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DISCLAIMER: Under every circumstance is similarity to actual people intended. Likenesses are deliberate and most definitely on purpose, and recognition with the aforementioned stereotypes expected. You know who you are - don’t kid yourself.
Gaming these days is enjoyed by everyone - young and old, men and women, boy and girl, rich and poor, you get the idea. As gaming has entered the mainstream, most people have been exposed to the wonders of a Playstation, Gamecube or an Xbox, with a fair few sampling their wonders on a regular basis. Most games are targeted to cater for a wider audience, with millions playing every day. The advertising peeps sitting in boardrooms thinking up more and more ways to attract different types of gamers have managed to succeed in almost every department. But this has not come without its costs to arguably the beginners of this now fashionable trend - the forerunners trampled on and now forgotten like a New Kids on the Block album.
Pre-mainstream, the preconception of the average ‘gamer’ was a spotty teenager fiddling with his joystick 24/7, stopping every now and again to re-adjust his thick-rimmed glasses and do extra homework. This has largely changed, but these people still exist, dammit! As society thinks up new ways to pigeonhole our youth, one group has been shamefully overlooked, but no more! Alienated from the things that identified their very existence, the era of the computer geek, re-adjusting the white tape on his thick-rimmed glasses applying copious amounts of hair gel, seems to have passed, with the stereotype being eroded as every Tom, Dick and Harry starts getting internet access or gaming consoles in their living rooms. But just as developers are searching to differentiate from the rest by searching out elusive niche markets, I say why not create games for the sort of gamers the developers of today once were - that’s right, bring back the era of the …uber-nerd.
In order to focus on these groups, we need to go back to what made these particular people love games so much and made others despise them. As Neo in The Matrix never said, 'We need code. Lots of code.' Bring back in-game text, y’know, in the style of those old text-based adventures that no one without an imagination steeped in Warhammer and Dungeons and Dragons can actually visualise. The option for active participation is essential - then they can type in rude words, snigger at the automated responses and then email their friends, boasting of their burgeoning ‘text-life’ to responses of genuine awe. Another crucial option is the alleviation of multiplayer with real people and plough more money into MMORPG’s, as the advent of the internet has given many nerds the chance to take on a new identity, to live out their fantasies of fast cars and fast women without anyone actually seeing them - because as they all know, you never show your face in cyberspace.
But with the internet the seemingly predominant residing place, developers and companies alike must find a way to bring them back to console gaming. An aggressive advertising policy is probably unadvisable - I would suggest advertising in chemistry textbooks, the Discovery Channel, all suited to attract your discerning nerd not with the latest screenshots, but in-depth specifications. As for the games themselves, there has got to be something for everyone - for the geek that rides his mum’s old bicycle replete with basket, tail flag and bell, I suggest making it a little risqué, but nerd-orientated, like “BMX TEXT-TEXT-TEXT”™, where busting moves on your bicycle gives you access to reams of binary code for your delight and delectation (ditch the stabilisers for extra points). In a genre busting move, “Sole Calibur”™ is a side-scrolling beat ‘em up-cum-racing game, where the resilience of your nerdy shoes are tested to the limit as you must first confront the school bully over your culinary financial outflows, then avoid him as you chase through the school corridor to the library, avoiding temptation such as Extra Biology class to run free to freedom. Traversing the pitfalls of the hallways means you keep your money enabling you to buy better shoes, and thus gain in confidence (recite the periodic table for extra points).
Ok, ok, I’m joking. But, just as Sony successfully sold Playstation on the back of targeting certain groups, developers must focus on the ‘needs of nerds’. Whilst that may be a somewhat contrived, comical way of approaching this niche market, the fact is that this target group has been shamelessly neglected since Playstation made gaming ‘cool’ with brand games like Wipeout with its trendy dance music - why not appeal to the nerds with the er… ‘sounds’ of Michael Bolton or any other similar-style crooner? As a result, nerds have taken up residence on the internet and with PC’s, where they can enjoy endless debates over motherboard capability, and boast of their graphic card performance. I nominate perhaps the biggest nerd of all time, and indeed the most affluent, Bill Gates, to lead the charge with the Xbox. This is a potential veritable gold-mine guys! So I say - give gaming back to the nerds.
