iapologise
New member
I find that the gaming market in South Africa is predominately white male between the ages of 13-30
What are your observations and why is this so?
What are your observations and why is this so?
Race and gaming
- Thread starter iapologise
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sycogrim
MyGaming Comp Authoritah
I find this to be a condescending sort of question. I find that the country as a whole, regardless of race is a majority of males between 13-30 years old, as gaming is less effective of those of the older class of adults in todays day and age.
iapologise
New member
I am solely basing this of observation and not any formal empiricist research. From what I've seen at Expo, lans and gaming online. It is predominately white male and not much of any other race group even though white male forms the minority of this country.
It can be debated that the reason this is so, is because of poverty factors, or inequalities as the white population in South Africa still dominating economical while African Black dominate politically. Gaming is an expensive hobby and this is plausible, as lack of resources is a limiting factor.
But I find stereotypically race groups do tend to flock towards a certain genre of item. For example Rock/Metal music is not appreciated by Native African Black, while RnB and Rap is. However still, this is just an observed generalisation.
Sycogrim - Regardless of race? This point of this post is race. Regardless of age, and gender, would you agree that gaming is still predominately white?
It can be debated that the reason this is so, is because of poverty factors, or inequalities as the white population in South Africa still dominating economical while African Black dominate politically. Gaming is an expensive hobby and this is plausible, as lack of resources is a limiting factor.
But I find stereotypically race groups do tend to flock towards a certain genre of item. For example Rock/Metal music is not appreciated by Native African Black, while RnB and Rap is. However still, this is just an observed generalisation.
Sycogrim - Regardless of race? This point of this post is race. Regardless of age, and gender, would you agree that gaming is still predominately white?
Xero
Official Zombie Slayer
I tend to disagree
From my experience in the gaming subculture locally I think it is a very open ended and constantly growing sector
Irrespective of Race/Sex/Age I think gaming has become a universally accessible past time and obsession for all groups of people from more varied walks of life than you might imagine.
I do think that certain genre's of games appear to be dominated by a certain group or sub section of gamer, but that does not reflect on gaming a a whole
From my experience in the gaming subculture locally I think it is a very open ended and constantly growing sector
Irrespective of Race/Sex/Age I think gaming has become a universally accessible past time and obsession for all groups of people from more varied walks of life than you might imagine.
I do think that certain genre's of games appear to be dominated by a certain group or sub section of gamer, but that does not reflect on gaming a a whole
iapologise
New member
Including casual gamers, console(most specifically the wii) and social games, I would agree with that as well.
Can mygaming do a poll to verify this for me please?
Out of interest, is there anyone of colour on this thread?
Can mygaming do a poll to verify this for me please?
Out of interest, is there anyone of colour on this thread?
matt
Local caffeine junky
I actually made a pole a while ago about age, and it turned out that most of the people on this forum at least are in their 20's, which isn't really an indication of gamers in general, rather an indication of the people who post on this forum.
There are also quite a few ladies active as it turns out, but I think the taste in genre differs quite a lot to what the guys play, more MMO's I think, where the guys prefer FPS's, etc.
Race never came up in that discussion as far as I can recall
http://mygaming.co.za/forum/showthr...of-MyGamers?highlight=average+age+of+mygamers
There are also quite a few ladies active as it turns out, but I think the taste in genre differs quite a lot to what the guys play, more MMO's I think, where the guys prefer FPS's, etc.
Race never came up in that discussion as far as I can recall
http://mygaming.co.za/forum/showthr...of-MyGamers?highlight=average+age+of+mygamers
R4C3
New member
powderbucket
New member
I actually think gaming is a great tool to bring people of all races, sexes and religions together. What links us together is that we love gaming, not that we are black or white.
I don't think we can look at things in a black or white manner. Gaming is mainly determined by economic standing - you're not going to pop into BT Games and grab a R4000 PS3 if you cannot afford to. If you want to say that gaming is mainly dominated by the white racial group, then you have to look at the economic history of the country. Being black or being white does not determine whether or not you like gaming; your bank account does, as does your craving for escapism.
I don't think we can look at things in a black or white manner. Gaming is mainly determined by economic standing - you're not going to pop into BT Games and grab a R4000 PS3 if you cannot afford to. If you want to say that gaming is mainly dominated by the white racial group, then you have to look at the economic history of the country. Being black or being white does not determine whether or not you like gaming; your bank account does, as does your craving for escapism.
Tsar
The thing that should not be
iapologise
New member
I think people are misunderstanding this post.
It's not what gaming should be or what it can be in the future because of how it is rapidly developing. It is current and what do you observe in your surroundings at this present time.
If gaming is mean to bring all races together, why do countries then ban games that don't agree with their policies?
FPS games like COD and BF3 pit race against race.
However that is beyond the point.
So I take it you agree with my observations then.....?
I also find Race is a huge factor is targeting racism in games.
For example, in Durban it is viewed that only indian boys play games like FIFA and Need for Speed.
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powderbucket
New member
Ah okay, I see what you mean now.
I remember playing Team Fortress 2 one time, and I got kicked off the server for asking the people to cool down on the racism banter. It was pretty intense and it wasn't only racist but seriously homophobic - kinda like Skin Head Server Anonymous. I have no clue how many black / indian / coloured / asian people play Team Fortress 2, but certainly not on that server.
At varsity, the gaming society was large and although majority of the member were white and male, I met many black students who were all into their own kind of gaming - RPG, racing, FPS, etc... So whatever the stereotypes (such as the Durban thing mentioned above), I don't think they're true, and I'm wondering where they come from.
