I think there was a NUmbers episode too

Criminal Intent:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0629531/

CSI:New York:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1090857/

These are the ones I’ve seen. Good shows & don’t portray the games as bad or the gamers(most of them) as obsessed or nutty.

At the same time, my mom went through a “true crime” novel thing. One of the ones she was reading was about a kid who had killed his parents or something and he happened to roleplay. When my mom got to the part where the police were investigating his characters, she asked me to explain it to her. It was hilarious how much the police were reading into the mechanics of the game. Not too much longer after that my mom stopped reading “true crime” novels.

Also at the same time, there were a couple of suicides in my area by kids who happened to play Magic and D&D. Which were obviously the reason they killed themselves to the press. The press went to the game shop I used to hang out with and left in frustration when they didn’t find anything evil about the game. I think that the shop owner handing them copies of the Paladin and Priest guides didn’t help their cause.

I’m really hoping that with the growing population of WoW players and the growing popularity of Wii, people’s perceptions of “gamers” will change. Because if you play a Wii, you are a gamer.

Firstly, although gaming dies out a bit as people get older and other pressures on their time take over, it’s now not just teenagers who game. Secondly console gaming is far more mainstream than WoW or any PC game, and so has what you might call on your side of the pond the “jock” element spoken for.

All in all, gaming has become far less what “other people” do and far more a recognisable pastime. I’m waiting for the switch-over point when people who would rather passively sit and watch TV rather than getting involved in a game are the ones who are thought of as a bit odd :)
.-= orc shaman´s last blog ..Was once a (non-raiding) tank =-.

I’m sure people would try to say i fit those gamer stereotypes, hell I went to open a bank account after getting a new job a few years ago, and I told the lady “I don’t want checks, they bounce, I just want a plastic card to pay for online purchases. and games”

She then proceeds to ask me “Are you addicted to online video games?” nicely, I said no, what I really wanted to do was tear her head off and tell her that 15$ a month to have fun on my own or with guild mates is cheaper than going to the bar every weekend when I’m trying to save money.

I still think I need to blame the stupid paper for running a story on MMO addiction or something…

WoW has done more to improve the gamer image in the public’s eye than any other game or segment on the news. When 11 million people play, everyone’s got a brother, cousin, or friend in the MMO world. And since the vast majority of this population is (relatively) normal, the typical image of “gamer” as a closeted, violent, socially inept twenty-something living in Mom’s basement is rapidly fading away.

It’s not just economic sense. I think we’re seeing a bona fide cultural shift in how gaming is viewed and portrayed. It helps, I’m sure, that kids who grew up with the original consoles are now old enough to be in positions of some power.