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How do you feel about the term “Boomer Shooter”?
- Thread starter Spring-Loaded
- Start date
I definitely have my moments. I mean, I rarely go a week without thinking about this thread, and when someone said Arkham Asylum was a retro game, I had a bit of an event. But at the same time I don't really think there is actual malice there. People are either being thoughtless or more likely just memeing.
With that said, I do think that this place and gaming communities in general are skewing younger as time goes on, and it's been hard to accept. I joined this community back at the old place in 2006 and have been with it ever since, I used to moderate it, and I've seen all kinds of shifts. My interests haven't really changed, but as a result I find it more difficult to find people to talk about stuff with on here. That's not anybody's fault, it's just a sad reality.
Boomhauer Shooter
l tell you what man that dang ol' no matchmaking man you just go there and point and click talk about private servers man click click click real easy man
l tell you what man that dang ol' no matchmaking man you just go there and point and click talk about private servers man click click click real easy man
Op wtf. What is a boomer shooter?
At any rate; why would I be offended? Granted, I'm not a boomer but I'm going to assume I grew up on and enjoyed most of what would be defined by the term. It's like if someone told me my Gamecube collection were called "Millenial Stories". Why should I care? A rose by any other name.
At any rate; why would I be offended? Granted, I'm not a boomer but I'm going to assume I grew up on and enjoyed most of what would be defined by the term. It's like if someone told me my Gamecube collection were called "Millenial Stories". Why should I care? A rose by any other name.
I mean, I just don't think we should be labelling genres around time periods. A genre's definition in my opinion should be focused on the design philosophies that inform such a genre (i.e. open maps, exploration, fast-paced movement, etc.). Tying the genre to a generation / time period seems unnecessary.
I hadn't heard this term before, but I instantly got it. I like these types of games, but I still think it is pretty funny. Also, I hope that the people who used walking simulator in a derogatory manner are deeply offended by boomer shooter, that would be pure justice. That being said, I grew up with Doom and Wolfenstein 3D, yet I think I am still technically a millennial (though just barely). So it IS a bit of a misnomer.
This design philosophy ran from wolf 3D to halo. if you don't group it by era how else do you refer to it ?
I know there's a resurgence right now, but that's like how eras of music ebb and flow. sure we have labels like psychedelic and grunge for music but people still say 80s style when they hear a drum with gated reverb. grouped by time is useful so everyone is on the same page
Don't like the name, but I'm interested in the games. I know there was that event by 3d realms last year, but does anyone have a good resource for a list of games to get into the genre?
It seems silly to me but only because it seems wildly inaccurate to call computer games from the late 90s 'boomer shooters' instead of '90s shooters' or 'retro shooters' which have been in use for ages. I mean, I'm a late gen x guy and I played them, so did plenty of millenials. If it's just the way the term is now 'anyone older than you is a boomer', thus erasing the specific economic and social issues with the baby boomer generation and applying it vaguely to anyone over 30 instead, which was ironically the rhetoric the baby boomers themselves used as young people, then whatever. That's in wider use too. Can't say I'm offended by it, I just don't get it, but then that's part of getting older too / 'I used to be with it' Simpsons gif
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You mean 90s FPS games? Doom, Duke 3D, Rise of the Triad, Blood, Outlaws, Realms of the Haunting, Quake, Hexen, Heretic and Witchaven are worth looking into IMO. I liked Chasm: The Rift too, even if it was just store brand Quake.
Not offensive in any way, just seems a bit odd to name games primarily played by Gen Xers and Millennials after baby boomers. It's better than people getting all snobby and calling them stuff like real shooters though.
Stupid term that does not make any sense at all. Technically the Bommer generation was rather quite old when shooter games in the 90s emerged. So i seriously doubt that the Boomer generation were the main target audience of that games. It was not socially accepted for adult people to play games. Games were fringe back then. There might be some older folks that have played games but they were not the majority for sure.
I think it is asked too much to make memes at least historically accurate.
The only boomer games out there might be Pong like games. Because these games came out at a time where the Boomers were young enough to probably care about games.
I think it is asked too much to make memes at least historically accurate.
The only boomer games out there might be Pong like games. Because these games came out at a time where the Boomers were young enough to probably care about games.
I honestly have never seen it being used in a more serious conversation. The term "boomer shooter" feels like something you jokingly throw around when you want to mock some purist that thinks too highly of OG Doom and that generation of shooters, in the same vein people say "okay, boomer" even when the person isn't part of said generation.