Gaming these days is enjoyed by everyone - young and old, men and women, boy and girl, rich and poor, you get the idea. As gaming has entered the mainstream, most people have been exposed to the wonders of a Playstation, Gamecube or an Xbox, with a fair few sampling their wonders on a regular basis. Most games are targeted to cater for a wider audience, with millions playing every day. The advertising peeps sitting in boardrooms thinking up more and more ways to attract different types of gamers have managed to succeed in almost every department. But this has not come without its costs to arguably the beginners of this now fashionable trend - the forerunners trampled on and now forgotten like a New Kids on the Block album.
Pre-mainstream, the preconception of the average ‘gamer’ was a spotty teenager fiddling with his joystick 24/7, stopping every now and again to re-adjust his thick-rimmed glasses and do extra homework. This has largely changed, but these people still exist, dammit! As society thinks up new ways to pigeonhole our youth, one group has been shamefully overlooked, but no more! Alienated from the things that identified their very existence, the era of the computer geek, re-adjusting the white tape on his thick-rimmed glasses applying copious amounts of hair gel, seems to have passed, with the stereotype being eroded as every Tom, Dick and Harry starts getting internet access or gaming consoles in their living rooms. But just as developers are searching to differentiate from the rest by searching out elusive niche markets, I say why not create games for the sort of gamers the developers of today once were - that’s right, bring back the era of the …uber-nerd.
In order to focus on these groups, we need to go back to what made these particular people love games so much and made others despise them. As Neo in The Matrix never said, 'We need code. Lots of code.' Bring back in-game text, y’know, in the style of those old text-based adventures that no one without an imagination steeped in Warhammer and Dungeons and Dragons can actually visualise. The option for active participation is essential - then they can type in rude words, snigger at the automated responses and then email their friends, boasting of their burgeoning ‘text-life’ to responses of genuine awe. Another crucial option is the alleviation of multiplayer with real people and plough more money into MMORPG’s, as the advent of the internet has given many nerds the chance to take on a new identity, to live out their fantasies of fast cars and fast women without anyone actually seeing them - because as they all know, you never show your face in cyberspace.
But with the internet the seemingly predominant residing place, developers and companies alike must find a way to bring them back to console gaming. An aggressive advertising policy is probably unadvisable - I would suggest advertising in chemistry textbooks, the Discovery Channel, all suited to attract your discerning nerd not with the latest screenshots, but in-depth specifications. As for the games themselves, there has got to be something for everyone - for the geek that rides his mum’s old bicycle replete with basket, tail flag and bell, I suggest making it a little risqué, but nerd-orientated, like “BMX TEXT-TEXT-TEXT”™, where busting moves on your bicycle gives you access to reams of binary code for your delight and delectation (ditch the stabilisers for extra points). In a genre busting move, “Sole Calibur”™ is a side-scrolling beat ‘em up-cum-racing game, where the resilience of your nerdy shoes are tested to the limit as you must first confront the school bully over your culinary financial outflows, then avoid him as you chase through the school corridor to the library, avoiding temptation such as Extra Biology class to run free to freedom. Traversing the pitfalls of the hallways means you keep your money enabling you to buy better shoes, and thus gain in confidence (recite the periodic table for extra points).
Ok, ok, I’m joking. But, just as Sony successfully sold Playstation on the back of targeting certain groups, developers must focus on the ‘needs of nerds’. Whilst that may be a somewhat contrived, comical way of approaching this niche market, the fact is that this target group has been shamelessly neglected since Playstation made gaming ‘cool’ with brand games like Wipeout with its trendy dance music - why not appeal to the nerds with the er… ‘sounds’ of Michael Bolton or any other similar-style crooner? As a result, nerds have taken up residence on the internet and with PC’s, where they can enjoy endless debates over motherboard capability, and boast of their graphic card performance. I nominate perhaps the biggest nerd of all time, and indeed the most affluent, Bill Gates, to lead the charge with the Xbox. This is a potential veritable gold-mine guys! So I say - give gaming back to the nerds.
Brilliant. Bloody Brilliant RM18.
