Casual gaming gets a bad rap within gaming culture to the point where gamers would use “casual” as an insult or trash talk. In this context, calling someone a casual is saying that they are unskilled in the game or just simply not as good. In reality, a casual game is just a game that’s targeted at a wider, mass market audience, as opposed to a certain niche audience. “Casual games tend to have more positive fictions featuring no or cartoonish violence, require little previous knowledge of games, allow players to play in short bursts and practise excessive positive reinforcement of success” (Eklund, 16). Countless times, I have seen players trash talking to each other by calling each other casuals and that they should just stick to the less competitive game modes in the online competitive games that I play. This type of behaviour stems from wanting to show off the time and dedication some players put into games and could potentially discourage newcomers when they get outclassed by these players who have obviously been playing the game for a much longer time. To this degree I would agree that there is an exclusive club of “hardcore” gamers present in many online competitive and skill-based games. 

Casual gamers are often associated with female gamers because of the nature of the casual game genre. “The term ‘casual’ is furthermore often used to describe a playstyle and this way of playing, with less time investment and dedication is often, both from the game community and industry, connected to female gamers” (Eklund, 18). Because of this stigma, female gamers face scrutiny in bigger competitive gaming cultures and are discouraged from playing at their best. This is evident from the lack of female professional players in many eSports leagues across all genres of competitive play. In an online article, it’s said that the number of women working in any role in esports or playing esports is estimated to be about 5% or 1 in 20 (womeningames.org).  

Ultimately, I believe that the reason behind these problems is the refusal to accept that people can choose to like whatever they want and that these choices don’t necessarily dictate what group of “gamer” you get put into. One of the beauty of games is that there are so many different and diverse genres. You aren’t bound to one genre and are free to play whatever types of games you want. After a sweaty session of “hardcore” gaming in Escape from Tarkov, I choose to wind down in Animal Crossing to water my plants and talk to my villagers. Does this mean I’m casual now? Choosing to like a genre that has more casual elements doesn’t make you less of a gamer. After all, gamers are gamers because we choose to spend our time engaging in this medium. 

Sources: 

Eklund, Lina. Who are the casual gamers? Gender tropes and tokenism in game culture.
Women in Esports. http://www.womeningames.org/women-in-esports/

No, I’m not talking about pink tops, dresses, or accessories. Well, to some degree, yes, but I’m not focusing only on the aspect of female clothing. You might have heard of the general term “Pink Tax” before, and if you haven’t, it’s essentially an extra amount that women pay for their daily products. Whether it be shampoo, clothes, or cosmetics, the prices for these commodities exceed that of those marketed for men.

And no, women don’t have a say in this matter because gender-based discrimination is rooted so deeply into society that most women accept these political impositions as it is. History and literature have long been dedicated to these stereotypical perceptions, and gaming culture has grown to endorse this idea as well.

The first video games were established as early as the 1970’s when Atari introduced Pong as an arcade game. It was a novel idea aimed to satisfy the interests of men and women at all ages. However, with the collapse of the video game market in 1983, things started to change. Lina Eklund writes in her excerpt Who are the causal gamers? Gender tropes and tokenism in game culture that, “this shift towards young men changed ideas about who the consumers of digital games were… During the 1980’s to 1990’s, digital games were seen as boy’s toys… leading to a marginalization of female users.” (pg 17).

This began the division of game genres marketed to the public. Men were subconsciously geared towards sports, fighting, and first person shooter games. Simply speaking, it was a “boy’s only” exclusive entourage of past times. Of course, this thought was not only subtly pushed by corporate gaming companies. “In the mid-1990’s the first ‘pink games’ wave hit the industry in the wake of a very successful Barbie Fashion Designer.” (pg 17). Gaming companies seemed to capitalize on the idea that the best way to include the female population was to provide them the ability to virtually play dress-up (because that’s what ALL women are interested and like right?).

