XplanaZine

With computers nerds quickly becoming a prized and sought after commodity in the world, more and more companies are warming up to the idea of pleasing said nerds. And since about 90% of these nerds are gamers, it should come as no surprise that companies are placing an increased emphasis on the gaming community.

In order to get a sense of the gaming industry’s increased power in teen culture, consider Square Enix’s recently-debuted movie based on its popular Final Fantasy series. Thousands of gamers across the states have lined up at their local movie stores for a chance ot watch the video. Hardcore gamers didn’t bother to wait for the American version to come out and, instead, yoinked copies from the net — this despite the fact that few, if any, of them understood any Japanese. Now, Blizzard has caught on to this new trend and has announced a World of Warcraft movie. When I heard this, my initial response was “Oh my gosh, who on earth would watch that movie?” All the boys around me, however, said in unison “I’d watch that movie.”

Even the music from video games has become popular. I actually own a CD with tracks of the different music on levels of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo64, and my brother and cousins once created a harmonized version of the Halo 2 song. There are bands beginning to tour the United States that simply play gaming music. At this point in my life, I might recognize more music from video games than the music of pop culture.

The point of all this? Well, the increased attention on gaming nerds by so many companies is creating a bunch of very happy nerds. And, considering that they’re going to rule the world someday, keeping them happy isn’t a bad thing to do.