Why are there negative connotations to the term 'dudebro'?

Sandy Nipples said:
Dudebro = monogamer, usually sticks to single franchise per genre, known to have game(s) from Sports and Shooter genres. Usually competitive, enjoys co-op locally. Might still have a PS2 from his Tekken/stoner days, but it's now down in the lobby used for watching DVD rips of How I Met Your Mother.

Believes $60 for a video game is insane, will literally only buy a game PER year, very seldom new.

Complains about balance/bug issues in his game of choice, a product of him logging more time than the average play tester.

Prioritizes women and social drinking above playing video games, promotes social drinking whilst gaming, attempts combining women, social drinking, and gaming, but often fails.

Loves Naruto and Bleach.

Gets overexcited about special moves and easter eggs.

Will make you sit and watch while he shows you special moves and easter eggs.

Needs to show you that fucking game where that guy fucks everything up its INSANE (God of War)
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So they're Social Nerds? Nerds by any other name, dudebro included, are still nerds! I wonder if they know what their true form is...
 
The Albatross said:
Chances are, the people who call dudebros, who call everything you like "gay" probably don't exist. You're creating someone who doesn't exist to make you, yourself, feel better.

Also when defining dudebro do not use dudebro in the definition. That is bullshit.
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My friends brother does this though.

His ps3 is for madden, CoD and Netflix. Has been heard calling LBP a "gay kiddie game" more than a few times and is quite the racist asshole.

They exist but not in the numbers many assume, I think.
 
Gun Animal said:
is there an actual call of duty fandom? i can't imagine anyone caring about call of duty that much.
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I have a friend that only buys the new Call of Duty game each year and plays it for 365 days until the next one comes up, prestiging over and over again.

She has also never played the single player campaign of any of them.

Dudettesis?
 
Dudebro is the current term for the same thing SNES gamers called the flood of new gamers that showed up with Playstation 1. Playstation 1 made gaming more mainstream when console gaming was viewed as a "basement dweller" phenomenon. SNES hardcore gamers called these playstation casuals some sort of name I'm sure. I'm talking the true gaming nerds that even owned a 3DO system.

Dudebro was slapped on the Madden yearly purchasing, CoD yearly purchasing, and Halo/GoW purchasing crowd, and has also been used as a buzzword for why new IP's are more rare and why certain franchises have seen sequel after sequel, even from differing studios (easier to have yearly releases if you stagger studios).

But ultimately it's just a buzzword for really casual gamers. Now PS3 gamers throw that term around because dudebros are not really interested in Little Big Planet, Warhawk, Uncharted, etc and they see Xbox 360 players as "dudebros".

The gamers that think Xbox Live Gold is the shit and is totally worth the money. The gamers that think Call of Duty is an Xbox exclusive franchise. And honestly I don't blame the so-called "dudebros".

Microsoft is an American company with American marketing experts who think they know what gamers want. And at the start of this generation while everyone was falling on their faces (Nintendo and Sony when it comes to internet gaming) trying to implement an internet gaming system, Microsoft came out of the gate because their original Xbox was revolutionary when it came to online gaming.

But, they rested on their laurels. They still think their marketing machine can convince everyone that Xbox Live Gold is better than the free alternative. They've forgotten everything that got them into such a great position the past 2 generations, even simple things like including headset hardware in every box. They didn't do enough research to see what their competition is doing better than them, like Playstation network now being a far better "bang for the buck" experience. They didn't consider the implications of simple things like allowing Netflix subscribers to have access to their media without a paywall.

They didn't even do the simplest thing like add BC so that Xbox 360 Gold paying members would have incentive to continue with their subscription into the next generation. (even with these draconian measures, it would have been tempting to get an Xbox One with Rock Band 3 support with all DLC playable since I've spent so much on this platform in DLC already.) But no. We can't possibly offer something to our loyal customers as incentive to keep with our platform. We'll start from scratch just like Sony.

And that's got to be the most epic fail you could have sitting next to these policies. You gave zero incentive for 360 owners to stay with your platform into the next generation. Zero. Backward compatibility with DD titles and discs would have cemented your place and would have made these policies more palatable for 360 owners. But with zero incentive to stay with you as a platform, what was accomplished by turning off so many consumers?
 
many of you people have no clue what you're talking about.

these dudebro gamers don't care about spending $60 multiple times per year. they probably foolishly spend more money than some hardcore nerds.

all dudebro means is "jock"

remember those bulkhead popular high school kids? the jocks that played football, loved fighting and wrestling and drank all the time? those are dudebros.

they will never give certain games a chance unless their social circles and friends are playing it.

i think the only people calling them dudebros in a negative way are the dorks that have (and will always be) the unpopular nerds.
 
antitrop said:
I have a friend that only buys the new Call of Duty game each year and plays it for 365 days until the next one comes up, prestiging over and over again.
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yeah but like

Are there people who write fan-fiction and obsess over canon in the same way as the Assassin's Creed, Bioshock, Metal Gear etc etc fandoms? Maybe I'm basing my understanding of the word 'fandom' on it's use on Tumblr, I'm not sure.
 
