Actually, I rarely use the word gamer. Not because I have a better word or a similar thought process, it's just not something I need to use in conversation often. Should be easy to work out of my vocabulary.
Don't Use the Word "Gamer"
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
Though it would be a pretty good job... I might just have to keep a resume on hand if he ever opens in Perth.Mr Smith said:
Bwaaaaahahahaha, like he even knows we exist. Perth is like that frumpy aunt you only wheel out for funerals and the occasional wedding.
Well, this is the only real thing i fully disargee on. Yahtzee even, has before said that games are nothing like otehr mediums. For one we are interactive in the fullest sense of the word. in a book all that is required is paying attention, in a movie, same thing. In a game you must put in an input to get an output, there is no observing. So it would make sense that we would give a title to it, like you would call a fork lift driver a fork lift driver, or something more complex if it pleases you.hawk533 said:
I used to be an advocate of the "gamer" label. It offers a sense of identity as part of a niche community - no matter how many people play games these days, few describe themselves as gamers. Gamers are the enthusiasts, the ones who really like video games and take up a special interest in all things game-y. Where's the harm in identifying yourself as one?
I've come to realize there's some harm in it after all. Gamers don't have a very good image going for them, do they? And as far as community goes, the "gamer" community isn't very tight, is it? Gamers hate each other and are not shy about showing it. "Gamer" isn't a hobby, it's a competition over who gets to be the biggest loser.
Am I a "gamer"? I used to think of myself as one until I realized I don't really have anything in common with most other "gamers" aside from the fact that we all play games. That's like calling myself a "breather" because I breathe oxygen and now belong to the "breather" community. So how is breathing going for you this day, fellow Breathers?
Bottom line, I've come to realize that this "gamer" label is not only futile, it is self-defeating. We're not a community tightly-knit by out hobby, we're not displaying our hobby in any positive light to the rest of the world, and we don't even know what "gamer" means anymore. I also don't get the impression that this label will ever come out of use.
Maybe the only solution is do what I did - cede from the "gamer" label and be just "a person who plays video games", because the two are no longer equal. Leave this reproachable, hate-filled, stigmatized "gamer" title to the people who actually deserve it.
P.S.
A hungry troll passed by, and left with a full stomach. The blame falls squarely on you. You know who I'm talking about. Don't feed the trolls.
I've come to realize there's some harm in it after all. Gamers don't have a very good image going for them, do they? And as far as community goes, the "gamer" community isn't very tight, is it? Gamers hate each other and are not shy about showing it. "Gamer" isn't a hobby, it's a competition over who gets to be the biggest loser.
Am I a "gamer"? I used to think of myself as one until I realized I don't really have anything in common with most other "gamers" aside from the fact that we all play games. That's like calling myself a "breather" because I breathe oxygen and now belong to the "breather" community. So how is breathing going for you this day, fellow Breathers?
Bottom line, I've come to realize that this "gamer" label is not only futile, it is self-defeating. We're not a community tightly-knit by out hobby, we're not displaying our hobby in any positive light to the rest of the world, and we don't even know what "gamer" means anymore. I also don't get the impression that this label will ever come out of use.
Maybe the only solution is do what I did - cede from the "gamer" label and be just "a person who plays video games", because the two are no longer equal. Leave this reproachable, hate-filled, stigmatized "gamer" title to the people who actually deserve it.
P.S.
A hungry troll passed by, and left with a full stomach. The blame falls squarely on you. You know who I'm talking about. Don't feed the trolls.
i fully agree with yahtzee here. if games are to grow up as a media, we should stop the bad image we have. and hopefully we will, fellow persons who play games!
Okay, so the term 'gamer' shouldn't be bandied about lightly.
Understood.
But when someone asks you what you enjoy doing after work,
and you start chatting about Metal Gear and Cave Story, people tend to get a bit confused.
If I mentioned Call of Duty however, everyone in the area would let out a collective 'Ohhhhh' of understanding and procede to cream their pants.
It's really just an all around easier way to establish your pastime.
