Is It Possible To 'Convert' An Anti-Gamer In 30 Minutes? [Video]

Kotaku AU: We like to believe there are games out there for everyone. There’s no such thing as a “non-gamer” — just people who haven’t discovered their particular bag yet. To put this theory to the test, we enlisted the skills of technology writer, cosplayer and gaming veteran Rae Jonhston to “convert” Mia: the most rabid anti-gamer in our office. It proved to be a very bumpy ride.

[DarkOcelet]

Mia looked a bit like Anita lol, thought it was her at first, That was an interesting video but still its really hard to make someone a gamer especially an adult , i tried that 4 times with 4 different people, it never worked. They were interested in watching but playing just gave them headaches or so they said haha. I am so glad i am gamer from since i was 5 years old.

[SniperControl]

Yeah, my bro's the same, he would rather have a kip on the sofa than play games(he is 54 though) lol.
Ironically, my bro was the person to get me into gaming when he bought home an Atari 2600 all those long years ago, been gaming since i was about 10(i'am nearly 40 now).

[3-4-5]

* If you purposely are trying not to like something....good luck actually enjoying it.

The reason some people discover a ton of stuff they like is because they are positively open to it.

* I'm open to trying things but it doesn't mean I'm going to like the thing I'm doing.

* If I TRY not to like it....I WON'T....

* You have to actually attempt to try and "get into" the thing your spending time dong.

* More importantly is the Correct game for that person.

* One game will please somebody....you just never know which game that will be.

* Did you know you were going to like all the games you did, at the level in which you did ?

[SniperControl]

Man, Mia sure is whiny.

[PeaSFor]

i wouldnt even waste my time in front of "anti" attitude to beggin with

[I_am_Batman]

Well if you go in with such a biased attitude into anything new you won't enjoy it no matter what it is. She started complaining right from the start searching for reasons to dislike it. A more open minded person would've at least try to understand why so many people like video games so much.

[ameliabaz]

On one hand I agree. But on the other hand I think some people just aren't wired to like certain things.

I once had a housemate who hated video games. She just didn't see the point of them at all and thought they were a waste of time. But she loved tacky reality shows and even had the entire Kim Kardashian series on DVD. Personally I don't see the point of such boring trashy TV and thought watching it was a waste of time. I don't think of open-mindedness would make me want to watch something like Honey BooBoo or Big Brother. My housemate probably felt the same way about games. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

[I_am_Batman]

Agreed. But you can't really compare a whole medium like video games to a very limited genre of another medium (TV).

Not everyone can get into every hobby but I think it's important to be respectful even if you don't share the same hobby. The thing that annoys me the most is not that some people don't understand games but that they are ignorant about it pretending to know better than you and not willing to have a rational discussion about it (this doesn't nessessarily apply to the person in the video).

[quiddd]

Get the right game for the person.

[HeMan76]

I will make my wife watch this.She is the worst anti gamer in this planet I guess.

[Zichu]

Doesn't like animation, the fact that you sit in a dark room when playing games and blowing something up?

A lot of films these days use animation...
You can turn a light on when gaming, it doesn't have to be in the dark...
Not every game is about blowing something up...

She would rather do something better with her time. I can understand you could probably exercise, learn something new, etc., but why not do that while still gaming?

[hintonmj]

I don't follow gaming girls, but this Rae Johnston is so much sexier here than the "done up" photos I found of her in a quick search.

[Skate-AK]

Looks like she could be a body scan for Dead or Alive.

[TheOneWhoIsTornApart]

This girl is really whiny and annoying. What an unpleasant person.

[Morpheuzpr]

Kotaku and their agendas.

[GokuSolosAll]

"Anti-gamers" are condescending retards most often. Their willful ignorance and prideful bias is nauseating.

[MilkMan]

Jesus, the host is a beautiful woman. I sincerely could not take my eyes off of her. I was blushing. I've never been particular to females like Mia, but the host had my undivided attention.

On topic though: This was a good experiment and I agree with the host. I think she struck a chord with Mia and The Wolf Among Us. There is a game for everyone. We just have to connect the two.

[WeAreLegion]

Her?

[rextraordinaire]

Why does she work for Kotaku then? :/

[Aratax]

Kotaku and Lifehacker are apart of the same network.

[rextraordinaire]

Aaaaaah, thanks for the info!

[Skate-AK]

"Buttons are gross. That's why they got eliminated from phones." That quote is gold.

[telekineticmantis]

Yes, if they see you playing Uncharted, then you let them play. I've seen it happen, and have heard other stories, about this.

[endzeitkind]

forget it. ive tried the game journey, evet this game hasnt work on my wife. whats next?

[Skate-AK]

My girlfriend loves Puppeteer. It was her breakthough moment. She always asks me to hook my PS3 up so we can play co-op on it. Now she will even ask to play a game if I am and it looks interesting to her. We have been together for over 3 years and this has all happened in the last 6 months. She has even watched me beat entire games like Dust: An Elysian Tail, Contrast, Child of Light, Daylight, Octodad and a little bit of The Evil Within. Just haven't had the time to play it. Asks for me to not play it until she comes over.

[Pozzle]

Journey isn't a very accessible game for newcomers imo. The lack of a proper story or specific goals might be off-putting to people who already don't 'get' gaming. I've also found that a lot of non-gamers have trouble with 3D games because of the controls. They can't get their heads around moving their character through a 3D space AND controlling the camera AND performing multiple actions (opening doors, flicking through menu screens, toggling items, etc). It all becomes too confusing for them because they've never done it before, so they get frustrated and angry at the game itself.

2D games are a better starting point for non-gamers imo. The controls are simpler and most people are already familiar with games like Super Mario, so they're more willing to try out games that are similar to that.

[Skate-AK]

The 3D thing is true. My girlfriend can play side-scrollers just fine, hand her a FPS/TPS and it all goes to hell. She just doesn't understand that the left stick controls your body and the right one controls the head or camera.

[grailly]

yes. I've tried flower and journey with non-gamers and it absolutely isn't good for them. You have to be able to understand gaming language to play them. non of my non-gamer friends understood that they had to walk towards the mountain in journey, and they didn't understand why wind kept pushing them back when they tried to walk too far in the wrong direction.

I think it's easier to get people in with story and aesthetics, I definitely interested a few of my friends when I told them about a "game of thrones game that is just about making choices" and my girlfriend is always interested to play something that looks cute, even if she makes fun of me for playing them.

[LightDiego]

An anti-gamer? Do you mean like the Kotaku site? Sorry, but no way i will access Kotaku.

[CaptainObvious878]

I thought they meant turning an anti Gamergater into realising their bigotry and sexism, but then I saw Kotaku and knew that wouldn't be it.

[Enate]

Yea go figure kotaku would come up with this joke attempt. With a girl who obviously looks like anita. Kotaku just asking for it at every turn these days.

[jeremyj2913]

I did it. My cousin always gaming as a waste of time, then one day our cable was out and she was bored. I knew how much she liked Disney growing up so I told her to play Kingdom Hearts and she fell in love. She recently told me she was considering a PS3 just to play the 1.5 and 2.5 remixes.