Bizarre, Strange, & Twisted Aspects of Retro Game Culture

[dsheinem]

I have been wanting to create a topic like this for a while, but rewatching the infamous ROT video reminded me that there's a bunch of strange stuff out there that bears further attention and scrutiny. I think this could be an interesting thread to serve as a catch all for those outlying parts of retro game culture, and hopefully to have some interesting discussion about them.

In addition to the ROT guy, there's stuff like over 2000 Rated M Sonic fanfic stories (NSFW), the retro oriented stuff on sites like FurryGaming (NSFW), or even things like the Mario Bros explaining sex (NSFW).

Not all of what I am referring to is sexually tinged, though. There's also stuff like this Final Fantasy LARP, Five Pages of discussion of games on Acid, or even really obsessive collecting.

I don't want to just turn this into an image or video link dump thread or a rule 34 experiment. I am especially interested to see what other kinds of stuff is out there!

Be careful to label any NSFW links as such - and please let's not make fun of folks for choosing to be (sometimes very) outside the mainstream retro gaming community.

[noiseredux]

great topic DSH. I can't look at the NSFW stuff right now (perv), but the obsessive collecting link reminds me of something. Now don't get mad guys, but sometimes I hang out at Nintendo Age as well. Those dudes are SERIOUS about collecting, and it's like a whole different thing to me. Like I sometimes wonder if some of these hardcore collectors ever even play games, or what exactly is driving them to collect. Y'know? Personally, I collect games that I have an interest in playing, but it's amazing to me that some people will collect an entire sealed collection for a system, and then pay to get the games graded. Or like how I recently needed a GB system box, well the person I traded with checked his closet and had like 7 system boxes. Or like I encountered a guy who had 1000 copies of Donkey Kong Land III sealed. It's just a whole different thought process to me than how I go about collecting.

[Anayo]

Up until now I thought retro gaming was a pretty innocuous subculture. Now that I think about it, though, some of the really hardcore collecting I've seen is pretty crazy! I can't be a kettle calling the pot black, since I'm really enthusiastic about accumulating old games myself, but some of the wall-consuming hoards of games I've seen posted on the net make me seriously wonder whether a few of these guys have their life priorities straightened out.

I guess the only other instance I can think of gaming being really twisted and strange is console/flame wars on forums less classy than this one. Anyone who's seen them knows what I'm talking about, though I'm sure they pale in comparison to the fights inside subcultures that have been around longer, like maybe racing or professional sports.

[ChuChu Flamingo]

Too many obsessive compulsive disorders with game collecting. Youtube just opened the flood gate for them.

You can't reason with a collector.

[noiseredux]

Too many obsessive compulsive disorders with game collecting. Youtube just opened the flood gate for them.

You can't reason with a collector.

Yes I do think that collecting can often go hand-in-hand with OCD and even ADD.

[ChuChu Flamingo]

Too many obsessive compulsive disorders with game collecting. Youtube just opened the flood gate for them.

You can't reason with a collector.

Yes I do think that collecting can often go hand-in-hand with OCD and even ADD.

and autism

[dsheinem]

whether a few of these guys have their life priorities straightened out.

You can't reason with a collector.

I was hoping we could steer away from taking this thread in the obvious direction of "Look at these weirdos...what idiots!"

Part of the idea of the "Games as Culture" forum is to have actual analytical discussion of game culture - including this outlying stuff. Yes, it can be weird. Yes, plenty of these people seem a little unbalanced. But once you get past that, what other interesting things can be said?

[ChuChu Flamingo]

Well I guess it is best to get it out of the way first. I really want to know what motivates them. It certainly isn't playing the games as i've seen some that have VGA grading and show them like they're going out of style.

So many things wrong with this video, and this is just an example

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr-hwrUB ... re=related



over




CONTROLLERSSSSSSSSSSSS

[noiseredux]

[quote="dsheinem"

Part of the idea of the "Games as Culture" forum is to have actual analytical discussion of game culture - including this outlying stuff. Yes, it can be weird. Yes, plenty of these people seem a little unbalanced. But once you get past that, what other interesting things can be said?[/quote]

I honestly think part of the OCD collecting, or the need to get trophies or constant 100% accomplishments, or 1CC, etc is a bit of a subconscious need for control. I feel like it's really the same thing that causes people to become a bit addicted to Tetris, or addicted to anything really. It's the same thing that causes some people to engage in self-mutilation. I think that there are many people who feel a lack of control in their lives, and when that happens they search for some/anything to take control of. In the case of hoarding or trophies, it becomes a visual "hey look at this! I did this!"

thoughts?

[Anayo]

Well, I can think of one weird gaming thing that I regard positively. Trouble is most racketeers already know about him. It's Keith Apicary.

The guy is like every twenty-something year old live at home with mom and dad bum, the kind that's still playing with action figures and watching Saturday morning cartoons. By all accounts that should be pretty freaky. Yet somehow Nathan Barnatt manages to take that stereotype and make it gut bustingly hilarious. He's tapped into an entire genre of comedy revolving around gaming and the gaming subculture, whether he's pointing Justifier light guns at strangers on the steet, carrying a sword around in public and saying, "Anyone seen my girlfriend's mom? She ruined my life, I just wanna stab her in the chest real quick.", or taking a glass of water from Peter Jackson and James and Cameron at a gaming convention.