From: oliver@bodie.cs.unc.edu (Bill Oliver)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.board
Subject: Re: Dumb Moves By Game Companies
Date: 31 Dec 92 14:20:47 GMT
Followup-To: rec.games.frp.misc
Organization: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

In article <1992Dec31.100135.24184@samba.oit.unc.edu> Ricardo.Sedan@launchpad.unc.edu (Ricardo Sedan) writes:
>
>unfortunately, this is more, i think, a reflection of the decline and fall
>of the american mind than of MB per se. MB is selling what the typical
>mass market will buy; unfortunately, the unsophisticated mind of the
>average american can entertain itself best on the likes of home alone 2,
>america's funniest home videos, for example. the gaming interests of the
>typical public reflect this lack of sophistication.
>


What sophomoric elitist crap this is.

First, your assumption that the "typical" American is incapable or unwilling to
deal with mentally sophisticated leisure is trivially untrue.  Remember 
that the leisure interests of the American consumer are not limited to 
board games, and are extremely diverse.  Consider the *cumulative* interest
in leisure activities and games including collecting, amateur scholarship,
historical activities including re-enactments, non-board games including
card games, computer games, modeling including rocketry, flight, and 
railroad, and then consider non-game leisure activies which take up time
that these "unsophisticated" Americans might use instead of real macho
serious intellectual boardgaming such as woodworking, gardening, etc.
All of these can, and most routinely do, involve serious problem
solving and scholarship. 

Now consider the social milieu in which most MB-style board games
are brought out -- the occasional family get together or the trivial
party.  These are not conventions of people getting together for
some serious mind bending.  These are pepole who are looking for a 
nice superficial framework for social interaction -- a need which is
real, valuable, and which is specifically *not* addressed by games
which require hard concentration.  

I will use my own Christmas get-together as an example.  For Christmas,
we had a bunch of family members get together who ranged from very young
to very old ind from very educated to functionally illiterate.  In the evening
we decided to play some games.  Did we drag out the computer and play V for
Victory or any of the old wargames that some of the guys had?  Did we drag 
out the old chess sets so ten of us could watch two of us play chess?
Did we drag out any of the other billioon  games which you would find
acceptable?  Of course not.  We played UNO, a completely mindless
card game. 

Now, did we play UNO because we were just silly mindless Americans?  Of
course not.  We played UNO because we wanted a game that would bring
us all together as an excuse to socialize.  The game did *not* as you would
apparently believe, take up our entire mental abilities.  Instead, it did
exactly what it is supposed to do -- provided us with an excuse to carry
on light conversation and family gossip.

The reason that people like parlor games and such is because they serve 
primarily a social purpose.  There is nothing wrong with this, and it
is not incompatible with having an active mental life.  The games which
you so trivially denigrate serve that niche, and they are needed and useful.

Bill Oliver
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc