I'm back from the States with an arsenal of new gaming experiences from the U.S. of A. Crazy Yanks. Gosh, they game differently. No, I'm not just talking about genres here, I mean the mainstream treatment of games. Here're a few examples that go beyond staggered release dates:
Gaming on TV Their games channel G4 is huge, garnering a substantial audience. But it's not just the channel which projects games culture into the living rooms of today's 'merican youth. Games advertising is everywhere, filling up the copious space between segments of main network television programmes. It's as if - gasp - they take it seriously.
"World of Warcraft is the new golf" ...or so said Richard Bartle today at the Digital Identity Forum (quoting Terra Nova). Turns out that the best way to climb the corporate ladder in US business isn't to share details of your latest traipse across the green with your boss, but to compare notes about your latest expoits in the virtual world.
Games shops stink I almost passed out the first dedicated games store I went into. I tried a couple more to make sure I wasn't jumping to conclusions. Compared to the British stores which we haunt, the American equivalents are small, cramped, dusty, sticky and seriously smell like wee. With this kind of public face, it's humiliating to tell anyone that you're a games journalist in case they think you actually condone this kind of behaviour. Ew.
It's OK for the Governator to support silver screen senseless violence, but videogame violence is a no-no 'Nuff said.
Pong creator has cred Nolan Bushnell, creator of Pong, Chuck E. Cheese and the (more grown up) gaming cafe is the new Simon Cowell. He's hosting an X-Factor style show about entrepreneurs called Made in the USA.
Has anyone noticed other differences?
