Katie Murt Lisa McGunigal CMLIT 490 Final Paper The Gamer: the evolution of the pop culture

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Anyone who is familiar with 80s teen cinema could tell you what a geek looks like: skinny, unathletic, and married to their computer and video games. Certainly this paints with a very stereotypical brush, but this is the same brush used to portray all geeks, nerds, and dorks in popular culture starting from the advent of popular video gaming. With the rise of home computers and personal gaming systems, the gamer was typecast as a social lonernever cool, never popular. This stereotype stuck with gamers for years, and it is only in recent years that gaming has seen a broadening in the definition of the people who engage in the videogame industry. No longer is a gamer just a male high school loner, but can be anyone from your little sister to your grandfather. The stereotype once associated with gaming has become moot thanks to the broadening of the definition of gaming, and through the expansion of available games and the people they target, these changes are reflected in how popular culture has portrayed the gamer over time. Mapping the gamer stereotype over time begins with the emergence of the gamer in popular culture, a character who defined a generalized social echelon of both the high school hierarchy and the movie-reproduced perception of that hierarchy. John Hughes movies, such as

Sixteen Candles and Weird Science, created the proto-geek image that has defined the perception of gaming in popular culture ever since (i). These geeky characters were famous for their affinity for computers and gaming, and this affinity translated into their overall affect as a personthey often spoke in esoteric gaming terms and seemed to allow this gaming aspect of their lives to permeate all others. This made for a deliciously specific typecast of the geeky kid who loves to play video games, thus setting the stage for the gamer image. If geeks were the gamers, than the gamers were geeks, right? An important aspect of the original gamer image is its almost exclusively male persuasion. The stereotypical gamer (at the stereotypes conception) was always a male, and not just a male, but one who was unconfident around women. The female presence in a gaming hotspot such as an arcade was often satirized, showing the male gamers becoming nervous just to be around a woman. It is not just a movie-generated commonality that the gamer was typically male; a 2006 study shows that, One way that male game players use videogames as a form of resistance is to create a clearly non-female identity, indicating that gaming is largely male dominated because it serves as a another way to exercise masculine tendencies. The same study goes on to say, The participants are highly articulate about aspects of the game that function well, glitches in the game, and visual elements of the game. The researchers indicate the males who play games regularly do so because they have an interest in the technical and elemental functions of what they are playing, reinforcing the old stereotype of a gaming geekobsessed with technology and in turn, the technology associated with gaming (Madill & Sanford, 2006).

This research solidifies the general stereotype of the technical-minded, male-dominated populous of gamers. The very beginnings of gaming dealt with being able to play chess against a computercertainly a task that required personal intelligence of a difficult game (Donovan, 4). If the majority of people playing games were also skilled in the technical aspects of such gaming technology, this implies a certain idea that the smarter kids are the ones who play videogames. Thus, the divide in high school hierarchythink of the trope of the dumb jockcreated a distinction between those who played sports and those who played video games. If we stick with the 1980s as a jumping off point for this stereotype, the technology of the era also speaks to the gamer label. Before the home gaming system boom, the majority of video games were played in arcades, where people would gather to play classic cabinet games like Donkey Kong and Pacman (Donovan, 158). Thus the arcade became a haven for the stereotypical gamera place where the less athletically inclined, socially awkward, predominantly male subset could gather and enjoy their favorite pastime. This trend was echoed in popular culture, and it was soon that movies portrayed the geeky gamers in arcade scenes. In the 1980s teen cult classic Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the mall arcade is portrayed as a hub of activity for gamers (ii). In one particular scene, a jock approaches (identifiable by his lettermens jacket) and negotiates with one of the films main characters about scalped ticket sales. The jock is forceful and intimidating, and he makes an impression on the gamer types around him, especially when one of them says, Does he actually live here? I thought he just flew in for games! It is in this matrix of gamer versus athlete that the

pop culture prototype of the gamer is borna prototype that would carry on for decades to come. Within the social hierarchy, the association of gaming with non-popularity found roots in escapism for the gamers who were not the social butterflies of their classmates. In a study about the scientific allure of gaming, researchers concluded, The results of our work make clear that humans are drawn to video and computer games at least in part because such games provide players with access to ideal aspects of themselves; such access, in turn, can have short-term effects on emotion (Przybylski et al. 75). A person who couldnt compete athletically could find refuge and validation in earning the high score on an arcade gamea score their gaming peers would see and aspire to. In this way, gaming provided a refuge for those who felt on the outs socially. Where they were once the last to be picked in gym class, they could now access their ideal self-potential in an arena that was familiar and safe to them. In this way, the gamer stereotype found firm footing in popular culture representations, and held its ground for some timeuntil the technological advancement that would change the shape of gaming forever. As we have established, the arcade was a gamers paradise and a common ground for those who found enjoyment in video games. However, in 1982, the video game industry was faced with a dilemma that would shape gaming forevera market crash. Suddenly, gamers were not frequenting arcades as much, spending less time and money on the cabinet games that filled the flashing wonderland that was a mall arcade. The reason for this shift was the advent of the widely accessible home gaming system (Donovan, 140). Now gamers could play in the comfort

