On Gaming or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace The Revolution. pt.1

(This is going to be a long entry and since it's really about two separate topics, I'll be dividing it into two parts. If you're not very interested in my analysis of the modern gamer and how he's hurting the gaming industry, you may want to skip ahead to why the Wii may be the salvation gamers need. You'll find that in part 2.)
I know I touched on what a modern "gamer" is a lit bit already in my previous gaming post, but let's go over this one more time... What sort of person is the modern gamer? Well sadly, he's not a hard character to describe - at least he's not a hard character to make somewhat vague but most likely accurate generalizations about. Of course this is going to be just the worst stereotype of the most generic gamer, but I think you'll get the idea I'm trying to get across pretty clearly. Let's start with the physical, starting from his head and ending at his toes:
If he's a lucky gamer then he has naturally brown, curly hair which he cuts just short enough to still curl and styles to look entirely unkempt. If he didn't get the curly hair gene, he's likely wearing a trucker or baseball cap. His head is further covered by either a Xbox Live headset if he's playing console games, or another very similar headset if he's playing World of Warcraft. He's not smiling - gaming is a serious affair to this type of gamer, so he's either staring with a bored-but-serious expression, or rambling incoherently into his headset. At best he may give the occasional snooty chuckle. He may or may not be wearing either a hemp, puka shell, or wooden bead necklace. His T-shirt either has some just slightly artsy band like Coheed & Cambria or some vague gaming/vague meme (internet phenomenon) reference on it, worn over his just slightly overweight midsection. Studded belt or faded leather belt with silly buckle is a must. He wears jeans that he pays far too much for, but so does everybody, so that's not all that important. His shoes are typically either Converse or Vans brand - though he may be wearing overpriced leather sandals as well. If he's on the computer (and thereby playing World of Warcraft), he's slouched back as if trying to recline in his computer chair. If he's on his Xbox, he's probably leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees. Proper posture is a faux pas for this gamer. Yes, the modern gamer is basically the worst stereotype of a slacker frat boy.
His mannerisms are the really distinct part of the frat-boy-slash-gamer however. He acts nonchalant about as much as he can, throwing in the occasional bit of "randomness" to appear cool. He speaks in l33t (click the link if you're not familiar with it), despite the fact that it was popular way back in '98 in Ultima Online (and elsewhere) and is totally played out now. 75% of his speech is made up of the words "Pwn" and "Newb." He may or may not own a few different gaming consoles, but he definitely owns a Xbox 360, or at least a 'classic' Xbox. The only game he plays on his PC is World of Warcraft, or Guild Wars - which is basically Warcraft Lite. He may own and occasionally buy a PC game, but he doesn't play it frequently enough to matter. As referenced above, he most likely listens to pseudo-art rock - nothing too artsy or intelligent, just enough to be a little bit deeper than standard radio fare so he can look down his nose with a sense of musical superiority (Coheed & Cambria, Cursive, Dragonforce, maybe even a little Cobra Starship). He does not actively listen to rap, but occasionally uses hip-hop slang for weak comedic effect. Most importantly of all though, is that he doesn't play games for fun. At least it's not the game itself that gives him the most enjoyment. Gaming is a giant pissing contest for this sort of gamer. It's about being the best, the fastest, the first. It's all about justifying in themselves their sense of superiority. He strives to be the best PvPer (player-vs-player in game fighting, for the non-gamer), the first person to reach level [x] in whatever new game comes out, the first person to beat/discover/win/obtain whatever, etc, etc, etc. It's not about being good at this or that game - it's all about being better than somebody else at it.
Looking for something to self-affirm your own superiority really isn't all that bad in and of itself. Stupid, but not much else. The problem is such - this new gamer demographic isn't looking for the coolest new games - they're looking for the coolest slight variation on games they've already played. They want BioShock to be Halo-esque because Halo was fun and is familiar to them. They can pick up BioShock and get into it like a pro quickly. And thus they can win fast and dominate others fast. Random gamer X may only be the 24th best killer on Counter-Strike, but maybe if they pick up whatever the next clone game is before the 23 other players better than they are, then they could master it faster and become the best. And so innovation dies. Games are clones of successful games before them because the new gamer just wants to keep playing the same games they're good at - just with new levels and better graphics (graphics being the most important aspect to the modern gamer). Furthermore, the gaming world is becoming less and less welcoming to potential new players. The games are made for these "hardcore" gamers. Watch somebody who has never played a video game before try to play BioShock. Sure, they might eventually get it - but it will be a long, frustrating, and frankly not very fun journey that they'll probably quit long before they become a competent player. The new player problem is even worse in games that emphasis player vs player competition. How is the guy who's first game is Halo 3 possibly supposed to keep up with the gamer that has played, beat, and dominated the previous two installments as well as the endless Halo clones on the market? Simply, he can't. And since a lot of the "fun" in these new gamers games is in succeeding in the competition setting - that new player misses out... and ultimately gives up.
But don't lose hope just yet. Obviously there are still a few games and game companies coming out that appeal to more than just the hardcore gamer. Katamari Damacy, most "party" games, any of the Sims-type games, and a few other of the quirky 'take-a-chance' type games manage to be fun, inviting, and utterly refreshing. But there is no bigger champion of reinvigorating the gaming world than the Nintendo Wii. Call me a fanboy all you want, but frankly I'm still giddy over the Wii's willingness to rethink not just the games we play, but the way in which we play them. But this post is getting pretty big already... so stay tuned for part 2 of this post where we discuss what it is that makes the Wii worth such reverence.