A few thoughts

This weekend I watched a very funny episode of ‘The Simpson’. In this episode both Bart and then Marge become addicted to an online game that is obviously modeled on ‘World of Warcraft’. Brat ends up accidentally killing his mother in the game after she successively ruins the game for Bart (think decorating Bart's lare with a Hello Kitty theme etc). At the end of the episode Bart becomes sick of the game and plays outside where as Marge continues playing somewhat addictively. The Simpson’s often draws on current affairs and uses literary illusions as a subtext in their episodes. This lead me to consider the gaming stereotypes we discussed in class the only week, specifically the point raised that the average gamer is a 34 year old adult. The Simpson’s managed to point out that gaming is something not just for children; in fact a middle aged house wife may find an online game just as engrossing. Examples such as the Wii yoga series show a greater awareness of the adult market. Wii has also release Brain age which contains mind puzzles aimed at keeping older minds sharp and active. The rise of nostalgic games also offer evidence of the older market as older games recapture the games the loved when they were younger.

I know all this and yet somehow I still believe in the stereotype of the male teenage gamer and I wonder why this is. Perhaps as Kevin pointed out the media saturation of the stereotype has inadvertently caused me to believe in it. I feel that this reason alone isnet strong enough to explain my on going commitment to a sterotype I know to be false, any thoughts from the class on this – do you believe in the sterotypes and why?

Also a fun clip I found of Princess Peach and Zelda talking about how they don’t actually want to be rescued that they like being in the castles and how Peach doesn’t really want a plumber boyfriend. http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1945481

Happy Long Weekend