RM18 wrote:
> applying
> copious amounts of hair gel,
Nooo, it's not gel, but a long build up of grease
:^)
> applying
> copious amounts of hair gel,
Nooo, it's not gel, but a long build up of grease
:^)
DISCLAIMER: Under every circumstance is similarity to actual people intended. Likenesses are deliberate and most definitely on purpose, and recognition with the aforementioned stereotypes expected. You know who you are - don’t kid yourself.
Gaming these days is enjoyed by everyone - young and old, men and women, boy and girl, rich and poor, you get the idea. As gaming has entered the mainstream, most people have been exposed to the wonders of a Playstation, Gamecube or an Xbox, with a fair few sampling their wonders on a regular basis. Most games are targeted to cater for a wider audience, with millions playing every day. The advertising peeps sitting in boardrooms thinking up more and more ways to attract different types of gamers have managed to succeed in almost every department. But this has not come without its costs to arguably the beginners of this now fashionable trend - the forerunners trampled on and now forgotten like a New Kids on the Block album.
Pre-mainstream, the preconception of the average ‘gamer’ was a spotty teenager fiddling with his joystick 24/7, stopping every now and again to re-adjust his thick-rimmed glasses and do extra homework. This has largely changed, but these people still exist, dammit! As society thinks up new ways to pigeonhole our youth, one group has been shamefully overlooked, but no more! Alienated from the things that identified their very existence, the era of the computer geek, re-adjusting the white tape on his thick-rimmed glasses applying copious amounts of hair gel, seems to have passed, with the stereotype being eroded as every Tom, Dick and Harry starts getting internet access or gaming consoles in their living rooms. But just as developers are searching to differentiate from the rest by searching out elusive niche markets, I say why not create games for the sort of gamers the developers of today once were - that’s right, bring back the era of the …uber-nerd.
In order to focus on these groups, we need to go back to what made these particular people love games so much and made others despise them. As Neo in The Matrix never said, 'We need code. Lots of code.' Bring back in-game text, y’know, in the style of those old text-based adventures that no one without an imagination steeped in Warhammer and Dungeons and Dragons can actually visualise. The option for active participation is essential - then they can type in rude words, snigger at the automated responses and then email their friends, boasting of their burgeoning ‘text-life’ to responses of genuine awe. Another crucial option is the alleviation of multiplayer with real people and plough more money into MMORPG’s, as the advent of the internet has given many nerds the chance to take on a new identity, to live out their fantasies of fast cars and fast women without anyone actually seeing them - because as they all know, you never show your face in cyberspace.
But with the internet the seemingly predominant residing place, developers and companies alike must find a way to bring them back to console gaming. An aggressive advertising policy is probably unadvisable - I would suggest advertising in chemistry textbooks, the Discovery Channel, all suited to attract your discerning nerd not with the latest screenshots, but in-depth specifications. As for the games themselves, there has got to be something for everyone - for the geek that rides his mum’s old bicycle replete with basket, tail flag and bell, I suggest making it a little risqué, but nerd-orientated, like “BMX TEXT-TEXT-TEXT”™, where busting moves on your bicycle gives you access to reams of binary code for your delight and delectation (ditch the stabilisers for extra points). In a genre busting move, “Sole Calibur”™ is a side-scrolling beat ‘em up-cum-racing game, where the resilience of your nerdy shoes are tested to the limit as you must first confront the school bully over your culinary financial outflows, then avoid him as you chase through the school corridor to the library, avoiding temptation such as Extra Biology class to run free to freedom. Traversing the pitfalls of the hallways means you keep your money enabling you to buy better shoes, and thus gain in confidence (recite the periodic table for extra points).
Ok, ok, I’m joking. But, just as Sony successfully sold Playstation on the back of targeting certain groups, developers must focus on the ‘needs of nerds’. Whilst that may be a somewhat contrived, comical way of approaching this niche market, the fact is that this target group has been shamelessly neglected since Playstation made gaming ‘cool’ with brand games like Wipeout with its trendy dance music - why not appeal to the nerds with the er… ‘sounds’ of Michael Bolton or any other similar-style crooner? As a result, nerds have taken up residence on the internet and with PC’s, where they can enjoy endless debates over motherboard capability, and boast of their graphic card performance. I nominate perhaps the biggest nerd of all time, and indeed the most affluent, Bill Gates, to lead the charge with the Xbox. This is a potential veritable gold-mine guys! So I say - give gaming back to the nerds.