This concept paved the road to the later modernized games that now consist of higher-quality graphics and applications. “Dividing gamers into hardcore and casual is now one of the bases for understanding different types of games/ers both in academia and industry classification…” (pg 18). Casual games, especially mobile games, tend to be looked down upon because it’s not a “real” game. Well, is it not a “real” game because casual games don’t involve violence? Because it’s a game that requires no previous knowledge or interactive history? Because it doesn’t require complete dedication of money? Or could it possibly be that “casual gamers are often portrayed as female, especially in reports from the game industry” that there is reluctance to accept this categorization(pg 18)?

It’s not hard to see what’s odd about all these “controversial” debates. The truth is that all the money-grubbing ideas have inadvertently created a steeper association with stereotypical views. Games can be and should be enjoyed by everybody regardless of gender; they are as real as you and me.

Works Cited:

Eklund, Lina. “Who are the casual gamers? Gender tropes and tokenism in game culture.” Social, Casual and Mobile Games: The changing gaming landscape. Ed. Tama Leaver and Michele Willson. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015. 15–30. Bloomsbury Collections. Web. 24 Feb. 2020. .

When it comes to gaming as a hobby, “casual” (ie mobile, easily accessible….) games are often either pushed to the side or totally excluded from the discussion. Many self-proclaimed Hardcore gamers don’t see them as true gaming experiences and therefore write them off as less-than, something just for kids or something to be ignored period. In “Social networks, casual games and mobile devices: The shifting contexts of gamers and gaming,” Tama Leaver and Michele Willson write, “Debate and disagreement about what constitutes a game abound through the historical game literature. As new technologies have been introduced or new game genres have been developed, debates have opened up as to whether these should be considered games and whether those who play them can be considered to belong to the category of gamer.” (Leaver & Willson, 2) This dismissive treatment often extends past games that can be played through different devices like phones to indie titles like Shovel Knight, as well. Though these games do require knowledge of their mechanics to progress, the basic argument against them tends to be that they lack difficulty or don’t involve skill and they’re, therefore, not worth investing in. To many people, they are simply a waste of time. A lot of the time, these games are dismissed as not intense enough or too basic. 

To me, the basis of these arguments is deeply rooted in a lack of understanding different perspectives along with an unwillingness to accept that it’s okay for people to be into different kinds of things. It might be true that these games tend to require a lower skill set or are not as difficult as a lot of AAA titles, but that doesn’t mean that they deserve to be dismissed as “fake” games. There’s nothing wrong will being into the intensity/danger of games like DOOM or Call of Duty, but there’s also nothing wrong with being more into games that are based on organization or tranquility. I’m into a ton of different kinds of games. I’ve played third-person, puzzle games, platformers and too many hours of Tetris when I don’t have the time. They’re definitely different experiences, but I don’t see that as a problem. If anything, I think these games should be distinct so that they have their own place and unique impact on the people playing them. The impact of beating the final boss in a big game everybody’s talking about is not going to be equivalent to the impact of building your first town in a lesser-known indie title. It definitely won’t be the same if you’re playing one on your phone while waiting for the bus amidst tons of distractions and the other in the privacy of your own home on a much bigger display. This is all playing games, though—despite how different the experiences tend to be. To imply that one isn’t valid because it presents itself differently or holds a different kind of place is to wrongly underestimate it. At the end of the day, I think people would be better off if they played the games they wanted to and didn’t dismiss the ones they didn’t care about but instead understood their importance to others.

Works Cited

Leaver, T., & Willson, M. (2016). Social networks, casual games and mobile devices: The shifting contexts of gamers and gaming. In T. Leaver & M. Willson (Eds.), Social, Casual and Mobile Games: The Changing Gaming Landscape (pp. 1–11). London and New York: Bloomsbury Academic. 

During our Discussion in class today we discussed how Pay to win games and micro transactions in games are mostly viewed as a negative. These games force players to pay if they want to have any chance at being good at the game. This scheme is very easily seen by players and even while being looked down upon many players still succumb to paying for in game buffs.

