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I hate the term "Boomer Shooter" (lemmy.ml)

submitted 8 months ago by onlooker@lemmy.ml to c/gaming

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Not to say I hate the genre, I actually love me some Dusk or Turbo Overkill, but why, oh why are they called Boomer Shooters?

These games clearly took inspiration from 90s FPS games, which 👌, but they were played mostly by Gen Xers and Millenials, not Boomers. When games like Duke Nukem 3D or Quake were out, Boomers were what? 30 to 50 years old? I'm sure some of them played FPS games, but there is no way they were the majority.

Whenever I see the term Boomer Shooter, my mind goes to games like Shootout! for Magnavox Odyssey. Can't we call them something else, like Retro FPSes or something?

Anyway, rant over. Thank you for your time.

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[–] ULS@lemmy.ml 11 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Who says boomer shooter?

[–] onlooker@lemmy.ml 14 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It feels like everybody, here are just a few examples. And if that doesn't cut it for you, Steam has a whole-ass tag for boomer shooters.

[–] Telorand@reddthat.com 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Man, this is the first time I've heard that term. But then, I don't play anything in this genre anymore, so maybe it's just by virtue of the fact that I'm out of that space almost entirely.

[–] skulblaka@startrek.website 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

There's been a big revival of that genre over the last 10 years or so and I think Boomer Shooter was adopted as a way to differentiate it from your standard FPS. Turbo Overkill is very different from Borderlands which is very different from COD. You'll need a way to communicate that difference if you want fans to buy your game.

[–] Telorand@reddthat.com 2 points 8 months ago

That's cool. Always neat to see things come back but with the modern understanding of game theory.

[–] 4am@lemm.ee 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I mean it became a tag on steam it’s so common. “Retro-style FPS” doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as easily. Boomer = Baby Boomer generation (or close to it) where the engineers making the things; so while it’s not entirely accurate of the dev demographic of the day, “the things people who are now old used to make” is the meaning. Boomer is also like “boom” because there big loud guns, big loud sfx, ridiculous explosions, etc.

Why does this have to be a point of contention? No fun allowed? What is this, Nintendo?

[–] ursakhiin 2 points 8 months ago

As for why it might be a point of contention with many millennials.

My best guess is we've spent years being accused of doing things by boomers who didn't know that Gen Z was a thing and now it feels like we are being lumped in with Boomers because Gen Z can't be bothered to learn that more than one generation camr before them.

For Gen X it may just be that they constantly feel forgotten and want to be known.