I technically am considered a dude bro. Was in a frat during undergrad. Like shooters and sports games primarily. Whatevs.

playing far cry 3, blood dragon and bf3 right now.
 
Isnt it always a negative thing when people only play a narrow amount of games.

People who only play Japanese games
People who only play MMOs
People who only play Iphone games..

List goes on and on and someone always has something negative to say about them.
 
Servbot24 said:
By neogaf standards, dudebros are considered one of the lowest common denominator audiences. GAF gets pissed when companies start catering to that.



No one is suggesting that they're stupid, only that they're not gaming enthusiasts.
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They probably 'game' more than we do though to be fair, as they don't spend all their time on gaming forums.
 
The Albatross said:
Chances are, the people who call dudebros, who call everything you like "gay" probably don't exist. You're creating someone who doesn't exist to make you, yourself, feel better.

Also when defining dudebro do not use dudebro in the definition. That is bullshit.
Click to expand...

I sure have seen people and online that fit that definition. Although I personally wouldn't call them all dudebros, because a lot of them are kids not just fratboys and the like. Also the negative connotations are there because developers are becoming increasingly unlikely to develop something different (far from the only reason for this) which angers a great deal of gamers.
 
When I worked at gamestop I worked with this dude who bought all the latest dudebro games, cod, madden, gears, halo etc etc, I thought of him as a jock and a social drinker. Well anyways it turns out that unbeknownst to the rest of the staff he liked shit like Deathsmiles and Hyperdimension Neptunia and was really into lolicon. It just goes to show... maybe it's better if you think everyone is a dudebro..... you don't want to open those worm cans of worms.


edit: one thing i'd like to add to the dudebro stereotype description we all seem to be crafting here is that most of the dudebros i know have admitted to having cold sores or genital herpes. just while were on the subject.

edit: even better if they justify it with something like "yeah dude it was worth it, best head ever."
 
Well... when I hear 'Dudebro', I picture:

Good looking, athletically fit guy; maybe friendly, possibly intelligent. BUT ALSO:
Has zero respect for women and sees them as inferior; voices this with friends, laughing about 'dumb bitches'
Dislikes and discriminates against homosexuals; uses the term 'gay' deliberately in a derogatory way
If he plays a game, it is something like Call of Duty - there's a slight chance he might know the full title of the game, probably doesn't know the story in the campaign, definitely doesn't know the studio behind it. He wants to talk all about it to 'a fellow gamer', but instead of any meaningful conversation, actually just wants to brag about the 'sick shit' he did in multiplayer.

I don't really associate the term with gaming, just with a certain stereotype. And, yeah, guys that fit that profile? Not guys I want to hang out with, hence negative connotations.
 
Hmm I would say it depends on perspective, it means something different to different people.

One example of Dudebro to me is:

Someone easily influenced by media and the need to fit in society, only plays shooters/sport games because anything else is crap or for nerds. Very predictable people, boring even.
 
I've never seen or used the term to mean anything more than the super casual crowd that just plays the CODs and Halos of the gaming world, and maybe a sport game or two.

I never once guessed that it would be an insult to people. An insult to games/devs that are persuing the casual/CoD audience maybe, but not people.
 
Gun Animal said:
yeah but like

Are there people who write fan-fiction and obsess over canon in the same way as the Assassin's Creed, Bioshock, Metal Gear etc etc fandoms? Maybe I'm basing my understanding of the word 'fandom' on it's use on Tumblr, I'm not sure.
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Oh, I absolutely doubt it.

People would probably care more about Call of Duty if its stories were told in the game rather than on loading screens.
 
peace in palestine said:
many of you people have no clue what you're talking about.

these dudebro gamers don't care about spending $60 multiple times per year. they probably foolishly spend more money than some hardcore nerds.

all dudebro means is "jock"

remember those bulkhead popular high school kids? the jocks that played football, loved fighting and wrestling and drank all the time? those are dudebros.

they will never give certain games a chance unless their social circles and friends are playing it.

i think the only people calling them dudebros in a negative way are the dorks that have (and will always be) the unpopular nerds.
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Right because "dorks" and "nerds" are the only people who aren't dudebros.
 