Then there are games who’s entire existence is to make money by giving player the chance at unlocking a rare character or item from a random roll. These are known as Gacha Games. The most popular of these games relate to the Japanese Anime industry and allow players to roll for their favorite anime character from shows such as Fate, Dragon Ball or Naruto. The entire game revolves around players having limited time to roll the characters they want from limited time crates during events which gives incentives to the player to purchase more crates. That is not to say that the crates cant be earned through the simple game play that often plays itself. Although earning a crate can take hours of real time game play just for a single crate. A player would much rather spend $10 to roll 10 crates than play for 2 hours to roll a single crate. None the less Gacha game players worship these games under the simple premise that it provides them with unlock-able pixels that they want to collect. I have spent more time playing these games than I would like to admit.

As a young adult looking back on a certain time period, I am reminded of what I loved most. Whether it be family vacations, road trips, sports, or hobbies, remembering my past usually leads me down a path of what brought me significant joy. When I think of my upbringing as the oldest sibling of three girls, I remember how often we played board games. These board games taught me important skills that I continue to use to this day including interpersonal skills, money management, healthy competitiveness, and strategy. Specifically, my favorite board games to play included Monopoly, Trouble, CandyLand, Connect4, Operation, and Twister. Although at first glance, these games don’t appear to be useful in the development and maturation of a child, I truly believe that without them, I wouldn’t have become as aware and social as I became due to my amusement when it came to playing with my siblings, friends, and my parents.

As technology became increasingly prevalent in both society and game design, my joy for games quickly transitioned from traditional board games to video games. For Christmas each year, I would beg and plead that Santa bring me a PS4, but never received one. You don’t need that, my parents would remark. So, my siblings and I attempted to convince them to buy us a Spongebob Squarepants Plug n’ Play TV game. With a simple connection via a port in our television, we would take turns completing individual player games which required minimal skill and concentration. Even then, we enjoyed our time taking turns playing to see who would get a better score so much so that we would sit in front of the TV for hours on end every weekend. Although at first glance it does not seem I would benefit from playing a simplistic Nickelodeon game via our television, some of my fondest memories stem from the time we shared, huddled next to one another, staring intently at the screen, waiting for our turn to beat one another. It truly allowed me to bond with my younger siblings whilst also allowing me to exercise creative strategy, patience, and accepting failure.

As I entered my teenage years, I was gifted a cell phone in exchange for good grades and good behavior. I was ecstatic as at the time, a cell phone was a rarity. Of course, the first thing I did was begin to download applications, games, and utilize my camera to truly make the most of my new technological device. The first game application I added to my phone was Angry Birds, followed by Temple Run, and then eventually, Candy Crush. All of these games were purely individual, so I could play on my own time at my own pace. Although I truly enjoyed these games, I yearned for the same feeling I once had when I played hands-on board games and interactive games with my siblings. Don’t get me wrong the addictive, can’t put it down mentality of mobile games was there, but I craved the same nostalgia I felt when I thought of the other games I would play as a young girl.

As stated in the book, “How To Play Video Games,” “mobile games achieve such ubiquity in part thanks to their gameplay and software accessibility…interaction with the game can occur throughout the day whether the player be at work, school, home, or on a commute” (219). The ease and accessibility of these mobile games promoted their use as I utilized each moment of ‘downtime’ to further myself in the games I had downloaded. But, the nostalgia and feeling I once had playing games with my siblings was not there.

Although these games required skill, repeated use, concentration, and self-competitiveness, I always look back on the games I used to play with my siblings as both special and meaningful. They hold a significantly fonder part of my memory due to their mark on my childhood and the precious time I spent utilizing these games as a social conjunction between one another.

