ECA president encourages action against negative gaming stereotypes

by Majed Athab on Jul 21st 2009 2:50AM

Let's take a step back from all the hard hitting news for just a moment and listen to some conventional wisdom from Hal Halpin -- ECA president and certified defender of gamers everywhere. Over at IndustryGamers, Halpin wrote a touching (and personal) editorial piece about the perception of gamers, the perpetual stigmas we (all of us gamers) allow to be placed on us and what we should do about it.

Essentially, the article tells gamers not to just sit idly when being slapped with negative stereotypes. Our cherished culture is just a bit misunderstood, but it's up to you to make others understand it -- define it for them. So ... get off your fat lazy asses, read Halpin's editorial, and keep in mind the next time someone slurs you because you're a gamer.

[Thanks, Jack!]

Source

Tags: culture, eca, editorial, gamer-culture, hal-halpin, perception

Reader Comments (47)

I LOLed at the picture and the title hahaha
good job ! :)

yes because we all sit on our toilets with a controller in our hand and a rifle by out toilet seat

It's... from a movie...

@Lionbacker

There's no way he doesn't know where that pictures is from? Right? Right? Fuck these new kids.

That picture scares me.

Fat lazy asses? Please, I'm neither fat nor laxy even though I like games ;)

I'm laxy.

Oh, am I ever...

Oooo, dont get me started on how laxy I am.

I need to take a laxy before I poop.

Ok, it was a typo, but you guys are so funny :) Lets just pretend I meant "laxy"

You may not be fat, you may not be lazy, but you're for sure an ass.

okay i'll pretend you meant laxy. weird, i thought you were going to say lazy

B-but, outside is so...scary...
Everyything is so safe in my couch...
I don't think I-I'm ready...I'm afraid of change...

This is my rifle, this is my gun. This is for fighting, this is for fun.

This is my rifle. There are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my rifle is useless. Without my rifle I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy, who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will. Before God I swear this creed: my rifle and myself are defenders of my country, we are the masters of our enemy, we are the saviors of my life. So be it, until there is no enemy, but peace. Amen.

Who put a camera in my bathroom!

Oh, it's you. I thought it was Griffin McElroy for a second there.

What's your name fat body?

fuck you gamer grub

fucking love that movie. R Lee Ermey should be in every movie

I liked the first part way better than the rest of the movie. I don't know why? :\

Probably because it starts off as a comedy then takes a hairpin turn into the gritty realism of brutal war.

I want to go out drinking with R. Lee Ermey. Seeing him get loaded and demand everyone do pushups would be utopia.

Both parts of that movie are excellent.

I agree R. Lee is the best, I miss Mail Call :(

Hey Asshole, You break my play and charge kit?

Let's ignore the weird guy in the picture for just a moment. What I wanna know is where are there bathrooms with multiple toilets in a row, yet no dividers in between them.

That'd be because it's US army boot camp, and soldiers are tough enough to get their willies out in the presence of other men.

best picture ever.

"If Jack Thompson sees you here you're going to be in a world of shit."

"i AM IN A WORLD OF SHIT!!"

"Our cherished culture is just a bit misunderstood, but it's up to you to make others understand it -- define it for them."

Ok, let me try...

'See boss, when I call you a dick licking f-ggot, I don't ACTUALLY mean that you wrap your tongue around other men's genitals. As a gamer, I mean that in the most endearing way possible.'

"What's this controller's name private?"

http://bitmob.com/index.php/mobfeed/Gaming-needs-better-PR.html
This is a great way to start.

Jesus Christ on toast, will you turn off your Photoshop please?

I agree with this guy and I'm sure most gamers would be in agreement also. I think that's why so many people have been have been hanging out at The Speed Gamers charity marathon because it's something positive that gamers can rally around and be proud of. We're tired of people assuming that we don't contribute to society, that we're just fat, lazy escapists. Just because we love video games doesn't mean we don't have healthy social lives and girlfriends...I mean, I'm not saying I do, but I hear of gamers having girlfriends...every now and again.

A JELLY DONUT?!

Is it wise to use the words "touching" and "gamers" in the same sentence?

Those elitist douche-bags over at GameStop don't help the stereotypes. Penny Arcade and crap like that don't help either. Both GameStop employees and Penny Arcade say that gamers are unintelligent losers who can't conjugate a proper sentence.
Furthermore, when people type 'lulz' or 'pwn', they state that they are uneducated. When they actually say 'lulz' or 'pwn', they're publicly stating that they're absolute morons.
Gamers aren't helping themselves enough. I often feel like I'm one of the few intelligent gamers out there. I don't talk about Halo and crap like that in public. I don't wear shirts telling the world that I was born in the eighties or that I play(ed) the NES. I love videogames, but I don't need to advertise. I also don't need to wear my hair like some loser named 'Cloud' or type in "1337". No. I'm too smart for that.
If people want to break these stereotypes, then they need to stop living them.

Now if only people would stop yelling things in movie theaters or clapping at the end of movies, the stereotypes that bother me would be gone...

Um... One of the few intelligent gamers out there, who doesn't talk about being a gamer or enjoying games in public? You see that you're personally reinforcing the negative stereotypes of gamers, right, in that you think it should be shunned and not spoken about in public?

Your comment is just evidence of the existence of the stigma and how it effects your behavior. You seem to hold bias against gamers who are "out" and proud of it. You're a self-hating gamer. Why can't you show your gamer pride without fear of being stigmatized?

@Kokomadeta

What kind of "gamer" are you?
Obviously one who agrees with every negative stereotype thrown at real gamers today. It's true that there are a lot of us who fit into the mold, retro t-shirts and unconventional hair subsumed. However to state that, if you are a gamer than you are "insert all negative affirmed traits here", you are not only being counter factual but also establishing something harmless into something deviant and perverse.
Being one of the only intelligent gamers out there, I'm sure you understand the concept of a fallacy.

In other words, I love gaming and I love the gaming community.
I'm not afraid to show nor share my love of both.
No doubt some people will fit the negative stereotype mold, but that doesn't make me embarrassed about who I am or denounce what I love.
So go ahead and hide behind your carefully crafted sentences, I'll be over here, enjoyin muh gaymez.

well, I read joystiq, and I think most of the commenters/authors are pretty funny, smart and they know a lot about what they like doing best (gaming, the internets, etc.). Now if they could apply this to real life (I'm sure they do) and if people who stereotype could stop being so damn stupid, negative stereotypes wouldn't exist.

I'm lazy, fat, live with my mother (and am supported by her when im not at her home), and I see myself as intelligent.

I still cuss people out when they slur my people though.

(Dammit - someone beat me to it...)

The ECA have better things to do. With time and worldwide penetration, gaming stereotypes will eventually go away.
fullfrontalgamer.libsyn.com

Stand up to read an article? I don't think I'm the one that's doing it wrong buddy.

ECA president encourages action against negative gaming stereotypes

Reader Comments (47)

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