The Gamer's Quarter

dhex · Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 11:22 pm Post subject: sue sue skip to my sue

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060512/ap_on_hi_te/china_online_suicide

"addiction" is pretty beige at this point.

Mr. Mechanical · Friendly Stranger Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 1276

What kind of parents let their kid play a videogame for 36 hours straight?

Ryan - SuperWes' Bane · Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 12:43 am Post subject:

Swimmy · . Joined: 16 Sep 2005 Posts: 990 Location: Fairfax, VA

OtakupunkX · . Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730

Mr. Apol · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 7:35 am Post subject:

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

I hope that Persona 3 dosen't have a suicide repercussion:

The protagonists are high school students that have to shoot themselves in the head to awaken their powers ... or something like that.
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GSL · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 4:35 pm Post subject:

OtakupunkX · . Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730

dark steve · . Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 1110

Are the Otaku Punks more original?

OtakupunkX · . Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730

TOLLMASTER · nippon ichi PR man Joined: 15 Feb 2005 Posts: 187

One time I played Progress Quest for 48 hours straight and nothing bad happened to me. Obviously, the problem was with the kid, not video games themselves.

OtakupunkX · . Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730

TheRumblefish · . Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 258 Location: Florida

SuperWes · Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 10:29 pm Post subject:

dessgeega · Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 11:01 pm Post subject:

i did.

i'm good like that.
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dhex · Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 6:20 am Post subject:

do people really call themselves "otaku" cause i was under the (mistaken) impression that its an insult.
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OtakupunkX · . Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

TOLLMASTER · nippon ichi PR man Joined: 15 Feb 2005 Posts: 187

GSL · Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 2:31 am Post subject:

Your words are as empty as your soul.

'Otaku' in the general Japanese context is pretty much the same as a 'nerd' here--someone with obsessive interest in extremely specialized areas, and usually pretty socially inept.

American otaku, however, are abominations. The word is used self-referentially as a badge of honor in a way that even the classic label 'nerd' is rarely used outside of sarcasm. American otaku love 'Japanese culture', and by 'Japanese culture' I mean 'anime and manga and videogames and the really bad J-pop and whatever bizarre fashions are currently hot in Harajuku'. They give people legitimately interested in the culture and language a bad reputation, and have the 'socially inept' thing going on as well. The irony is that they are otaku with regard to American otaku culture.

My sweeping generalizations, by the way, are certified 90% accurate by nine out of ten experts.

Ryan - SuperWes' Bane · Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 6:49 am Post subject:

We have all been Otaku at one time or another . . . but have we all been emo? Razz

I think those parents should have just played with their kid more instead of putting him in front of a PC/TV or whatever to get him out of their hair.

TOLLMASTER · nippon ichi PR man Joined: 15 Feb 2005 Posts: 187

Lackey · . Joined: 11 Jul 2005 Posts: 1107 Location: Canada

Lockeownzj00 · . Joined: 16 Aug 2005 Posts: 214

I feel the bitter resentment against otaku, but I must say one thing.

You can't view everything through such a...polarised filter. People look at and judge others based on what they "are," but this fails to acknowledge what people "were" or "will be." Everything goes in cycles, and rather than otaku being false and non-otaku being true, otaku can be a stage.

For me, it was a necessary stage. I was never an "otaku," per se, but I was a Japan-junky. Had I never watched anime and got interested in japanese video-games, I wouldn't be studying the language now and going to Japan in the summer. Naivette is a necessary step in the path to maturity. Experiencing otaku-dom and looking back at it in hindsight is critical to avoiding such mistakes in the future.

GSL · Posted: Sat May 20, 2006 5:59 pm Post subject:

That's the difference, though: you used the initial brightly-colored attractors to springboard into a much larger world of learning--as did I. If I didn't play so many videogames as a child, I doubt my interest in Japanese culture proper would have ever blossomed into taking college-level language courses and planning a year of studying abroad (although reading William Gibson's Neuromancer in the eight grade was immensely influental as well--long story, that). The difference between this and the self-professed American 'otaku' culture (and again with the disclaimer that this IS a sweeping generalization and there will be exceptions) is that they staunchly REFUSE to move past the initial infatuating factors and accept that there is indeed far more to the culture--just like in America--than the tiny facet represented by videogames and the like. THAT is what I can't forgive and cannot stand. We're all nerds, or whatever you want to call it, to some extent, otherwise we wouldn't be on this message board reading TGQ, but I like to think that the majority of us recognize the existance of a world much greater than games and anime and what have you.