How the Hardcore Built...
the great gaming wall
the great gaming wall
Page 1 of 5
[continued from the Front Page]believe “Star Wars” wrecked movies (while the masses say it saved it). “Star Wars”, as time went on, began to become dominated by enthusiasts. What was once entertainment turned into a cult. Soon, “Star Wars” fans began to become seen as dorks, virgins, and all around losers.
Another excellent example of this would be Star Trek. Only with the fourth movie did the franchise become ‘big’ and Paramount gave a green light to Gene Roddenberry’s new series: “The Next Generation”. Ratings grew. But enthusiasts began to emerge and turned the show into a cult (which began to run the franchise into the ground). These ‘Trekkies’ had their conventions, their vast number of books, and were literally absorbed by ‘Star Trek’. Paramount began to focus on appeasing the enthusiasts than going on their original concept of entertainment for the masses. Trekkies wanted a more mature and character based Star Trek. They got “Deep Space Nine” (whose ratings only sank). They wanted another starship show so they got “Voyager” (whose ratings also sank). Eventually, they ended up with “Enterprise” whose ratings were so poor that Paramount had to kill the series (as well as the movie line). Star Trek ceased to be seen as entertainment for the masses and began to be seen as a ‘cult’ in itself. Stigma grew about ‘trekkies’ as the franchise withered on the vine.
The comic book industry, once the apple of everyone’s eye with its creations of Superman, Spider-man, and all the rest, turned cult like and imploded. People said it was time for the comic book industry to ‘grow up’. It was time for ‘mature’ comic books, even some with lots of violence and nudity. Dark themes were in. As the comic book industry crashed, collectors got burned. The enthusiasts’ demand for ‘mature’ and ‘dark themes’ drove away the bread and butter of the comic book industry: kids and their families.
The parallels between the video game industry and these other forms of entertainment should be easily seen. The move toward ‘mature’ and ‘dark themed’ games will only drive away kids and families, the bread and butter of the games industry. (Strangely, many people collect ‘games’ as comic book fans collect ‘comics’).While game websites cheer over the cosplayers, others view them as the Trekkies of today. Gaming, once a mass focused industry, is beginning to slip into a cult like focus.
Page 1 of 5 - 1 2 3 4 5 - Next >>
[discuss] -
-