Gaming these days is enjoyed by everyone - young and old, men and women, boy and girl, rich and poor, you get the idea. As gaming has entered the mainstream, most people have been exposed to the wonders of a Playstation, Gamecube or an Xbox, with a fair few sampling their wonders on a regular basis. Most games are targeted to cater for a wider audience, with millions playing every day. The advertising peeps sitting in boardrooms thinking up more and more ways to attract different types of gamers have managed to succeed in almost every department. But this has not come without its costs to arguably the beginners of this now fashionable trend - the forerunners trampled on and now forgotten like a New Kids on the Block album.
Pre-mainstream, the preconception of the average ‘gamer’ was a spotty teenager fiddling with his joystick 24/7, stopping every now and again to re-adjust his thick-rimmed glasses and do extra homework. This has largely changed, but these people still exist, dammit! As society thinks up new ways to pigeonhole our youth, one group has been shamefully overlooked, but no more! Alienated from the things that identified their very existence, the era of the computer geek, re-adjusting the white tape on his thick-rimmed glasses applying copious amounts of hair gel, seems to have passed, with the stereotype being eroded as every Tom, Dick and Harry starts getting internet access or gaming consoles in their living rooms. But just as developers are searching to differentiate from the rest by searching out elusive niche markets, I say why not create games for the sort of gamers the developers of today once were - that’s right, bring back the era of the …uber-nerd.
In order to focus on these groups, we need to go back to what made these particular people love games so much and made others despise them. As Neo in The Matrix never said, 'We need code. Lots of code.' Bring back in-game text, y’know, in the style of those old text-based adventures that no one without an imagination steeped in Warhammer and Dungeons and Dragons can actually visualise. The option for active participation is essential - then they can type in rude words, snigger at the automated responses and then email their friends, boasting of their burgeoning ‘text-life’ to responses of genuine awe. Another crucial option is the alleviation of multiplayer with real people and plough more money into MMORPG’s, as the advent of the internet has given many nerds the chance to take on a new identity, to live out their fantasies of fast cars and fast women without anyone actually seeing them - because as they all know, you never show your face in cyberspace.
But with the internet the seemingly predominant residing place, developers and companies alike must find a way to bring them back to console gaming. An aggressive advertising policy is probably unadvisable - I would suggest advertising in chemistry textbooks, the Discovery Channel, all suited to attract your discerning nerd not with the latest screenshots, but in-depth specifications. As for the games themselves, there has got to be something for everyone - for the geek that rides his mum’s old bicycle replete with basket, tail flag and bell, I suggest making it a little risqué, but nerd-orientated, like “BMX TEXT-TEXT-TEXT”™, where busting moves on your bicycle gives you access to reams of binary code for your delight and delectation (ditch the stabilisers for extra points). In a genre busting move, “Sole Calibur”™ is a side-scrolling beat ‘em up-cum-racing game, where the resilience of your nerdy shoes are tested to the limit as you must first confront the school bully over your culinary financial outflows, then avoid him as you chase through the school corridor to the library, avoiding temptation such as Extra Biology class to run free to freedom. Traversing the pitfalls of the hallways means you keep your money enabling you to buy better shoes, and thus gain in confidence (recite the periodic table for extra points).
Ok, ok, I’m joking. But, just as Sony successfully sold Playstation on the back of targeting certain groups, developers must focus on the ‘needs of nerds’. Whilst that may be a somewhat contrived, comical way of approaching this niche market, the fact is that this target group has been shamelessly neglected since Playstation made gaming ‘cool’ with brand games like Wipeout with its trendy dance music - why not appeal to the nerds with the er… ‘sounds’ of Michael Bolton or any other similar-style crooner? As a result, nerds have taken up residence on the internet and with PC’s, where they can enjoy endless debates over motherboard capability, and boast of their graphic card performance. I nominate perhaps the biggest nerd of all time, and indeed the most affluent, Bill Gates, to lead the charge with the Xbox. This is a potential veritable gold-mine guys! So I say - give gaming back to the nerds.