of their homes, on their televisions, from their couches. The Nintendo Entertainment System was one of the first and most popular models, and offered games ranging from the arcade staple Donkey Kong to sportier options like Nintendo Baseball. It is in games like the latter that the change of the gamer stereotype can be mapped over time, as the introduction of sports into gaming helped redefine the gamer stereotype or, better still, eliminate it. As gamers migrated from their favorite arcade to their friends couches, sportier games became more widespread. The NES included multiple sport-oriented games in its original releasegames like Baseball, Golf, and Excitebike all became classic staples. Recognizably, popular culture made a note of this shiftin the 1987 film The Princess Bride, the opening scene shows a young boy playing a baseball game from his bed on a home entertainment system (iii). What had previously defined the gamer stereotypenamely, someone who had little athletic involvementwas now permeated by a developing sport culture in gaming. Today, sports video games like Madden and MLB are hugely popular, having grown more numerous and sophisticated than their NES predecessors. In a study conducted by Mia Consalvo of Columbia University, 93.5% of people who play sports games today are self-identified sports fans, with 74.6% of them also partaking in athletic sport activity (Consalvo, 7). Where the gamers of the 1980s stereotype were characterized as geeky and uninterested in sports, todays data shows that there are avid gamers who are also avid athletes. This shows a shift in what it means to be a gamer, and a broadening of the definition of a gamer outright.

The broadening of the gamer definition extends beyond the idea that gamers now come from varying social groups and interests. In fact, the presence of gaming has increased so significantly in American culture that it has all but enveloped most demographics. In Los Angeles-based newspaper The Daily Variety, president of the Entertainment Software Association Doug Lowenstein said, Gaming has become as important to popular culture as movies and televisionit will be the most important form of entertainment in the 21st centurygaming will just become a part of the entertainment fabric. I do think it's important for the movie industry to realize that it is important to see that interactivity is very central to this generation's lives. This isn't just something that people do as kids and when they grow up they go to movies (Donahue & Graser, 7). Lowenstein suggests that gaming is no longer childs play that one grows out of, but something that children and adults partake in as a primary means of entertainment. No longer is the gamer a teenage boy in a mall arcade, but can be anyone from a child to an adult playing in their homes, on their computers, or even on their mobile phones. Not only has the age range of the gamer expanded over time, but the gender disparity has seen significant decrease. In a study regarding the rate at which males and females play video games, researchers concluded, Interestingly, neither sex nor age predicted playing time, either. Although the sample had more boys than girls who were video game owners, boys did not report, as might have been expected, playing video games more than the girls did (Creasey & Myers, 259). In a modern context, males and females of all ages play video games nearly equally, as opposed to the predominantly male stereotype. Toru Iwatani, the creator of the

immensely popular Pac-Man game, said of the introduction of Pac-Man, Most arcade video games of the time were violent and focused on the male player, so the game centres became places frequented mainly by menwe decided to change that demographic by designing gams that could appeal to women and thus to couples, therefore making game centres desirable places to go on a date (Donovan, 87). Iwatani recognizes the general aura of gaming as originally being male-centric, and since the introduction of both Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, games targeted towards women have been marketed worldwide, expanding the definition of gamer irrefutably. The definition of gamer has expanded from its original stereotypeteenage male, socially inept, athletically disinclinedto an all-encompassing concept that includes both males and females of all ages. One of the most influential factors in the broadening of this definition has been the development of technology, and thus the development of the kinds of games that are available. In his book, How To Do Things With Videogames, Ian Bogost argues that the advent of throwawaysgames that you play once and then are done withhas changed the meaning of who is considered a gamer. Now, there exists a subgenre of gamer, the casual gamer, who plays for relaxation rather than intense competition. Regardless the motive or intenseness of play, this person engaging in video games certainly falls under the umbrella of a gamer; one need only look to Roger Caillois definition of gaming to see that even casual gamers are engaging in free, separate, rule governed play, and thus are gamers in their own right (Caillois, 9).

