To view this movie on a PC download DivX 2.1.

To view on a MAC download this.

hope it doesnt come-across anti-gaming, that really wasnt my intention. but it also wasnt my intention for it to be pro-gaming (at least not bias one way or another), i would just use what footage I got & try to portray the truth of the event - without flashy editing or up-beat sound tracks.

Its up to the viewer to make their own mind up.

(but looking back i do wish i got more footage of people saying what they enjoy about gaming & why, ie more community related stuff) - wot u think?

c00l, im dl-ing right now
but is the footage and interviews only from one LAN?

yeah, its just a small lan - just a friends house - dont expect a pro-gamer event. There are a series of 5 interviews - all about different people from different gaming backgrounds (including myself - retired gamer).

im worried its not gonna come over well, this is my first documentary :/

+ for you my son, good work :) pretty slow host, might be my connection. enjoyed it. :)

thnx chron :)

btw: would appreciate a mirror, its my mates serv

i'll up it to somewhere after i download it :)

Very gj! Should have been longer, though. =)

downloading right now :)

good job

hey nice work man, just downloading it right now
will comment on it later on

well documented and edited .. n1

you only covered a small group of views , something like this for quakecon or something, interviewing some of the more pro gamers, the average joe, and some of the people that dont game (like nadine's pov) would be great

Good documentation man. Now I wonder though. Basically I would like to think I am modern gamer. But my shift is something like this. monday to friday 8-4:30 I am in the office. Monday nights I will play say from 8 to 11pm then have to rest. Tuesday nights I got 5-A-Side Powerleague Football tournemnet, which means i dont play. Wensday nights I would play for like 3 hours. Thursday would go out to my gf's place. Friday am out with m8s/gf and so is saturday night. Sunday nights are tricky sometimes, I am very lucky to even play for 3 hours on sunday other sunday nights am out with family/friends. Infact come to think of it I really have to try and make time to play on sunday night if I know am needed. So really I play around 9 hours a week on average. So for those people out there that think gamers got no lives you need to think again. I mean how the hell do we afford these machines and connections to play. Oh yeah who on earth need a Athlon 1800 XP processor to type letter or email? well thats just another story :) But I do believe there are some gamers who almost play 24/7. And I must admit its hard to quit. I have quit about 3 times and each time i quit i took out like 3-6 months not playing , cut off my adsl etc. Was fine but somehow you start getting bored and found myslef ringning BT to reconnect me. I came back and enjoyed the games again, becuase I was newblised again. so the game (Q3) seems even more fun. So additive yes, but geekness, i dont think so, just a hobby. Anyway am out got to be in office at 8am :( grrrrrrrrrrr!

hey moze :D

Go to bed chron :)

nah, u gotta be in the office at 8...me at 9...ul ;)

bah.. gn all

svsvsvs

quite a nice little documentry, but i dont think it does much to help the pre-conceptions.

yah i agree, always a next time :D

was very nicely put 2gether and very watchable tho. so hope u getta good mark :)

lol thought i was watchin some documentry off TV then, its a very well made video. I like the way you structured the interviews, very channel 4 stylee hehe, congrats m8

Downloading...


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// VaGo [/small] <Mike> [/small]

Very nice. You left enough room for a part II :)

Cheers.

YEH BRIGHTON ROOLZ!!

brighton :/

Ahh, just what ever gamer needs next to thier pc, a roll of toilet paper..... 2:02 - 2:26

Nice documentary. If you are gonna be doing the coverage of the LAN that sizah suggested then I am definately looking forward to that.

Think it will simply enforce the pre-conceptions.

Yeah nice movie simon. I agree with gaming being addictive.. very addictive. But i reackon its different when talking to diff people.. i mean that ginger guy you interviewed seemed to love gaming and couldnt see anything wrong with it... he seemed to think he would never want to stop.

I think alot of what gaming does to ur mind weather you likeit or not... all depends on what your ambitions were are if you have any, and weather gaming is included into this.

I mean i have a gf like naiden who hates me playing games and well i havent lived with ehr yet so i wonder what it would be like when she see's how much i actually do play games like after she'll leave at say 2 in the mornign i'll play till 4 then sometimes as soon as i wake up etc...

