Don't Use the Word "Gamer"

[Ph33onix]

A gamer is a person who is good at certain types of games, mainly those that require a bit of skill or patience to be good at. For example you can call yourself a gamer if you have a max level wow character of if you can do a 360 headshot in mw2 however you can not refer to yourself as such for playing casual or just plain stupid games.

Thus calling yourself a gamer just means that you consider yourself sufficiently "pro" at any number of games that you can impress other people by playing.

Also there is no difference between gamer and hardcore-gamer, the correct term for a "gamer" that isn't that much into video-games is "casual gamer".

As for valid and constructive arguments to support my theory:
1. I am Batman.
2. Batman is ALWAYS right.
3. Therefore my thesis is correct

 

[Mitchell_R]

Okay but what if you don't have a job and are a worthless good for nothing (for society anyway) who spends most of their time playing video games. What do you call your self then? *Dies a little inside.*

 

[SuccessAndBiscuts]

I included something along the lines of

being a self confessed "gamer"...

In my university application, not only did I get a place on the course (in a year where thousands of students have been rejected lots of whom have better grades than me) I was involved in a half-hour discussion with several of the lecturers on interesting uses for and things relating too gaming.

Including but not limited to chess openings and how one lecturers brother is a borderline WOW addict.

Sorry Yhatzee, I do see where you are coming from, but to my mind and the minds of the lecturers it would appear gaming is more than just a hobby, It is a mindset you can apply to anything.

Pattern recognition, development of tactics on the fly the ability to analyze and improve on other peoples recommended strategies are all common "Gamer" traits be the game chess or halo.

You can take the game away from the gamer but you won't stop him finding or making a new one.

 

[XwingVmanX]

You know, I've put up with the self-important, narcissistic bullshit of a one Benjamin "Yahtzee" Croshaw for quite some time now. And though that is hardly a stretch for me, as I have been absorbing the anger and prejudice of the world's asshole population for a good three decades, I can no longer stand to have Yahtzee's own brand of verbal diarrhea being funneled into my ear canal any longer.

I put up with a lot of shit from people like Yahtzee over the years. But when you call Aerith Gainsborough a "flaky bint", you have stepped over the proverbial line. I have no more patience for you, Croshaw. Take your crybaby rants that you poorly disguise as legitimate reviews and stick them up your pasty, white tuchus. You really wanna know what the definition of the stereotypical asshole gamer that gives us all a bad name? Every morning you look at one in the mirror when you wake up. It's people like you that ruin this hobby for the rest of us.

And before you accuse me of the following. No, I do not own a body pillow or any other perverted anime crap. Though I'm sure you'll claim otherwise in next week's article.

You acted like someone is forcing you to listen to him. Its like complaining that your bleeding when your stabbing yourself with a knife.

 

[menamebephil]

I would totally buy an F. Scott Fitzgerald-themed t-shirt.

/completelymissingthepoint/

 

[ckam]

I think "Masters/Users of Interactive Media" will suffice. Hmm... MIM or UIM.

Disguises the word a little bit and can also be applied in other mediums of entertainment.

 

[Blind Sight]

I really wonder what Yahtzee's definition of 'normal' is...normal doesn't exist. It's simply a concept we've made to explain what we SHOULD be, rather then what we WANT to be. Pinholing yourself into the category of 'normal' means nothing. Normal by who's standards? Your own? Your friends'? Society's? (god that made me sound like some punk douchebag...) Seriously, if you think 'gamer' is a stereotype, 'normal' fits that just as well. In the end, we're all freaks in the freak kingdom.

Maybe we should stop associating all our problems with words and actually get down to the root of the problem with the 'gamer population', rather then pull the ol' "*insert offensive slur here* is BAD* technique. I think that focusing on the limited social development of the gamers that give us a bad name would be far more useful then saying 'this word gives us a bad image'. No, no it does not, some people who are associated with it do, changing the word does nothing.

Also, with the way games are attacked in the media, is it hardly a surprise that gamers attempt to create a collective group? They're being defensive over their passion (sometimes in a horribly immature way, mind you). Without gamer generated political blocs and movements the gaming world would be an entirely different, and quite possibly, a heavily censored medium. I would assume that Mr. Croshaw, who once lived under the reign of Fuhrer Atkinson, would understand that, but no.

 

[stiborge]

Yes, I believe the other stereotype about gamers is that they're skinny narcissistic nerds that hate everyone. We wouldn't happen to know anyone that fits that description, would we now, Yahtzee. Honestly, I was fine with the article, I prefer calling myself a nerd anyways then being defined by just the gaming. Which I do quite more then you but in your little blurb near the end there. I think i'm just annoyed that when you say "fat, sweaty, and neckbearded." That more or less describes me appearance wise. Although, I'm generally not all that sweaty and I do shave the neck beard to give myself a regular beard but that is beside the point.

