Your countries view on Gaming!

[Danik93]

I started to think a little when i read some of the posts in the "Looked Downed upon as a Gamer" thread.

(Link: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.268242-Looked-Downed-upon-as-a-Gamer )

And that made me think... Because I have never ever gotten a response like that when someone have found out that I play video games.

But when I thought a little about it I came to the conclusion that the majority of guys plays Video Games! I go in a class at a public high school and I am the only guy in the class who wouldn't fit in as a "Jock" because I don't play any sport. Still, we have video game discussions almost all the time not only about Halo and CoD. Most of the times we speak of games in a similar fashion as on this site.

In Sweden video games are looked upon like movies for the younger generation. If you are 30+ and play video games people might think you are immature, but playing games is the norm here. SVT (Swedish BBC) had live coverage of the Star Craft II WGT finale, and livestreams all mayor gaming event online. You'll find video game reviews and news in almost every newspaper under Entertainment and Culture even in "Aftonbladet" (our version of Fox News)

I mean for a country with slightly over 9 million citizens we can still pull of the largest LAN in the world, "Dreamhack" with over 10k people come and play games2 and another 10k come to watch WGT tournaments and to test new stuff! (The government sponsored the Internet connection last year 2gb/s) And last but not least a friend of mine got into the parliament and he works to have a LAN in the house of parliament... That would be awesome! I hope and think he will succeed

 

[MiracleOfSound]

In Ireland there's a bit of a stigma for some people.

I had an acquaintance sneer at me over it recently and say he felt sorry for people who played videogames all day long.

Funny thing is this was coming from a guy who sits at home smoking himself into a cannabis induced stupor every night.

 

[Plucky]

I live in the UK, think games are relatively tame here, probally alot of people who would rather go full out on the latest fifa, madden, Halo or MW title. it feels like theres alot less Japanese games here unless they were relased by Square-Enix, Nintendo or even Nippon Ichi (they're cool like that) and that its swamped with alot of western titles.


Wasn't there a row about Manhunt or somthing? or was that years ago, don't keep track of the news.

 

[Irridium]

In the US. Half don't mind, half see it as the cause of all the evil in today's youth.

In Ireland there's a bit of a stigma for some people.

I had an acquaintance sneer at me over it recently and say he felt sorry for people who played videogames all day long.

Funny thing is this was coming from a guy who sits at home smoking himself into a cannabis induced stupor every night.

...
Furburt?

 

[Tynermeister]

In Ireland there's a bit of a stigma for some people.

I had an acquaintance sneer at me over it recently and say he felt sorry for people who played videogames all day long.

Funny thing is this was coming from a guy who sits at home smoking himself into a cannabis induced stupor every night.

Yeah I definitely get that as well. It seems like theres a whole irish mentality of being bad with technology, from the current generation of parents only coming to understand how wide the influence of games and the internet really is, to irish people generally being against change.

Actually, now that I think of it, is it just me or are irish people really bad at adapting to new things?

 

[Verlander]

UK, the tabloids try and feed us scare stories, but they do that about everything. I think people, including parents, don't mind games as there is a legal ratings system. Hint hint

EDIT UK-England-London to be more precise.

 

[Flames66]

UK, the tabloids try and feed us scare stories, but they do that about everything. I think people, including parents, don't mind games as there is a legal ratings system. Hint hint

EDIT UK-England-London to be more precise.

I agree that making it actually illegal to sell mature games to under-age people helps here.

EDIT: Devon by the way.

 

[Fappy]

In the US video games are just yesterday's comic books and rock n' roll. When something new comes along (preferably sex robots) the crazies and the zealots will have something else to ***** about and forget about video games altogether.

To prove this theory I will point you to the comic book delinquency hearings of the 1950's. Comic books were the ultimate evil of the media (for children anyway) and were thus demonized. Fast-forward to today and the only group worth mentioning (and it really isn't worth mentioning) that gives a damn is the Westboro Baptist church... and they hate comics for a completely unrelated reason.

My guess is that the video game stigma will be almost entirely eradicated by the end of this decade... at least in the US anyway.

 

[BENZOOKA]

Video games are just pretty much ignored for the most part here. There's barely any mentions in the media.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

UK, the tabloids try and feed us scare stories, but they do that about everything. I think people, including parents, don't mind games as there is a legal ratings system. Hint hint

EDIT UK-England-London to be more precise.