Ive tried to quit before completely deleted the game and irc.. doesnt work. Always i think about what i could be doing what i could have had achieved already if it wasnt for gaming i even wrote an article on it my self.

You can call talking to other gamers a form of social contact but chatting is also a form of social contact, however it can be abused (raping). So on when u game, you aren't really alone. But i'm afraid most people consider the in-game contact, which is fragging or teamplay, still not social enough. So in that way gamers would still be "nerds" or "freaks" since they don't have much social contacts that don't involve pc.
I understand ur effort to show people that we are not nerds, but the mass still thinks that LAN-parties are nothing more than a "nerd-meeting". So if u want to show the social side of a gamer, you should better make a documentary about the life besides gaming ...


Nevertheless, nice movie !

Look, gaming can be fun but be honest, some 30++ guys talking about how fun gaming is just looks pathetic.

And I dont think chatting is really social.

Talking isn't just sharing thoughts and giving information.
Talking is eye-contact, non-verbal communication and even some non-consious stuff with the nose.
These non-verbal factors are very important to know if you REALLY like someone. You can like someone online but kinda get bored of someone IRL.

Can get the other way too, some people can be a pain in the ass online but once you meet them they are very nice 'n stuff.

Most chat-addicts and 8hours/day PC-gamers have misled themselves with their narrow interpretation of what is 'social'. Just to keep themselves happy, but they know it's just a mess and they're doing nothing constructive with their time. (been through it myself). Atm I play games about 30 minutes a day, I dont really chat a lot either.

I admit that I wasn't very clear in my own opinion, but what I wanted to say was the fact that the "social life" of a gamer isn't that "normal".
And u describe perfectly that a lot of gamers lie to themselves.
I play games mostly in weekends when there is nothing to do. In the week I simply just don't have the time. I guess even if I had the time, I wouldn't play that much because games become boring after a while. I notice that after playing 2 hours +

What? You have to talk in the "real world" for it to be considered social? What about all the women that spend hours on the phone? Are they anti-social?

well, I think a phonecall is far more social than (type)chatting.

what about talking to people in-game, with voice software?

Good stuff I agree very channel 4 hehe, roll on part 2?

But please ant, Brighton sucks, Sussex uni rules; maybe. :D

It looked like a professional documentary, well done! What I thought was missing was the social part of gaming. I think it looked like the guys where just playing by themselves, rather than having a good time with their friends. It would be interesting to know if gaming made them better friends, if that's how they became friends, and if they hang out outside of gaming aswell. If you want gaming to sound social I mean.

yeah i feel the same, its annoying cos i did get footage of Lyfe talking in detail about the community aspect of games like EverQuest & why they are so popular. He also talked about mIRC (tho as the film is designed for a non-technical audience I dont know how well this will go over).

Im thinking (as u guys are being so helpful) that I'll make make a second edit of this - to add in the community aspect + maybe some other bits I cut out to make it less than 10 minutes (im looking to get this shown on Southampton’s Local TV station - and it has to be under 10mins for that).

btw: I will definitely be making a number 2 & more. I think it is essential that these issues are addressed before esports can really take off.

Very professional done! Great job.

nicely done and sadly very true.
Very good effort :)

Vert nice documentary...
You should call ur main tv stasion in UK and publish this on TV. I bet a lot of people would find this interesting.

URL not found.

=o

my mates server gave up, told ya i needed mirrors

if anyone needs the file to make a mirror I have a copy online on a low-bandwidth server. just imsg me

=/

2bad, was looking forward to watch it. Somebody plz make a mirror!

A nice piece of work seen itself but i think it would have been better to maybe film the normal day of an "addict" and to ask more people not involved in gaming, about how they see it, etc..
But good job. Maybe you can include these things in a longer 2nd part :)

Good job done there. On my mind, one of the best things was that you have included one anti-gaming person - Nadine. It's very needed in things (read - videos) like these.

Definitely worth a [+].

Here Comes SLASHDOT!

you fail it.

I need to be careful about what I say here, since I may be seen as bias, being the host of the LAN...

