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No
Shame In The Game
My friend Randy disappeared into the cave of his dorm room for an entire weekend during freshman year. He emerged, after two days, pale, hungry and happy. "I did it," he said, raising a feeble fist in victory. "I beat the game." Yes, Randy's love affair with video games had finally reached its pinnacle. And if statistics are any indication, at least half of the American population has had similar experiences — drawn toward glowing consoles and stacks of game software like one giant consumer magnet. According to the International Game Developers Association, at least 50 percent of all Americans older than 5 play computer and video games, and the industry is growing. Total revenue has exceeded $11 billion for the past two years (a huge leap from 2001's $9.4 billion), setting an $11.7 billion record in 2002. Like any successful business venture, industry pioneers attribute this prosperity to the fact that technology is malleable and able to evolve throughout the years, in unison with changing consumers. In fact, video games and the way we play them seem to be transforming forever. In the five years since Randy reveled in his dorm-room triumph, the days of solitary button pushing have been slowly phased out, in favor of a more community-based approach. Big City Gamin' owner Justin Field, 28, says cooperative game-play is the wave of the future, and his store, at 13th and Willamette, is at the forefront in Eugene. "My whole idea for gaming is trying to bring people together to play games," he says. "Gaming is definitely becoming less of a solo activity, and we're trying to get away from the stigma of games being anti-social." Big City Gamin' facilitates a social atmosphere with an in-store "game stadium" — complete with 10 flat screen televisions and auditorium-style seating— that offers gamers an opportunity to interact live with up to 16 players at a time. Players can also connect with others all over the world, via high speed Internet connection with Xbox and Playstation 2 consoles. Birthday parties, community game nights, weekend tournaments and a new city league for the game HALO are some of the ways Field says he optimizes cooperative play. "What we're doing with our gaming venues is revolutionary," he says. "This builds a real community. You build friendships, you learn how to win, you learn how to lose. You can play together and have a common goal; I think that's big." Field opened the store in December 2001. He says life in the video game world has definitely been good. In the past year, he has expanded the store, hired a friend to decorate the space with an urban feel and increased advertising. "I'm living a dream," he says, grinning in the black light of the Big City Gamin' lounge area. "It's just amazing. I've never experienced growth like this store provides for me." Other local businesses are jumping on the bandwagon as well. The newly opened Dive Bar and Grill, at 844 Olive St., has its own game lounge, with six televisions for Xbox and Playstation 2. The bar plans to begin regular tournaments in the near future. UO journalism graduate teaching fellow Randall Nichols says much of the industry's growth also comes from the fact that game companies are now targeting a more varied audience. Nichols has been developing a dissertation on the industry and researching video games for two years. "The industry hit a slump at the end of the '80s," he says. "They were only trying to sell to teenage boys. The biggest change to gaming right now is its continued mainstreaming. It's been vital to the industry to make the switch to products a wide variety of people will play." He points to games such as The Sims, which he says "have drawn in audiences no one considered possible a decade ago." Indeed, the demographics have changed drastically since the first consoles hit the market in the late 1970s. Back then, players were mostly children, and mostly male. Today, while games are still wildly popular with the younger set, the average player is 29 years old and 92 percent of games are purchased by adults. Both Field and Nichols say the shift in age is simple to explain: Today's consumers have grown up with video games. "The people that were playing games back then were kids, and now those gamers are getting older," says Field. And the technology has also grown up. "The games are starting to be focused on more mature audiences," says Field. Nichols agrees. "Video games are being taken more seriously now, with schools providing programs that not only work to teach how to design them, but how to understand them as texts, like literature and film." Grown-up gamer Matt Aquino says more sophisticated games are one of the main reasons he plays video games for several hours a week. "They have gotten more complex," the 22-year-old General Motors worker says. "They're not all about just collecting the coins and getting to the end. With the new generation of systems, a lot of the games are like movies. They're beautiful, they make you think and it's easier to get hooked into them." Aquino says he also enjoys video games for the community aspect mentioned above. He visits Big City Gamin' a few times a week, and also plays video games with his girlfriend. Women are also getting in on the action more and more, both as game players and developers. "There are a lot of girl gamers coming into the market right now," Field says. "Women are also getting more involved in behind-the-scenes gaming."
