Just Marketing

I think the problem with Western culture in general is that it is quite xenophobic, American civilization in culture (generalisation disclaimer: not all Americans are xenophobic, etc, etc). People are afraid to try new things and they don't want to look dumb in front of others, which is the reason why they stick to a game and mechanics they know rather than try something new.

Well, I hope by this you're not saying that Americans don't like German games because of a dislike of foreigners!

I think you're probably using "xenophobic" more in the sense of disliking the new or the unknown. But even then, I mildly disagree. See, if interested, my most recent remarks in the thread "examination board". I personally think the problem isn't so much that people won't try new things, it's that they don't want to think critically, period. And not just as a form of social interaction. I really believe that the entertainment, consumer-istic nature of society has come at the expense of our critical thinking skills. I don't think people are afraid of looking dumb, I just think they don't want to do the mental work required in playing a game, period (even a transparently simple game like Monopoly).

Also, I think that in terms of the games that are chosen, I really suspect that for the average adult, the "party-style" game is more of our competition than something like "Monopoly", which I can't imagine gets played all that much. I think it's a reflection of the same phenomenon -- people, when they can be twisted into playing a game, want something that is light, easy, requires little thought, and is "fun" in a whimsical, lots-of-laughs sort of sense. It's that mindset that I think we're up against moreso than the "I prefer games I'm familiar with to games I'm unfamiliar with." I've had reasonably good success getting people to try Apple to Apples (which I really like), but only because I promised profusely that it was "easy, funny, simple, light", etc.

I agree with your other points, and don't disagree with you in principle, I guess I'd just explain this phenomenon that you describe in a slightly different way.

Incidentally, one detects a certain "distaste" for American culture in your note; not a bit of "xenophobe" ourselves, are we? (kidding)

Talk to you soon,

Jeff

Ah, but there is the trick: you persuaded them to play something new.

That's right. It's a step in the right direction.

You know, I sometimes like to wander about in the Dutch equivalent of Toys r Us and overhear the conversations of customers that are looking at boardgames. Unlike in the USA here we have "Disney Monopoly" standing on the shelf next to "Domaine", for example. Now, customers may look at the "Domaine" box and they are interested in the theme, the look of the box, maybe the description on the back of the box, but in the end they pick up "Disney Monopoly" and buy that simply because they know what they can expect and are basically afraid to try something new and different. This has actually happened, by the way.

Oh, ok, I see your point now. You're speaking at the level of "what game will a game player choose?" (it's nice, by the way, that you even have the choice to buy games like Domaine at your stores!) Whereas I was speaking more at the level of "will a person play a game in the first place?" I think our points complement each other, and both are true.

Even typical American holidays such as Valentine's Day, Halloween and the Coca-Cola invented Santa Claus (which, interestingly, is derived from the Dutch holiday Sinterklaas, or St. Nicolas day) are slowly but surely finding it's way into Dutch culture.

Well, for better or for worse, our culture is our best export!

In fact, there's a "homogenization" of culture happening in the US that I don't know if I particularly like. You can go to just about any town and find a Target, a McDonald's, a Home Depot, a WalMart, etc. It's as if all places, are experiences, are becoming the same as all other places and all other experiences. Fall is a big season in the US Northeast, for example, and apple season is a big component of that. But now, it seems that every apple orchard you go to features pick-your-own apples, hay-rides, caramel apples, farm animals, a corn maze, etc. It's as if everyone is trying to provide the "pre-packaged fall experience" that customers now expect when they go to the orchard. And as a result, every apple orchard is basically the same as any other.

This doesn't really have anything to do with gaming per se, just an indictment of capitalism as a whole, particularly American capitalism, where the answer to the question "what goods/services should we provide" is almost always "whatever will sell". Of course, the only system worse than capitalism is ... any other system! (kidding -- don't really want to start an economics debate here!)

-Jeff