I think the film was well made - full credit to Simon. I think I would have done a significantly poorer job, if I’d even had the vision to start it. I also appreciate that Simon was short on time when making the film, so had to be selective on his approach.

But... you knew that was coming didn’t you! But, I think the film featured too heavily on the side-aspects of gaming, mainly the number of hours spent gaming, and not the original brief of the pre-conceptions, namely anti-social behaviour and the effect of the time absorbed by Gaming (capital G). Therefore the comments here are purely about the editorial side and question if the film reached its goal, rather than direct criticism of the way it was made.

Predictably enough, I'm pro-gaming. I hold LANs maybe every quarter or so and see it as a highly sociable activity while single-player games are not. Let’s compare LAN and to a lesser extent online gaming to various activities that society holds as social. In a LAN - you get lots of communication between players, as they yell and shout at the activities onscreen - normally directly influencing another player - very similar one may say to a football match. Or maybe to an evenings TV viewing - where you sit in silence, mostly, partially digesting material that you chose from a small selection of pre-prepared, pre-selected material. Or maybe Hockey, where two teams use their skills to out do the other team.

But that’s just the aspect of time spent gaming. Gaming also gives a common ground to discuss before and after the actual event, where you plan or practice tactics, afterwards when you laugh and discuss the better moments. Gamers often spend a great deal of time away from computers talking about the finer details of an aspect of a game or talking excitedly about an imminent release of something new, or why a particular game is crap. And then gamers are often into computers as well - leading to non-game related conversations or events such as computer hardware itself, fixing problems, finding new ways to use computers - ultimately becoming an all-round computer geek such as myself ;)

Then there’s the side effects of all that computer interaction - you can make a profession out of it, and earn your crust - you make new contacts who specialise in similar areas and gain tips - or new ideas which you can turn into tips. You pick up good hand, eye, ear skills which leads to skills in other areas such as driving (which in its own way is a form of computer game, simply without a computer), planning and visualising, holding multiple thoughts in memory at the same time, memorisation.

Only one side of gaming was shown - and that was of first person shooters (FPS) and some real time strategy (RTS) / rapid role playing game (RRPG). Simon admits he didn’t have the time to discuss the real time killers – Everquest and similar. Or games like Planetarion (planetarion.com) where you can spend days playing in a persistent world - and of the community that has evolved around them. These communities are far more active than your neighbourhood community!

Then the effect of time absorbed by gaming cant be measured in hours - it must be measured in what would be done if the player hadn’t turned on the PC. I would count Chess as a valuable past-time. You enjoy the time playing, and come out a better person, having used your brain and learn some skill - planning, logical thought. Likewise with most sports - better coordination, fitness. But what about a horror book? Or the news? Will knowing what’s happening in Iraq effect your day-to-day life? Knowing that petrol prices may rise, does not allow you to change that fact. Is the news simply entertainment like Eastenders? Will you even remember yesterdays news? I wont remember the game, but the skills I learnt will stay with me longer.

I think the film simply leads viewers to think that gamers simply spend as much time attached to their keyboards as possible, without considering that many of us have girlfriends and hence have to find the time to spend with them, have hobbies outside of computing, and that a LAN gaming event is more concentrated gaming than we see until the next one and as a result compound the mysticism of gaming rather than shed a pure light on it to the uninitiated. As a documentary, I feel it fails, but as an interesting insight into the number of hours a hard-core gamer spends and what actually happens during a LAN, it deserves all the success that it will gain, and more.

At this point I just wanna say that Nadine, my partner, is actually more important than my computer, and I think that clip may have been out of context - but without seeing the unedited footage, I cant remember.

Finally - I just wanna say that my eyes don’t normally look like that, but after 36 straight hours (at that point) and the scene where I was playing with power leads for some reason or other... - that was a quick fix, I don’t normally work like that, and I was statically earthed with all the test beds in use. I am a professional no matter how bad that looks, lol!

PS – those of you interested in attending my LAN parties can email me for details and projected dates – Based in Brighton, UK.

definately the best post here, you made very good points especially, with a game giving you skills, just like driving....(memorization, planning, etc.) very good points. and props to you for being a professional ( i imagine that you repair computers or are in the computer field) a professional with a girlfriend making good money and having fun with computers. Good Job.

