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  • - Early video games, like Pong, were totally unisex.

  • - Am I a boy dot or a girl dot?

  • - You're just a dot.

  • - Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.

  • - In fact, the game was marketed

  • to the entire family.

  • - What about Pac-Man?

  • He was a boy.

  • - True, but the game was so popular with women,

  • that when it came time for a sequel,

  • the developers gave it a female main character, Ms. Pac-Man.

  • - Ah yeah, I'm spooky.

  • - Not Mrs, Ms.

  • She was a modern '80's career woman.

  • - I have an MBA in eating ghosts.

  • Wakka, wakka, wakka, wakka, wakka, wakka.

  • - (screams) She's so confident!

  • - And not only was much of the audience female,

  • many of the developers were too.

  • Among the stars of early game design

  • were Atari's Carol Shaw,

  • Centipede creator Donna Bailey,

  • and Roberta Williams,

  • an adventure game pioneer

  • and company co-founder

  • whose King's Quest series was a massive hit

  • among gamers of all stripes.

  • - Cool, it seems like everything's great.

  • Can I play my game now?

  • - Nope, because all of that changed

  • thanks to the video game crash of 1983.

  • Greedy publishers started flooding the market

  • with shoddy games like I Want My Mommy,

  • Lost Luggage, and E.T. for the Atari 2600,

  • which has been called one of the worst games of all time.

  • - Yuck, I'll play anything,

  • and even I know that's a turd.

  • - Most adults stopped playing games entirely,

  • and the video game market cratered.

  • (techno explosion)

  • So, when it came time to market the original

  • Nintendo Entertainment System,

  • Nintendo devised a plan.

  • Instead of selling it in the electronics section,

  • they sold it in the toy aisle.

  • But by then, the toy aisle was completely

  • separated into pink and blue, boy and girl.

  • Nintendo had to choose a side.

  • They went with boy.

  • And then they marketed to those boys relentlessly.

  • - What's it like to play

  • the Nintendo Entertainment System?

  • (upbeat '80's rock music)

  • Now you're playing with power.

  • - Other brands soon followed suit.

  • - Introducing games from Sega.

  • Let the break begin from the boys.

  • - And kept marketing to them as they grew up.

  • - It's not the size of your howitzer,

  • it's what you do with it.

  • - I got this pulling a 360 stalefish.

  • - I know you like that,

  • I know you love that.

  • - It's all about the control.

  • (upbeat hip hop music)

  • - You are so totally whipped.

  • - Come and play with me.

  • - And after decades of this kind of advertising,

  • - What's up, bitch?

  • - we now think of video games

  • as being the exclusive domain of the male sex.

  • - OK, those ads are weird,

  • but boys just like video games more than girls do.

  • - Sorry, Jake, that's a straight up myth.

  • More adult women play video games

  • than teenage boys do.

  • - Sweet!

  • - That's just counting stupid phone games.

  • - Uh, so, games are games, Jake.

  • All that means is that mainstream consoles

  • like PS4 and Xbox One are refusing to serve

  • a huge untapped market.

  • - Untapped market.

  • - We're talking millions of women

  • who would love to play more games,

  • but are being pushed away from the hobby

  • by weird old-fashioned marketing

  • that publishers are sticking with

  • seemingly out of shear force of habit.

  • - Force of habit.

  • - Ah, who's doing that?

  • Why are you hurting me, Megan?

  • - Because I'm mad at you.

  • I like games.

  • I've always liked them.

  • It's just sometimes I feel like they don't love me back.

  • And you act like I'm not supposed to play them or something

  • just because you listen to all these stupid ads.

  • - Jake, video games are the greatest new art form

  • of the century.

  • They can do anything.

  • Saying they're for just one gender is ridiculous.

  • - Yeah, it's like saying movies are just for girls,

  • or books are just for dads.

  • It's stupid.

  • - When we think about video games

  • in such a limited way,

  • it makes the games worse,

  • it loses the industry money,

  • and it's really mean to your sister.

  • (Jake screaming)

  • - Just wait, he'll burn out in about three minutes.

  • - Yeah, I've seen this before.

  • Hey, I'm Adam from College Humor.

  • If you liked that clip, make sure to check out

  • my new show "Adam Ruins Everything"

  • Tuesdays at 10 pm on Tru TV.

  • It's gonna ruin your Tuesday,

  • but trust me, the rest of your week will be fine.

- Early video games, like Pong, were totally unisex.