I agree that making it actually illegal to sell mature games to under-age people helps here.

EDIT: Devon by the way.

Agreed. The law stating that it is illegal for some games to be sold to under 16s or under 18s has helped dispel the 'games are for kids' mentality. Not that anyone has told The Sun, of course.

Cumbria over here.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

I couldn't find a whole lot about perception on games, even on the conservative newspaper here in Denmark.

 

[joshuaayt]

In Australia? Playing Videogames either makes you a child, a rapist or a pathetic virgin who also digs their sister. Maybe all three.

 

[SckizoBoy]

In the UK, further to comments above, they get a bit schizoid. Mostly, there's nothing, and they let us get on with our business of being hikkis, but once there's the remotest incident (like that Resistance:Fall of Man/Manchester Cathedral malarkey), everyone's up in arms for about a week before forgetting what they were pissed about.

Suddenly got me thinking about the Popemobile... one of the first plans for it had a gun turret, which was discarded on the basis that 'it would not be appropriate if it was seen that the Pope fired back!' (sorry, included for the lolz)

 

[Aurgelmir]

Hmm In Norway I think there is still a little stigma.

People don't look down on gaming in general, but if you play a lot you might be considered a Nerd.
But at the same time playing Wow is also something a lot of people do, and its generally accepted if you do.

 

[Ruttager]

In Canada we tend to get a lot of spill-over from the attitudes present in the US but usually to a much lesser extent. For your own sake, it's still probably best not to go around proclaiming your fellowship with gaming culture or sub-cultures, but more people seem to be recognizing the "gamers are rapists/murderers/socially inept" as an outdated social stigma.

 

[SoloStoffe]

I started to think a little when i read some of the posts in the "Looked Downed upon as a Gamer" thread.

(Link: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.268242-Looked-Downed-upon-as-a-Gamer )

And that made me think... Because I have never ever gotten a response like that when someone have found out that I play video games.

But when I thought a little about it I came to the conclusion that the majority of guys plays Video Games! I go in a class at a public high school and I am the only guy in the class who wouldn't fit in as a "Jock" because I don't play any sport. Still, we have video game discussions almost all the time not only about Halo and CoD. Most of the times we speak of games in a similar fashion as on this site.

In Sweden video games are looked upon like movies for the younger generation. If you are 30+ and play video games people might think you are immature, but playing games is the norm here. SVT (Swedish BBC) had live coverage of the Star Craft II WGT finale, and livestreams all mayor gaming event online. You'll find video game reviews and news in almost every newspaper under Entertainment and Culture even in "Aftonbladet" (our version of Fox News)

I mean for a country with slightly over 9 million citizens we can still pull of the largest LAN in the world, "Dreamhack" with over 10k people come and play games2 and another 10k come to watch WGT tournaments and to test new stuff! (The government sponsored the Internet connection last year 2gb/s) And last but not least a friend of mine got into the parliament and he works to have a LAN in the house of parliament... That would be awesome! I hope and think he will succeed

I wish that was how gaming was viewed in all of sweden. In my area it's looked down on.

 

[Jordi]

I think gaming is getting more and more acceptance. However, it seems that large groups of people in The Netherlands don't really seem to like them. Mostly women and people over a certain age in general (let's say 40, I don't really know). Gaming doesn't exactly make you look like a tough guy, but I don't really think it is looked down on much. It's just that some people don't get what the fuss is about and they'll say "how can you enjoy sitting in front of your computer all day?". I also think that non-gamers still perceive gaming as at least somewhat immature.

Other than that, I think people and the government here are very laid back and down to earth about games. I don't really hear a lot of people saying that games are or make you evil or something like that and I don't think a lot of games are getting banned (I just seem to remember Manhunt 2, but I could be wrong). I think the only real concerns are that it might be replacing playing outside with "real" friends and in some cases that it can be addictive (although I don't really hear anyone claiming that that is the game's fault or anything).

 

[Danik93]

I started to think a little when i read some of the posts in the "Looked Downed upon as a Gamer" thread.

(Link: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.268242-Looked-Downed-upon-as-a-Gamer )

And that made me think... Because I have never ever gotten a response like that when someone have found out that I play video games.

