Gaming Culture:
A Look into the Language

For most people, the start of the gaming culture culminated around the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System on October 18, 1985 (Businessweek, 2008). Since that time game consoles, as well as the communities around them, have developed their own culture and, in some instances, their own language. The gaming culture has even grown to the point where it influences other aspects of daily life. This article will focus on the following questions:
1. Who is the gaming culture?
2. How has the gaming culture developed its own language?
3. How has the gaming culture influenced other groups?

Who is the gaming culture?

When you talk about the video gaming culture, most people immediately picture a youthful person around the age of thirteen. This is far from the case. The average age of a person in the video game culture is 33, and this person has been playing on average for 12 years. The average age of the most frequent purchaser of video games is 38. Sixty-seven percent of American Heads-of-Households play computer and video games. (ESA, 2008) The video game culture is not that of teenage boys. The video game industry is a large entertainment segment comprised of $9.5 billion in sales for 2007. (ESA, 2008) Thirty-eight percent of all gamers are women, and women over the age of eighteen (31%) represent a significantly larger portion of the market than boys under the age seventeen (20%). (ESA, 2008) Additionally, in 2007, 24% of Americans over the age of 50 played video games. And with the introduction of the Nintendo Wii gaming console, this number is expected to grow significantly. (ESA, 2008)
As you can see, the video gaming culture encompasses far more people than the stereotypical member of a teenage boy. Gamers come from every segment of the American population, and most have been a part of this culture for many years. While it may be true that gaming started out as a phenomenon linked to teenage boys, it has rapidly expanded to be a serious competitor in the entertainment market, so much so that movie tie-in games are becoming more commonplace. New games, such as Grand Theft Auto IV, are even linking the in-game soundtrack to real-world purchases. (Staff, 2008)

How has the gaming culture developed its own language?

Video game culture has many words that are simply derivatives or intentional misspellings of actual words. Most of the cultures language is based on the English language, and most technical terms share meanings with other software terminology. The most interesting words, however, are specifically from the video game community; more specifically, the on-line multiplayer communities that pit gamers against other gamers world-wide have developed their own verbs such as pwn and w00t. Pwn is a slang version of the word “owned” which gamers use to describe a particularly humiliating defeat. (Spohn, pwn – own, 2008) w00t, which incidentally was voted Merriam-Webster’s 2007 Word of the Year, is defined as expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all); similar in use to the word “yay”. (Merriam-Webster Online, 2007) w00t also has history as an abbreviation of “We Owned the Other Team”, and was typically used after games where one team dominated the other. These are the most prominent, however there are several other terms spawned by the video game culture such as spawn, ping, newbie, greifer, gone gold, lag, clan, and camper. (Spohn, Internet Games Glossary, 2008)

How has the gaming culture influenced other groups?

The most obvious example would be the inclusion of w00t as Merriam-Webster’s 2007 Word of the Year. (Merriam-Webster Online, 2007) However, the video game culture’s influence can be seen in other media as well. Movies, in particular, have been heavily influenced by video games. Hitman released in 2007 was based off of an Edios video game of the same name. Super Mario Brothers, Doom, Resident Evil, and Tomb Raider are all movies that are based off of video game counterparts. (Answer.com, 2008)
Even the style of cinematography has been influenced by video games. Doom featured a first-person sequence in the film, which was a direct homage to the first-person view of the video game. Tomb Raider’s acrobatic sequences are also taken from the acrobatic feats of the digital Lara Croft.
It should come as no surprise that video game culture is starting to cross over into other culture groups and entertainment medium. When you get past the personal bias that video games are purely for teenage boys and come to the understanding that large segments of the general population are a member of the video game culture; it is easy to understand why video games have had such an influence on our entertainment and language. Video games are very much a part of the mainstream culture and will be for the foreseeable future.

References
Answer.com. (2008). List of Films Based on Video Games. Retrieved March 29, 2008, from Answer.com: http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-films-based-on-video-games?cat=entertainment

Businessweek. (2008). A Breif History of Game Console Warfare. Retrieved March 28, 2008, from Businessweek: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/10/game_consoles/source/4.htm

ESA. (2008). Top 10 Industry Facts. Retrieved March 27, 2008, from ESA: http://www.theesa.com/facts/top_10_facts.php

Merriam-Webster Online. (2007). Merriam-Webster Online. Retrieved March 28, 2008, from Merriam-Webster Online: http://www.merriam-webster.com/info/07words.htm

Spohn, D. (2008). Internet Games Glossary. Retrieved March 29, 2008, from About.com: http://internetgames.about.com/library/glossary/blglossary.htm

Spohn, D. (2008). pwn – own. Retrieved March 28, 2008, from About.com: http://internetgames.about.com/od/glossary/g/pwn.htm

Staff, Y. V. (2008). GTA IV Unveils New Music Download Model. Retrieved March 28, 2008, from Yahoo! Games: http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/grand-theft-auto-iv/gta-iv-unveils-new-music-download-model/1199430