Xbox turning into a childish plaything?

[GiantRaven]

I'm not Hippocratic because back when i was a kid, Online gaming was nearly unheard of (in the console side of things anyway).

Then surely it is impossible to say whether or not you would have played online as a child, rendering your point defunct.

 

[Irridium]

The people running about spewing the title of 'GAMER' as something of a title of superiority aren't exactly helping anything. Your last sentence, "Bieber box" only further supports the idiocy behind your sentiment.

The system is trying to appeal to a wider audience to rake in the dough. The Wii had a great success, so the other systems are trying to emulate that. Don't worry, you can still get your UBER HARDCORE GAMER GAMES, but a wider audience will also be drawn in.

What he said. And besides, Core gamers are still a huge-ass audience. Publishers would have to hate money to brush all those potential sales aside.

Plus, the xbox wasn't built for gamers. The last gaming console built for gamers was the Dreamcast. After that, consoles turned into multimedia devices.

And yes, gamers made the industry. And now the industry is making games for all kinds of gamers. A gamer is someone who plays a game, end of story. To imply that a gamer is different completely contradicts the whole "gamers are normal people" thing. There isn't a special name for people who watch movies, or listen to music, or read books, so why the fuck should there be one for people who play games?

If by "multimedia devices", you mean stuff that does anything more than play games? Yeah, the Gamecube would have been the last one of those.

I was talking about the last console made, marketed, and had games made for, "gamers". As in the last console for "the hardcore".

You'd have to be a pretty hardcore gamer to want to play Super Mario Sunshine at 19 years old (yeah, I do, so what?) and last time I checked games like Metroid Prime 1 & 2 were pretty damn hardcore. I don't know if you're system bashing or not, but the Gamecube still had some "hardcore" stuff. Remember, "hardcore" doesn't mean blood/guts/language all the time.

My point is proven - Gamecube was the last game console (hardcore? yes) that didn't do anything beyond play games.

No, you just explained another huge problem I have with this hardcore/casual bullshit. What constitutes "hardcore"? To most, it would be the whole blood/guts/language(many also consider all that "mature", which I personally find hilarious). To others, it could be scoring a million points at Donkey King. And to other people it could mean playing all sorts of games.

"Hardcore" is as subjective a title as "art" is. And to be honest I wish we could just drop it all because all it does is throw up needless barriers and cause way more problems then they solve.

And I wasn't system bashing. Not purposely at least. Depends on your definition of "hardcore".

OK, but it sounded very much like you were. But I'm not here to start an argument, what I thought you were saying sounded as ignorant as the OP.

As for "hardcore" - yes, I agree that we should drop it. Video games are video games - some bad, some good, some great, some violent, some childish, some immature.

Well then in the future I'll try to word my posts better. Shouldn't have posed while cranky due to lack of food...

 

[Jazoni89]

I'm not Hippocratic because back when i was a kid, Online gaming was nearly unheard of (in the console side of things anyway).

Then surely it is impossible to say whether or not you would have played online as a child, rendering your point defunct.

I never played online as a child. My first experience with online gaming was 2007 when I was 17 years old.

I was late to the online gaming scene.

 

[aPod]

"Video games are toys, and a toys main audience is children."
-Moviebob's TGO (Totally messed up the quote)
That sums up my feelings.

That's BS though. You can argue that ATV's and Jet Ski's are toys too. Video games are closer to movies and that sort of entertainment and just like movies each game is targeted at different audiences. I don't know how many kids were the target audience for Pulp Fiction just like i'm not sure how many kids were the target audience for DOOM 3.

As for the OP's main point, it doesn't really bother me. I use the consoles to play the games and no matter what the dashboard looks like it can't decide what games i choose to purchase and play. Some games I really enjoy are kid games though.

 

[EcHoFiiVe]

Well think about it this way. I don't know how old you are, but I'm sure at least most of the people who have posted on this started gaming at an early age, probably around the age of 7-10. I had the same beginning at age 6. What brought me in was the cartoonish and fun feel of it. Xbox avatars are the things drawing younger kids into gaming, and the violent, explosion ridden games full of death and Master Chiefs are what keep you there as an older gamer. Why deprive kids of the opportunity to get into a fun hobby by putting a sign on the door saying "You must be this tall to play"? Seems nonsensical to me. In terms of the fiscal gain, the Wii's crushing sales over the PS3 and Xbox speak for themselves in terms of the effectiveness of a cartoony feel.

One reason

Online Gaming

The last thing i want to hear is some pre pubescent kid screeching in a mic when im playing a game. It destroys my fun and makes me feel frustrated and angry. So yes, I do think their should be a age limitation on online focused consoles such as the xbox.

I'm not Hippocratic because back when i was a kid, Online gaming was nearly unheard of (in the console side of things anyway).

I'm sure you've heard this a million times, but if squeakers really bother you that much, either mute them, or turn off your mic and lower the chat volume so you can't hear them. And generally speaking, the squeakers don't start these little conflicts online, its usually someone around the age of 15-18 saying "Oh shit, we have a squeaker in the lobby. Are you even old enough to own this game kid?" From my experience, which I think is a reliable one, since I have played Call of Duty, the most squeaker inhabited game you can play, for 3 years solid, these kids usually keep to themselves or their friends. If they start talking to other people, it's usually because they are asking what may be a stupid question to you, like "What level do I unlock this gun?" or "What does prestige mean?" which I don't see any problem with.

