What's with video games?

Glad the OP started this thread!

I'm also not a gamer, nothing against them, but they fail to excite/engage me. One reason is that they don't seem to involve very much of sexual or the sensual; you get a lot of violence, in comparison. And there don't seem to be characters that I especially relate to.

I do like to do word based role-plays, and am pretty active in this in the furry world, generally via forums and what not. I like it because it's a way to write a sort of interactive fiction, to create new characters or develop existing ones, to be able to create whatever worlds and plots you can imagine. I tend to post in a few brief paragraphs, generally, and it's always exciting to see what the other player or players will add next. For me, this sort of 'gaming' has a lot more air, and I find it very liberating. I've also met a few amazing friends this way, that I went on to meet IRL, and still visit. It's very odd to meet a person as a fictional character you've created; it both reveals and conceals.

Again, nothing wrong with video games, just haven't found any that seem to speak to my own experience very well. As a furry, it's even more bizarre not to be into video-games, but we all have our quirks.

 

In the pages of this thread, someone's probably said it already. But here goes.

TV may technically be a hobby, but it's a passive activity. It is purely consumption-- you sit there and take in what other people are presenting. With video games, you participate in what happens. Maybe you are only familiar with usually worthless licensed-movie games which are cranked out alongside the movie, but a lot of games have an unbelievable level of depth that stirs the mind in a dozen different ways.

Granted the types of games that beer-chugging frat boys play may be different from games that are still nerdy (CoD vs. Arma), but video games are a medium. They are a channel for expression both from the developer and the player, and that in itself is really special.

 

Responding to the "mainly guys" thing. It actually isn't. They released a demographics study last month on video game players, and the highest demographic is adult women, with many citing various Multi-player games and mainstream titles, besides casual gaming.

And 48% of gamers are female.

Source: The ESA (Entertainment Software Association - it's a thing) http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2014.pdf

Articles:
Women significantly outnumber teenage boys in gamer demographics | The Rundown | PBS NewsHour
Adult women are now the largest demographic in gaming

 

I was going to post this same thing. I'm hoping the gaming industry realizes this too, and starts making more female protagonists in games (I'm especially looking at you, Rockstar).

 

You might try to check some Bioware RPGs for sensual/story related games. While they don't lack violence at least they drag you into a story... the one you write.

 

Guys like to pew pew things I guess

(not me btw, i like the non pew pew games)

 

I've been a gamer for almost 20 years, and in that time the gaming industry has changed A LOT, and not all of it has been good changes.

To answer your questions, and to echo what some others have said, gaming is mostly just a recreational activity to unwind and have fun. It's probably geared towards guys because for years and years it was a needle in a haystack to find a girl gamer, but thanks to more less-hardcore games hitting the market in recent years (thanks to the rise of mobile gaming on phones and tablets) a girl gamer is probably more like 1/1000 instead of 1/1,000,000

Also, another thing about the gearing to guys... have you SEEN some of the BOOBS on fighting games like Dead or Alive? Holy... shit lol