Understood.
But when someone asks you what you enjoy doing after work,
and you start chatting about Metal Gear and Cave Story, people tend to get a bit confused.
If I mentioned Call of Duty however, everyone in the area would let out a collective 'Ohhhhh' of understanding and procede to cream their pants.
It's really just an all around easier way to establish your pastime.
Very controversial topic haha, but I agree very much. It annoys me when people use "gamer" as a label a lot.
What about people who don't lump them selves up as "gamers" but who do enjoy games in a similar way to how some people enjoy movies, not just for the entertainment and escapism that they provide but as an interest? They might have a Zelda or prince of Persia poster in their living room, they might have a shirt or two that has a gaming reference on it and they might spend some of their free time (or less productive work time) reading some game blogs and watching things like ZP.
I to don't like calling my self a gamer, partially because their are always people who seem so much more interested in video games than me that I can say "he is a real gamer" but at the same time the way I interact with video games is different from many of my friends. It isn't that I play more video games, it is that I am more interested in the ether that surrounds them: the business, the reviews, and the related media. I am even interesting in learning about some games that I am not specifically interested in buying, mostly because I am just curious.
I to don't like calling my self a gamer, partially because their are always people who seem so much more interested in video games than me that I can say "he is a real gamer" but at the same time the way I interact with video games is different from many of my friends. It isn't that I play more video games, it is that I am more interested in the ether that surrounds them: the business, the reviews, and the related media. I am even interesting in learning about some games that I am not specifically interested in buying, mostly because I am just curious.
Haha, this is a great picture. I can certainly say that I know one of the "REAL Gamers"Irridium said:If you really want to be classified as "gamer", I have a handy dandy little chart so you can see what kind of gamer you are.
However thats only if you consider yourself a gamer, instead of simply "someone who play games".
Just to get this out of the way quickly before my main point, this was a really well written article. Well thought out, clearly argued, and just the perfect amount of humor to make it interesting without detracting from the point. Damn Yahtzee, you smart!
Anyways
Yahtzee is actually suggesting something that can be applied to social situations well beyond video game culture. When a minority's goal is absorption into the mainstream, often its last obstacle is its own self-assertion. The price of mass acceptance is the sacrifice of a defining character trait to the general masses.
Let's put it like this. You are a white kid growing up in an integrated school district. You have some black friends and some white friends, and are never given a reason to discriminate between them on the basis of their skin color. Then you get to High School, and get the crazy black power professor who has a poster of Malcolm X at the front of class, and a comb undoubtedly lodged in the back of his massive fro. He lectures all about race relations between blacks and whites, talks about the white man's domineering and how the blacks had to rise against it. Perhaps he advocates racial harmony, but his merely doing so creates the sensation of difference and clash between the two groups. Suddenly the blacks and whites in your little group of friends begin to slowely polarize away from each other based on the color of their skin.
Sometimes its neccesary for a minority to take charge of its own stereotype. When people say "Hey, you're a ******!" sometimes the only thing you can shout back is "Damn right I'm a ******!" but if you hold onto that term after its become obsolete, you give it a power past its time. By asserting your right to be a minority, you lose your chance at the majority. We lose the name and the stereotype gamer when we stop being a marked off phenomenon.
Now my question to Yahtzee is this; Are you sure you want to be part of the majority?
On how many countless occasions has Yahtzee complained about casual gaming and advocated the hardcore fan's need to guide the games industry through its growth? If we give up our claim as gamers to just be "people who play games." then the market will be flooded with games for the "people who play games." A million Wii sports titles to appeal to the mass audience that we have become. I mean, look what happened when the skill of literacy was introduced to the serfs, we got Twilight.
Maybe its not even a decision that "gamers" have a right to make anymore. Video Games are already well on their way to being absorbed by the mainstream. Still, perhaps we might consider using what little influence we have left to resist becoming "people who play games." just a little while longer.
