Does this generation have a Star Wars?

**charleski** · 26-09-2007, 04:48 PM

A snippet from today's NYT:

"This is the Mecca of the video game world right here, right now,” Carl Gunther, a 23-year-old marketing researcher from Brooklyn, said Monday night as he joined hundreds of other fans in a long line outside a Best Buy in Midtown Manhattan.

“Halo is the ‘Star Wars’ of this generation,” Mr. Gunther added. “Thirty years ago my father waited in line to see ‘Star Wars,’ and I know I’ll tell my kids I stood in line to buy Halo 3. It’s like saying you were at Woodstock or something.”

Uhhhh, not so much.
Given how old Halo2 looked when it was finally released for the PC, anyone who thinks his kids are going to be impressed by Halo3 in 10 years' time is seriously deluded. And, while I think Star Wars is rather trite, it goes without saying that it encompasses vastly more creative content than even the best fps shooter could ever hope for. (As for comparing Halo3 with Woodstock... OMG)

But it makes me wonder, is the current generation really growing up with tripe for its icons? Are they going to be regaling their kids with stories of how cool it was to queue up for the iPhone or the Wii? I can't help feeling that the next generation is going to find it really easy to be cooler than their parents.

**pollaxe** · 26-09-2007, 04:55 PM

Interesting question.. I suppose back then (as those of us of a certain age will remember) there was much less entertainment media available and Star Wars really did look different from everything else that had come before it.

Nowadays there's so much more available to a wider market so perhaps things like Star Wars won't happen in quite the same way? In terms of global impact, anyway.

Honestly, I don't really know the answer to the question - I'm just musing out loud.

**IBM** · 26-09-2007, 05:03 PM

You can't compare a computer game to a movie. As you pointed out, computer games age so very badly compared to movies (okay, they date, but decent acting, involving characters, and quality storylines are going to last). Wasn't The Matrix more like the Star Wars of the current generation? Not as big, but almost comparable.

Anyway, this guy queued to buy a Halo game, who the hell does he think he is to comment on what's cool or generation defining. Idiot.

**Lee H** · 26-09-2007, 05:28 PM

Yes, Robot Chicken and Family guy recently did "spoof" episodes.

Therefore, this generation has a star wars

**Whiternoise** · 26-09-2007, 05:31 PM

But people still talk today about waiting in line to buy the latest Zelda game - i mean, Ocarina has abysmal graphics by today's standards and it's been rated the number one game of all time on numerous occasions.

However, i agree, i don't think Halo 3 will be anything to reminisce over in ten years, the first Halo - yes, it was great, but the release dates will spoil 2 and 3.

**Grim Reaper** · 26-09-2007, 05:40 PM

I reckon Harry Potter is this generations' Star Wars. At my Uni there is Harry Potter Society - they go around with broomsticks wearing witch's outfits. I haven't noticed any of them flying though.

**moogle** · 26-09-2007, 05:43 PM

Originally Posted by Grim Reaper

I reckon Harry Potter is this generations' Star Wars. At my Uni there is Harry Potter Society - they go around with broomsticks wearing witch's outfits. I haven't noticed any of them flying though.

same, lol no flying here either. still harry potters a good read anyway

**charleski** · 26-09-2007, 05:47 PM

Yeah, that's true, The Matrix and Harry Potter are fairly good icons. I just got depressed reading that article.

**schmunk** · 26-09-2007, 05:50 PM

Snakes on a Muddyfunsting Plane, Muddyfunster!!!!

**pollaxe** · 26-09-2007, 05:50 PM

Maybe it's a generational thing? Writers were lamenting the English inability to ever a win a battle again shortly before Agincourt...

**charleski** · 26-09-2007, 09:11 PM

Originally Posted by pollaxe

Writers were lamenting the English inability to ever a win a battle again shortly before Agincourt...

I'm sure Elizabethan coffee-shops were full of pundits declaring how bad the trash they put on at the Globe was as well.

We already have adults whose fondest memories of their youth consist of a catalogue of ancient 8-bit wonders (read Ben Kuchera's posts on Ars Technica for an example of this). I waste far too much time playing games myself, and have done so for many years, but some people seriously need to get a better perspective.

**Clunk** · 26-09-2007, 09:40 PM

Originally Posted by schmunk

Snakes on a Muddyfunsting Plane, Muddyfunster!!!!

Planes on a muddyfunsting treadmill, muddyfunster.

**schmunk** · 26-09-2007, 09:44 PM

But will it snake off?

**vinnyT** · 27-09-2007, 12:32 PM

Anybody who thinks that standing in line for a video game (good/bad, no diff) is a moment to cherish and share with his/her kids, will prob never have sex, let alone kids.

**kalniel** · 27-09-2007, 12:40 PM

Originally Posted by vinnyT

Anybody who thinks that standing in line for a video game (good/bad, no diff) is a moment to cherish and share with his/her kids, will prob never have sex, let alone kids.

That's a very odd statement. Why is a video game release any different from a cinema release/theatre opening/ship launch?

**chicken** · 27-09-2007, 12:44 PM

Originally Posted by vinnyT

Anybody who thinks that standing in line for a video game (good/bad, no diff) is a moment to cherish and share with his/her kids, will prob never have sex, let alone kids.

But then they wouldn't be able to stand in line with kids they don't have, so they wouldn't think it, so then they would have sex, and kids, to stand in line with, but then...

*head explodes*

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