 

[RadiusXd]

no matter how much time you spend watching movies, your ability to watch movies will not increase greatly. I agree that for people how just spend some spare time playing games the usage of the word might be a little overstretched, but for those who literally pour their lives into their passion it deserves a different magnitude of how closely you identify yourself with what you do.

for example, if someone casually plays cricket one could call them a person who plays cricket or a cricket player, but if almost every day is like one great big cricket oriented rocky style montage then i would say they have good justification to identify as "cricketers".

PS, i remember reading somewhere that an 80 year old woman plays like 8 hours of video games a day, they called her hardcore granny.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW YEEEEEEEAAAH!.

 

[Booze Zombie]

I don't think I've ever called myself a gamer, to the best of my memory, but fat lot of good that does me, my memory is like Swiss cheese.
Anyway, I like to think that I already approach talking about games like this.

I ask people "what games do you play" not "are you a gamer", though that might be because I couldn't be bothered with labels for myself and as an extension of that, I couldn't be bothered labelling the outside world.
To lazy to label? You better believe it!

I put up with a lot of shit from people like Yahtzee over the years. But when you call Aerith Gainsborough a "flaky bint", you have stepped over the proverbial line.

Didn't he say in the article that he placed that there just to troll the knee-jerk reactionaries that he was talking about?
Not to insult yourself here, but I do believe that was his stated reason.

 

[HentMas]

HEY!! I DEMMAND YOU TO PUT A VIDEO!!! I AM PAYING THIS SITE TO SEE YOUR VIDEOS ON HQ!!!

yeah...

also, funny how everyone avoided "aeris" thingy... too creepy to be true...

 

[Continuity]

Extra Punctuation: Don't Use the Word "Gamer"

Not all gamers are sweaty manchildren playing games in their parent's basement. Some of them are actually normal.

Read Full Article

"Gamer" simply identifies a gaming enthusiast and its the perfect word for the job and certainly less of a mouthful than "gaming enthusiast".. or would you rather we pretended we're something we're not?
Who wants to "fit in" and be "normal" anyway, I've seen those "normal" assholes and they can keep it.

The point I'm trying to reach is that playing games, as entertaining and fascinating and beneficial as it might be, is just something people do, not something they should be defined by. People don't call themselves moviegoers, or TV watchers, or book readers. That's the job of marketing agencies.

Yhatzee, I'm sorry and I hope you don't mind me saying this but you're a dick. Bookworms, film buffs do exist and they do self identify, and well they should. These forms of media (gaming too) are major parts of of the art and culture of our society today. To be a part of that, even if only as a consumer and aficionado is something to be proud of.

I am a Gamer.

 

[Serrenitei]

My response, in full blog-post format found here
http://www.rogue-gamer.com/2010/08/gamer-is-bad-word-i-mean-what.html

If anyone cares to take a gander.

 

[Madmanonfire]

I like to say gamer, only because it's easier than saying "I enjoy playing video games", but I do agree with what Yahtzee said on the whole label thing. Never thought about it like that, actually.
And what a shame. Only one person fell for the trolling comment and that person continues to jump on his high horse and make a fool of himself.

 

[Devin Parker]

Totally disagree. As others have said, "Gamer" is a handy way of identifying others who enjoy the same sorts of hobbies as I do. I don't expect people's entire identities to be summarized by any single label; rather, people use a lot of labels to describe themselves. It's social shorthand.

Besides, it seems to me that the more of us who, say, bathe regularly and try to get along with people lay claim to the title of "gamer", the better chance we all have of eventually changing the public perception that we are all the Comic Book Guy from "The Simpsons" or CatPissMen.

And this is coming from someone who admittedly kinda resents you video gamers stealing the label from us tabletop roleplayers.

But then, I'm no longer in my teens or twenties, and I'm far less concerned about what other people may or may not assume about me because of what I'm interested in. If people want to assume right off the bat that I'm some kind of violent, deluded freak who can't handle real life because I enjoy playing video games and roleplaying games, I have a chance right there to correct their misunderstanding. If they persist in maintaining that attitude, I'm probably not interested in knowing them anyway.

 

[Escapefromwhatever]

Ehem, I shall do nothing except redirect you to one of my earliest threads, which happened to be about this very topic.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.89223-Poll-The-term-gamer#1386043

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

I think the first impression of Mana Bar probably gave it the 'gamer bar' image. I also think the 'bar where one can play games' is a better idea, though it might not sell as well. Not that it matters because I'm a yank and odds are I won't be in Brisbane for... well never probably.

It is a little vexing to have had the term 'gamer' go from a secret handshake kind of term to the norm. Anyway I agree that in today's meta-society we definitely don't need it thrown around as some sort of badge.
It would be like that badge people get for achieving the first chapter of a game. Yea, we all have it, so why even bother giving it out?