I’m here to explore as to why and when gamers got the stereotype that if they play video games everyday, they are nerdy. Why were gamers stuck with such a label? Why not intelligent, artistic, or even dead sexy?
It’s safe to say when the NES came out in 1985 in the US and you got it for Christmas, you were easily the coolest kid on the block. Hundreds…no,
thousands of kids would come across the land to see top of the line technology. Imagine, no longer do you have to take your lazy ass out of your home to a nearby arcade because now you can just walk into your family room and play some Bible Adventures.
Some of the features were things people had never seen before in such a small “box.” Not only could you have regular games like Donkey Kong or Super Mario Bros. but you could play some Duck Hunt with a badass light gun. Unbelievable.
This attitude continued onto Nintendo’s other successful platforms such as the SNES, Virtual Boy (besides the fact it burned out people’s retinas), and the N64.
In my opinion, I believe this whole “nerd” phase began right around the releases of the PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox. These platforms offered an uncanny amount of realism to your home television and many people who had grown up on the NES and SNES now had jobs and didn’t quite have time for these new consoles. Additionally, people who loved the simple arcade like games such as Space Invaders or Missile Command on some of the older consoles found these new 3D games like Metal Gear Solid and Halo a little too technical and lost interest.
Around this shift in generation of gamers is right about where the nerds started playing video games.
Games were no longer mindless and easy to play (some were, but few). Many required some serious thought on how to maneuver through the world with a more complicated control style and difference in HUD and interface. With realism, comes a lot more things that you must look out for. Whether it’s where your enemies are flanking you from, or other cars on the race track trying to pass you, some games required serious focus and attention.
So doesn’t it make sense? Smart kids, AKA nerds, are good at video games because they are able to take everything in that is going on and able to make quick decisions on what to do next. Well, yes and no. Sure many “nerdy” kids played video games, but wasn’t that a way to escape school from kids who constantly made fun of them? In some ways yes it was.
What people seem to forget is that video games are just damn fun. What’s so hard to understand about that? If you enjoy doing something, aren’t you going to do it again? Especially if it offers something new and fresh every time you try it.
I’m not saying being nerdy is a bad thing. Hell, I usually consider myself a nerd for the exact reasons I’m listing here, but I think it’s wrong that if someone were to tell another person that they play video games, that person is instantly typecast as a nerd.
Let’s say for instance, you enjoy reading books. Books seem nerdy, right? So why don’t people who read get typecast as a nerd? Oh I get it, if you read, you’re intellectual, not a nerd. Makes sense. Not really. In some ways, video games can offer a serious amount of reading (have you heard of a game called Final Fantasy?) and other kinds of mind strengthening exercise. Hell, there’s a game out now that is solely based on making you smarter, and you wouldn’t imagine it, but it’s
fun. (Thank you Dr. Ryuta Kawashima)
It’s wrong to stereotype gamers as nerds (or if your Jack Thompson, cold-blooded killers) because games offer one of the best forms of entertainment in history, not to mention a multimillion dollar industry. Gaming is not a lifestyle, it’s a damn hobby. And that’s all it will ever be. Sure we hear about the World Series of Games and people getting paid to play games, but honestly, I would be surprised to see someone start playing in the World Series of Games because it pays the bills. They start because they think it’s fun.
As I stated earlier, I’m not implying being nerdy is bad, I’m merely bringing up the fact that gamers are
not all nerds. This isn’t a write-up to bring about a change. My voice just needs to be heard.
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I might be the only one who sees it, but nowadays if you own an original Nintendo Entertainment System and any other "retro" video game system, then you're automatically "cool" and totally "hip". Same thing goes with wearing clothing that's "retro" (in terms of video games), or Nintendo related.
That is why I pretty much dislike those stupid indie/artsy/trendy kids.
I, personally, have found more recently that people have started to hang out with my group of friends more often because we are more 'fun' than their normal friends. All we ever do is sit around and play games/watch bad movies. Whether one of us is playing Lost Odyssey or something on the TV, or we're all playing Brawl and shouting at each other and having a blast. I honestly don't know, but yes, the common stereotype of a 'gamer' is a nerd. The people that make this misconception is probably the same type of person that judges someone on their race or religion, and should be avoided.
I pretty much dislike those stupid indie/artsy/trendy kids.
(sorry Sadist, I had to steal it)
I'd say gamers got labeled as nerds back in 1972 with the release of the Magnavox Odyssey. Sorry, but the PS2/XBX generation was the introduction of the frat boy gamer, and was much more likely the beginning of the end of ALL gamers being labeled nerds.
They were labeled nerds back in the day because back in the day, only nerds had the patience for video games. Most people didn't have computers or consoles, and those that did were generally associated in some degree to the tech industry. Think commodore64... how many people do you hear say "I remember programming my c64" Yet, these days you don't hear NEARLY as many people programming with XNA and whatnot, and those that do are generally labeled as nerds.