Thinking back to my middle school days I use to play a lot of mobile games. It was the prime time for me as I was on the bus a lot and wanted a way to spend time other than socializing with others. I did have a DS at the time but the only games that I had for it were either girl games that I had grown out of, or Pokémon. During this time in middle school you were uncool if you played Pokémon and me trying to keep up my “street cred” didn’t want others to think I was uncool. So I kept my Pokémon obsession at home. That meant leaving the DS at home while I was on the bus. Growing up with an iPod touch and later getting an iPhone, I had access to the wondrous thing known as the Apple store. I have spent a lot of time with apps and I’ll share my experiences with a few apps that I enjoyed the most.

One of the most memorable games that I played was Jetpack Joyride. It was part of the endless scrollers but it had its place. You were a dude named Barry who broke into a lab to steal a jetpack. Your goal was to avoid the laser beams placed throughout the map and collect coins to buy cosmetics. Along the way you can get vehicles such as Mr. Cuddles, The Hog and many others. As for controls, it’s just a simple tap and hold to make the player move up the screen. Releasing will make the player move down again. The purchasable items in the shop that you can get with the coins were all cosmetic. They were new jetpacks that you could buy or new outfits for Barry himself. The most elusive I would say are the golden upgrades for the vehicles. I remember on my old iPhone having almost all of the jetpacks and getting and a decent amount of the clothes as well. While all of this was lost as I switch to Android I still enjoyed the game. It’s a game meant to play for several minutes at a time then come back later. Many will consider it casual as there is no story to it. While it does have challenges to level you up there isn’t much more to the game than buying cosmetic upgrades and collecting coins.

The last set of games that I will talk about are the Doughnut Games collection. The few that I will talk about are Rat on a Scooter, Sunday Lawn and Traffic Rush. Each of these games were different from each other but all had similar art styles to each other. Rat on a Scooter and its other games Rat on a Skateboard, etc. were for the most part keeping a rat on the specified vehicle on a ramp. You would try an earn the most amount of points by surviving the longest amount of time. The controls themselves were simple as you only had to tamp the screen once or twice to make the scooter jump. Since the platforms are only so long you will need to jump from platform to platform. As for both Sunday Lawn and Traffic Rush, both of them use a swipe gesture for controls. Sunday Lawn has you navigate a maze to cute a person’s lawn with some obstacles in the way. Traffic Rush on the other hand, has you direct traffic in a four-way intersection and you must not let the cars crash into each other. While all games are simple enough to pick up, each has their own level of difficulty as you continue to play. Like Jetpack Joyride, they are games were you don’t need to be committed for over 10 minutes but can play for a minute or two then go back to what you were doing.

To me what made this the most fun was the fact that I could play these games when ever. As stated in the How To Play Video Games book “Mobile games achieve such ubiquity in part thanks to their gameplay and software accessibility: the barriers to playing Angry Birds are so minimal that interaction with the game can occur throughout the day whether the player be at work, school, home, or on a commute.11 One could even play the game while engaged in social interactions with non-players, who—thanks to the game’s design—could at any moment be made into players. One might, for example, pass the phone to a friend at lunch, letting her take a shot at a particularly difficult level. Some mobile games—though not Angry Birds—attempt to mandate everyday ubiquity by utilizing gradually refilling energy gauges that limit how long a play session can last. Others employ sporadic push notifications to act as triggers, encouraging players to repeatedly reopen the gaming app.” (pg 219) Because I was able to play these games on long trips to cross country meets or to go skiing. It was what helped me pass time.