Then the effect of time absorbed by gaming cant be measured in hours - it must be measured in what would be done if the player hadn’t turned on the PC. I would count Chess as a valuable past-time. You enjoy the time playing, and come out a better person, having used your brain and learn some skill - planning, logical thought.

So you are saying a game like Counter-Strike requires less skill, planning and logical thought than chess does? I've played both, and I find CS far more entertaining yet still atleast in clanwars challenging in those above mentioned areas.

I can't remember who it was, but even a famous chess player has once made the comparison between the two.

Personally, i have the feeling many of the people who consider gaming as an antisocial nerd hobby are just ignorant and biased, and to a lesser extend are part of them stupid. I'm not trying to insult anyone here, but computergames are generally for an audience with a higher IQ, people who seek a challenge. Those people will spend more time playing games.

Spending time "useful" is an impossible definition. It's just an opinion, but sometimes people tend to forget that opinions imposed by a large part of the world are still, in fact, opinions.

I spend alot of time in front of the computer. Call me a geek if you must, but would you prefer that I bore myself with watching TV, or hang after school with thesame people I have already been around all day? I do what I enjoy, at the moment. Next year, when i go to college, I think my study will take up most of my time. Why? Not because I feel the need to do it in, say, 5 - 6 years or even less, but because I'll be studying something that interests me, and the study might just provide a challenge bigger than and more fun than games. Or maybe something else will pop up, who knows? Until that day, I'm gonna be doing what I enjoy most, despite the judgements other people impose on me, even though since they can't read my mind they can't really make any judgements...


Oh, and a comment directed to this movie specifically... so much things have already been said about it, but I missed this: It's written as "Diablo" ;)

wow check out : http://games.slashdot.org/games/03/06/04/1832...mp;tid=186

this is all getting a bit scary.

Heh as a Linux Gamer (Yes we have games in linux) I can play Neverwinter Nights, or Enemy Territory, RTCW, Battlefield 1942, Counter Strike, and more titles in Linux. Then again I dont spend as much time as I used to cause after a point you realize the 1000's of hours (literally) playing counter strike could have been spent not failing math. :)

Nice documentary.

Comparions with TV watching and an interest in sports (particularly football) are the way to go and you touched on that. Gaming is stigmatised by the public at large, and it would take a lot less time invested in gaming than TV/football for people to call it unhealthy. Essentially ppl are pretty stupid and don't think things through, they react don't act, "someone told me gaming is just for geeks so im gonna echo that" rather than juxtapose it with other leisure time activities.

You could go so far into this and still get nowhere, the subject would involve so many different theoretical disiplines, its phd thesis material really, so what you've managed with a 10 min documentary is pretty good. Exploding myths, showing ppl things they don't already know is good material for a documentary.

For my 2 cents, its all about balance, so long as it doesn't take over someones life, its a good thing. Ppl call gaming futile, or time wasted, if you want to be nihilistic, what in life isn't ? How many times have you heard "You should go out and socialise not sit in front of that thing all day" playing a game you lose yourself in the game, going out and socialising you lose yourself in other ppl and/or the beer.

Reassuring to know I'm not the only one that does the play too much, delete game, reinstall, play a little go to step 1 and repeat. I've prolly not come across like I could've but I'm just typing it as it comes ..... have no time to make it make 100% sense :)

Looking forward to Version 2.

I think that if there is a sequal, it should be arcade based. This is all in a LAN party, that means that it doesn't even touch on console gaming. In someways, as I'm sure most of you are aware of, is in many cases worse than PC gaming, and an Arcade is the only interesting way I think you can begin to touch the Console market without make a hostile take over of some Xbox loyalist's house for a few hours. I shudder to think of how badly the pre-conceptions would show up in a PS2 gamer.

Well done.

Just finnished downloding the video via BitTorrent and enjoyed it emensly. I especialy liked the fact that you included interviews with a gamer's girlfriend. Getting the vibe from a larger LAN would have been nice, though I think these smaller LANs are what most of us are used to.

