More goings on in the world of gaming. With a little personal history
Forgive me this blog may ramble quite a bit, i’ve got a lot to say and it may not all come out organized.
Well it’s been a weird few weeks in gamerville. Gamergate, a consumer revolt against corrupt journalism in gaming, is still going strong. We ( i say we because i support Gamergate) have won some major consumer victories against the Gawker media group (one of the chief offenders in the grand scheme). Though expressing our concerns we have manged to get several advertisers to sever business ties with Gawker, costing the media company millions of dollars. and Anonymous pledged support as well. yay go us.
In light of that there was a small type of victory video on youtube , taking quotes from a few in the revolt and it got me thinking and reflecting.
I was born in 1980. I was an infant when the crash of 83 hit the market. When the big great heroic hand of Mario and Nintendo single handedly breathed new life into gaming I was ready and I had my NES soon after.
I am a Geek first and foremost, i always have been. I love computers, technology, games, Dungeons and Dragons, Star Wars and anything else. I still love these things. I guess that makes me an OG Gamer, one of the original, that first wave of kids who made gaming an integral part of their life.
Here is where I get brutally honest and the part where I actually do fit a stereotype. I was a fat nerd, I was overweight, I wore thick glasses, I was not very physically adept, I played no sports. I concentrated on my mental muscles not my physical ones. I lost myself in games, in video games I was the hero, I was the one people worshiped. I was everything I wanted to be. It was the land of make believe and I knew that. But it let me escape the genetic hand I was dealt for a while.
Most of my Geeky friends in school had a Nintendo and that was our common bond, that is what caused us to be friends. We clung to each other because we were the outcasts, not only because we were gamers but because we were nerds, one of the most hated cultures in the schoolyard. We were beat up, we had property vandalized, we were humiliated, and no one came to our rescue. We were totally at the mercy of the bullies that made our lives living hells every single day.
This was before the internet, I know it’s hard to imagine life without it now, but your existence was literally limited to your neighborhood. This was our whole world only many many years later did we realize it was just a microcosm of the world. We vowed to one another that we would not treat each other with disdain that we would not bully one another, that we would not treat each other badly. We would welcome anyone that had the same interested as we did. The outcasts stuck together, we were safe with each other, strength in numbers.
When the internet and long range communication became accessible, for the first time we saw the world, the whole world, and we lept for joy at what we saw. The ones embracing the internet back then were geeks, the average Joe didn’t care about this weird new thing called the internet, hell computers were still thousands of dollars to buy so not many had one. But the word got out, there were others like us, gamers and geeks all over the country and the world, all with the same problems as us, but more importantly the same love for games as us. This sounds like im romanticizing it but im not , this is how it felt. Other people outside my little neighborhood and school that were like us. We flung our virtual arms around each other and vowed to never let go.
The culture was young and there was almost no ways to connect with one another other then very basic websites and very basic IM systems like AIM and MSN. One of the earliest online gaming memories I have was playing rainbow six on the MSN gaming zone. God I loved it. i was completely fascinated by the fact I was playing games with people in other states. it was one of the greatest highs I’ve ever experienced. and the absolute best thing? We didn’t talk about the world, we didnt talk about race, sex, creed ect, we just talked about games, We were so exited just to have others to talk to about games.
We were still outcasts but at least we knew there were more and more of us. It was around this time I was in High School… the 6th ring of hell. High School was a nightmare for me, Everyday i was made to feel completely worthless by my peers. I was beat up, i was bullied, i was humiliated… Depression sunk in and to add insult to injury i was still a fat kid and completely unappealing to girls. This was (so far) the rock bottom of my life. I never thought of self harm but I was in misery. I would use any excuse to not go to school. The only thing that made me feel better was games. Some of the absolute greats came out at that time SNES games Like Final Fantasy VI for instance (my favorite game ever) It made it bearable, I just need to get though this school day then I can go home and game. it was my solace.
When gaming went mainstream in the early 2000’s i could not be happier. Finally the validation i always wanted. Being a geek was cool now and all the factions that berated me were now coming into the folds of being gamers. and we welcomed them, we fucking welcomed them all, without reprisal, without refusal, no payback , everything was square. You want a slice of our pie, ok but you’re not allowed to make fun of it anymore. and those terms were agreed upon. All was well in the kingdom and it was fucking amazing.
Now here we are, the bullies and antagonists are breaking the rules. They are back to bullying us and trying to re attach all those negative stereotypes to gamers again. Thats why I fight for gamergate, thats why i believe in it. Because as soon as the “core” gamers, us OG’s that helped make the rules in the beginning are saying “hey these thigns are kind of fucked up and heres why” and now were getting the old “Shut up you fucking nerd and know your place"
No wonder gamergate is pushing back, how dare they , how fucking dare they, we accepted everyone with open arms and who the fuck are you to tell me to shut up and go away?
gaming journalism is corrupt beyond belief and we have legitimate complaints and issues, and just because you’re a bully who writes for X publication does not give you the right to burn down everything we’ve built. There is a cancer here and we need to cut it out, there is no place in this culture for death threats, violence, bigotry. hate and intolerance.
If you hate nerds, you have no place here
if You hate gamers , you have no place here
If you hate women you have no place here.
If you hate men you have no place here.
If you hate blacks, Asian, middle eastern or any other minority, you have no place here.
If you want to commit violence on people, you have no place here.
This is a declaration from all of gaming, If you want to spew hate, violence and intolerance, get the fuck out we do not want you.
This is what gamergate fights for, the original concept, love and fellowship and gaming for all.
Come to the table and talk with gamergate, address our concerns openly and honestly and lets get back on track.
