this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2024

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Valve Makes "Boomer Shooter" An Official Genre On Steam (www.gamespot.com)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 56 points 6 months ago (2 children)

... in reference to shooters made popular by younger Gen. X and Millennials while the actual boomers tried to get the entire industry banned.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago

It's called "Slang"

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Kids don't know that though

[–] [email protected] 24 points 6 months ago (4 children)

Hmm. Even Wolfestein 3D was more of a Gen-X than Boomer generational thing, so setting the bar at Doom seems a little misunderstood of who actually played those games.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 6 months ago (1 children)

The term "boomer shooter" became a running joke within the team behind the aforementioned Dusk, which launched in 2018. Andrew Hulshult, who composed music for Dusk and other similar titles like Amid Evil and Prodeus, said on X that the team saw it being used to describe the original Doom, so they "ran with it because it was funny."

Supporting GameGod's statement that it's intended to be funny rather than accurate.

[+] [email protected] -22 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Lots of insults were intended to be "funny" and not accurate. Ask anyone not pale as snow from the Civil Rights era about how funny Sambo and Aunt Jemima intended to be "funny" were. Just because the bigotry is aimed at old People doesn't make it cool.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Just because the bigotry is aimed at old People doesn’t make it cool.

I get your point and I partially agree with it, but note that there's a big difference between old people and people from racial groups in USA (based on your references): the later are marginalised groups.

...for keeping the rhyme, perhaps "Doom-like shoot and boom"? Lots of exploding enemies in Doom, but no boomer reference.

[+] [email protected] -11 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Do tell me more of how Old People are not the target of discrimination, yout'.

https://www.commerce.gov/cr/reports-and-resources/discrimination-quick-facts/age-discrimination
https://www.eeoc.gov/youth/age-discrimination
https://www.aarp.org/work/age-discrimination/still-thrives-in-america/
https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/lilly-usa-sued-eeoc-nationwide-age-discrimination
http://www.agediscrimination.info/blog/2019/12/13/the-6-most-interesting-us-age-discrimination-cases-in-2019
https://www.minncle.org/eaccess/1016841701/409_Thompson.pdf

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Do tell me more of how Old People are not the target of discrimination¹, yout'².

You're 1) distorting what I said, and 2) being an assumer.

Discrimination can happen against any group. However, it's considerably worse when it's geared towards marginalised groups, as they have less ways to deal with it. That makes your analogy with a racial group (black people) a lot flawed.

Note, I do not think that insults against old people are "cool". However they're considerably less worse than insults towards black people.

The links that you've posted - that you clearly didn't even bother to read yourself - are evidence of discrimination in a very specific environment (workplace). They are not evidence of marginalisation.

[–] captainlezbian 6 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

The elderly are marginalized and taken advantage of en masse. But they’re unique among groups like that, we all expect to join them. I’m never gonna wind up black. I’m never gonna wake up one day and realize my parents have finally gotten gay. And even though most people will probably wind up disabled, they don’t think they will. Discrimination against the elderly is unique and often tied to ableism.

And right now things like that term take another element in them as well, one of legitimate anger at our elders. I’m pissed i was left a rapidly warming planet when we could’ve been trying to fix it in earnest before I was born. I’m pissed that they’re refusing to help make the world better and the group most likely to support fascism. I’m pissed that I was left immense income inequality.

And I also know that collectively punishing the elderly hurts people who are just as angry about it as me. I know it hurts people who’ve been even more victimized by their peers’ conservative attitudes. It hurts my loved ones. And someday if I’m lucky I too will be old and the long term consequences of my choices will be felt by people who have every reason to be pissed about what I did with the full force of hindsight and immediacy. And I hope they’re kind to me when that happens.

But also sometimes I’m not going to have the mental fortitude to explain to an old person why I’m still mad about the green scare and that lgbt people aren’t new it’s just that many of you traumatized your friends into the closet for 80 years. And so I might be rude, knowing full well that I’ll deal with rude young people in 40 years myself. Especially since I live in a geriocracy and I’m pissed about that too.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Finally, some actual argumentation. Enough to convince me, at least - specially the first paragraph.