BTW I remember being in Brighton once back in y2k. Its that funny UK destination that thinks stones make a beach. I live in Brighton Beach, Durban, South Africa where our beach is made of sand. Not that I go there. I spend too much time in front of the PC. ;-)

Hooray for Durbs!!

*Ex Banana Boy!* (Westville, now in London :/)

Coming back soon though. I miss the sun!

Ex-Banana Boy #2. Used to surf Cave / Brighton all the time, now in London :(

the docu is a way forward. Maybe could edit it tighter, but interesting regardless. Have been researching one myself, though of diff angle - the morality of gaming rather than the addiction

have a PD150 etc, btw.

am curious what hardware etc was used.

:)

Curious of hardware ehh? I can never resist the temptation to talk about mine!

At the time of the LAN it was a Athlon 2800+, duel-channel DDR400, nForce2-based Chaintech board, all running at 213 FSB. nVidia Ti 4600 at about 110% ish running an Iliama 22"er, RAIDed EIDE Maxtor 60Gb drives in RAID 0. DVD-CD/RW-DVD/RW drives. Firewire, gig LAN, two TNT2 PCI cards running the side 17"ers, normal toys. My old PowerMAX 1000 5.1 sound system.

Heats a bit of a problem so theres a direct run 9cm fan onto a Thermaltake CoolMod Volcano, another pair of 9cms cooling the drive bays and a main 12cm system. Custom Thermaltake-based GeForce cooling. Thermaltake APC 430W PSU. All wired using round cabling etc. Yeong Yang Cube Case.

Its in bits now for a 800FSB P4 3.00 upgrade, RAIDed SATA drives, torn between 1024mb twinchannel DDR400 or 512mb twinchannel DDR466 (running at 400 plus overclocking margin), 875-based Chaintech board if my supplier ever gets it in stock! - multihomed 100 and gig.

This time its due for Innovatek water cooling and a blue case mod - mirrored inside with blue neon and red neon floaters underneath. Windowed at top and m/b side, twin radiator on top other side, large tube water reseviour attached by drive lights.

Would like to see if I can get PCI-based Gf4 MX cards, but the TNT2s arent doing bad in windows.

Under the desk, theres 3 win 2003 machines running the DSL and LAN infrastructure. All services are load balanced - web / roaming dekstops / remote backup, data store / DHCP, DNS, VPN, etc, firewall with DMZ for p2p applications / application store for ondemand installations etc / redundanct, pooled laser printing or local deskjet for the machines with them. 3-peer backup services and server monitoring. Intelligencent logging with SMS alert. Accessed by either remote desktop or phyically by an Omniview box. 24-port 100 switch.

Yikes, 6000 downloads!

Gamers.nu (paid membership needed) (541 clicks)
Lyfes server (1759 clicks)
swertcw.com (3855 clicks)

great job simonb! Im waiting for you making your next documentary on big lans with big players

if u post on here u are at least slightly geeky ... if u have an account even more so .... if u play/chat etc online to people u dont see in real life then you are a bit geeky .... whats so bad with that ...live with it :x

guys, check this out: http://www.dvdocumentaries.com/dv_everquest.html

its a documentary on everquest players.

Nice 1!!!!!!!


"Do you really want to quit?"


Just great!!!!!!

Awesome stuff simon! :)

[+]

!!!

I wish i could d/l it but im only on 56k. :(

Very intresting , As some one who tends to spend a unhealthy amount of time
on a computer say 8 to 16 hours a day...

I do think it raies the same questions as allways is using a computer anti
social on the greater part problery yes. Is it any worse than watching the tv
all night depends some poeple think that tv it better than computing/gaming
due to the fact that you can talk about it with the people around you.. how ever
after trying to watch tv for a few days i am so happy i am anti social bastard.

Women love interaction and its huge pity the interviewer did not speak
to any everquest nutters.

I am 30 and i cant game that much any more I miss lanpartys I missed
getting pissed and quaking. But i dont think gaming persay is a problem
Is just another hobbie for people to lose them selves in.

I hope that gaming will become more social more lanpartys and so
forth..

who knows ..

TBH, Neal doesnt spend 8-12 hours a day on a PC. A few maybe. I may do, but thats cause I work with them.