It is these throwaway games that engage people from all walks of life in gaming. Bogost discusses the game September 12th: A Toy World, which was created in response to US Foreign Policy and makes a political commentary on terrorism. This game takes almost no skill and is accessible to anyone (as it is playable on the internet) and it gained notoriety for its messageone that was received by any male or female, teenager or adult, who played the game (Bogost, 100). Though it is not a game that one revisits as they would an adventure game, it is a game that draws a crowd of all kinds of people, many of whom are not hardcore gamers. These are people who are brought into the definition of gamer by the casual games in which they engage, and it is not purely the politically charged games that draw a crowd. Games on social media or mobile devices, like Bejeweled, have gained popularity across all age and gender demographics for their simplicity and casual natureyou can play for a short time and then walk away. These casual and throwaway games are a departure from some of the more time consuming and emotionally investing games that have become synonymous with hardcore gaming, but it is in that departure that the definition of a gamer has been blown wide open, describing both the person who commits weeks of their life to Call of Duty to your friends mother who plays Farmville on Facebook (Bogost, 98). As it applies to our world today, the definition of a gamer is no longer a stereotypical high school typecast in the matrix of the social ladder. The emergence of the geeky gamer trope found its roots in the fact that gaming used to be something that was geared toward those who were technically inclined, and thus the intelligent geeks seemed to populate the gamer community. Over time, the widespread array of games available opened new pathways for more

people to find their gaming nichebe it through a fantasy football game, a virtual animal game, or a standard action adventureand thus the gamer definition included all of these new gamers in its umbrella. No longer does a gamer mean someone who plays videogames above all else (though they certainly fit into the definition), but rather a gamer can be anyone who passes the time playing Angry Birds on their phone while waiting for the bus. The gaming industry has set the bar for the eradication of the gamer stereotype in creating the broad swath of available games for all ages, genders, and interests. This is even blatantly evidenced in recent Nintendo commercials for their I am not a gamer campaign, in particular, a commercial with an attractive woman named Dianna Agron who uses a Nintendo 3DS, claiming she is not a gamer but an artist. These gamer-stereotype-busting advertisements are cropping up everywhere and making one thing clear: gaming isnt a teenage boys club anymore, but a universal pastime, enjoyed by whoever has the guts to press start.

i. Screencaps from John Hughes 1980s films Weird Science and Sixteen Candles, respectively.

ii. Screencap from Amy Heckerlings 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High in which the jock approaches a group of gamers at an arcade. (Refer to <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm2Oc2AmGm0> for a video of the scene)

iii. Screencap from Rob Reiners 1987 film The Princess Bride. As you can see, the room is filled with sports memorabilia, and the boy is wearing a Beard jersey. He is playing a video game in the beginning of this scene, illustrating the crossover between the sports-inclined and gamers.

iv. Screencap from Dianna Agrons commercial for the Nintendo 3DS (Full commercial can be found via this link: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LLFoNe9iD-I>

Works Cited Bogost, Ian. How To Do Things With Videogames. Minneapolis: Electronic Mediations, 2011. Print. Caillois, Roger. Man, Play, and Games. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. Print. Consalvo, Mia, Abraham Stein and Konstantin Mitgutsch. Who are sports gamers? A large scale study of sports video game players. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. (2012): 1-19. Web. 13 Dec 2012. < http://con.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/11/16/1354856512459840.full.pdf+html>. Creasey, Gary L. and Barbara J. Myers. Video Games and Children: Effects on Leisure Activities, Schoolwork, and Peer Involvement. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly. 32.3 (1986): 251-262. JSTOR. Web. 10 Nov 2012. < http://www.jstor.org/stable/23086203>. Donahue, Ann, and Mark Graser. Video Games giving B.O. a run for its money. Daily Variety. (2001). LexisNexis. Web. 09 Nov 2012. <http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/?verb=sr&csi=140595&sr=HLEAD(V idgames+giving+B.O.+a+run+for+its+money.)+and+date+is+May+18%2C+2001>. Donovan, Tristan. Replay. East Sussex: Yellow Ant, 2010. Print. Madill, Leanna and Kathy Sanford. Resistance through Video Game Play: It's a Boy Thing. Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l'ducation, 29.1 (2006): 287-306. JSTOR. Web. 10 Nov 2012. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/20054157>. Przybylski, Andrew K., Netta Weinstein, Kou Murayama, Martin F. Lynch and Richard M. Ryan. The Ideal Self at Play: The Appeal of Video Games That Let You Be All You Can Be. Psychological Science. 23.1 (2008): 69-76. JSTOR. Web. 10 Nov 2012. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/41416995>.