrace their passions and "force" society a new awareness of what it is and isn't to be a gamer.

Unfortunately, the powers that be dwell on the negative and amazingly heroic efforts by the likes of Child's Play via Penny Arcade are hardly mentioned. We never hear about the hip hop or rap artists that contribute back to their communities, or even an NFL running back who has assisted nearly 37 single moms acquire fully stocked brand new homes over the last 6 years.

Just like any race/ethnic group, there is phenomenal diversity within cultural groups, and it would seem that humans as a whole like to pick out the bad examples.

Good luck with your turntables as I anticipate the arrival of my Dance Dance Revolution dance pad (just recently discovered the wonder of this game). We all have our passions, and hopefully, we'll learn to cultivate them together just as Jane has with her cooking.

A wise man once said, "I have a dream..." That statement should reverberate through our spine on a daily basis... not just once a year.

[Gareth]

ClockworkGrue's post hints at the deeper connection between Gaming and Hip Hop: MTV.
Or rather, the all-encompasing homogeneity of consumerism. Just like any other geeky culture, gaming has reached the point where it can be *sold*. And that makes it mass-market.
The conflict arises because of a misunderstanding. The values used to sell games to the mass market are not the same as those that appeal to the old school gamers. We have different perceptions of what gaming is - and should be - about.
Perhaps this is the same with hip hop. I'd imagine the hard-core of that culture bemoan the derivative, bland, mass-market drones that flood the air waves.
When developers continue to push the envelope, society pushes back with censorship. Responsibility of the domain is now shared by two cultures that only intersect in part.
I don't believe this is an uncommon scenario. Any creative endeavour that (intentionally or otherwise) achieves appeal to the mass market will surely experience this tension.
The interesting question is how do we manage this relationship now? How do we encourage independent, off the wall games in an environment where professional teams have vast budgets for hit games? How can we put creative control back into the hands of the people that started this industry, when the major players restrict content on their proprietry consoles? To make provision for adult only material, change the perception and marketing of games as toys for children?
I'd be interested to hear how the hip hop community handled this, and what are the issues they have to deal with.

[outsider]

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