And I think in this day and age of DSL, I think LAN parties will die out as people VPN from home. The rise of virtual parties will be the new trend, which is a shame cause I miss laughing a someone whos based I'd just airstriked repeatedly into the ground.

Already, 2 or 3 people dont intend to actually attend the next one phyically, just via DSL.

Well I think you visited the wrong lanparty because I really don't think these are the 'standard' gamers. From what I've seen those are real addicts and kinda aged as well. I think most gamers just play 1-2 hours a day, visiting a lanparty about once or twice a year, some rainy weekend day maybe 5 hours, and when its good weather none at all.

I think this 'documentary' gives kinda the wrong impression.

Well made interview

Not to sure about it trying to make ppl believe gaming is not geeky.

If you had shown some footage from a big lan event though, like Qcon someone said, it would have been better.


V professional though, cant wait to see the next one you do, hopfully on a bigger scale :)

GJ :)

Your little 'documentary' didn't represent the modern gamer in any way IMO. Why? Because (and those are just a few reasons)...

1. You didn't interview any players from the major gaming communities (such as CS, WC3, UT2003). AvP? SS2? WTF?!

2. Almost every gamer appearing in this movie either looks strange, seems fucked up or is a total geek.

3. You only interviewed people at the age of 20 - 25 (30?), whereas today MANY gamers are younger than 20.

I hate this movie.

(For more reasons see e.g. R0X' post which I totally agree with)

The only thing I prompted on was that none of the players were playing multiplayer games ON the movie, exept for some AVP gaming in the start everyone were playing Sp, rtcw, avp and stuff...

Not made with Mac users in mind then! Wasted time pisses me off.

download this : http://www.divx.com/divx/mac/ & run the movie thru it.

sorry about the hassle, i know how annoying downloading films can be.

Pretty nice movie. But these guys are far from the avarage gamer. And chatting over the internet is still not social "enough" to most people.

online directory main

Chatting over the Internet should be characterized as one of the most social things ever.
I.e. IRC enables you to chat with up to thousands of people at the same time as chatting with one person in query.

How more social can things get? You have to be all "Touchy feelie?" If you want to communicate you talk, no touching involved.

totally agree - irc owns.

You will be surprised just how much social touching can affect ones relationship. People become closer as you laugh and joke with them in person same as if you had to pat them on the back or even squeeze thier shoulder or even hug them.

People need person to person contact.

Yes, you might speak to thousands of national and international people a day but you don't really get to know them unless you are in thier company irl.

IRC is addictive and can swallow huge chunks of time. Its very talkative. I've writen about 4000 lines in the last 28 days appearently.

But I dont think its as social as real people. Pubs and visits to actual people. With IRC you miss out on about half the conversation - you loss facial expressions and gestures, hidden looks - basicly all the subconcious bonding stuff. Plus theres more of an occuation to going out.

IRC is much more social when some of the ppl in the channel are your IRL freinds as well, and then it becomes a suplimentry and additonal form of communication, rather than the only contact.

IMHO anyway. IRC has its place, and its a very nice place. Would say its a bonding thing although.

Good film
I enjoy LAN partys, we arrange one about every 2 months.
and make an evening of it (7pm-early am) stopping for a Indian meal or pizza.
The players are men in their 40's, and welcome a chance to share there computer hobby and playing TA (Brilliant game) or AofE2 etc, with the inquests running into the early morning.
I have a family of four children which I also enjoy and am a Christian which take up most of my time.
I have had some great times playing and using computers even if I may be a bit of a geek I still have a life.

Looking forward to the next film
GAME ON DUDES.

I felt that the documentary, although covering the material quite well for a short period of time, did leave out some important aspects, like what occurs outside of the LAN party for all of those involved.

Speaking for myself, I personally spend about 3 to 4 hours on the computer a day, be it chatting, playing games, or doing similar "geek-type" stuff like programming, 3D modelling etc. I, like I'm sure a large portion of "true" computer gamers, am currently involved with the development of one game in the beta stages (OMF: Battlegrounds; www.omf.com) although I know some people who are participating in 3 or 4 betas at once, and this is not their career, it by choice. Like someone mentioned above, despite being an avid gamer there is a point at which you simply do not feel like playing anymore. Its not that you don't enjoy playing anymore, you simply can not pay attention to the game properly anymore and you have to get away from the computer and do other stuff.

