Gaming Culture and Drug Culture: A Comparative Analysis

A while back, fellow GotGame writer Stephanie Flint pondered whether or not gaming was the new pop culture.

She decided — and I’m inclined to agree — that while video games have shed their nerdy stigma (making them acceptable for the “cool kids” to acknowledge) the two cultures have yet to formally merge. While mainstream society has assimilated a few facets of gaming culture, spouting catchphrases like “pwn” and “n00b” doesn’t make you a gamer.

So, while gaming is tethered to the pop culture realm by a handful of catchphrases (which is really all pop culture is anyway), the two aren’t synonymous. Instead, I think gaming has more in common with a fellow counterculture. It’s a little seedier, a little more unsavory, but I’d wager a lot of gamers are already a part of it.

Like the red turtle shell I’m trying to cram this argument into because I can’t seem to find a nutshell, I’m just going to throw my thesis out there: Gaming is this generation’s answer to the hippie uprising of the 1960’s.

Video games are the new drug culture.

Think about it. Both cultures have escapism at their core: drug-users lose touch with reality and gamers opt to enter a new one. Artistic contributions notwithstanding, neither culture produces anything of immense social value. And complete immersion in either lifestyle can totally alienate outsiders. (It’s hard to say who smells worse: a grungy stoner or a World of Warcraft addict who’s been poop-socking for the past 48 hours.)

Also, it doesn’t matter whether you’re smoking pot or playing video games – chances are good the other activity will worm its way into your daily itinerary.

Mario and Luigi are gamers’ Cheech and Chong. They’re easily recognizable figureheads whose day-to-day hijinks don’t deviate too far from the norm. Cheech and Chong get blazed and go on a wacky adventure. Mario and Luigi inevitably save the day (and probably a princess or two along the way).

Normal folk are as equally baffled by stoners smirking when the clock strikes 20 past 4 as they are by gamers who’ll swear by Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start.

And while most potheads are familiar with “puff, puff, pass,” most gamers have been exposed to proper etiquette, namely “fight, fight, dude! that move is so freakin’ cheap, pass.”

Each culture’s signature music is equally esoteric. If you want to truly groove to the likes of Phish or the Grateful Dead, you need to be so high you can shake hands with a spy satellite. Likewise, people who’ve never played a text-based MUD or posted on a video game message board probably won’t know what the hell MC Frontalot or Optimus Rhyme are going on about.

And then there’s the necessary gear. Gamers (especially those of the PC variety) spend exorbitant amounts of money on next-gen rigs and consoles. Likewise, connoisseurs of the sticky-icky are willing to shell out as much as £2500 (that’s $ 3,609.75 USD) for the most elaborate way possible to enjoy the green stuff. And in both scenarios you can’t really use the expensive equipment for anything other than its intended purpose.

(Granted, it is possible to combine the two hobbies.)

Well, that’s my piece (no pun intended.)

Now, I’m not saying popping in Gears of War 2 is the equivalent of finding a vein and shooting up. Hell, video games are the reason I didn’t touch anything illegal until I was 18. But you have to admit the similarities between the patrons of head shops and the purveyors of head shots are pretty striking.

Finally, I’d like to present one last piece of evidence for your consideration.

Exhibit A
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Members of one culture in question gather in a circle, partaking in a celebratory bonding activity that makes no sense to (and probably irritates the living daylight out of) the outside world.

Exhibit B
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Same description, different culture

I rest my case.