Category: general

I’ve started doing my ethnographic work here. I spent the evening playing Counter-Strike with a handful of gamers. It was interesting to get to play against experienced players again (I was the worst one there) as well as to put on my ethnographer hat and study them. My little research subjects.
I spent three hours playing. So what was the first thing I did when I got home? Started playing Grand Theft Auto. Maybe there is something to this videogame addiction thing.

I read Sarah Thornton’s Club Cultures again the other day. I read it first three years ago before I decided to turn my interest in videogames into my vocation. It and Dick Hebdidge’s Subculture make interesting reading. While reading them I couldn’t help but think about videogame players. Are videogame players a subculture? WHat consists of subcultural capital for a gamer?

I think that obviously he who has the best computer has a certain amount of capital. Also, there is a certain amount of bragging rights to being able to say that you played Counter-Strike earlier than the other guys (beta 3 baby!). But is that enough to make a subculture? I don’t know. I am not sure what calling gamers a subculture gets me and my research. If gamers are a subculture, then so what? Is this a question worth pursuing? Is a label meaningful? Is it useful? I’m not sure. Something to think about.

The site seems to be acting wonky. It works if you go to popularculturegaming.com but not www.popularculturegaming.com. That worked up untill the other day. I didn’t mess with anything. I’m not sure if dot.tk is screwed up or my host is screwed up or if I broke something. But I didn’t touch it, I swear!

What would be really nice would be a web site that reviews videogames and tells me which platform is the best for a specific game. I’ve got a PC and I’ve got an X-Box. So when a game is available for both of them it often becomes difficult to decide which to buy. Sure a game like Tony Hawk will almost certainly be better on X-Box because of the controller. However, what about a game like Deus Ex 2 or Prince of Persia? or Knights of the Old Republic? Someone make up my mind for me!!!

I started playing today. Them kids sure love cut scenes don’t they? Well, I hate them. I would like to be able to play more than two minutes at a time without watching some stupid movie. I know, I know, I sound like a broken record. I just can’t get over how frustrating I find them.