Pharra

Friday, March 02, 2007

Are We Gamers Hypercritical?

I found this post interesting; it concerns how we gamers are hypercritical of the Wii, deservedly so, but also there's a larger picture. Here's my response:

I have four children (3 girls, 1 baby boy) and a wife who's an anthropologist, not a gamer, and all of them play the Wii.

While the Wii is taking it's time getting the games I'm interested in, my family plays it daily (though I enforce a time limit).

The truth is we gamers ARE hypercritical. It's the first time we've seen a console focused on something that's NOT US, and we're unsure how to react to it. The Sony Playstation introduced ads that were targeted at people who WEREN'T US, and we've learned to live with that change.

Now, we're going to have to get used to living with casual gamers too, and that our wants and desires aren't the only thing in the world, however valid they are for ourselves.

Case in point? I don't play the Wii much, except with my children. I use my computer instead.