@Wexx
Hanging out infront of 7-11/Am Pm can only be so much fun for about 15 seconds, whether it's cool or not. I remember me and my buddies used to buy a flat of cheap pop and rent 6 .99 cent movies and watch movies and game till morning.
On the post:
I've gamed, or have tried to game, pretty much every day since I was young. Before bed I usually play some games then read...etc
I party hard, compete in car stereo competitions, draw, play sports (V-Ball, basketball, Ultimate, skateboard) and play games guess I'm a nerd!
Most gamers here are dead sexy lulz :D I'm a gamer, I stay in a lot to play games sure. I laugh at pictures of cats and words on top. I like looking at screenshots! I love typing and I talk more to people I've never met before than I do to those I know irl.
Nerdy or Not, I am happy :D
Yeah I completely agree.
I mean did anyone call Bart Simpson a nerd when he went to arcades all the time and bought comic books. No, but that's probably because he was 10.
Well truth be told back in the day games where all about Fun and not about Scores and Pwnage.
You... you calling me a nerd?!
True, true.
The nerd stigma is always going to be there. But I think it started as an extension of the PC. Back in the day gaming was such an exclusionary practice that you actually had to be really into code, fantasy, or computers all the shit that gets that "Nerdy" moniker.
A good portion(relatively) of the people playing Pong, Zork, Etc... were coders, stone age Internet users, and the sort, and as the society we are, people that were hesitant to invest the time in understanding new technology dismissed all types of gaming as that thing that "they" do.
And now that technology has caught up with society's laziness and the platforms for games are becoming increasingly easier for your Grandma to pick up and play, people are slowly picking sides and remapping the areas of games in ways they are comfortable with, as in, I play a few games, but none of that nerdy D and D shit. Or I play a little bit of 360.
Good thing, I dunno?
Yeah the only thing I disagree with is the time frame you reference. Nerds stopped being the only ones gaming with the Xbox/Gcube/PS2 generation. Look at the sheer success of sports games. It used to be the same people who got into video games (at all) were they same people who read fantasy novels and played DnD in their parent's basement.
Video games are this generation's rock n roll, and every generation needs some new trend that most don't understand and fall back on stereotyping and blame games.
I personally dont care too much how we are socially typecast, I am a nerd and I admit it. That label has been around since I was born. However it is very annoying when being nerdy is looked down upon in high school and middle school settings. All through grades 1-12th being a nerd mean being outcast by a great deal of the school (thank you for band geeks for accepting me). Then suddenly being a nerd is popular as soon as I hit college, WTF. Being a gamer is awesome, I wouldnt trade it for any other hobby and the more people that play games the better. The term is not something I find bad anymore and nor should anyone else. And fuck yes atheistium, Nerdy or Not, I am happy ^_^
It's funny how in different places words can be seen so differently. I live in London and being a 'nerd' isn't such a bad thing. Then again, here a 'nerd' is much like the character Seth from The OC. Yes, that wonderful show!
As Mr Sadistic says, they're those stupid indie/artsy/trendy kids. And I probably fall into that bracket, which is why my first comment on dtoid was from Mr S saying "Welcome to Destructoid, dick." ^-^
I think nerds are actually cool. Some may play games alot, but they are generally intelligent, earn more money, listen to the best music, know all the cheapest websites, can fix your pc when you are stumped, know where to get food at 3 in the morning and wear retro clothes becaue they like them, not because they are fashionable. Nerd - it's no bad thing.
That's true. You have made many great eye opening points. If you get your punctuation in line this is front page material. <3
Too each there own.
People who buy stuff from GAME that have things like Mario and a 1UP make me sick. Okay maybe if you could name say.. 5 Mario games then you should go and buy the t-shirt but its the dicks who get it and then insist on wearing it to every event and reminding people how much they PWNED (Yeah they say that even though they have never used it in the correct context.. which is online gaming) it back in the day. Guess what fuck face, your a cunt and i challenge you to the game of your choice. I bet it will be SNAKE on your Nokia 3210 you jerkof!!
1989.
I think the nerd/gamer thing was very very early on, back when games required you to put in a command sequence to run a game.
Also, I think it was degrees. Everybody had an NES, but only a few people actually played Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy, which was nerdy back then. And around that time, people were still entering DOS commands on PCs.
OK, but seriously, every non-nerdy person who was 8 when the NES came out discovered popularity and the opposite sex in the years following and quickly reallocated priorities.
8-year-olds always think video games are cool.
I came to say what MaxVest did... when the kids who played video games in the 80's got to middle school, most of them gave it up. The "nerds" were the ones who never stopped. In any case, I rarely worry about labels in the first place. If someone wants to stereotype me as fitting into some subgroup, whatever. It doesn't affect me or anyone who actually knows me.