But when I thought a little about it I came to the conclusion that the majority of guys plays Video Games! I go in a class at a public high school and I am the only guy in the class who wouldn't fit in as a "Jock" because I don't play any sport. Still, we have video game discussions almost all the time not only about Halo and CoD. Most of the times we speak of games in a similar fashion as on this site.

In Sweden video games are looked upon like movies for the younger generation. If you are 30+ and play video games people might think you are immature, but playing games is the norm here. SVT (Swedish BBC) had live coverage of the Star Craft II WGT finale, and livestreams all mayor gaming event online. You'll find video game reviews and news in almost every newspaper under Entertainment and Culture even in "Aftonbladet" (our version of Fox News)

I mean for a country with slightly over 9 million citizens we can still pull of the largest LAN in the world, "Dreamhack" with over 10k people come and play games2 and another 10k come to watch WGT tournaments and to test new stuff! (The government sponsored the Internet connection last year 2gb/s) And last but not least a friend of mine got into the parliament and he works to have a LAN in the house of parliament... That would be awesome! I hope and think he will succeed

I wish that was how gaming was viewed in all of sweden. In my area it's looked down on.

In which part of Sweden do you live?
I live in a small town north of Gothenburg called Lysekil

 

[SoloStoffe]

I started to think a little when i read some of the posts in the "Looked Downed upon as a Gamer" thread.

(Link: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.268242-Looked-Downed-upon-as-a-Gamer )

And that made me think... Because I have never ever gotten a response like that when someone have found out that I play video games.

But when I thought a little about it I came to the conclusion that the majority of guys plays Video Games! I go in a class at a public high school and I am the only guy in the class who wouldn't fit in as a "Jock" because I don't play any sport. Still, we have video game discussions almost all the time not only about Halo and CoD. Most of the times we speak of games in a similar fashion as on this site.

In Sweden video games are looked upon like movies for the younger generation. If you are 30+ and play video games people might think you are immature, but playing games is the norm here. SVT (Swedish BBC) had live coverage of the Star Craft II WGT finale, and livestreams all mayor gaming event online. You'll find video game reviews and news in almost every newspaper under Entertainment and Culture even in "Aftonbladet" (our version of Fox News)

I mean for a country with slightly over 9 million citizens we can still pull of the largest LAN in the world, "Dreamhack" with over 10k people come and play games2 and another 10k come to watch WGT tournaments and to test new stuff! (The government sponsored the Internet connection last year 2gb/s) And last but not least a friend of mine got into the parliament and he works to have a LAN in the house of parliament... That would be awesome! I hope and think he will succeed

I wish that was how gaming was viewed in all of sweden. In my area it's looked down on.

In which part of Sweden do you live?
I live in a small town north of Gothenburg called Lysekil

I live up in the Stockholm area, in a place called Vendelsö. Most of the people here are what one would call a fjortis.

 

[GeorgW]

I started to think a little when i read some of the posts in the "Looked Downed upon as a Gamer" thread.

(Link: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.268242-Looked-Downed-upon-as-a-Gamer )

And that made me think... Because I have never ever gotten a response like that when someone have found out that I play video games.

But when I thought a little about it I came to the conclusion that the majority of guys plays Video Games! I go in a class at a public high school and I am the only guy in the class who wouldn't fit in as a "Jock" because I don't play any sport. Still, we have video game discussions almost all the time not only about Halo and CoD. Most of the times we speak of games in a similar fashion as on this site.

In Sweden video games are looked upon like movies for the younger generation. If you are 30+ and play video games people might think you are immature, but playing games is the norm here. SVT (Swedish BBC) had live coverage of the Star Craft II WGT finale, and livestreams all mayor gaming event online. You'll find video game reviews and news in almost every newspaper under Entertainment and Culture even in "Aftonbladet" (our version of Fox News)

I mean for a country with slightly over 9 million citizens we can still pull of the largest LAN in the world, "Dreamhack" with over 10k people come and play games2 and another 10k come to watch WGT tournaments and to test new stuff! (The government sponsored the Internet connection last year 2gb/s) And last but not least a friend of mine got into the parliament and he works to have a LAN in the house of parliament... That would be awesome! I hope and think he will succeed

Funny thing is, I saw that thread as well and thought "That would never happen in Sweden." I guess I'm not the only one. I'm a Swede as well and yeah, we're probably the most game friendly country in the world. I can't even understand some of the things I read, people looking down on gamers? But everybody games! But no, it's only in Sweden. Gotta love it.