Death of Nerd Culture

[Konrad]

Was back in the States this summer and hanging out with an old game-geek buddy of mine here. http://www.cafemox.com/ Had a couple drinks, played a board-game, and were all, "Where was this place 20 years ago?" We both went on for a bit, grumbling about how easy it is to be a geek these days what with Avengers movies, D&D jokes on Colbert Nation, the internet, and now game-pubs, nothing to it.
"Not like in the old days!" I declared. " We couldn't just download every Dr. Who episode ever made in half and hour! We had to stay up until 2 A.M waiting for it to come on on PBS!" We had to make sacrifices! Bring your comic books to school and you might get beat up by a football player! Now those football players are all wearing Capt. America T-shirts!" The kid clearing the next table was just grinning at us.

My buddy sent me a couple interesting links on the theme. One a movie called Zero Charisma: I have not seen it though.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294965/

and here's a Patton Oswalt article about the death of nerd culture:

http://www.wired.com/2010/12/ff_angryne ... ture/all/1

There's also a rebuttal of the Oswalt article here:

http://www.urlesque.com/2010/12/29/nerd ... on-oswalt/

Did read the articles. Thought some of you crusty old geeks like me would appreciate them.

[Spevna]

Not read the articles yet, but that place you went to looks amazing!

[Spevna]

Just read the articles.

I reckon the second one has nailed it to be honest.

I dont get why people get seriously bummed about their once obscure interest becoming mainstream.

[jehan-reznor]

I kind of agree with the rebuttal, and when did it become a thing of them and us? I find it a good thing that nerd culture has become mainstream, nothing wrong with that, and because of the internet, yes everything can be found, but because of the interwebs i found also new music, artists, games, board games, miniature makers and off course lots of pr0n .

[Lovejoy]

Enjoyed the articles, the first especially is pretty erudite, I get his angle but personally disagree with his beef. I like that our niche things are becoming mainstream, it means for example that now we get stuff like LotR movies, Game of Thrones on TV, seemingly endless super hero flicks (okay, admittedly that's getting a bit old now), and places like that Cafe can viably exist. Lucky to have gone here Konrad! If I lived nearby I'd be in there at every opportunity.

[Spevna]

Yep, agree with both of the above comments.

Now that a lot of geek stuff is becoming more mainstream, and getting the attention it deserves, TV and movie studios are willing to spend more money on sci fi and fantasy stuff. BSG and GoT would not have got the budgets they did without the shift to the mainstream.

[me_in_japan]

I reckon nerd culture still exists, it's just that we're too old to really know about it. What used to be nerd culture now isn't, but that doesn't mean that something else hasn't taken its place. I personally ain't down wit da cool kids enough to know what it is, but I have no doubt that it's out there, somewhere.

As an aside, hot damn but that cafe looks awesome. We have got to get us one of those. How much would that much space cost in Nagoya do you reckon?

[Konrad]

Just read the articles.

I reckon the second one has nailed it to be honest.

I dont get why people get seriously bummed about their once obscure interest becoming mainstream.

Yeah, I don't know any guys who get seriously bummed about their old favorite miniatures wargame being turned into a machine for injecting plastic action figures into 12 year olds. Though 40K is certainly not "mainstream" in any definition of the word.
It's the circle of life/commerce/culture/style/whatever. We "geeks" are only now just getting old enough to gripe about the "good old days". Just a natural progression.
I did like the point in the first article that the internet and entertainment technology has made it easier to be a "nerd" about anything. "Normal" people follow these reality TV shows with the passion and diligence ( or frightening fanaticism) that we geeks followed Neil Gaiman comics and dare I say it, Star Trek.

And more on that Cafe Mox. It was a bit strange. Clean, new, normal looking pub, but there was a game room vibe going on. Not just because there was, you know a game store/room next door through the connecting arch, it was just that "The Quickening" feeling you get in the presence of fellow game geeks. It was fun.

[The Other Dave]

Grognards will be grognards, and if there's one thing true beardy grognards hate it's change - well, and to be a little more serious, I think a lot of the "traditional" social-outcast-type geeks have a lot of their identity tied up in both "liking geeky things" and "being a social outcast," so something they like becoming popular is in some sense an attack on who they are, or perceive themselves to be anyway. Hence all the "fake geek girls" baloney one sees around.

Myself, I do tend to agree that geek stuff going mainstream is a good thing. And if you want to stay away from hyper 12-year-olds spending their parents' money on Spess Mareens, you can still go Full Grognard and get deep into Napoleonics or Ancients. (Or just live and wargame in Japan, I s'pose.)

[ashmie]

-Edit-
OK I agree, that couple enjoying a glass of wine and beer on the homepage look way to normal to be geeks. Hah
The girl looks totally non gamer and the guy looks like this is the first girl he's ever had a drink with. LOL Awesome!
I love the red room. I would live in there, with my polyhedral dice and Cthulhu campaigns, festering happily away. I do feel like certain parts of the clubs decor look a bit like a swingers joint or a GoT S and M parlour. I'm not sure if that was what they were going for. Anyway it's a move forward from Warhammer World.
Thanks for sharing Konrad, looks amazing. Japan is yet to mainstream geek culture I reckon. Many players are still branded as Otaku which is regrettable.

Not sure how I feel about it. As long as people are kind and easy to get along with I don't care what subculture they are from. Non geeks are easier to spot now if anything. Grognards are fine also. I do agree about setting the video recorder on timer to tape something that might never be on again, that was half the fun.
What summed it up for me was a good 5 years ago we were in karaoke and I complimented this new JET teacher on his Ramones t shirt. To which he sheepishly said he'd never listened to them, ever. I remember being a bit baffled They were a fashion item for a while those t shirts.
You chaps would love this podcast, Jim Moon and the library of wonder http://www.hypnogoria.com/html/podcast.html Jim is clearly mad and his monotonous tone does go on a bit but he knows his 'geek' stuff and gives a good run down.
Personally I've just bought a load of Sons of Anarchy merch successfully skimming the line between geek and cool. Bottom line, geek and cool never use to blend in the good ole days. I remember downing tools on the Warhammer specifically so I could have a chance of meeting a girlfriend. That might not be needed these days but who knows. Now the girls are geeks also which is awesome!
Not to be a geek, I think would be very boring in this digital age where there are so many good things out there.
On a darker note I do feel it's in the media and government interests to encourage geekdom. The busier we are sifting through boxsets and collectable rare toys, wired up to video game consoles and tapping away on trivia on our smart phones, the less likely we are to take an interest in how our countries are run and what laws come to pass and the less likely we are to cause any objections. "Just give me my wifi and I'm passive". That's just my opinion.
For me recently, the creative, exercise and books are what set me free. I can't get as excited about games these days although I do love the time I've spent with people playing them. Such great memories, particularly the painting deadlines and the RPGs. Get folks away from the screens and it's all good. Self expression brothers and sisters.