Category: Computer Games

So I got another minute of fame being interviewed for a story in the Edmonton Sun, More fam-Wii fun despite downturn. The interesting thing is how games seem to be recession-proof and how well the Wii is doing.

Despite a flagging economy, $1.31 billion US was spent on video games in October in the U.S. alone – a gain of 18% from September.

The spike is being led by Nintendo’s Wii interactive console, which according to figures from market research company NPD Group outpaced its competitors by selling 803,000 consoles in October.

I wonder how high definition screens will do this Christmas? I would have thought this is the time for people to switch, but the news suggests otherwise.

The Edmonton Journal has a story today titled “It took a while, but Ms. Pacman has her audience: Girl gamers take up controllers” by David Wylie for the Canwest News Service (A10, November 12, 2008.) The story reports that a Entertainment Software Association of Canada study “found that half of Canadian gamers are women”. (The study isn’t available on the ESA Canada web site, which, for that matter, doesn’t have any press releases after 2007. Time for an update, Eh!) The story also reports that the Entertainment Software Association (of the USA?) 2008 Essential Facts about the Computer and Video Game Industry (PDF) puts the percentage of female game players at 40%. The Edmonton Journal story has some cute quotes from the woman they interviewed for the story:

“I think womean and gaming are a perfect match,” she (McIndoe) says. “It is incredibly social.” … “There is always something to talk about. And the ladies love to talk.”

“Things really took off once I met my husband; we didn’t have a lot of money, so we would stay up and play video games together. To be honest, it was him working the congroller and me shouting instructions — truly th beginning of a happy marriage.”

The story goes on to make the usual points about how games are marketed to me, how there are female-focused tournaments like Fight like a Girl (think Halo 3 for charity), and how there are all-girl clans.

I’m not sure I trust the ESA or ESAC facts, but I suspect there is a trend towards more women playing games, especially social games. What would computer game culture look like if it was dominated by older women? How would they design games?

The sad story of Brandon Crisp and his parents is over. The Globe and Mail reports that an Autopsy shows Brandon Crisp died from fall. Brandon had run away from home after his parents revoked his Xbox privileges after he had skipped school to play Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Microsoft got involved when they doubled the reward for information about Brandon’s whereabouts and shared information about his online team. His parents were afraid he was addicted to the game though the truth may be that he was caught in a network of obligations to team members with whom he played. As an article in Maclean’s puts it:

What they didn’t know at the time, his parents say, was just how much the game meant to their son and how troublesome that connection had become. Since his disappearance, the true extent of his involvement has become clear. While he had few friends in Barrie, his Xbox had a list of 200 people whom he played Call of Duty with online. Judged too small to keep up in hockey, the shy but competitive teenager found respect and success in the video game world, where he played on “clans,” or online teams. It wasn’t just a game, it was Brandon’s life — something he might even make money playing in professional tournaments one day, he once told a friend. “These are the things I didn’t realize,” says Steve, standing in a police command centre near where Brandon vanished, his hands wrapped around a bottle of water. “When I took his Xbox away, I took away his identity.” (What happened to Brandon? by Colin Campbell and Jonathon Gatehouse, Oct. 30, 2008)

The article mainly talks about the possibility that computer games are addictive and includes a response from the ESA that the media is “addicted” to such stories. The Escapist in response to Maclean’s has an editorial by Andy Chalk (sent to me by Calen) titled The Stigma of Normal which argues that the evidence of a connection between games and Brandon’s running away is scant.

Playing videogames in this day and age is no more remarkable than watching television or listening to music. Did he overindulge? Maybe, although we have only his parents’ word to that effect, and if he did, it would hardly be beyond the pale for teenage behavior anyway. Yet even though the only videogame connection to the case is the fact that he played them, it’s virtually impossible to see or read anything about his disappearance without the gaming angle being thrust in your face like the armored crotch of a victorious deathmatch opponent. (The Stigma of Normal, Andy Chalk, Nov. 5, 2008)

It seems to be both sides, the media and … the (gaming) media are addicted to each other and this issue. They both have their audience and play to them. How could the discussion around gaming mature?

A student of mine from last year, Jacob, who was one of the two who did the innovative Half-Life Havoc project, has started a gaming blog and company, Pushing Play. His company is developing game conference,

The Pushing Play Conference is all about bringing hardcore, casual, midcore gamers together, as well as Ludologists, game designers, and even non-gamers. By bringing these people together and giving them a forum to interact we can get a better understanding of the gaming community as a whole, rather than supporting the over-used image of gamers strictly being teenage boys.