I think you guys are reading way too much into this supposed social stigma
Oh no, you have a PSP or a DS, you are an outcast!!!
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Sony in big trouble with PS Vita, Portable market in perm decline, rotting - Forbes
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I think you guys are reading way too much into this supposed social stigma
Oh no, you have a PSP or a DS, you are an outcast!!!
I guess so, because that entire train of thought seemed completely ridiculous to me.
ViperVisor
Member
I haven't been following it and wouldn't have the best guess anyhow but what were the expectations for Vita in the short term?
I do know a lot of people saw the 3DS limping out of the gate. The price was on the high end of predictions. It had the lousy Smarch release date. The launch window was rigged open to the point of absurdity by Reggie to try and include Nintendo games people actually had interest in.
I do know a lot of people saw the 3DS limping out of the gate. The price was on the high end of predictions. It had the lousy Smarch release date. The launch window was rigged open to the point of absurdity by Reggie to try and include Nintendo games people actually had interest in.
Really?
That some behaviors are and aren't socially acceptable depending on the situation is difficult to grasp?
That's not difficult to grasp. Using a ridiculous comparison doesn't help your
lost
I can beat smartphones pretty handily, actually:
Or:
$7, hell yes. Set for life. Plus what platform is more acceptable and ubiquitous than the PC?
Smartphone users are throwing their money down the drain. You buy 7 games, I'll buy 333,000. Then we'll see who has more "fun."
lol PC.
That specifically afflict video games and not virtually everything outside of the norm for that particularly situation's context? Yes.
UncleSporky
Member
Most smartphones can even do remote desktop, so there's really no excuse!
Steve Youngblood
Member
I probably should have added more clarification rather than attempting to be pithy. Again, I really didn't mean for that graph (the only neato visual I could find) to corroborate the author's hypothesis. It was mainly just used to illustrate the absurdity -- at least as perceived by me -- of some to react to these opinion pieces with a "LOL, iOS gaming; what a stupid joke fad" attitude.
I don't actually think that traditional handhelds are dead or necessarily dying yet like some prognosticators do, but I do believe that smartphones and tablets are a growing sector that may be problematic in some regards now and going forward for traditional gaming handhelds. No, that stupid graph isn't a slam dunk (it was mainly just a prop), but I think the point is valid.
Traditional handhelds aren't in as bad a shape as some analysts would have you believe, but then again, iOS gaming isn't on the verge of being exposed as a hollow gimmick tomorrow either like some gamers want to believe.
Boss Man
Member
Everyone watches porn.
You might discuss it lightly sometimes.
Your friends all know you watch porn, and so do they.
You shouldn't let a girl see you watching porn until you now her well enough.
Girls will learn to accept that you watch porn.
After a while, that acceptance will turn to contempt and she will hate how much time you spend watching porn.
Yeah...it's basically like porn. Not that it should be, but I don't think anyone is actually trying to argue that. It's just the way things are.
I'm not arguing how silly it is...but it's there nonetheless.
What kind of sheltered environment do you live in where it's unacceptable to play video games in front of a girl?
I don't think the DS is the problem here.
If you did the same thing with a book, you'd still look like an ass.
It's ok guys. It can be difficult to take other's perspectives on subjects you feel passionate about. I don't blame you, I used to be like that too.
I think it's just as much a problem because YOU believe it is a problem and contribute to the supposed 'stigma'
I've never heard anyone mocking anyone or steering away from someone because they had a handheld gaming device
Yer probably the same people who only play 'cool mature' games so you don't seem childish, oh no
I've never heard anyone mocking anyone or steering away from someone because they had a handheld gaming device
Yer probably the same people who only play 'cool mature' games so you don't seem childish, oh no
You don't even need Suite, there's regular Vita games and apps that are free on Japan-PSN. Though, I don't think that stuff is really going to matter in the end.
Barack Lesnar
Banned
Question: Did the console launches get this much discussion and debate at GAF when they were about to release? Every day there seems to be a new huge handheld thread about this being doomed or that rumor or what have you. Can't imagine what it'll be like with PS4 and 720 lol
Yes.
My xbox tag is Christmas Ape. Go look up my play history.
Well hell, man, you just described how my wife feels about me spending hours watching Doctor Who. My point is that video games aren't unique to this - it's any activity which takes you outside the norm of a context.
Still are, it would seem.
Boss Man
Member
I didn't say unacceptable, I said (half-jokingly) that you shouldn't let a girl see you playing video games before you've gotten to know her. Maybe I just don't have enough game (pun, lol), but I couldn't see myself flirting with someone with a PSP in my hand.
As I posted earlier, I would never judge someone that way. If anything, I would either admire their bravery or question their social understanding. I would do it if I felt like I could get away with it/didn't find it inconvenient to carry around.
If you go to the buy/sell/trade thread you'll see that I just recently sold a DS Lite with Pokemon White. However, I would never ever play Pokemon in public. Or even carry a video game console around with me, for that matter. I don't think playing Pokemon makes you childish, but playing it in public sure makes you seem that way- I can't do anything about that.
