Is Gaming the New Beatles?

[Anderton]

 

"For entertainment spending, this was the first year that gaming ($116B) surpassed TV ($105B), box office ($41B) and music ($17B) for entertainment dollars."

 

Think of the YouTube channels that carry live gaming...how people wait for the latest games with anticipation...how it's clobbering other entertainment media.

 

So how does music fit into this? Check out this email (excerpted) that was sent to Bob Lefsetz.

 

 

 

From: Lenny Ibizarre

 

Fun fact: I have 23 tracks on the latest release of Gran Turismo Sport, the racing game.

I did all the menus, Lewis Hamilton did the steering wheel calibration.

In the first quarter of 2018, we sold over 3,5 million copies, meaning, I've sold over 80,000,000 songs in the first quarter.

That's 4 times more songs than Bruno Mars sold all last year, in one quarter; I song 16 times faster than him, and some 25,000,000 songs more than Ed did all last year.

Heres the fun facts:

1. I am, track-for-track, the HIGHEST selling artist on the planet right now.

2. Due to the rush of Xmas sales, I am also the FASTEST selling artist in the world right now.

3. But because it is a flat fee (video games O.M.) I am also, track-for-track, the LOWEST paid artist in the world right now.

4. And the fact that I had to tell you that makes me the most UNKNOWN and obscured artist in the world right now.

Those chuckles will keep me warm this winter, as I fly WAY below the radar...

 

It's an interesting perspective on the music industry...

 

 

[MikeRivers]

 

From: Lenny Ibizarre

 

1. I am, track-for-track, the HIGHEST selling artist on the planet right now.

2. Due to the rush of Xmas sales, I am also the FASTEST selling artist in the world right now.

3. But because it is a flat fee (video games O.M.) I am also, track-for-track, the LOWEST paid artist in the world right now.

 

I don't know why this would be the new Beatles, but it's certainly representative of the new MUSIC INDUSTRY.

 

[ggm1960]

I've often thought writing the music for video games would be a really fun thing to get into!

[Notes_Norton]

I personally wouldn't use the Beatles comparison.

 

Perhaps in terms of money making, but I see gaming music more like writing for movies and TV shows. It's primarily accompaniment music, and not necessarily designed to stand on its own. Think of not the theme songs of movies, but the accompaniment to underscore the action on the screen.

 

I've read articles about it and it's an interesting field for those with the talent and desire to follow it.

 

Me? I haven't played video games since the "pong" days, so I wouldn't know how to start. But if someone wants to use my Band-in-a-Box aftermarket products to create music for games, you're welcome to do so without paying royalties to me. Do let me know so I can get bragging rights though

 

Notes

[Anderton]

I'm not talking about the music being the new Beatles, but gaming being the new Beatles. When Beatles albums were announced, people would get in lines at record to check out the latest. They were subjects of discussion and ubiquitous. Now it seems that gaming has the same kind of status in society.

[AlamoJoe]

I'm not talking about the music being the new Beatles' date=' but [i']gaming [/i]being the new Beatles. When Beatles albums were announced, people would get in lines at record to check out the latest. They were subjects of discussion and ubiquitous. Now it seems that gaming has the same kind of status in society.

 

I get what you're getting at, and I see the comparison you're making. The phenomena of gaming compared to the phenomena of the Beatles and you're spot on. My kid...Well 23 year old kid, comments all the time about the sequels/updates to game franchises compared to the originals and previous updates/versions/sequels. With the same enthusiasm/disdain we used to spew about albums/artists. Gaming, I think, most certainly is the New Rock Sensation.

 

[RockViolin]

I think it's fair to say that it's occupied a lot the space that might have once been reserved for the new Beatles. And that's just in keeping with the assorted ways that music has lost it's prominence, or has become a sidecar. The new Beatles should be making parents and elders decidedly uncomfortable though shouldn't it? A lot of dad's enjoy gaming with their kids, it seems.

 

Fessing up to a gaming habit that began when I got an iMac back in 2011. Almost right away I started playing Red Crucible 2. Mostly tanks, choppers, and of course guns. I can honestly say that I've thoroughly enjoyed it a lot of the time, but the game has dwindled considerably and do to platform changes has issues and bugs, and of course hackers. We adapt though. I'll keep playing it to some degree as long as they keep it going. It serves as a nice break in the day and the experience I've gathered has it's advantages. I'm better at it than I should probably admit to being.