Because dudebro is code for regular ass mofos that like dat COD, dat Madden, dat 2K, etc. Because apparently it isn't cool enough to just like video games. You have to like certain types of video games to be a gamer.
 
nbthedude said:
It literally comes from a limited vocabulary of saying little more than "dude!" and "aight bro." Ad it existed before it was associated with fps video games. They are, in short, dumb frat kids.

And indeed in my ten years of experience as a college instructor the middle class frat kids from the suburbs are indeed my most uninspired and unreflective students and the most irritating. They think college is just an extension of the high school popularity contest and are primarily interested in getting wasted, playing fps games and watching sports and almost nothing at all. That pretty much comprises their entire world view and knowledge base. Not that girls whose entire ambiticiouns are to get into and fit in with a sorority are much better.
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Its really annoying to hear a college professor being so judgemental of a group of people. If there's one profession where we need more empathy and understanding, its teachers. These are all young people still. Anybody who has enjoyed popularity in high school probably isn't going to suddenly find it completely bottom priority 6 months later when they join college. People just dont change that fast. Some will, lots wont. Looking down on and generalizing this group of people really just doesn't help the situation at all.

Sorry for the off-topic mini-rant, but I found this really shitty to read.

Oh and professor, its 'ambition'.
 
BigDug13 said:
Dudebro is the current term for the same thing SNES gamers called the flood of new gamers that showed up with Playstation 1. Playstation 1 made gaming more mainstream when console gaming was viewed as a "basement dweller" phenomenon. SNES hardcore gamers called these playstation casuals some sort of name I'm sure. I'm talking the true gaming nerds that even owned a 3DO system.

Dudebro was slapped on the Madden yearly purchasing, CoD yearly purchasing, and Halo/GoW purchasing crowd, and has also been used as a buzzword for why new IP's are more rare and why certain franchises have seen sequel after sequel, even from differing studios (easier to have yearly releases if you stagger studios).

But ultimately it's just a buzzword for really casual gamers. Now PS3 gamers throw that term around because dudebros are not really interested in Little Big Planet, Warhawk, Uncharted, etc and they see Xbox 360 players as "dudebros".

The gamers that think Xbox Live Gold is the shit and is totally worth the money. The gamers that think Call of Duty is an Xbox exclusive franchise. And honestly I don't blame the so-called "dudebros".

Microsoft is an American company with American marketing experts who think they know what gamers want. And at the start of this generation while everyone was falling on their faces (Nintendo and Sony when it comes to internet gaming) trying to implement an internet gaming system, Microsoft came out of the gate because their original Xbox was revolutionary when it came to online gaming.

But, they rested on their laurels. They still think their marketing machine can convince everyone that Xbox Live Gold is better than the free alternative. They've forgotten everything that got them into such a great position the past 2 generations, even simple things like including headset hardware in every box. They didn't do enough research to see what their competition is doing better than them, like Playstation network now being a far better "bang for the buck" experience. They didn't consider the implications of simple things like allowing Netflix subscribers to have access to their media without a paywall.

They didn't even do the simplest thing like add BC so that Xbox 360 Gold paying members would have incentive to continue with their subscription into the next generation. (even with these draconian measures, it would have been tempting to get an Xbox One with Rock Band 3 support with all DLC playable since I've spent so much on this platform in DLC already.) But no. We can't possibly offer something to our loyal customers as incentive to keep with our platform. We'll start from scratch just like Sony.

And that's got to be the most epic fail you could have sitting next to these policies. You gave zero incentive for 360 owners to stay with your platform into the next generation. Zero. Backward compatibility with DD titles and discs would have cemented your place and would have made these policies more palatable for 360 owners. But with zero incentive to stay with you as a platform, what was accomplished by turning off so many consumers?
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It's amusing how your post devolved from a relevant description of dudebro to a critique of Microsoft. Lol.

Anyway, it's like you said. That's just what dudebro is I guess.

It's okay if you like dudebro games, hell I used to like COD, but actual dudebros (the ones who gloriously match the stereotype) are annoying to me (the people who don't play anything but COD and sports games, the people who think video games only exist on Xbox, who think XBL Gold is the true gaming experience, who can't appreciate games without regenerating health or team death match, who have no patience, who think the Wii is for children, etc.) The games aren't the problem. It's the people who match the stereotype that can sometimes annoy me.