For myself, I have 2 groups of friends. The one group mainly consists of people who know very little about computers besides general use, while the other is the avid gaming group. Then there's the people who I have met online through gaming who I would never have met in any other way, simply due to their location. The claim that gaming is an anti-social activity is once again dispersed if you look at the way the gaming market has evolved. More and more games are of the multi-player varity, or at least in some for feature a multi-player feature. The few games that are still single player are of the puzzle-based type (a la Myst series). Some games still stick to the single player type but as one can see, even a well-developed game like Oni (look back a year or so) sank not because it was poorly designed in the site of the gaming community but because of the fact it lacked a multi-player aspect (which was originally planned).
Someone also mentioned that the "social" aspects of gaming are different from real life because you can not express real emotions through chat. I agree with this statement. However, they fail to mention the fact that you can attain programs which allow you to have massive assembled team-chats via microphone, which allows you to easily form team strategies (a la sports) as well as rather clearly express emotion. If you want to talk face to face, get a web cam. It can't be used in-game but I've had more then enough chats with people across the globe through their use. Still being considered anti-social? Howso? Because I'm not physically right in front of them?

Now for the topic of social life outside of gaming. Yes, I have one. Currently I am without a girlfriend, but that was ended due to issues I'm not going to discuss on a public message board. I'll leave it at that we are still friends, as we parted on good terms. What do I do besides gaming? I rollerblade. I bike. I go to the bar, the movies, the cabin. I play sports when I get the chance. Although I know some people who are gamers who treat the sun like they're going to melt if they enter its presence or sports as if its going to render them comatose if they try to jog, this does NOT pertain to most gamers.

Video games are a newer thing, brought to the public for personal use basically in the late 70's. My parents do not understand the whole genre and think (like the general public) I am wasting my time by playing them. They ignore the studies saying that controlled playing of video games, unlike obsessive play, is benificial for development of many skills, from hand-eye co-ordination to problem-solving ability. Although my rant here is rather long-winded, the general topics is what I would like to see added in if a second attempt were to be made: social life outside of gaming, positive effects, and the misconceived views of those who do not play games.

Malfrex

great doc. doesnt do much for the pre-conceptions and isn't really anything new, but its well presented and raises some interesting points *thumbs up*

people should read this - good article about 'being social': http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2744449.stm

n1, thnx for ur thoughts - hopefully next one will be less an art-film & more upbeat :)

Mark Ward ownz

very n1 movie!

fast download \o/

Hello

Hi, I'm a long time gamer. The game I have the longest time playing is called Ultima Online, or for people that are familiar with the game it's called UO. Anyways I have yet to watch the movie as I came across this website at work and thus haven't had a chance to d-load it, however I have
read a great deal of the posts. Now in my own personal experience I have spent a great deal of time both "socializing" online and offline. Realistically I do I have as much trust placed into my friends online? No, of course not, how can you fall in love with someone you have never met?

Do I think gaming should be frowned apon, this view may seem biased since I have already stated that I am a gamer but I don't why it should, I have met people from all over the world through gaming and I have kept in touch with people I have met at international conferences and such through email, I have learned alot that could never have encountered in my little New Brunswick town. Now tell what is wrong wih that?

Sure gaming and chatting arn't the most physically demanding things in the world but either is reading or watching the news, however there all educational.

Now that I have watched the documentary I wish to add that it is very well made and would like to see more on the topic in the future.

W:)

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Hi Simon. This is an essay that I wrote for my composition class based on your documentary. I was on television my senior year of high school and have been editing videos for a long time now. This is my take on your video.