Subtitles and vocabulary

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B1 ow ow nintendo ow jake play market

Why People Think Video Games Are Just For Boys

  • 52 3
    Jason Tsao posted on 2016/02/01
Video vocabulary

Keywords

force

US /fɔrs, fors/

UK /fɔ:s/

  • other
  • To break open (something) using force.
  • To compel (someone) to do something.
  • To cause (a plant or crop) to develop or mature prematurely in a greenhouse or under artificial conditions.
  • To cause (a plant or flower) to grow or develop at an increased rate.
  • To use physical strength to break open or move (something).
  • other
  • Coercion or compulsion; strength or power exerted to cause motion or change.
  • Strength or energy as an attribute of physical action or movement.
  • other
  • Coercion or compulsion; strength or power exerted to cause or affect.
  • An influence or effect.
  • Physical strength or energy as an attribute of physical action or movement.
  • Strength or energy as an attribute of physical action or movement.
  • noun
  • Coercion or compulsion, especially with the use or threat of violence.
  • Group of persons trained for military action; army
  • A body of people employed and trained for a particular task or purpose.
  • An influence or effect.
  • A body of people employed and trained for law enforcement.
  • A body of soldiers or police.
  • An influence that can cause a body to accelerate.
  • Pressure; attraction
  • Strength or energy as an attribute of physical action or movement.
  • The use of physical strength/violence to persuade
  • Strength or power of expression or argument.
  • verb
  • To use physical strength or violence to persuade
aisle

US /aɪl/

UK /aɪl/

  • noun
  • Long narrow space between rows of seats
habit

US /ˈhæbɪt/

UK /'hæbɪt/

  • noun
  • A psychological or physiological dependence on a substance or activity.
  • Loose clothing like a cloak, worn by monks, nuns
  • A long, loose garment worn by monks or nuns.
  • Usual way of behaving; something often repeated
  • A recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior acquired through frequent repetition.
  • A settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.
video

US /ˈvɪdiˌo/

UK /'vɪdɪəʊ/

  • adjective
  • Of a moving film, with sound
  • Relating to or using video.
  • noun
  • Recording capturing action with sound
  • Moving visual content.
  • The medium of moving visual images.
  • A recording of moving visual images made digitally or on videotape.
  • verb
  • To make a moving film of, with sound
  • other
  • To make a video call.
  • other
  • To record something using a video camera.
entertainment

US /ˌɛntɚˈtenmənt/

UK /ˌentəˈteɪnmənt/

  • other
  • The act of amusing; amusement or enjoyment.
  • The act of entertaining; amusement or pleasure, in addition to an activity designed to amuse
  • Something that provides amusement or diversion.
  • The provision of food, drink, and hospitality to guests or clients.
  • The business of providing or organizing amusement or pleasure.
  • noun
  • Act or process of providing service for someone
  • Singing, dancing, telling jokes to amuse people
  • other
  • A performance or show designed to amuse or please.
man

US /mæn/

UK /mæn/

  • noun
  • An adult male human being.
  • A piece in a board game, especially chess or checkers.
  • Qualities traditionally associated with men, such as courage or strength.
  • Humans in general, including male and female
  • A woman's husband or boyfriend.
  • An adult male human being
  • Male who acts in a masculine way; not like a woman
  • A person employed for a particular task or job.
  • other
  • Human beings in general; humanity.
  • verb
  • To control or operate (a machine); be in charge of
  • To operate a machine (a boat, etc.)
  • other
  • To provide with staff; to operate or control.
play

US /pleɪ/

UK /pleɪ/

  • verb
  • To act as a character in a movie, or on stage
  • To perform music on an instrument
  • To use a device, e.g. a video game
  • To do something for enjoyment and fun
  • To do or perform a game or sport
  • noun
  • Loose, free movement between two objects
  • Single action in a sports game
  • Performance in which people act in a theater
dot

US /dɑt/

UK /dɒt/

  • verb
  • To place small amounts/things in various places
  • To mark something by placing a small, round spot
  • noun
  • Small round mark
upbeat

US /ˈʌpˌbit/

UK /ˈʌpbi:t/

  • adjective
  • Being positive and cheerful
stupid

US /ˈstu:pɪd/

UK /ˈstju:pɪd/

  • adjective
  • Not intelligent; lacking ability to learn easily
  • Foolish or senseless.
  • Lacking intelligence or common sense.
  • noun
  • A stupid person.