games

For example, one of the most iconic images of gaming in the ’90s and ‘00s were LAN parties. A bunch of people taking their computers/consoles to events or friends' houses to play games like Doom, Halo, Quake, Unreal, etc...

There [in the Global South], unless you came from a wealthy background, it’s likely that you instead went to places called LAN houses, Cyber Cafes, Locadora de Jogos, PC Bangs, Game Clubs, etc. There, you would pay hourly to play, either on PC or consoles. In US media it’s an image often associated with Korean e-sports, but it’s far more present globally than LAN parties ever were.

Even within the U.S., LAN parties were never that common. The images have become romanticized in recent years, but back then for every LAN party there were dozens, if not hundreds, of “hey such and such got that new game, let’s go over other house and play it on their [insert 90’s console].” The rose-tinted glasses have caused people to see them as more prevalent and important than they actually were.

Overall, this is something I’ve thought about, mostly in the context of mobile gaming, although the Western core bias isn’t surprising. Sure, there’s a lot of slop in the mobile space, but there’s no shortage of slop in the console or PC gaming space either. It seems that’s just a rationalization for the underlying reason, that the demographics of mobile gaming aren’t the real gaming demographic.

Same deal with youth gamers. I find it wryly ironic when zoomers and younger millennials complain about Roblox not being real gaming, it’s brainrot for gen alpha kiddies. Meanwhile, I’m old enough to remember when their beloved Minecraft was the not serious, no point “game” for the young’uns and not a game for real gamers.