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Post by kaoru on May 8, 2016 16:58:44 GMT -5
Bazinga!
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Post by magic89 on May 8, 2016 18:10:31 GMT -5
Only I know Vin Diesel likes Dungeons and Dragons
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Post by GamerL on May 8, 2016 18:29:45 GMT -5
What I wonder is how long is the mainstream interest in nerd culture gonna last? It's been a thing for about ten years now, I would date the earliest rumblings back to the mid 00's and I think it really solidified in 2008 with the first Iron Man and The Dark Knight.
So it's probably going to be around for a while, but it also probably wont last forever, mainstream culture always eventually gets bored and moves on to something else, I think back to the 90's and early 00's and how popular and cool extreme sports were, you had Tony Hawk hawking Bagel Bites and stuff, but now no one but the very dedicated still give a crap about extreme sports.
What I find funny is when something becomes mainstream only for a brief period of time, professional wrestling flirted with becoming mainstream in the late 90's and anime and manga fandom flirted with mainstream success in the 00's, neither managed to really break through though they still have a sizable dedicated following of course.
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Post by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 on May 9, 2016 2:04:51 GMT -5
Well, that's the thing about Iron Man and other modern comic book movies, they're not typically 'nerdy', and are made to appeal to a lot of people. So, I doubt most people even think of comics, let alone 'nerd culture' when they go see that movie. I certainly don't think people are gonna pick up the comics because of them.
The same kinda happened to video games. If you look at the people who aren't as...let's say, nerdy about video games, as the people on this board, for example are, they usually play the most hollywood-ish games, if you know what I mean. Those big, flashy western AAA titles. Just like how most people who enjoy the Marvel Cinematic Universe probably aren't gonna pick up the comics, most people who play those kind of games aren't gonna dig for obscure gems to see what interests them there.
Although I do think that in video games that's a smaller percentage, probably.
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Post by GamerL on May 9, 2016 5:53:35 GMT -5
Well, that's the thing about Iron Man and other modern comic book movies, they're not typically 'nerdy', and are made to appeal to a lot of people. That's the thing, when something becomes mainstream by the very definition it has to bring in people who were not fans previously, it's a balancing act to try to bring in new fans without alienating old ones and it's not easy to always pull off. I think what partly killed anime's chance at mainstream success was the fact that anime is always made with a Japanese audience in mind, if there's a show that has western appeal it's usually a coincidence and in the late 00's there was a sea change where post-Haruhi school girl centric comedies became the big thing and I think it drove a lot of people who liked action shows on Adult Swim and stuff away. Of course in recent years there's been a big revival in anime fandom with the return of action series like Attack on Titan.
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Post by zargon on May 9, 2016 18:00:05 GMT -5
Yeah, there's definitely a difference between people who like traditionally "nerdy" things and people who call themselves nerds. The former has done some damage to video games, both with the quality of games and the high percentage of generally douchey people in the community, but I'm more annoyed by the latter. Not because I take it as an offense as a proud nerd, since I don't identify as one, as I still recall the word being a negative thing rather than something of pride (or fake nerd pride, whatever), and I remember the more negative associations of the word. Acne infested, friendless, living in the basement, an over-familiarity of porn. But it used to be that if people called themselves a nerd, or were called it by others, you know they were going to have similar interests, the weren't going to be judgmental, they weren't pretentious, and they wouldn't act like a stereotypical frat guy that acts like a jackass in a desperate attempt to gain peer approval. Now many people who call themselves a nerd or geek are the sorts I like to try to avoid.
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Post by vetus on May 10, 2016 16:18:19 GMT -5
The only things I hate about casual people being to nerd culture is:
- "There are only 151 Pokemon" trope: The ones that grew up with the first Pokemon generation, they got fed up with it after a while (with most of them not even trying the second generation which was released only two years after the original) and now that nostalgia and geek culture sells they claim that the first generation is the best one and the later ones sucks although they never played them and they are objectively superior.
- Big Bang Theory: Big Bang Theory is supposed to be a show about geeks, yet it's the most unfunny comedy series I've ever seen that it tries too hard to be funny but it's not. And yet many casual people that don't care about geek culture find it funny and they think it's the best show related to geeks. I doubt if they ever watched The IT Crowd and Spaced or even know their existence. Both of them are great and their jokes can be easily appreciated even by people that have no idea about geek stuff with the most famous example being this:
- Negative reactions for Scott Pilgrim Vs The World: We are supposed to live in an era where retro and geek stuff sells, yet there were many casual people (and not only) whining about Scott Pilgrim being a hipster propaganda, a movie they don't understand because of the niche jokes and references (although it had plenty of references to super popular games like Zelda and Sonic)...yet it's the best movie related to video games, kinda rare since most movies of that kind actually suck like The Wizard.
