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DEL.ICIO.US“Gamers like interaction”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
He grew up playing video games.
Foxx Crump, 31, still plays them to this very day.
He owns a PlayStation 2, an X-box 360, an HD/DVD combo and more games than he cares to count. He figures he’s spent $2,000 on accessories, games and such this year alone.
“It’s part of my life,” he told me while we waiting for the GameStop, a video store in Lilburn, to open.
Friday was a special day for folks who wanted to buy the Wii, Nintendo’s year-old gaming console. Worldwide demand for the $250 system has outpaced supply. So with none in stock, GameStop franchises in Gwinnett and elsewhere issued rain checks on the sought-after unit. Customers had to pay the full price on the spot; the console is guaranteed by Jan. 25.
Last year, Crump found himself in the same bind as this year’s Wii customers. He couldn’t find the console at retailers in metro Atlanta. He still got one, though.
“A friend found a store in one of those podunk places outside Sandersville that had Wiis,” said Crump, who had a day off from his job at Graphic Edge of Alpharetta.
The video gaming industry is huge. Ars Tehnica Journal, an online gaming magazine, predicts the industry will be twice as big as the music industry by 2011. Between 1996 and 2006, U.S. sales surged to $7 billion from $2.6 billion, according to the publication.
And it’s not just young people doing the buying. The Wii console has attracted older adults because of its family-friendly games and the physical movement it affords. (I wouldn’t call it exercise, though.)
My son has a PlayStation 2 and a Nintendo DS. He’s tried to engage me, especially in the PlayStation sports games, but it’s yet to stick. I once asked him what fascinated him about it. He talked about the interaction and being able to control movement.
Crump, who grew up in Franklin Springs, outside Athens, told me his parents wondered likewise when he was a kid. His answer mirrored Miles’.
“It’s like you’re in a movie,” he said. “You’re part of it. You have a role in it, and you’re making events happen.”
Crump’s roommate is a gamer, too. He has a Nintendo DS. Crump was at the GameStop Friday to buy him a couple of games. Christmas presents.
Something tells me Crump will enjoy the gifts as much as his friend.
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail rbadie@ajc.com.
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Comments
By James McCoy
December 24, 2007 10:40 AM | Link to this
Let me be the scrooge today for this story,here we are the day before Christmas 2007 and over 4000 American BOYS AND GIRLS DEAD for a WAR that shouldn’t have happen,and the best you could write on this day is a story on a man who refuses to grow up?
By Mark
December 24, 2007 1:45 PM | Link to this
James McCoy
Badie doesn’t write about real issues. Just simplistic nonsense. They should lock the door at the AJC. at night to keep the janitor from practicing his “journalism”.
By Airborne
December 31, 2007 6:42 PM | Link to this
Mark why should they lock the door to keep Mr.Badie from doing his work.Are you angry that people won’t read the trash you put in the comment section.You’re the trash man keep up the good work,because you don’t get paid for what you do.Sucker.
By Airborne
December 31, 2007 7:01 PM | Link to this
Mr.McCoy i understand how you feel about the war thats going on and the many lives that were lost.I to have been in combat(Viet Nam-1965-66)We did’nt think that was a conflict that was necessary but we did what we had to do.Sometimes it’s good to read a good human interest story to at least ease the mind of society.I have a son who is a Marine and was sent to Iraq,yes i prayed everyday that he would return home safe.I prayed for all the military that is there,and hope it ends soon.My son did return home last year and is dedicated to the Marine Corps.They don’t want to be reminded of a tour of duty such as that,so a good human interest story is welcomed.I to feel it is wrong to be there,they have a job to do,just like Mr.Badie does.We can talk about homelessness,drugs,jobs,stocks,movies,poverty,education,the list goes on,but until we make a stand,the negatives will continue.Have a nice new year and be safe.No, you’re not a scrooge,you voiced your opinion and you have a right to do so.Later
By Airborne
January 1, 2008 10:55 AM | Link to this
Mark the best gift i got for Christmas and wl make my new year great is knowing that slaves or as you cl them “nogs” spent the night with slave owners wives,while the so cl man of the house was away at war.If you read your history you wl see it was a lot of intermingling going on between slaves and slave owners.not much is said about the raping of afro-american women in your history,and it still goes on day,so we might be brothers after all.what a wonderful gift,knowing that you may have some afro-american blood in your family tree.If your smart and educated as you say you are read the book ‘The Making Of A Slave’by Willie Lynch.This was an animal who told and documented how to break down africans,to be obedient,when and if your dumb—- read the book,tell the readers of your comments the differance between adolf hilter,whom you probably idolize,and willie lynch.Iknow you’re going to come up with something negative.Remember we may be related,hopefully we’ll meet at the next family reunion.
By Mark
January 4, 2008 12:49 PM | Link to this
airborne
There’s no nog in me. I don’t smell or steal…..