“For years it has been presented by the media as an anti-social hobby; enjoyed only by the solitary computer geek.” This is a quote from Modern Day Gamer, a ten minute video documentary that features a brief introduction to gaming as well as interviews with actual pc gamers. Directed by Simon Bysshe, the primary argument of this documentary is that gamers are not the stereotypical anti-social geeks that society has come to label them, but instead they are individuals of all types who simply find solace in virtual entertainment and believe that they are as much like anyone else with a pastime.
The director’s approach was simple. Find a group of white males who are avid gamers, ask them questions unrelated to the topic, and try to prove the media wrong.
Sensing sarcasm?
I didn’t think it was a great basis for such an issue. I found myself mildly learning about the depth of the gaming subculture while realizing how biased the video truly is. It did not offer a broad range of opinions and ideas on gaming, and it had hardly anything to do with the claims supposedly made by the media. Also, the interviews did not give any insight into the lives of gamers. For example, when asked if he felt guilty that he could be doing other things besides gaming, Neal Bruewer is quoted with saying “Other things like what? What’s better than gaming?” I want to know what the director was thinking when he asked such an irrelevant question. Probably a gamer himself, it seems like Simon tried to motivate the audience into thinking that gaming is a lot of fun and that those who participate in the subculture do not tend to fall into the typical gamer stereotype. As I watched it, however, it was as though he had forgotten what he was trying to prove. It turned out to be nothing more than a bland documentary that revolved around five people, four of which who were gamers. I wondered whether or not it could actually convince anyone to change their stance on gamers.
Another area that should’ve been emphasized more in his video is the opposing position. The opposing audience could be anyone, but is most likely comprised of non-gamers (due to religious or parental choices) and those who have not really been exposed to the gaming world. Their view is that gaming permits anti-social behavior, greatly inhibiting human interaction and increasing isolation. Many people, including parent figures, government authorities, and organizations such as MAVAV (Mothers Against Videogame Addiction and Violence) strongly believe in such a claim. Simon, however, did manage to find some time to show some of this opposition. After a girlfriend of one of the interviewees was asked how she felt about gaming, she expressed a dislike for it due to its anti-social tendencies. She mentioned that instead of sitting at home on a computer, gamers could be out interacting with people through sports, for example. It was a good instance of gaming from a different viewpoint, but it was not enough to make up for the lack of substance needed to make his documentary successful. I believe the director assumed that its audience was aware of such information and focused more on the positive aspects of gaming.
In relation to the woman’s claim, there was an interesting study released in Brandweek magazine in 1999 about male gamers that I came across during my research. Titled “He's Smart, Rich, Popular and Past the 9th Level of Doom,” the article describes a survey regarding the education, wealth, and social status of active gamers. An intriguing quote from the article is: “When lifestyle issues and other interests were examined in the study, gamers shattered their stereotypical image, distancing themselves as far from the perception of the pale, frail nerd hunched over the keyboard for hours on end. Instead of locking themselves in the basement and playing Doom, the majority (77%) said they regularly participate in sporting activities, so much so in fact that electronic games ranked second among their favorite activities.” The article also mentions that “31% of male gamers earn above the $50,000 level annually com pared to 22% of the general population.” A study such as this one might have been good to use in the Modern Day Gamer documentary.
Simon believes that society, in general, misunderstands gamers. For that reason, his documentary seems to be aimed towards non-gamers who don’t value or respect the gaming community as he does. However, there are people who claim that the video can appeal to everyone and not just non-gamers. I would have to disagree with such an argument for a few reasons. If the director wanted to make a video that appealed to gamers as much as it did the non-gamers, he should’ve actually spent more than two hours getting research and footage. The entire documentary is from just one night at a LAN party, a gathering of gamers who compete against each other through various games. Generally, it takes a bit longer than that to gather research. Secondly, he does not bother to ask interview questions that actually relate to his argument. Last of all, his video does not give credit to the gaming industry and how much it has grown over the years.
In the end, the video did help me learn a little more about gamers and their lives. I also believe that the gaming subculture deserves a chance, just like any other. ‘Modern Day Gamer’ made an attempt to challenge the stereotype that gamers are anti-social, but its lack of depth made for a documentary that left me wondering if it really did any justice to the gaming world.

thanks for posting this but i think u misunderstand my intentions for the film. All I tried to do was be honest about myself & my friends. Its certainly not a true documentary. If you want to analyse something properly check out Modern Day Gamer 2 : www.esreality.com/mdg2

this brings back a few memories!