Souley Coulibaly

Within the history of video games, the diversity amongst narratives became more common as the industry stride towards next-generation products. Even the most masculine games that included violence and explicit content started to include LGBT content. One example is the narrative of Gay Tony in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. According to Brianna Dym, Jed Brubaker, and Casey Fiesler “the queer authorship practices we examine sit in contrast to a broader gaming culture. Minority gamers face hardships ranging from bullying that targets women and queer people to cooperative online gaming spaces reinforcing sexist narratives. Gaming also becomes a way for players to enact not only masculinity, but also a specific brand of masculinity that is defined by what it is not–queer or feminine. As such, the stereotypical gamer may perceive any moves to introduce queer or feminine elements into gamer culture as a threat to the state of video games. This tension marks a clear divide in gaming culture between a hypermasculine narrative at risk of being displaced and the struggle of minority players to find themselves in games”. Within my own gaming experience online via multiplayer I witnessed firsthand the tension that unmonitored verbal interactions created. When players grew frustrated from gameplay it would lead to them disrespecting each other with derogatory terms. Most of them were on the receiving ends of these comments whether they were women or members of the LGBT community. Unfortunately, there’s a limited amount of enforcement game developers could do because most of the multiplayer interactions are live online.

            In contrast, I honor the freedom of sexuality that Grand Theft Auto 5 offers gamers in the multiplayer online mode. The access to various options of character gender types lets players utilize women and queer character attire to express themselves however they see fit. This form of access lets users enjoy the gaming experience without limitations to the narratives they choose to adopt online. Based on Brianna Dym, Jed Brubaker, and Casey Fiesler’s article on gaming “This tension marks a clear divide in gaming culture between a hypermasculine narrative at risk of being displaced and the struggle of minority players to find themselves in games. However, finding oneself in a game can be important for players. For example, designing and naming an avatar can create a safe space for players to explore gender. Prior work in game studies posited that the relationship between player and the main character is so strong that players are participating in “transgender play” when a male player controls a female character and vice versa, though players often have many different understandings of their relationship with the controlled character”. With that being said, it’s essential to acknowledge the effects of gender-based narrative that can affect the overall gameplay experience for users. The more freedom that game developers offer with avatars, characters, and sexualities; the fewer limitations you impose on the fun of a diverse community.

Work Cited

Dym, B., Brubaker, J., & Fiesler, C. (2018). “Theyre All Trans Sharon”: Authoring Gender in Video Game Fan Fiction. Game Studies.

Souley Coulibaly

3/16/20

            Throughout the history of video games many users develop life long memories with friends and families through experiences with classic throwbacks like Mario Kart, Pacman, and EA Sports Nba Live basketball series. Game developers help play a vital role in reestablishing nostalgic needs for long time gamers. Nostalgia is defined as a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. According to David Lowenthal “Mistrust of the future … fuels today’s nostalgia. We may not love the past as excessively as many did in the nineteenth century, but our misgivings about what may come are more grave…. Prospects of economic ruin, of resource depletion, of nuclear Armageddon make the past a crucial haven. Today we might add climate change, terrorism, and economic downturns to the list of factors informing a nostalgic longing for the past that Bioshock Infinite fully exploits.” Lowenthal’s excerpt is parallel to my belief that the nostalgic presentation of video games can fulfill the expectations of gamers that seek a nostalgic experience.

            Personally I’ve experienced the opportunity to pursue nostalgia from the remastered PlayStation 4 versions of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. During my time playing the California based game I virtually relived the times of massive gang violence and riots throughout the midst police brutality in the streets of LA. I remember learning about the history of the Rodney King case in California which resulted in a mass amount protest and anger amongst citizens and activists all across the country. According to the games wiki “The game features references to many real-life elements of the world, such as its cities, regions, and landmarks, with its plot heavily based on several real-life events in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, including the rivalry between real-life street gangs, the 1980s-early 1990s crack epidemic, the LAPD Rampart scandal, and the 1992 Los Angeles riots”. The main character is, “C.J.”, a gang member who is constantly harassed by police officers due to his environment which is surrounded by a lump sum of violence, drug utilization, and prostitution. The historical notion that is present in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas resembles what Buinicki conveys while analyzing 2k’s Bioshock Infinite.

