4 ms·

> "Mainstream" as in something that you could have a reasonable expectation of having a coherent conversation about with any/every human being on the planet. (F

> "Mainstream" as in something that you could have a reasonable expectation of having a coherent conversation about with any/every human being on the planet. (For example, "baseball" is relatively mainstream. "The Beatles", or "Elvis", slightly moreso.) This doesn't strike me as a useful definition of mainstream. I live in Vietnam and I guarantee you that no one here could tell you a single thing about baseball, The Beatles, or Elvis. Hell, just go to Australia/UK and no one will be able to explain baseball to you. Just like you can go to the US and no one understands cricket even though nearly 1 billion people (albeit primarily in the ex-British Commonwealth) do. In any case, your claims about the video game market 15 years ago (in 2003) aren't accurate. In 2003 videogames in the US sold 240 million units. 54% of American households bought a new videogame -- that's far from "mostly something upper-middle-class children owned". 15 years ago 32% of households were already playing video games on a mobile device (phone, PDA, handheld game system). 35% of parents said they played video games. 69% of households said they played computer & video games. 15 years ago 2/3rd of Americans played video games. It was already mainstream. Sure, it has gotten MORE popular since then. But that doesn't mean it wasn't mainstream.

ThomPete 8y ago
Games became mainstream within the last 20 years or so. It wasnt mainstream in the 90’ies which is where i predicted that one say you would be able to score girls by being a famous gamer.
- ascar 8y ago
  That's still a feat today, maybe albeit of scoring with girls that are your fans in the first place.
  - leetcrew 8y ago
    sure, but can you imagine anything like this video happening in the 90s? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZggcP1P1gU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZggcP1P1gU
scrollaway 8y ago
You're not wrong, but that doesn't change the definition of mainstream. It's just a location-sensitive comparison. For a preview of what video games being "mainstream" looks like: South Korea. It's not unthinkable we could get there in the west.
- ineedasername 8y ago
  I don't know what bar you're using for "mainstream", but if it doesn't include videogames in the late 80's/early 90's, it's too high. If being more popular than any other single toy short of a ball isn't mainstream, nothing is. Sure, they're even more popular now, and they may be more popular still in some areas of the world, but that doesn't make them not mainstream 25 years ago. as reference, according to wiktionary, mainstream is Used or accepted broadly rather than by small portions of a population or market. I think that definition can encompass 40,000,000 households owning consoles.
  - freddie_mercury 8y ago
    To add to this: Skyrim sold 30 million copies. That's more than all but 7 music albums ever made. Wii Sports (12 years old) sold 80 million copies. That's more than any album ever. Individual videogames regularly sell more than MUSIC and have done so for well over a decade. I don't know what definition of mainstream there is where something sells 80 million copies and still isn't mainstream.
    - derefr 8y ago
      Wii Sports was one of the first mainstream games. That's pretty much the boundary of the two eras. Everyone at the time was talking about how the Wii was penetrating all these "mainstream" markets that gaming had never managed to touch before, remember?
      - freddie_mercury 8y ago
        Tetris has sold 170 million copies. Super Mario Bros sold over 40 million copies. Both of those games are 30 years old. Wii Sports was not even close to being one of the first mainstream games. The original Pokemon games sold over 30 million copies, inspired a massive worldwide TV show, and that was over 20 years ago.
deleted 8y ago
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patzal 8y ago
some additional data age distribution (pew research 2015) "Although playing video games is especially popular among young adults, a substantial number of older adults play video games as well. More than half (58%) of those ages 30 to 49 play video games, along with 40% of those ages 50 to 64 and 25% of those 65 or older." I'm pretty sure this was different in the 80s. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/12/15/who-plays-video-games-and-identifies-as-a-gamer/ http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/12/15/who-plays-video-games-...

ThomPete 8y ago

Games became mainstream within the last 20 years or so. It wasnt mainstream in the 90’ies which is where i predicted that one say you would be able to score girls by being a famous gamer.

ascar 8y ago
That's still a feat today, maybe albeit of scoring with girls that are your fans in the first place.
- leetcrew 8y ago
  sure, but can you imagine anything like this video happening in the 90s? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZggcP1P1gU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZggcP1P1gU

scrollaway 8y ago

You're not wrong, but that doesn't change the definition of mainstream. It's just a location-sensitive comparison. For a preview of what video games being "mainstream" looks like: South Korea. It's not unthinkable we could get there in the west.

ineedasername 8y ago
I don't know what bar you're using for "mainstream", but if it doesn't include videogames in the late 80's/early 90's, it's too high. If being more popular than any other single toy short of a ball isn't mainstream, nothing is. Sure, they're even more popular now, and they may be more popular still in some areas of the world, but that doesn't make them not mainstream 25 years ago. as reference, according to wiktionary, mainstream is Used or accepted broadly rather than by small portions of a population or market. I think that definition can encompass 40,000,000 households owning consoles.
- freddie_mercury 8y ago
  To add to this: Skyrim sold 30 million copies. That's more than all but 7 music albums ever made. Wii Sports (12 years old) sold 80 million copies. That's more than any album ever. Individual videogames regularly sell more than MUSIC and have done so for well over a decade. I don't know what definition of mainstream there is where something sells 80 million copies and still isn't mainstream.
  - derefr 8y ago
    Wii Sports was one of the first mainstream games. That's pretty much the boundary of the two eras. Everyone at the time was talking about how the Wii was penetrating all these "mainstream" markets that gaming had never managed to touch before, remember?
    - freddie_mercury 8y ago
      Tetris has sold 170 million copies. Super Mario Bros sold over 40 million copies. Both of those games are 30 years old. Wii Sports was not even close to being one of the first mainstream games. The original Pokemon games sold over 30 million copies, inspired a massive worldwide TV show, and that was over 20 years ago.

deleted 8y ago

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patzal 8y ago

some additional data age distribution (pew research 2015) "Although playing video games is especially popular among young adults, a substantial number of older adults play video games as well. More than half (58%) of those ages 30 to 49 play video games, along with 40% of those ages 50 to 64 and 25% of those 65 or older." I'm pretty sure this was different in the 80s. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/12/15/who-plays-video-games-and-identifies-as-a-gamer/ http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/12/15/who-plays-video-games-...