 

It's hard to put into words...but there was a part of me that was dormant after my neck was injured that was reawakened by the online gaming I've done. Perhaps the part that has to quickly assess what's taking place, form a plan, take action, and adapt. Anyway, it has carried over in good ways I think, and I don't consider the time playing to have been poorly spent.

 

As for the music, I find I prefer to game with it off. It's an unwelcome distraction for me whether it's any good at all or not. I don't even have game sounds on most of the time, unless they are of vital importance. Perhaps to be a little more aware of my actual surroundings and I think I find it less stressful that way. It is battle...after all.

 

 

[dboomer]

I think the answer to your question lies here...

 

Does being good at gaming help you girls?

[MikeRivers]

I think the answer to your question lies here...

 

Does being good at gaming help you girls?

 

Sure, but are they girls you'd like to take home to your mother?

 

 

[dboomer]

 

Sure, but are they girls you'd like to take home to your mother?

 

 

I hope not 😉

[Chordite]

There is a massive sociological thing happening with games and in many ways it is paralleling pornography. Two major characteristics of life for the lions share of human history, sex and battle, are being subverted into the simulacrum, where people think they are f-ing and fighting but they are not.

 

Now we have MGTOW and the corresponding collapse of marriage, family and birthrate. We also have a bunch of brain dead morons who think they are fighting, dishing death. In reality most of them would collapse into sobbing balls if conscripted and faced with the realities of war (or for that matter real car crashes)

The Beatles observed western society, often with great sensitivity. The gaming industry and pornography are castrating it in ways that are just beginning to surface. Subverting both love and strength into illusion, leaving incomplete men.

 

.

[RockViolin]

There is a massive sociological thing happening with games and in many ways it is paralleling pornography. Two major characteristics of life for the lions share of human history sex and battle are being subverted into the simulacrum, where people think they are f-ing and fighting but they are not.

 

Now we have MGTOW and the corresponding collapse of the marriage, family and birthrate. We also have a bunch of brain dead morons who think they are fighting, dishing death. In reality most of them would collapse into sobbing balls if conscripted and faced with the realities of war (or for that matter real car crashes)

The Beatles observed western society, often with great sensitivity. The gaming industry and pornography are castrating it in ways that are just beginning to surface. Subverting both love and strength into illusion leaving incomplete men.

 

For the record, I would not confuse the virtual with the real thing for a moment. For that matter, gee wiz, laser tag isn't a real firefight either... and bumper cars isn't a real demolition derby. That doesn't mean there isn't some degree of competitive conflict and outwitting one's opponent involved that could be considered battle on some level. There is still the chess match. Not far from me on the wall is a picture of an ancestor who lost an arm in the Civil War. An uncle of mine died in The Battle of the Bulge, and I have quite a few more relatives who have served. I would not compare a bit of online gaming to their sacrifice/service for a moment. Maybe I shouldn't have used the word "battle"...

 

That said, you aren't entirely wrong. Some of the behavior I've run into while gaming certainly jives with your run down. There are 'lose its' in all walks of life and all venues though, from what I've seen. I happen to think puffed up auto-tuned *singers are just as bad if not worse. It's the same disease.

[Chordite]

Cool, I wasn't having a go at you particularly RV. It's the generic problem Like kids with their heads down all day in "phone land", disconnected from reality. And when you talk to them they have no social/conversational skills.

Wayback I thoroughly enjoyed playing Riven (and Myst) but they are finite, you finish them, like a movie. It's not years of your life in a basement.

This cartoon made me laugh years back and it is still true

https://postmediaedmontonjournal2.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/4g5gty.jpg?quality=55&strip=all&w=383&h=480

 

I mean you could get a distance degree on the time spent playing that stuff

My concern is reflective. It's not what people are doing, it's what they are not doing because of it.

[RockViolin]

Cool, I wasn't having a go at you particularly RV. It's the generic problem Like kids with their heads down all day in "phone land", disconnected from reality. And when you talk to them they have no social/conversational skills.

Wayback I thoroughly enjoyed playing Riven (and Myst) but they are finite, you finish them, like a movie. It's not years of your life in a basement.

