Have games really gone mainstream?

[qckbeam]

This is something that has been on my mind for a long time, and I thought I would get all of your opinions. Have games really gone mainstream? I read all the time on different gaming websites that they have, and that gaming is just as popular as other forms of entertainment, if not more so. I don't believe that. The only games that seem to have become mainstream are sports games, such as Madden. The only exception to that would be GTA:VC and GTA III. The kids in my high school for example will play these games to death, and talk about them during school. But say I mention Half-Life for example, the typical scenario plays out like this:
[scenario]

Me: "Hey, have you guys ever played Half-Life:

*blank stares from classmates

Classmate (five minutes later): "Oh wait, that's that game where you shoot aliens. Looks lame to me, something that those losers in computer club would play"

*laughter from the class

[/scenario]
You can replace Half-Life with pretty much any game that isn't GTA or a sports title and get the exact same response. So this leads me to believe that games haven't really gone mainstream at all. Instead, because of advances in technology, more people take their infatuation with sports into the virtual world. That’s really all it seems to be to me.

 

[Maskirovka]

it's not all sports...

it's console vs. PC

console = mainstream, pc = something else

GTA and sports games are console oriented...they're better to play with a controller for the most part...except on foot shooting in GTA.

the point is, consoles are more accepted as "non-nerdy" and therefore are more popular among people who don't know what they're doing on a computer, which is most of the population.

 

[thehunter1320]

no... not true..... if u ask them about doom or sonic or mario or the sims they know what u are talking about.... and i think half life is gonna a little more mainstream since CS is coming out on the X-Box and people will wanna play it on PC.... then becoming part of the HL craze! to be honest... i wouldn't even like PC games if it weren't for... (get ready for this one, guys) File Planet! yes... one late july night (hence when i signed up for these boards) i was looking for PC demos cause i thought my all powerful computer with it's intergrated video card could run any game... then i stumble upon this re-occuring pop-up saying "0mGzz0r!!!! we got teh Half-L1f3 Tw0 600+MB vid30!! d/l it now, retaRd!" .... so i did and saw the grafix and signed up for these boards the next day... where the entire realm of PC gaming was handed to me! so i purchased Half Life, downloaded steam, become a "god" at CS.... and you can figure out the rest... but PC gaming hasn't gone mainstream yet.... but the PC will have it's day.... and it's looking like this and next year... is the year... of the PC!

 

[qckbeam]

I'm just speaking from personal experience here. I'm just curious to hear what you guys have to say.

 

[Damaged]

I beleave that console gaming is now considered "mainstream" look at the VGA's for example, 99% of the winners were console games.

You dont really get more mainstream then the VGA's (and to think, that travisty will be repeated every year :x )

 

[iamironsam]

Whoa, where have you guys been? Games have been mainstream since Nintendo first hit the scene.

 

[thehunter1320]

Originally posted by iamironsam
Whoa, where have you guys been? Games have been mainstream since Nintendo first hit the scene.

no... when the 1st NES came out... gaming was more an underground thing

 

[Dedalus]

you know what needs to happen? a Halo tournament. xbox vs. pc. we'll see which team wins. same goes for CS when it comes out on xbox.

 

[thehunter1320]

Originally posted by Dedalus
you know what needs to happen? a Halo tournament. xbox vs. pc. we'll see which team wins. same goes for CS when it comes out on xbox.

PC would win cause they have far more percision with the mouse over the joystick

 

[Direwolf]

A year or two I would have agreed with you a lot more, but lately in my area we're starting to see that games really are becoming mainstream. You can no longer tell who is the hardcore player as they usually look just like everyone else, and almost everyone I know plays something.
Overall games aren't quite all the way mainstream yet, but they are fast getting there. The reasons are various, but I don't expect gaming to last as a niche hobby for too much longer.

 

[mrchimp]

Games arn't as popular as movies or music not by a long stretch of the imagination. Most people have a console but they don't get as exited about a game as they do a movie.

Consoles are generally seen as better than the PC becuase the PC has an image problem. I have never seen a PC advert on TV aimed towards gamers, if you don't understand what I mean just look at the difference between a PCworld advert and a GC/Xbox/PS2 advert.

the only PC game that has gone mainstream is the Sims and i hate the ****ing Sims.

 

[iamironsam]

Originally posted by thehunter1320
no... when the 1st NES came out... gaming was more an underground thing

Haha, no way kid. Everyone I knew had a NES in elementary school around when it first came out.

 

[mrchimp]

Originally posted by Dedalus
you know what needs to happen? a Halo tournament. xbox vs. pc. we'll see which team wins. same goes for CS when it comes out on xbox.

I would be the first person to sighn up for the CS tornament, I don't like CS anymore but it would be so ****ing cool to beat the shit out of as many xboxer's as possible.

You could give them mouse and keyboards and we would still beat em no trouble.

 

[thehunter1320]

Originally posted by mrchimp
I would be the first person to sighn up for the CS tornament, I don't like CS anymore but it would be so ****ing cool to beat the shit out of as many xboxer's as possible.

You could give them mouse and keyboards and we would still beat em no trouble.

ya... ha ha

 

[AmishSlayer]

Originally posted by thehunter1320
PC would win cause they have far more percision with the mouse over the joystick

I disagree. For CS or something...yes..mouse/keyboard is the way to go. I've been playing Xbox Halo since release.

The way I play Halo for xbox isn't something I can reproduce for PC. Example: In Halo, at long distances, you have to lead a running person (Multiplayer especialy) and with the joystick...you just have to get the angle at which you hold the joystick down...and once you have the right rate (usually in a 1/2 second) you start shooting. Sniping for PC Halo is a ton harder.

EDIT: And take away the Banshee, RL Warthog, Fuelrod gun, and the Flamethrower...and the xbox players would do even better.

Just my opinion though..

Back to mainstream games.

Console games are way more mainstream than PC games. CS is the only real mainstream PC game that I can think of. Way more people know about Halo, various console sports games, and especially GTA series.

 

[mrchimp]

CS is not mainstream, the Sims on the other hand....

 

[Varg|Hund]

CS is pretty mainstream, pretty much everyone I know has heard of or played Counter-Strike, even my gf has played it a couple of times...though she's not especially good
*a CD hits [CoHn]FuSeD on the head*
Umm, yes...As I was saying, my gf is an exellent CS player...next world champion, I say...

Anyways, CS is mainstream. I and my friends are pretty much the cool guys at our school, the ones that play footy and get all the chicks and get drunk at partys and stuff, and we enjoy to sit down to a good game of CS and BF1942 or LAN abit once in a while

 

[Sulkdodds]

Meh, all the girls I know have heard of Half-Life!