I'm a nerd. I've come to accept. I fill people minds with useless, pointless information about anything. Especially games and movies... *sob*
I think you have it completely backwards, Clockwork. Games have always been a pretty nerdy pursuit and thought of as such even in the heyday of the NES (when, as mentioned above, games like Dragon Warrior were played by the nerdy kids even though everyone had an NES.) It was predominantly with the generation you mention (PS2, GC, Xbox) that you had not only dedicated nerdy gamers (and ur-casuals: people who always had a nintendo and a few games around the house) but dedicated non-nerdy gamers: sports gamers, FPS testosterone junkies, etc. I actually think that when people here the word "gamer" or are told that someone likes to play games, they are just as likely to think of some misogynistic frat boy halo stereotype nowadays as they are the shut-in socially awkward nerdy type.
Damn. Max and Mxy beat me too my point. The whole "nerd" label came back when I first started gaming, i.e. when the original NES was released, and has never let up since. I do say it's probably a fear reaction by those who've never played though, as our hand/eye reaction skills, quick thinking, and reading skills intimidate them.
And I embrace the nerd term. At least I'm smart enough to be considered one.
Well, let's see. I'm a Computer Science major, I like anime that even anime fans can't stand, I'm dressing up as the Scout from TF2 this weekend for an anime con (Shinbokucon if you're interested ;D), I flock to any movie that isn't live action, I think bash.org is funny, I read Slashdot, my friends and I still abuse Godwin's Law and your mom jokes, cheerleaders turn me off, girls with buck teeth, big noses, and glasses turn me on, and my hobby (besides drawing and writing) is collecting old-school first person shooters.
I'm totally a nerd. I wouldn't have it any other way.
What people seem to forget is that video games are just damn fun. What’s so hard to understand about that? If you enjoy doing something, aren’t you going to do it again? Especially if it offers something new and fresh every time you try it.
I'm going to have sexual relations with that quote.
I thought this was great on a somewhat related subject: I just received a letter from a good friend of mine in the mail today. Enclosed was a tiny box of Nerds candy, along with a note that read "You are what you eat.".
It completely made my day. I'm with blehman, I embrace the nerd term as well.
Group hug.
Clockwork your time-frame is totally off.
I'd say Gamers have been labeled nerds ever since the granddaddy of all RPGs, Dungeons and Dragons, came out. It was just a natural extension of logic to attach the table top stigma to video-gamers.
Currently, video gaming is the least nerdy it's ever been. The industry is quickly going mainstream. It looks like (for better or worse) we're out of the social ghetto.
This is when it happened.
The day I typed:
LOAD "*",8,1
IMO, consoles had very little to do with the nerd / gamer correlation. Remember, ATARI and Intellivision were pretty damn cool at the time (but not nearly as commonplace as consoles are today), but were also seen as mostly a kid thing. As the kids got older, and managed to score an Apple ][, Atari home computer, or a C-64, the nerd stigma got attached, since we didn't "grow out of it". Plus, nobody ever had to type in 10 pages of code from the back of a magazine in order to play a game on their 2600.
I seriously thought it was the other way around; gamers were nerdy from the beginning, and have progressively become more mainstream and accepted by pop-culture.
I think its because the original consoles were marketed at kids (even if they had some adult games), and if you kept playing games as you grew older you werent 'normal'. Heck, theres still a lot of people with that sort of mindset.
As for pc gaming, you had to be a nerd to know what was going on, to get stuff running.
Now that theres more adult games, and in particular sports games, older people and 'cool' people get into gaming more. Not to mention, nearly everyone has a pc, and i havent met anyone who hasnt found at least one game they enjoy on a pc (even if its peggle :P).
first references:
@sky-face: double hell yes for the JTHM avatar and the band geeks. those guys are the shit. hell, i was one of them.
@burglarize: thank you for being another person that actually gives a damn besides me and my brother about the OC.
now comments: I think I've been a nerd ever since I played my first arcade game, got my first Game Boy, fixed an NES when we were in Ohio cuz there was something in it messing it up, and when I have friends over to play Rock Band. I've been a nerd ever since I was exposed to that, and I hope to always will be.
- Games started with nerds (it wasn't football players developing space war)
- "Nerds" invest lots of time in games because they may/may not suck at real sports.
- "Nerds" have nerdgasms over crappy songs like the ones from Portal, and buy companion cubes because it's "cool" while the general public says "wow...that's weird".
I R N3rd H3r3 ]V[3 R04R!
In my school there was a poster in the IT-class that read ' Be nice to nerds, chances are you'll end up working for one... ' That is my favourite nerd-quote ever!
Gasekura hits the nail on the head - The popularity of certain game genres in the Xbox/GCN/PS2 era rocketed games way outside of the 'nerd' genre and into the mainstream.
Most movies about high school, college or early twenty-somethings in the last five years has got a scene with two dudes sitting on the couch playing video games together. It's like the defacto scene every director throws in there to establish friendship between characters...