This cartoon made me laugh years back and it is still true

https://postmediaedmontonjournal2.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/4g5gty.jpg?quality=55&strip=all&w=383&h=480

 

I mean you could get a distance degree on the time spent playing that stuff

My concern is reflective. It's not what people are doing, it's what they are not doing because of it.

 

I think I'm quite relieved. Yeow.

 

 

We are largely in agreement. The online games keep the carrot dangling. And there are all sorts of ways that one can become out of balance. From time to time I've seen in game announcements from players like, "Guys, I have to quit. I'm in school and my grades are suffering." But for every one like that there are many more who are nothing short of an addict and that can't stop whether they realize they should or not.

 

When the game I've played dies, which seems like it could be soon, that's going to be a wrap for me. It served it's purpose, and I do think it had it's benefits, for me anyway.

But I have no interest beginning a new one. Another battle, if you will, quite for real, near and dear, presents itself and my attention is needed there.

 

It takes an extra degree of mindfulness I think to keep all the temptations modern life presents at bay, or to at least be moderate in indulging them. Those who are incapable of that are legion.

 

My son (12) mostly games on my old Nintendo64. He has set, firm limits with that. He just finished Zelda, and when I asked him if he'd continue to play it even so, yep, he said no. On the computer he's limited to Minecraft, no more than an hour and a half a day. That's firm. No phone. Nothing portable. He's asked for that...we would not budge. And darn if he doesn't think he could be like this guy that posts his Minecraft on YT and apparently makes a living doing that anyway. Unlike the cartoon though, I'm not buying it for a second. We've had our talks. Balance being the word.

 

My wife and I know other parents that won't allow any of it, at all, and they may be right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Notes_Norton]

I'm not talking about the music being the new Beatles' date=' but [i']gaming [/i]being the new Beatles. When Beatles albums were announced, people would get in lines at record to check out the latest. They were subjects of discussion and ubiquitous. Now it seems that gaming has the same kind of status in society.

 

Oh, I get you now.

 

I think of people as having herding instincts. I remember lining up for Beatles LPs, Cabbage Patch Dolls, iPhones, Elvis Presley singles, Beanie Babies, Superbowl tickets, hit Broadway shows, take your pick of any new fashion, and so on and on and on and on.

 

Whatever they line up for will eventually become passe.

 

I don't mean this as a criticism, just an observation.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

 

[RockViolin]

Gaming online, particularly war games, while of course nowhere approaching the magnitude of the real thing, can be a rather intense experience. There have been times when I've practically leapt out of my skin. One plays against people, not a programmed machine. Real people are imaginative, frustrating, capricious, and will seek revenge. Some of them can be quite dogged about it. Good players sometimes fail miserably, and sometimes someone who has been weak can be inspired to rise above their usual level.

 

People become friends, as much as any other online gathering allows. They also form clans (gangs), and clans make allegiances and that creates interesting dynamics and complexities. (I've been a loner pretty much the whole time, myself. I hope that comes as no surprise. I have some 'friends', but I don't like the clan thing at all, though I do get what it holds for some players.)

 

Character shows. Some do what they say, some don't. Some are valiant, and will join you if they see it's 7 from a clan to 1 without, even though they know it likely means getting clobbered right along with you. Others only care about their stats. Some are there to seem important and boast, and some simply like to yell for help and see it come running. There are players that whine about practically everything and others that never complain no matter how bad they're getting it. And I'd be willing to bet that in the midst of the real thing, they'd mostly all sort out about the same. Come to think of it, it has it's resemblances in that respect to my old gig. Hmmm.

 

 

Anyway, given how many don't experience music particularly deeply, and those that are non plussed by what comes down the pike, I don't think it's surprising that a more intense experience has taken the front seat. I suppose it's fortunate that some people like to listen to music while they play.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Anderton]

The discussion going on here could provide the germ of an idea for about 20 different dystopian sci-fi movies...

 

 

For the record, I would not confuse the virtual with the real thing for a moment.

 

>>

 

I think most people don't necessarily confuse the two, I think what Chordite is talking about is more like how junk food has replaced real food in some peoples' diets. They probably realize that Chicken McNuggets are basically soylent green for chickens where you toss the chicken into a shredder at one end, mix it with some plastic, and a food-like substance comes out the other end. Yet they accept it as food.