I have a few friends like this in college and I don't discuss or play games with them at all because it drives me crazy. They are stereotypical dudebro.
 
dudebro = one who buys madden, 2k, cod and that's pretty much it. those are the only games they play. play a diff game and "it sucks" instantly. have them play any game with a story in it and they skip the cut scenes every single damn time. it's so infuriating to watch them play a game.
 
hardcastlemccormick said:
The problem isn't necessarily with the gamer who buys and enjoys those games (though stereotypes do arise) but rather with how the industry chases after that demographic almost exclusively with no thought to expanding the audience.
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Yup, this. The negativity does carry with the term with little regard for context, though. Most times I see someone throwing the term 'dudebro' around, they're trying to be negative (whether they're talking about a demographic or a specific person).
 
I also think it's a term for guys who don't really pay attention to games other than the yearly CoDs and sports games. They also don't care for art style, story or gameplay other than "press X to shoot/kick/pass/reload".

I don't see them or the term as "bad", just another market segment. It has a bad connotation because of what some already have said: many developers cater their games and budgets towards this particular segment and as a result innovative, creative or risk-taking games usually get canned.
 
nbthedude said:
It literally comes from a limited vocabulary of saying little more than "dude!" and "aight bro." Ad it existed before it was associated with fps video games. They are, in short, dumb frat kids.

And indeed in my ten years of experience as a college instructor the middle class frat kids from the suburbs are indeed my most uninspired and unreflective students and the most irritating. They think college is just an extension of the high school popularity contest and are primarily interested in getting wasted, playing fps games and watching sports and almost nothing at all. That pretty much comprises their entire world view and knowledge base. Not that girls whose entire ambiticiouns are to get into and fit in with a sorority are much better.
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somebody sounds bitter.

weren't allowed to pledge? Sorority girls ignored you?
 
My problem with dudebros is more related not with what games they play ... but with WHY they don't play other games

This groups is absolutly FLOODED with people who don't play happy games because they are "too kiddy" or "too gay" or "too girly"

And I absolutly DESPISE this mentality
 
I see the term "dudebro" in the same light as "neckbeard." They both stir up negative connotations of self-absorbed, overly manly men who resort to puerile, knee-jerk behavior. Obviously, there's more depth to men who like "dudebro" type games, and who happen to have beards that extend down their necks, but the image and stigma are still there.

Anita Sarkeesian could explain it much better I'm sure.
 
jmdajr said:
Bad dudes, a true dude bro game.
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And one with a deep, sophisticated, epic story written by the best of the best out there.

data_east_bad_dudes_ad.jpg


tumblr_lnl5ls8kk51qa6wvao1_500.png
 
Gun Animal said:
When I worked at gamestop I worked with this dude who bought all the latest dudebro games, cod, madden, gears, halo etc etc, I thought of him as a jock and a social drinker. Well anyways it turns out that unbeknownst to the rest of the staff he liked shit like Deathsmiles and Hyperdimension Neptunia and was really into lolicon. It just goes to show... maybe it's better if you think everyone is a dudebro..... you don't want to open those worm cans of worms.
Click to expand...

Halo and Deathsmiles, excellent choices. Further proof that Weeabros have superior taste.
 
A lot of GAF use "dudebro" in a lighthearted way. Those who actually use that term seriously... well... I recommend not getting into an argument with them because it'll never end.

The Albatross said:
Chances are, the people who call dudebros, who call everything you like "gay" probably don't exist. You're creating someone who doesn't exist to make you, yourself, feel better.
Click to expand...

Those people do exist but they shouldn't be called "dudebros" because there's a far better term for them: "Assholes." From my experience they are a minority, though. Most people who play "dudebro games" are too wrapped up in their own lives to really give a shit about one's nerdiness.

EDIT: Like, they may form an impression of you but they won't give enough of a shit to really act on it.
 
Because I'm sick of so many games being dudebro games. Get more variety in there. MS showcases dudebro games like they're the best. Racers, shooters, and sports. Get more games that are just about fun, exploring and don't need to be about killing (and don't restrict them to kinect). Make more characters that are unique and not just muscle bound humans and space marines or army dudes.
 
Why are dudebros being so defensive lol. Every caste has its "undesirables" and dudebros are the undesirables for gamers. Basically your philistine ways are responsible for the exodus of PC developers to exclusively churn out twinstick military shooters with autoaim. You killed Hudson and Maxis and Westwood and Microprose and Ensemble. You're the reason EA isn't the penny-stock it deserves to be. It took us decades to kill Acclaim and Midway but you guys just created new monsters.
 
Since we're throwing definitions out there.....

12-22 year old males.

Buys and perhaps pre-orders the following games year after year:

Madden/FIFA
CoD
NBA2k
Assassin's Creed

and nothing else.

Has no interest and does not possess the ability to play much else and is fine with that.

Is not on message boards or really clued into what's going on with games or the gaming industry, but will talk about the four or five games they buy and play annually.
 
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