[–] captainlezbian 4 points 6 months ago

Thanks. And like I want to be very clear here, I do think that the “ok boomer” statement is ok speaking as someone who has seriously considered all of this. It’s not cool as a response to every old person, but when the elderly are behaving in ways that fit with the legitimate grievances that us younger people have and it’s clear that they’re not going to listen it’s ok to brush them off. Baby boomers in particular are targeted because they as a generation lived in a profoundly unique position. Their parents and grandparents both got decimated in world wars and then they were just a fucking massive population spike who lived in about the most financially rewarding time to live (at least in my country). They have been leveraging these facts their whole lives and were prioritized as a generation for that entire time. As they begin their descent into the cruel fate that awaits only the lucky among all of us we do not owe them priority. We owe them dignity in their twilight years and kindness as we can, but we can brush them off as they get on their bullshit.

I appreciate the fact that people are talking about ageism more, both because I’m a long standing disability activist, but also because there is a form of ageism that I’m very concerned with and think is underacknowledged: ageism against the young, which I think is an increasingly concerning issue, especially as their voices and bodily autonomy are being increasingly politicized by governments they can’t serve in and many can’t vote on.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Oh shut the fuck up. Old people aren't marginalized minorities this is such a terrible comparission.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

No one was ever offended by Aunt Jemima

[–] [email protected] 20 points 6 months ago

It's a misnomer for sure, but that's why it's a funny label.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 months ago (3 children)

It's not meant to imply that the games were primarily played by literal boomers; "boomer shooter" just rolls off the tongue a lot better than "gen-x shooter" or "early-edition millennials shooter". Are you the sort of person who goes to the Steam page for Rogue and challenges the 'Traditional Roguelike' tag because it's not rogue-like if it's actually Rogue? :P

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Or dark/demon souls games being label souls-like.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I see souls-like listed, I instantly assume it's a console game with terrible camera controls

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Super Mario 64 is my favorite souls-like! /s

[–] [email protected] -2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

nope. Not remotely similar intent nor usage.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago

How is Souls-like not similar in intent as Rogue-like?

[–] devious 3 points 6 months ago

I always liked the term "classic shooter".

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (3 children)

It is a intended as an insult. It is intended to insinuate out of style and old fashioned. Has nothing to do with the rhyme. Rogue is used to describe those games as they are "rogue like". If this were similar it would be "doom like".

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I don't think it's intended as an insult at all; rather, it's just a joking reference to the meme that to gen z, anyone 30+ is a 'boomer'.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Ironic humor is difficult and often misunderstood.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago

Except, you know, that it's a relatively popular genre that people actively seek out by that name because they specifically want those mechanics.

It's absolutely not an insult.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

It is a intended as an insult.

So was "walking sim", but the term stuck and is now used to describe the genre.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Wolfenstein 3D is not a Gen-X shooter or a Boomer Shooter, it is a Greatest Generation Shooter

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

In my optics, Boomers had Pong, Asteroids and pinball machines.

The Great Generation didn't play on computers until Candy Crush and Farmville, so even if they're older, their games are newer.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

It was a reference to Wolfenstein 3d being the first FPS AND being about WW2

[–] [email protected] 23 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Oh no

They've angered the 38 year olds of the comment section

[–] captainlezbian 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Millennials do ruin everything /s

[–] RizzRustbolt 10 points 6 months ago (1 children)

So it's not describing shooters where the whole point is to blow up all the shit?

[–] Heavybell 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Shooters where you can carry more than 4 weapons, the map is usually not a straight line, key hunting is often involved, health doesn't regenerate, etc etc. Oh and there's usually a lot of weapon variety I guess.

[–] RizzRustbolt 1 points 6 months ago

Yeah, stuff like Boltgun, and Ultrakill.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago

Valve didn't do shit, what an awful title. These are user generated tags.

[–] ghewl 8 points 6 months ago

Fake. User generated tags. Stupid article

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Boomer Shooters > Modern FPS games, FIGHT ME!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Boomer shooter and modern aren't mutuallg exclusive. I liked TB's classification: "Modern military shooter".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

🎉🥳 Another label graduated! 🥳🎉

Now please hurry up and vote for Bullet Heaven on Brotato and its colleagues so we aren't stuck with something as terrible as "Survivor-likes" or unweildy as "Action Roguelike - Bullet Hell"