Hello, games community
I’m 26, born in 1999 in a small Chinese town. Call me French Fry Noob — or just Fry.
In China’s Battlefield community, new players are called “French fries.” Fresh, get eaten alive, but always show up in large numbers. A self-deprecating way of saying: I’m still learning, I’ll die a lot, but I’m here to have fun.
I grew up blowing into Famiclone cartridges, sneaking into arcades, renting PS2 time by the hour, and using a PSP as an MP4 player. Same story, different place.
I don’t work in games. Just a player.
Recently I wrote a long piece about how my generation in China grew up with games — Famiclone to Steam. Console ban, grey market, the Steam tipping point, and why “piracy” was never the full picture. Chinese gamers liked it.
I’m working on an English version now. It’s about why a kid from a small Chinese town bought a physical PS2 copy of Most Wanted years later — just for closure. Not politics. Just games.
Will post it here soon.
I’m new to Lemmy. Still learning etiquette. Feel free to correct me.
Thanks for reading. And if you play Battlefield… sorry in advance.
– Fry
Welcome! Glad to have you! I think the etiquette is to take memes seriously and get in fights over trivial differences between definitions in words. If you have a sense of humor about yourself you should do fine.
Tomorrow I’m planning to write a short piece about how a simple translation difference created an unexpected connection between two games that couldn’t be more different in style. The way Chinese gamers turned that into a running joke really says something about our sense of humor — self-aware, playful, and deeply rooted in the quirks of language.
Ooo, was that the post about yakuza? I am almost through like a dragon (I’m playing a month at a time on a library copy) and need to play persona 5 to understand it properly but I’ve picked up a little bit from the internets.
Also I wanted to compliment you. Your comments and posts are very well written for someone who, I assume, being from China, English is not your first language? I can tell you spend a fair amount of care and attention writing.
yes
"I sincerely want to ask a question. I posted something today — hey, genuine question, not trying to argue.
I shared this piece because I truly thought the Chinese net cafe CF culture and stories like Aunt Juan were interesting enough to be seen by people outside China. Even if it’s niche, I put real effort into writing it.
So when the reply is just ‘I read the first 2 sentences and now I have cancer’ — what do you actually hope to achieve? Does that kind of response make the internet a better place, or does it just make people less willing to share their own cultures and experiences?
I’m honestly curious about your perspective."
You should probably address that question to the person who wrote that, not just people at random. I couldn’t tell you what their goal is.
Thank you. I’ll change my approach for that article and mainly write about a touching Chinese player in CS, with the “CF’s headmaster” joke serving as a spice
I’d like to learn more about foreign gaming meme culture and emojis — where people share them, how they evolve, that sort of thing. Do you have any recommendations on where I should go to observe and participate? And out of curiosity, where doyoupersonally go for gaming memes?
Uh, I don’t, really. Gaming helps me recharge, but my passions are cooking, music, and storytelling. (I love how much better games have gotten at storytelling since, let’s say, Dragon Quest. Taking a long perspective like that is almost like looking at filmmaking from To The Moon. Having been alive for it is thrilling)