[-empyre-] culture, counter-culture and hardcore Farmville players

[Gabriel Menotti]

> [Julian Kuecklich]
> I think it's useful to keep in mind that computer gaming itself was seen as
> a subculture until recently, and that some "hardcore gamers" are still
> holding on to this notion

This is a very good point. Gaming culture has indeed been sub- for a
very long time – subversive, even. Then, it seems that it had its
limits directly defined by playing itself. The participation in such
communities demanded high technical know-how.

For instance, the occupation of an arcade parlour still is first and
foremost defined by skills. Not only the names of the best players are
forever carved on the machine’s scoreboards: the players themselves
stay longer on the machines, since they are not beaten. [1]

Hence, is gaming culture going mainstream in the same way that punk
rock did? Does all this casual gaming represent the commodification of
its dynamics and values?

But wasn’t punk rock defined exactly by its technical crudeness? And
aren’t arcade parlours commercial venues in the first place?

There are people that go to arcades to just hang around and
button-mash their way through Tekken. Is it also possible to be a
virtuoso, hardcore Farmville player as well?

How to approach free-to-play titles such as Mafia Wars, whose proper
gameplay entails almost brainless social widespreading, somewhat
indistinguishable from marketing? Is it possible to play Mafia Wars
without doing free publicization of the game?

Are we comparing two different ways of appropriating socio-technical
systems, or two inherently different system logics?

Best!
Menotti

[1] http://insomnia.ac/commentary/arcade_culture/