 

Although gaming isn't an online battle, it does stimulate that whole flight-or-fight chemical dump in the brain, just like porn massages the pleasure centers. So no, it's not the real thing...but it produces the same bodily reaction (albeit to a probably lesser degree) as the real thing. The next step is people thinking Chicken McNuggets IS food, or thinking that what they get from porn is "good enough" so they can avoid the potential messiness of a relationship with another human being.

[RockViolin]

The discussion going on here could provide the germ of an idea for about 20 different dystopian sci-fi movies...

 

<<

For the record, I would not confuse the virtual with the real thing for a moment.

 

 

>>

 

I think most people don't necessarily confuse the two, I think what Chordite is talking about is more like how junk food has replaced real food in some peoples' diets. They probably realize that Chicken McNuggets are basically soylent green for chickens where you toss the chicken into a shredder at one end, mix it with some plastic, and a food-like substance comes out the other end. Yet they accept it as food.

 

Although gaming isn't an online battle, it does stimulate that whole flight-or-fight chemical dump in the brain, just like porn massages the pleasure centers. So no, it's not the real thing...but it produces the same bodily reaction (albeit to a probably lesser degree) as the real thing. The next step is people thinking Chicken McNuggets IS food, or thinking that what they get from porn is "good enough" so they can avoid the potential messiness of a relationship with another human being.

 

No arguments here really, it just seemed a little close for comfort and I didn't want to be painted with that brush myself. I said I agree to a large extent and I still do. I came to it, gaming online, from an entirely different direction and found it to be more than "dishing death" on my peeps. I can play for anywhere from 10- 20 minutes to an hour in between being in my studio all morning and homeschooling and teaching violin to my son in the afternoon. But I'm 56 and am not ignoring my studies, or my future, or my wife and son.

 

It has never come close to replacing what I get from my family. And I don't think that gaming, or porn have a corner on the replacement craze either i.e. FB, Twitter, etc. The same could perhaps even be said of these forums at one time as far as taking the place of actual conversation/interaction with other humans, physically. Certainly, everyone that is going around with their faces glued to their phone isn't gaming. That's actually a piss poor way to go about it I should think, beyond Tetris and Candy Crush anyway.

 

But I certainly do acknowledge the possibility/likliehood that some, perhaps many have a problem. Actually I've seen the news stories about some of them. Its a documented fact. So what else is new? Some people get lost and lose all sense of balance and moderation.

[RockViolin]

Hasn't MIDI replaced countless musicians and the interactions between? How many producers think that a MIDI trumpet will do just fine considering the pain of locating a real one. Aren't orchestral libraries doing the same? Replacing the real thing? Real orchestras are expensive and high maintenance, like a lot of girlfriends and wives I suppose. I may hear McNuggets... totally lacking the visceral power and expression of the real thing when I hear the latest simulated orchestra, most people probably don't, or are somewhere in the process of accepting it as sufficient. Same with audible auto-tuning, including that far short of being totally robotic. Except when used overtly as an effect it's an outright replacement for taking the time and effort to get it in tune, if not right, the old way. Of course if it's truly transparent I won't be aware of it, but I have my doubts that it ever is really transparent because of how often I hear it to some degree. That oily linear glide is unmistakable even if it's quite slight.

 

The toothpaste is out of the tube in all directions and it won't be going back in, unless the lights go out.

 

And maybe as long as people aren't having to report to casualty stations ala the Star Trek episode, some online battle replacing the real thing wouldn't be such a bad thing.

 

 

 

 

 

[Beck]

Sounds about right.

 

I've never played a computer video game in my life, but I still suffer from the effects of it being so pervasive in society.

 

For example, movie effects are downright comical to me. Far inferior and less convincing than 30 years ago. Most of the audience doesn't mind or doesn't notice that movies look like video games. Many people are desensitized from playing video games too much and over too many years.

 

I get around this whole mess by watching mostly classic movies and listening to older music, or good well produced new music with real musicians.

 

Music and movies are both on the ropes trying to compete with gaming and other forms of electronic entertainment. IMO, it's part of the "Dumbing down."

 

I agree that gaming is the "New Beatles" so to speak. Most music lovers I know are my age, give or take a decade. There are exceptions, like my sons, but I raised them right.

 

Gaming can certainly become a destructive addiction in the same way drugs can. It's the same process as far as the mind is involved. And I'm sure it impacts the way people interact with others.