Lord_Byron28
Member
Replace Sony and Vita with Nintendo and 3DS and this thread and news article would be identical to the same ones that cropped up from February to September of 2011.
Funny and kinda interesting to say the least.
Funny and kinda interesting to say the least.
I'm sure there were plenty "WHAT ARE YOU DOING NINTENDO RELEASING A CONSOLE WITH A NAME THAT REFERS TO MY PENIS" threads back in the day.
So...I have trouble taking your perspective, which involves you having trouble taking the average non gamers perspective.
I see.
AdventureRacing
Member
Way way more. If anything discussions like this have kinda of cooled of since then and aren't as prevalent. I expect things to really heat up with the next wave of home consoles as GAF in general is very home console centric.
Hell a lot of the time the only reason people have allegiances to the different handhelds is because of their preference of home consoles.
None of those games are big sellers on handhelds and i don't think any of them will have much impact on the handheld market in general.
second most popular console right behind the gamecube
NPD removed PSP from its monthly report. So....
Until the DS and Wii, virtually everyone I knew was a non-gamer. So yes, there was a certain stigma at that time if I were to bust out a game system and ignore everyone for the sake of my own enjoyment. Nowadays? They ask me what I'm playing and sometimes ask if they can try. The landscape you are describing has changed enormously over the last few years. For the most part, there are normal behaviors associated with contexts and situations and veering away from those norms will oftentimes cause issues, gaming or otherwise.
So no, I don't think gaming is specifically looked down upon as much as you're stating, at least no more than most other activities that remove you from the social environment of a situation.
I get annoyed with people for playing games more often than not - sitting at a dinner table and everyone is on their iPhones playing Words With Friends.
Uno Venova
Banned
random question: so if you were on IGN or some other gaming site and friends walked in would you frantically close the tab and switch to something more socially acceptable like itunes or facebook?
You don't know the average non gamers perspective.
How about this.
If you hit on a girl, would your success rate be higher, the same, or lower if you were playing a 3DS as you approached her.
Honest opinion here, and why.
The general train of thought of why portables have a stigma
They are seen as a niche product, that you are so obsessed with gaming that you have to have a portable version of your home console
Generally are seen more often in the hands of kids than grown ups
It only does one thing really well, gaming
People want to be seen as grown up and mature, so a multitasking device like a smartphone is sophisticated and expensive
It's about image and status
I am not ignorant of that
I am saying you shouldn't let that stop you from playing those systems, and break that stigma more and more if people see others playing those more often in public, it will be less stigmatized
They are seen as a niche product, that you are so obsessed with gaming that you have to have a portable version of your home console
Generally are seen more often in the hands of kids than grown ups
It only does one thing really well, gaming
People want to be seen as grown up and mature, so a multitasking device like a smartphone is sophisticated and expensive
It's about image and status
I am not ignorant of that
I am saying you shouldn't let that stop you from playing those systems, and break that stigma more and more if people see others playing those more often in public, it will be less stigmatized
Frantically? No. Would I point out what I'm looking at? No. If they asked me would I go into detail about what I'm looking at? No.
But I wouldn't be looking at gaming news with friends around in the first place. It's a time to socialize, not absorb gaming information.
Why would you be playing a 3DS as you approached her?
Hey, I started all this by saying more power to you.
Well, of course since girls all feel revulsion towards gaming systems of any kind, my success rate would drop precipitously. Obviously.
Uno Venova
Banned
Same, because your going to put whatever it was ipod or 3ds in your pocket or closed in your hand.
DCharlie
And even i am moderately surprised
the same
once the conversation/"hit" starts, it's unlikely she'd care one way or the other, and if you have wit/charm you'd maybe even use the 3DS as part of your banter.
When i hit on my now wife, i had a copy of Boku To Mahou and the PS1 collection with Skykid on it in my hand. In a bar. On a friday night.
You're in public, playing the 3DS, and you see an attractive girl.
I then put it in my pocket and approach her. What's the big deal?
Boss Man
Member
Agreed all around, especially the bold. I wasn't trying to say that you shouldn't play games in public, just that it has a social stigma and that's why a lot of people (including myself) do not.
A Twisty Fluken
Member
This is one of the better tag fishing attempts I've seen.
Next.
But why? It's socially acceptable, right? She shouldn't care, right? If I were texting on my iPhone I wouldn't quick pocket that, I'd have it near me.
Say she's sitting next to you in a coffee shop. I'd put my phone on the table, would you neatly close the 3DS and leave it out?
Honest questions.
I'd lay money this is the exception not the rule.
While I'm sure the growth of the mobile market has had some effect on handheld sales, I have no idea how the author came to his conclusions. How does 3ds crushing Vita in Japan automatically become "the end of portable game consoles" due to smartphones? It's like he ignores the fact that the other handheld is doing well just so he can further his own doom and gloom agenda. Do I think Vita will succeed in the West? No, but lets ignore that for now, these are Japanese sales. Did 3ds's price cut and 3 mammoth titles steal Vita's thunder? Probably, but that's not how these "analysts" want to see things, it must have been because of those sneaky smartphones not the 3ds.
speculawyer
Member
Well this was pretty obvious for more than a year now.