Since they're quite old by gaming standards and the term rolls of the tongue, it just sticked.
Don't some people call those arena shooters? O am I thinking more about stuff along the lines of Quake?
Since they're quite old by gaming standards and the term rolls of the tongue, it just sticked.
Don't some people call those arena shooters? O am I thinking more about stuff along the lines of Quake?
i described a game as such to a friend the other day and she immediately understood, despite never having heard the term
it's good
it's good
The poll seems quite different than the thread title. Could just ask "What do you think of the term?" > "Don't like it" and "Like it".
I'm not offended by it. It's just dumb and inaccurate, because it's more millennials or Gen X than boomers (1946-1965). Was only done as a meme and spread because of the rhyme.
Saying "boomer shooter" instead of just "retro shooter" also implies boomer politics. There have been quite a few people involved in such games that have turned out to be regressive, ultra conservative, bigoted, and all the way to neo Nazis. It's not a good look.
Bigoted Devs Part of 3D Realms’ Realms Deep Show
I mentioned this in the Graven thread but think it deserves its own thread. Basically 3D Realms is hosting a streaming event for retro shooters and a few of the devs have a sketchy past so I wanted to make sure it was called out. Before I do here is a link to the Ion Fury controversy. Here are...
www.resetera.com
Never heard it and sounds silly to me.
Also doesn't help to describe the games themselves, nor is the time when they came out correct.
Heck, it doesn't even apply to the devs that made these games. Carmack and Romero are Gen X.
The typical 90s Shooter is an Arena shooter, so call it that or something else, but at least be
correct with the terms
Also doesn't help to describe the games themselves, nor is the time when they came out correct.
Heck, it doesn't even apply to the devs that made these games. Carmack and Romero are Gen X.
The typical 90s Shooter is an Arena shooter, so call it that or something else, but at least be
correct with the terms
I think it is funny. Obviously not accurate, but "boomer" = "old" is really straightforward and millennials getting "offended" by it are showing how thin their skin is, or how worried they actually are about being perceived as old (which we kind of are, by the way).
Games that reminiscent Doom/Quake gameplay. If you need to strafe and shotgun is considered your goto weapon in the game, that's boomer shooter.
That's a gen X/millenial shooter if anything. I grew up with Doom and Wolfenstein. Unless in this case boomer just refers to a shotgun.
Saying "boomer shooter" instead of just "retro shooter" also implies boomer politics. There have been quite a few people involved in such games that have turned out to be regressive, ultra conservative, bigoted, and all the way to neo Nazis. It's not a good look.
Bigoted Devs Part of 3D Realms’ Realms Deep Show
I mentioned this in the Graven thread but think it deserves its own thread. Basically 3D Realms is hosting a streaming event for retro shooters and a few of the devs have a sketchy past so I wanted to make sure it was called out. Before I do here is a link to the Ion Fury controversy. Here are...
A bit of a sidenote, but this is so prevalent that I hesitate to get excited about any retro shooters as they almost always end up having awful people behind them.
Different question:
What do we call games like Asteroids, Space Invaders or fucking Spacewar! ?
What do we call games like Asteroids, Space Invaders or fucking Spacewar! ?
Fair point! I suppose I might be coming at this from a slightly different perspective because I listen to predominantly extreme metal, where the sub-genres don't really evolve all that much throughout the years. If you listen to a Napalm Death record and then listen to any other modern grindcore band they will sound roughly the same. Obviously there nuances between bands if you are into this sort of thing but the "form" of the genre is pretty much settled. So from that perspective I wouldn't typically associate a music genre with a time period, even though, for example, stoner metal was started in the 90s, thrash metal in the mid-80s, etc.
I find it funny because it's inacurrate. Like why would you call it genx or millennial shooter? That name is boring and has no hook to it.
Tbh I have a bit of a tangle regarding generations. Boomer, zoomer, millennials... Idk which is who, and wether or not are pejoratives so, for me, boomer shooter are action games where you shoot and things go boom.
The perks of not being american, I guess.
The perks of not being american, I guess.
Everything older than yesterday is boomer going by zoomer standards.
This is my first time hearing "boomer shooter". I'm not sure what it means, but I'm guessing it refers to retro shooting games?
The term boomer doesn't offend me even though I'm starting to get a bit older. If it offends anyone they need to lighten up and learn to laugh at themselves
The term boomer doesn't offend me even though I'm starting to get a bit older. If it offends anyone they need to lighten up and learn to laugh at themselves