 

[GiantRaven]

I never played online as a child. My first experience with online gaming was 2007 when I was 17 years old.

But had Xbox live been around in your childhood, would you have played it?

 

[OliverTwist72]

The only thing I ever thought of when I saw the avatars in Xbox 360 was that they were targetting Wii owners. That's really all they're there for right?

 

[The Axon Hillock]

When was the XBox not a plaything? Essentially, badass make believe is not very different from adorable make believe. We are all waving our willies and tatas around the virtual stage, having imaginary adventures... Eating frosted unicorn poo... Where was I going with that?

Nevermind. Go guy a PS3. They are for real hardcore gamers and manly men with bushy chest hair. the PS3 wouldn't be caught dead supporting childish child games for children. Adults only.
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go put another hundred hours into Little Big Planet 2.

 

[Jazoni89]

I never played online as a child. My first experience with online gaming was 2007 when I was 17 years old.

But had Xbox live been around in your childhood, would you have played it?

Don't know, but if i knew what i knew now, and was a kid again, i wouldn't say a single word.

 

[Aiden_the-Joker1]

Really they have to try and target the younger audience because the gamers today won't always be gamers so they are just preparing for the future.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

Kinect has not made Epic cancel Gears of War 3. Mass Effect 3 is still coming out this year. There are still rumblings about a Mirror's Edge sequel. BulletStorm, Deus Ex, Dead Space 2, Portal 2, Forza Kinect (!!)... all are coming in 2011.

It's not like games for "gamers" are disappearing from the Xbox. They're still coming, fast and furious.

If instead it's the idea that someone out there is playing Dance Central or Kinectimals that bugs you, please find a better way of coping than whining on the Internet. We don't need the sort of "exclusiveness" that translates to "genre snobbery", thank you very much.

-- Steve

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

Shouldn't your gaming experience be defined by the games you choose to play, rather than the ones available to you? Really now.

 

[The Stonker]

What makes you qualified to judge? What makes you good enough to say "this is hardcore", "this is not".
Really?! Get over your self egotistical behaviour, because almost everything in this world revolves around money and there is a reason why the gaming industry is called a INDUSTRY.
Now, grow a pair of balls and accept the new people into our wonderful community!
Because heck, we need all the people we can get to stand against people that are against video games, because all gamers start somewhere.
My first game was Pong, then I went into Pacman, finally I went into the first Ratchet and Clank game.
Oh how I miss you Ratchet.

 

[Ghengis John]

Just wondering why we have moved into a very young childish style for the brand, especially avatars?

If you were to ask my Uncle Albert, a WW II veteran, Flame specialist (He crewed a flame tank and when on foot carried a flamethrower) and among the first wave at Normandy he would probably tell you all this stuff is childish.

I mean at the same age you're wondering if your video games aren't hard core enough he was carrying his wounded native-american drinking buddy, "Chief" (who loved getting in fist fights) four miles through snowy mountain terrain behind enemy lines.

Then again he wouldn't wish that on anyone and was pretty vocal against the Iraq war. Maybe he'd be happy you can drivel your life away wondering if your little man looks too much like a cartoon character. I'd ask him the next time I see him but I'm kind of afraid to.

 

[Snotnarok]

Families= More people=more games bought

Gamer= 1 person=less games bought

Point being you appeal to a broader audience and you'll get more sales because you're getting more people to go with it.

Xbox already got you to buy the system when it was appealing to game players, now that they have you they don't need to advertise to you this late in the xbox's life.

 

[TiefBlau]

Please, please don't let ths fantastic product turn into a Bieber box, keep it as an X-box.

Next time put this at the beginning of your paragraph so we know when to stop reading.

 

[The Stonker]

I never played online as a child. My first experience with online gaming was 2007 when I was 17 years old.

But had Xbox live been around in your childhood, would you have played it?

Xbox live was probably in his childhood.
There was Xbox ofc.

 

[Kadoodle]

The OP is sort of true in regard to the Xbox360 copying the wii. Those avatars are nothing more than taller and ever so slightly more detailed miis.

 

[TheLefty]

Can you still play Call of Duty?
Can you still play Fallout?
Can you still play Battlefield?
Can you still play Gears of War?
Can you still play Mass Effect?
Can you still play Oblivion?

Did you answer "yes" to any of these questions?
If so don't worry, and keep playing your games.

 

[SonicWaffle]

To anyone else: Quick completely unrelated question, and I am not starting a thread about this: do we have to capitalize the !@#$%^&*!@##$#%#^%$^$^$&&^(*&*&&$##%## captcha?

I never have, it seems to work fine for me.

That's BS though. You can argue that ATV's and Jet Ski's are toys too. Video games are closer to movies and that sort of entertainment and just like movies each game is targeted at different audiences. I don't know how many kids were the target audience for Pulp Fiction just like i'm not sure how many kids were the target audience for DOOM 3.

It's not BS, it has merely been phrased poorly. Gaming devices are toys; they facilitate the playing of games. Not all games are for children. Football is a game, rugby is a game, nobody is suggesting that they are inherently childish by virtue of being a game. The console is an entertainment device, a term which broadly encompasses what a toy is, but what matters is the software you run through your entertainment device.

To use your movie example, a DVD player is also an entertainment device. The device itself and it's nature does not matter, what matters is what you choose to watch with it. A child can have as much fun with an Xbox and a copy of Kinectimals as you can with an Xbox and a copy of Bulletstorm. Ergo, it is an entertainment centre for the family as a whole.