The Gamer's Quarter

[xvs07]

I just posted the following over at the Penny Arcade forums, 'cause I thought that's where I might get the most response, but I'd also like to hear your thoughts about the topic, as y'all tend to be wiser and smarter than average:

I read this, then I read the post-PAX thread and remembered the three concerts of '06, and a light bulb that's been flickering in my head for a long time finally sputtered to life: Why is it that any of us can party any weekend we choose in a smoky, stanky dance club, but have to wait up to a year between game-related revels?

Isn't anyone going to *do* something about that? Or are there already a bunch of public, regular, loud, adrenalized gatherings of which I am unaware? If not, does anyone have the first clue about how to make it happen? I'd happily volunteer to help it happen (in the Seattle area, anyhow), but I can't offer much in the way of venture capital. On the other hand, it doesn't have to be a con-sized shindig, and that event I linked to up there apparently cost $150 to put together, though that was in 2004. A simple stage alternating low-budget, bracketed one-on-one tournaments with live nerdcore, covers, and other gamecentric music would be *great*.

SO. Does anyone else want to party a little more often?

[Nana Komatsu]

It's a question of who wants it, and who else will come. We ran into this problem at my college in our gaming club (which was not just video games). I had long discussions with the president about how it's great to want to hold social events for gamers, but actually getting gamers to tear themselves away from WoW or Disgaea or whatever is actually pretty hard. We could've held a dance/concert/rave but who would've been there besides us?

Moreover, it's risky to hold these things. Why sink $500 into an event when twelve people show up and you know eight of them? There's also a fairly large dearth of nerdcore musicisans. How many chiptunes bands are there with any name recognition (three?), or nerdcore rappers who actually can perform in public (I count three, and PAX invited all of them)?

Still, the anime fandom is able to maintain a fairly large number of conventions (a moderately big one every weekend from may to august somewhere in the country), so it should be possible.

[Sushi d]

its truuuuee!~

modern video gaming has become a sort of masturbatory sort of thing these past few years. especially here in america where there are very few decent video game entertainment centers (arcades and the like) in these parts. you could probably place most of the blame on the introduction of the home video game console. but whatever.

the hardest part is really trying to get players to play with each other these days. sure, things like mmo's get people to interact with each other, but we've all heard stories of folks locking them selves away for long periods of time and regetting it.

also, people have different tastes when it comes to video games, and appealing to those tastes is kind of hard on a large party scal. for it to really be effective you have to limit yourself to a niche genre (i.e. Madden!, Fighters!, FPSign!, etc.). that way, all your invitees can be made happy effectively. of course that seriously limits the amount of people coming.

lastly but not finally, the complaint i seems to picks up quite oftens in the form of a quote is "i could just play video games at home". so essentially an event needs to be a bit more than just playing the games. essentialy an event has to be about video games without it being about just playing them.

so and so and such and such, i have no idea about what i'm talking about and dont bother listening but these are the problems with all the stuff i tried messing with. dont forget the whole negative stigma baggage that comes with every shiny flask of the pure essence of video game joy and the whole gamer's lazyness syndrome thing.

i like chip tune concerts. wii need more of those. seriously. i heard there was to be a chip tune festival here in NYC.. its almost time for it too.

all in all, i really wish there was a nice daily/weekly city wide event/place one could go to so one can chill out with fellow gaming feinds (and especially feindettes!) and do stuff.
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X_X

[dhex]

well, there seems to be a lot of chiptunes shows in the city. not my thing, but there's easily at least one a month.

even clubs with a heavy weekly or monthly theme night (goth/industrial, rockabilly, tech-house, whatever) have to put a lot into promotion and recruitment. going to see a show, or listen to a dj and dancing your ass off is a core part of a music scene. the core part of games, as was pointed out, is playing them. that's not all that communal, even when it's multiplayer, and with the popularity of xbox live and counterstrike, it doesn't seem to have the same kind of frisson even a game themed concert does. going to a show is a sort of thing you can only do at a show, ya know?
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[FortNinety]

There's a lot of reasons, but in relation to NYC, and to any major city I would imagine, it comes down to one primary factor: money.

You need $$$ to get the word out, to rent the space, to attract sponsors. Though effective management also helps; in NYC we have New York-Tokyo, which holds regular (or at least used to) game related functions called Gamer's Nite Groove. Problem was that the turn out was very poor due to lack of advertising, among other things. But some also chalked it up to apathy. So many video game related places, primarily arcades, have closed down, hence why many feel that its just plain foolish to spend much money on gamers since they're going to do what they do, and on their own accord.