Nichols cites studies showing that females make up 39 percent of game players. "The female demographic is crucial to the video game industry," he adds. Field visits the E3 Gaming Convention, the industry's largest insider gathering, in Los Angeles each year. He says he has seen the number of female attendees increase about 20 percent over the last few years. All of these things point to an industry that appears to be continually moving upward in the world. However, there are a number of groups who see this advancement as negative rather than positive, and it's impossible to talk about video games without addressing underlying issues surrounding violence and addiction. Newspapers and magazines are jam-packed with stories of children whose parents say were coerced into violence by video games and tales of players who say they've lost weeks, even years, of their lives to video game addiction. Both Field and Nichols acknowledge that violence in video games and game addiction does exist, but both say problems can be prevented with a dose of moderation, a better rating system and, most of all, more parental involvement. "Children don't have to play [violent] games," Nichols says. "Show me a 6-year-old who has $50 to go out and buy Grand Theft Auto." Field agrees. "I truly think it's about the games that we play," he says. "It's the parents' job to step up to the plate and decide what's in the 9-year-old's hands." He adds that he tries to educate parents about the content of the video games they purchase for their children. Nichols and Field also say that the media focus mainly on the negative aspects of gaming, rather than the countless positive aspects. "You can say there is a problem," Nichols says, "and certainly there is, but we're also seeing it on TV and in movies. Across the media landscape, video games are a scapegoat. [The media] ignore the fact that the vast majority of video games out there aren't violent." Seventy percent of the top 20 best-selling games in 2003 were relatively non-violent, rated "E" for everyone or "T" for teen. Field adds that video games can provide a safe, positive outlet for children, as well as improving hand-eye coordination and self-esteem. He says stroke sufferers have used video games as a way to re-stimulate their brains, and parents of autistic children have also found video games to be helpful. Nichols and Field both say the industry's bad rap comes from the fact that many people don't know much about it. "The film industry is established, and there's a positive view of films themselves," Nichols says. "Video games don't get that same luxury at the moment. They are still a very new medium."
Field is optimistic. "The more people who look at and play games, the more people will focus on the positive aspects," he says. On a typical Thursday night at Big City Gamin', the players, a mixed group of kids and adults, seem more intent on helping each other than inflicting violence. Nine pairs of eyes are glued to various screens, and nine voices yell out random hints. "He's over there," someone calls. "Help me." And for Field, this is what it's all about. "I've always had a passion for games," he says. "I'm excited about playing together." In fact, Field says the very future of the industry lies in group game-play. "I think there will be professional leagues in the next five years," he says. "There's no doubt in my mind." Nichols says the video games' fate is a little more difficult to foretell. "It's hard to predict the future of the industry because of how susceptible it is to technological change," he says. "But if the current trends continue, it wouldn't be a stretch to think that there will be video games for everyone and based on all manner of popular media and cultural products."
Tilting
at the Wind A neon pink "L" is vividly missing from the "TILT" sign tucked away at the side of Gateway Mall, and Russell Fry is not amused. The video arcade in Springfield blinks a bright pink word worthy of Janet Jackson. An arcade worker looks sheepish as he explains to Fry, a TILT regional manager who has dropped in to check on things, that someone probably threw something at the sign to make the "L" conk out. Fry asks me not to mention the missing letter because it might give teenage boys ideas for pranks. I figure enough people have passed through the Gateway food court in the past few weeks to get ideas for themselves. Called Family Amusement Centers, TILT's old-fashioned video arcades are spread across 150 sites in the U.S. and in Australia. A 23-year industry veteran with an engaging smile, Fry manages arcades across five states. Citing company policy, Fry refuses comment on rumors that the video arcade industry is in decline. He also refuses to confirm the news that TILT is shutting down at least three arcades and laying off employees in the face of high costs.
Having made his reluctance to share company news clear, Fry relaxes when asked how the video game industry has changed over the last couple of decades. He admits that many kids prefer to spend their money on home systems that offer better graphics than out-dated arcade games. Now if people come into the arcade, he says, they're doing it because they're waiting for someone at the mall and trying to kill time. Things have changed since his own childhood, Fry says. "When I was a kid, I had my car, my job and a whole lot of idle time." Now, he says, not only are kids busier with out-of-school activities, but they choose to spend their money on gadgets like cell phones. Along with changes in consumer habits come changes in the industry itself. As research and development costs have gone up, games manufacturers have passed on hefty price increases to arcade companies. With games costing tens of thousands of dollars more than they did 20 years ago, arcade owners are finding it more difficult to recoup costs. In 1981, Fry says, an Asteroids game cost about $250, while Pac Man ran to about $500. If an arcade invested in a few of each, it could make up the cost through repeated play fairly quickly. In 2004, a game like Time Crisis 3 can run about $15,000 for a two-player console. That kind of investment means it will take a lot of repeat business for an arcade to recover the original cost. It also makes it difficult to constantly update to new games. Despite the bleed away from video arcades, Fry feels they offer some advantages over playing games at home. "You can be alone at home but here you're with people," he says. Arcades are a good place to entertain friends without worrying about the state of your house, he says. Video arcade games also offer a more tactile experience than games played over a personal computer, Fry says. You can shoot a basketball through hoops, point a gun at the screen or straddle a motorcycle console as you navigate through a race. The popular Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) games, where players have to jump, twist and follow the steps on the screen, combine exercise with tactile experience. Although people can now download DDR software on their PCs and play at home, Fry says many people practice at home in order to show off their prowess in front of others at the arcade. Walk into the TILT at Gateway and you'll be deafened by a cacophony of crashing cymbals, loud disco drums and high-pitched sound effects blaring from the dozens of blinking machines around you. Flashing rows of bulbs line the ceiling. It's a sight fit for Vegas. But even this garishness can't disguise the way the video arcade industry is being squeezed by PC gaming and a changing consumer market. In 2001, TILT's parent company, Nickels and Dimes, announced it would be entering the online gaming industry through its Web site Tilt.com. At the time of the announcement, there were at least 20 more TILT centers across the country. With dropping numbers of video arcades, the missing "L" in the sign at Gateway may just stand for "Languishing."
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