Japanese games vs American games

Ive never done xbox live or any online games for that matter, i have no desire to, plus, thats a leap into geekdom im not ready to take :p hehe. Actualy, being a girl and liking video games is a bit embarressing at times, it is typicaly a guy activity unless youre playing some borring casual game, people tend to be surprised when i mention i play video games. I also think the craze over gamers in asia is funny, here in america, gamers tend to be nerds, a bit of outcasts, at least the ones i know. which is fine with me, i tend to like gamer nerds, they are fun to hand around, and if im one of the few girls chasing after them it makes it easier, lol, i lile rockers too, but so does the other 90 percent of america. I agree that the wii is inovative for trying new things, i will probably get it sometime this year, but thats the problem with it, all the crap they are spitting out from it replacing quality with quanity at least when it comes to game selection. I have only played mario on it, while fun, last time i liked mario was when it was on supernintendo, so i dont tend to be a fan. This guy i work with reassured me that there are other games besides that, that id actually enjoy. He thought that i should get a 360 cause of the game selection, in the past i have always been a sony fan, i cant see spitting out all that money on a ps3 especialy if all the good games are going to 360. I think that sony shot themselfs by adding blue ray, the graphics, while great, arent THAT much better, they should have made a plue ray player for movies but kept it seperate from the game system. They also had so much hype around it, but honestly i think it fell short. I am still a sony fan, my ps2 never fell short, but the ps3 is too expensive for me to be able to afford anytime soon so my next console will probably be a wii followed by 360 and then maybe a ps3, but only if it drops in price. i wish i were rich maybe someday. -megan

I've actually always HATED the Playstation controllers, it's always been one of the reasons why I've refused to buy a Sony system

Lots of people love it, I just personally find it awkward and uncomfortable

Actualy, being a girl and liking video games is a bit embarressing at times, it is typicaly a guy activity unless youre playing some borring casual game, people tend to be surprised when i mention i play video games.

Not too embarassing for me, you see I work at a videogame testing company, there are loads of gamers working there, and yes including girls, and they don't care (in a negative way) if you like them since we have to work every day on games.

Also most testers I see are not nerds, a higher proportion of the guys have longer hair than average (being 2-3%) though - oh and there is no dress code. So there is no one saying guys need short back and sides, though most have short hair, no one saying your hair needs to be styled in some particular way either.

Schala wrote:

Actualy, being a girl and liking video games is a bit embarressing at times, it is typicaly a guy activity unless youre playing some borring casual game, people tend to be surprised when i mention i play video games.

Not too embarassing for me, you see I work at a videogame testing company, there are loads of gamers working there, and yes including girls, and they don't care (in a negative way) if you like them since we have to work every day on games.

Also most testers I see are not nerds, a higher proportion of the guys have longer hair than average (being 2-3%) though - oh and there is no dress code. So there is no one saying guys need short back and sides, though most have short hair, no one saying your hair needs to be styled in some particular way either.

i didnt know any place would make you style your hair in a certain way, i guess keep hair from being crazy, i think longer hair looks better on guys anyways. I use the word nerd lightly, i call myself a nerd but im not nerdy i just like video games and i can be a bit hyperactive with friends, but am not a nerd. That is cool you get to test games, i would imagine that would be a blast. For me it is mostly embarresing to friends, i think they have this negative steriotype in their head and i am constantly scared i might fall into it. If i worked where you worked i probably wouldnt have problem with it at all. That really is an awesome job, how fun must that be, to test games all day. So jelouse!

i didnt know any place would make you style your hair in a certain way, i guess keep hair from being crazy, i think longer hair looks better on guys anyways. I use the word nerd lightly, i call myself a nerd but im not nerdy i just like video games and i can be a bit hyperactive with friends, but am not a nerd. That is cool you get to test games, i would imagine that would be a blast. For me it is mostly embarresing to friends, i think they have this negative steriotype in their head and i am constantly scared i might fall into it. If i worked where you worked i probably wouldnt have problem with it at all. That really is an awesome job,how fun must that be, to test games all day. So jelouse!

Places with dress codes, especially in the US, have the right to require different but equal burden things. I think it's pretty stupid, but yeah.

They can require a certain length of hair maximum (mostly on guys, even in the army and prison), on women they'd require the hair to be styled sometimes (if the job is with the public), otherwise they leave it to their better judgment. They require short nails, no nail polish, on guys. For women, they either don't care, or if in public, might require some length/polish. They might require no jewelry at all (usually a safety reason, with huge machine where it could kill you), or no jewelry for men (a stereotype only, no other basis for it). They might require ties for men (and not for women). Allow skirts for women (but not for men, no shorts either even at 100 F in summer with no AC).

And well, some businesses have uniforms. Uniforms may be unisex, or gendered, each with their own requirements. Schools that have strict dress codes and uniforms usually have the gendered version, with differing hair requirements.

I prefer long-haired guys too. Especially very long hair, mid-back or longer. The average of men with long hair is 2-3% (as defined by shoulder length or longer). But some places have higher ratios, like 5-10%. Contrary to the stereotype that gay men are necessarily feminine, most gay men have short hair (97% at least).

Wether people have this negative stereotype of gamers doesn't really matter to me. I'm much more irked by being seen as male than as masculine (the latter seldom happens, the former happens in some situations, where my legal ID needs to be revealed, or if I speak about my intersex condition to someone).

Some of the game testing is boring. You just run around and make sure a given area of the game has no terrain related bug, that's called level-design. You verify if the game system, like spells, save points, enemies, weapons, armors, special effects or whatever else (depends on the game) works fine.

You can find pretty weird bugs though. And that's the funny part. Some guys I work with were able to have objects stick to them, sometimes through them, or become their 'weapon'. You've not seen anything funny til you see a character dual-wielding hydras - holding them by the heads connected to hands.

I cannot say which I really like better, since Japan came up with many of the better fighting games, and the U.S. was the place where Apogee Software was founded. Also, the Zork trilogy was made by Infocom, an American company which made the best text adventures of all time, so I'm hardly able to come to a decision here.

Great American video game accomplishments (all in my opinion): The Zork trilogy, Commander Keen, Duke Nukem, Wolfenstein 3D, Defender, Centipede, Asteroids.

Great Japanese video game accomplishments (again, in my opinion): Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Arkanoid, Street Fighter.

Admittedly, I'm leaning towards America, but I definitely think that Japan deserves credit for being the home country of Taito, Namco, and Nintendo, all of which made some great arcade games. Miyamoto of Nintendo created many of Nintendo's best known characters, such as Yoshi, Mario, and Donkey Kong.