But then again, the success of DigitalLife seems to show that gamers might be starved for something as well. Its all a bit confusing. But in the end, you still need the money to put together something that will impress folks, or so it seems.

[xvs07]

I'm going to go do some reading up on what it would cost to rent a venue for a night and also possibly some poking around to see just how many no-name nerdcore/gamecore musicians and bands exist in the area, 'cause if money were required to make a scene explode, punk would never have happened. I think you're all right about the importance and difficulty of getting a good turnout, but I have a feeling that's mostly about the subculture's social insecurities, and those can be overcome. There's no reason in the world why I shouldn't be able to find some likeminded folks, rent a cheap space somewhere in the city limits, and do something awesome and fun with it. If it's badass enough, people will come.

Edit: Oh yeah, and about getting the word out: I figure a website, possible crosslinkage from friendly websites, posting to public bulletin boards, word of mouth, and a street team should cover the angles and not kill anyone's bank account.

[FortNinety]

[dhex]

it's not really enough. besides, street teams would be pointless unless you think there's enough general population interest in this kind of thing.

the web isn't an instantaneous feedback machine; it's the world's most crowded community bulletin board.

first find performers and plan the show. then shop it to local venues that do odd things. you will probably not get a fri or saturday night. maybe sunday night? that might be your best bet.

after that, start with local indie game shops, maybe? even the pen and paper variety. and comic book stores. maybe even your local regular bookstore. with a 4x6 card type announcement thing.

good luck.

again, i would suggest that games are not like punk rock, in that they do not fulfil a major requirement of any musical or art scene (getting people laid). i am not joking in this regard.
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[xvs07]

So you're saying I have to make gaming crotchworthy? ... I think I can do that. Yes, I'm sure I can.

[dhex]

well, it helps. why else do people put up with clubs and restrictive clothing?
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[Nana Komatsu]

[SuperWes]

I was always surprised at how many there were. You don't see too many book or movie related concerts, do you? I can't think of a single one, but I can think of at least three game-related ones.

Does a large market even exist for this type of thing?

-Wes
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[xvs07]

I don't think there's a large market yet, but there could be. I find ludic prowess sexy and completely worth celebrating, and I doubt I'm completely alone in that.

[Harveyjames]

[Nana Komatsu]

People keep telling me that anime conventions are "hotbeds of sin:" and everyone who goes to them gets laid, but I have never found that to be true (and I'm at an anime convention right now!)

[Harveyjames]

Maybe you should have dressed up as Tifa instead of Sgt. Frog.

[Nana Komatsu]

Yeah I don't have the rack for Tifa.

[Lockeownzj00]

My main thing is actually ever getting to these conferences. Some day. Next year, hopefully.

It's not just PAX I'm interested in, though. If huge LAN-cons ever decide to come eastward, I definitely would dabble with some pro-gaming tournaments. But then again, I'm behind the times--all the games the kiddies are playing now are too powerful for my computer. My skillset is obsolete! *cries*

Ahem.

[helicopterp]

[dessgeega]

don't despair!


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[helicopterp]

Awww, you always know how to make a body feel better about the world, Dess.
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Like you thought you'd seen copter perverts before. They were nothing compared to this one.

[kirkjerk]

I definately most enjoy social "couch" gaming... the GameCube is the current king of that, IMO.

I try to get friends together every month or so. My home AV setup is focused on a big projector screen, so games that subdivide the screen into quarters are no problem. The groups names is FoK'N'A, for Friends of Kirk's Nintendo Association, obviously a kind of shoehorned backronym.

Also, lately I've been trying to help revive/keep alive NECG, New England Classic Gaming. It's been kind of defunct for a year or so as he guy who usually hosts has been moving, but by moving to AtariAge forums we hope to revive interest.

The meets have been a balance of swapmeet and gaming. Usually people are puttering around with various games in the usual host's MASSIVE classic collection, but there's generally at least one tourney. Personally I'd like to see the emphasis more and more on gaming, but you know.

Anyone in the Boston-ish area might consider checking it out... in practice the emphasis isn't ALL that classic, though it should always have a healthy respect for all generations of consoles....

[Harveyjames]

[kirkjerk]