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2016 16:37:03 GMT -5
It used to bug me that the people who shoved me into lockers as a kid are now "into" the same shit I used to get shoved into lockers over. Now I just drink a lot.
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Post by moran on May 10, 2016 16:48:31 GMT -5
It used to bug me that the people who shoved me into lockers as a kid are now "into" the same shit I used to get shoved into lockers over. Now I just drink a lot. It's the preferred coping method. The amount of people that used to shit on me for having long hair, listening to metal, and playing video games that now do all of the above astounds me. Although they listen to shitty metal, play bland games, and I can only really attribute the hair growth to the popularity of first Johnny Damon and then Tom Brady over the past 10-15 years. But still, all the same.
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Post by JDarkside on May 10, 2016 17:23:55 GMT -5
This is kind of sad.
More people like the thing you like ...and this is a bad thing? You guys are really holding onto old grudges or putting too much of your identity in the things you like. Old jerks share a common interest with you and may not be jerks anymore, good for them. More people like what you like and you can help people learn more about the thing you enjoy so they enjoy it more, also good. I joke about anime newbies and all, but by no means do I hate any of them. They're just getting started and they may form their own tastes as time goes on. And that's good.
Feeling like a medium should belong only to people you like or think are liking it the right way is gatekeeping BS. Just go play a game or listen to some metal if you're annoyed by the kiddies or newcomers. Actually enjoy the thing you enjoy instead of stressing over who likes it or not.
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Post by moran on May 10, 2016 17:32:52 GMT -5
I may or may not be exaggerating a little.
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Post by vetus on May 10, 2016 18:26:23 GMT -5
It used to bug me that the people who shoved me into lockers as a kid are now "into" the same shit I used to get shoved into lockers over. Now I just drink a lot. Still not as irritating as assholes that bully others at schools (and I mean real bullying like the one you mentioned) and then they shed crocodiles tears after hearing that a bully victim kill themselves. Of course after a few weeks they return at bullying again.
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Post by Allie on May 10, 2016 18:28:08 GMT -5
This is kind of sad. More people like the thing you like ...and this is a bad thing? You guys are really holding onto old grudges or putting too much of your identity in the things you like. Old jerks share a common interest with you and may not be jerks anymore, good for them. More people like what you like and you can help people learn more about the thing you enjoy so they enjoy it more, also good. I joke about anime newbies and all, but by no means do I hate any of them. They're just getting started and they may form their own tastes as time goes on. And that's good. Feeling like a medium should belong only to people you like or think are liking it the right way is gatekeeping BS. Just go play a game or listen to some metal if you're annoyed by the kiddies or newcomers. Actually enjoy the thing you enjoy instead of stressing over who likes it or not. Eh. I kind of get it. People don't like that their "common ground" or their "icebreaker" is being nullified by people much more charismatic than they are. Of course they're going to be annoyed.
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Post by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 on May 11, 2016 2:56:20 GMT -5
This is kind of sad. More people like the thing you like ...and this is a bad thing? You guys are really holding onto old grudges or putting too much of your identity in the things you like. Old jerks share a common interest with you and may not be jerks anymore, good for them. More people like what you like and you can help people learn more about the thing you enjoy so they enjoy it more, also good. I joke about anime newbies and all, but by no means do I hate any of them. They're just getting started and they may form their own tastes as time goes on. And that's good. Feeling like a medium should belong only to people you like or think are liking it the right way is gatekeeping BS. Just go play a game or listen to some metal if you're annoyed by the kiddies or newcomers. Actually enjoy the thing you enjoy instead of stressing over who likes it or not. I don't think people posting in this thread are foaming at the mouth with anger, nor do I think people are trying to keep 'outsiders' from their hobby. But every time you (or rather, I) see someone IRL who says they're a gamer, or a nerd, they still kinda think less of you if you prefer old games, have a Wii U, or watch anime or whatever. They'll be praising up Pokémon and play some old ROM on an emulator on their smartphones, but when you mention you have the newest installment on 3DS, that's suddenly not cool. These aren't the kind of people that are going to broaden their taste in games, these are the kind of people who buy a PS3 with FIFA, buy maybe another 4 or 5 games for it, and then they get to a point where they get bored with it. They might go through another fase, with the PS4 or a gaming PC, but they're never going to take games that aren't western blockbusters seriously. It doesn't make me enjoy my games any less, and it certainly doesn't bring my piss to a boil, but it would be nice for once that when somebody introduces themselves as a gamer, they know what a fucking NES is.
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2016 3:39:41 GMT -5
Yes and no. Some games have been ingrained into the popular consciousness (Halo, Mario, Sonic, etc.) but other games tend to remain varying degrees of dedicated-niche (Dark Souls, Rocket League, any non-Street Fighter fighting game on this side of the Pacific, etc.)
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