            Furthermore, Martin T. Buinicki elaborates more stating that “The game seems to suggest a teleological vision, with the player free to look at the historically fictional Nostalgia and Bioshock Infinite 723 Columbia—in spite of its obvious resonance with “Columbia Gem of the Ocean,” the patriotic ballad of the nineteenth century—as “considerably worse” (Sargent 9) than the history of the United States and twenty-first century in which she now lives. While this could be an appealing reading of the game, its numerous intersections with real events underscores its indictment of actual US history, and as players learn of the protagonist Booker DeWitt’s involvement in the creation of Columbia, the game’s narrative ultimately forecloses any view of the past more hopeful than the fictional one it presents.” With that being said, as I mentioned before the impact of reliving crucial moments in U.S history can leave a long lasting effect on players. Alike media that are introduced in forms of movies and books, video games can generate a nostalgic experience that can take them back to a certain point in life.

Work Cited

Buinicki, M. T. (2016). Nostalgia and the Dystopia of History in 2KsBioshock Infinite. The Journal of Popular Culture, 49(4), 722–737. doi: 10.1111/jpcu.12440

This week, we talked about Transgender games and transgender people in gaming. This was exemplified through the use of the game “Dys4ia” by Anna Anthropy. This game was something I was familiar with, as we played it last semester as well. It tells the story of Anna Anthropy’s struggles with the beginning of her transition, and all of the “bullshit” that came with it. However, this game was designed not to be broad blanketed depiction of transgender, but rather a personal journey, as stated clearly in the beginning of the game by Anthropy. The game was meant to display “just one person’s story”, as a message to other transgender people, saying that you shouldn’t give up on who you truly are, even if it all seems so difficult. While the game does feel quite personal, the broad overarching messages still break through, helping those who may feel uncomfortable in their own skin feel more comfortable in working towards their best lives. One big topic the game covers is the watching eyes of the world around transgender people, making them feel out of place, whether that be through words, looks, or actions. The metaphor Anthropy uses for this is the strange shape trying to fit through the hole in the wall, which is shown at the beginning and end of the game, with the first instance of the shape being impossible to fit through the wall, while the last instance shows the shape flashing and morphing into different forms. Whereas Anthropy once felt like she didn’t fit in, she now is unsure of the future. Deflecting rude comments and dodging the eye of the public was just the beginning, yet the journey ahead becomes much more hopeful as time goes on. It is a beautiful message of finding the beauty within yourself and pursuing your happiness as a transgender person. While this is one person’s story, the gaming world can be quite harsh and stereotypical when it comes to the transgender community. The video we watched early in the semester exemplified this, as developers use the transgender community as the butt of jokes, making offensive depictions in their games or making villainous characters queer or transgender. “Dys4ia” is one game developer’s answer back to all the hate and suppression, calling for a new age of hope for transgender gamers.

When it comes to gender identity and sexual identity in video games, straight males get a large portion of representation. This can leave players who don’t identify as straight and/or male feel left out or unwelcome. In their article, “‘theyre all trans sharon’: Authoring Gender in Video Game Fan Fiction”, Brianna Dym, Jed Brubaker, and Casey Fiesler explain that many fan communities will write fanfiction about a game series, character, or scene that better represents them, such as writing that a certain character is gay, saying that “[u]nderrepresented fans of media, such as women, members of the LGBTQIA community, and other marginalized people use fan fiction (new narratives constructed from elements of existing media) to critique and recraft their representation in media such as television, movies, books and video games”. These groups of people feel that they don’t receive the necessary representation, so they make their own.

Similarly, Merrit Kopas talks about their experiences while playing Gone Home in their article “On Gone Home“, and how “this is a game that feels like it was made for [them]” . They also mention that they bring in a lot of their own experiences into the discussion, which can be related to writing fanfiction. The game’s premise on a secret lesbian relationship that has a good ending, not one that ends in death or trauma, really speaks to Kopas and gives them “hope”, in a way, when it comes to storytelling and representation in games. Games like Gone Home can hopefully inspire other developers to add more positive representation in video games.