Anyways
Yahtzee is actually suggesting something that can be applied to social situations well beyond video game culture. When a minority's goal is absorption into the mainstream, often its last obstacle is its own self-assertion. The price of mass acceptance is the sacrifice of a defining character trait to the general masses.
Let's put it like this. You are a white kid growing up in an integrated school district. You have some black friends and some white friends, and are never given a reason to discriminate between them on the basis of their skin color. Then you get to High School, and get the crazy black power professor who has a poster of Malcolm X at the front of class, and a comb undoubtedly lodged in the back of his massive fro. He lectures all about race relations between blacks and whites, talks about the white man's domineering and how the blacks had to rise against it. Perhaps he advocates racial harmony, but his merely doing so creates the sensation of difference and clash between the two groups. Suddenly the blacks and whites in your little group of friends begin to slowely polarize away from each other based on the color of their skin.
Sometimes its neccesary for a minority to take charge of its own stereotype. When people say "Hey, you're a ******!" sometimes the only thing you can shout back is "Damn right I'm a ******!" but if you hold onto that term after its become obsolete, you give it a power past its time. By asserting your right to be a minority, you lose your chance at the majority. We lose the name and the stereotype gamer when we stop being a marked off phenomenon.
Now my question to Yahtzee is this; Are you sure you want to be part of the majority?
On how many countless occasions has Yahtzee complained about casual gaming and advocated the hardcore fan's need to guide the games industry through its growth? If we give up our claim as gamers to just be "people who play games." then the market will be flooded with games for the "people who play games." A million Wii sports titles to appeal to the mass audience that we have become. I mean, look what happened when the skill of literacy was introduced to the serfs, we got Twilight.
Maybe its not even a decision that "gamers" have a right to make anymore. Video Games are already well on their way to being absorbed by the mainstream. Still, perhaps we might consider using what little influence we have left to resist becoming "people who play games." just a little while longer.
Ya know, I've kinda always referred to myself as a gamer. I dunno. I guess when I call myself a gamer, I don't really tag myself with the negative definition of it. Though I can certainly understand how people that don't play games can obtain a negative view from the term. Seeing as how "gamers" are often portrayed in the news or on the Youtube, or whatever in some kind of negative light.
Yahtzee certainly has a point. I suppose I can try and make a bit of difference and not refer to myself as a gamer. Maybe I should at least stop introducing myself as a gamer to any chick I come across. Baby steps though, am I right people?
Yahtzee certainly has a point. I suppose I can try and make a bit of difference and not refer to myself as a gamer. Maybe I should at least stop introducing myself as a gamer to any chick I come across. Baby steps though, am I right people?
Yeah if someone says "Oh you're a gamer huh?" my first instinct is to immediately cringe and start the mental process of trying to come up with a better term for myself. Still working on that I suppose... Besides I stopped playing games that completely suck your life away. Like anything by say, Bliztard
There's an important difference between "gamers" and "people who play games." Gamers keep up with gaming news, make time in their day to play games and, from a marketing perspective, choose to self-identify as a part of the gaming subculture, familiar with its language, references, memes and history. The group "people who play games" tend to not search for gaming news, but when they run across something of interest, they will scan it. They frequently play genres across the spectrum and sometimes go weeks or months without getting a new game. Lastly, they don't call themselves "gamers."
- J.P. Sherman, 24 August 2010, The Escapist. "First-Person Marketer: Kinect Is Not For You"
- J.P. Sherman, 24 August 2010, The Escapist. "First-Person Marketer: Kinect Is Not For You"
well i vant vouch for everyone but as a genral rule when im asked what it is that i enjoy when not working i genraly tell them im into audio visual, or electronic entertainments. it covers my gaming habbits as well as my movie and television habbits all in one swoop.
I doubt it will be going away. There are plenty of people who actually conform to the stereotype and I desperately seeking a group to belong to ever since the chess team was disbanded.
On a related note, whenever I hear the word gamer, I think of that terrible movie from 2009 or whenever.
On a related note, whenever I hear the word gamer, I think of that terrible movie from 2009 or whenever.