Don't Use the Word "Gamer"

[ImpostorZim]

I never used the word gamer a definition of myself. I just feel that since playing video games has been one of the only standout things I remember from my childhood that I still do on a regular basis, and considering that all my free time is spent either playing games or reviewing them, gamer is about right. I don't find it offensive at all. What do I care if someone else sticks me in a stereotype and whatever?

 

[adamtm]

So,

Yahzee.

Instead of changing societies (mostly wrong) perception you would rather change the label...

Thats...well ...pretty stupid.

Its like the rebranding The Sci Fi channel to SyFy. It didn't change anything, if anything, it made it worse.

Sooner or later the new rebranded "person that plays videogames" will become synonymous with the fat nerd kid in his basement.

You see, the problem isn't the label, because labels are exactly that, empty words that society gives meaning to. And as long as society has the perception of gaming (as in, playing videogames) being the work of satan, or at least "childish crap", no rebranding will save us (not even omitting ANY labeling).

See it like this, if i tell my boss (in a private conversation) that i like to play Kirby on the DS what will he probably think of me? Exactly, that im an immature child. It has nothing to do with the word/label "GAMER".


So, yeah, i disagree with you on this. I don't really care for the label, i could call myself a Smajigmadig if that would mean "person that plays videogames", however Smajigmadig would also have the negative connotation, because society imposes it on us.

Also

-snip

+1

 

[jamescorck]

The funny thing is that in spanish we don't have a term for gamer, so whenever somebody talks to me about the subject I just reply "Yeah, I play videogames too. I am normal". Videogames are a hobby like movies and books, and I don't see people calling themselves moviers or bookers...yet. The internet is a breeding ground for oddities, and vocabulary is no exception.

why did I have to pick english philology that now everywhere I look I analyze words?

 

[Hollywooda]

27!!... man you've had a hard life, So why do you dress like a 40 year old antiques collector?.

 

[adamtm]

27!!... man you've had a hard life, So why do you dress like a 40 year old antiques collector?.

Because its cool

Bowties are cool

Fezzes are cool

 

[TerribleAssassin]

I use gamer, but more as a broad term.


I call myself a gamer, and I wear skinny jeans.


But I can see why you wouldn't want it because of stereotype's and tingzz.

PS: Open a Mana Bar in Preston, Lancashire please

 

[M-JN]

Yyyyyeah, but I think in a lot of ways it's necessary to have some labels on yourself. I mean, you don't have to, but things like "I'm a gamer" help to identify with other people within the bracket. People outside it may hold the stigma, but people inside it will know what you're talking about and may concede to be friends with you.

Most people label themselves regardless of whatever negative connotations there may be, because it's just easier than explaining their personal attributes when a bunch of people will already get the point because of that one word.

For another example, I'm gay, and there are is certainly rather a lot of stigma around that label. But it's still easier than trying to explain to people that I am a human with sexual urges toward other humans contrary to typical breeding procedures and whatnot.

I disagree pretty much in full. Not to say that I think you're wrong, I understand where you're coming from, and you make a lot of good points, I just disagree.

I think life is substantially easier if you don't present yourself with any labels at all. I am most definitely a gamer, I've had my share of all-nighters when a great game comes around, but I never actually just say that to someone that doesn't already know that about me. I simply meet new people and talk to them. If they're cool, I'll hang out with them more, and they'll get to know me better. Eventually, they'll realize that I play a lot of video games.

However, since they came to know this through a slower method, and simultaneously see all the other things I do, it no longer becomes an all-encompassing label. If you simply go up to someone and tell them you're a gamer, that's all they'll know about you, and it's what they'll base their judgements on. A stereotype, rather than the actual complex person with several different interests that you (and in fact everyone) actually are.

So ultimately, I feel it does more harm than good to label yourself. If you are a gamer, then it won't be hard to make gamer friends, even if you don't label yourself that way. However, if you do label yourself that way, it'll be hard to make non-gamer friends, and why would you restrict yourself like that?

Yep, all good points. Looking at it that way, you're right, of course you don't need other people drawing unfair conclusions because of the stereotype - but I still think the problem would be with their perception and not the way you worded it.

I'm not really thinking of "labels" in the colloquial sense, but in the more traditional meaning. Simply a way to categorize things based on attributes. Straightforward meaning; "gamer", person who plays games as a hobby. It's not the word that's the problem. If you were to introduce yourself with a different type of label, say, "I'm a douchebag," then they'd have a pretty clear understanding of that aspect of your personality, but simply having a name for the things you do for fun isn't all-encompassing by any means.

That's why I think Yahtzee's going about it the wrong way, really. "Gamer" isn't on the same level as negative terms like "nerd" or "dweeb" or whatever. Those things are intentionally negative. "Gamer" just kind of came along for the ride. Maybe it's not something you'd share immediately with strangers, but what is? Gotta start a conversation somewhere. "Hello, I'm MJN, I'm 21, I like my steak charbroiled, I drive a Toyota, I'm a gamer, I grow my own tomatoes....."

If anything, I'd personally say something like "I play video games" so it doesn't sound like I'm in some sort of secret club, but I'm not about to nitpick linguistics like that.

 

[Griffolion]

I second TerribleAssassin, Preston!

I would say that Yahtzee's argument is merely one faucet of a wider concept in that in a perfect world we wouldn't stereotype about anything let alone games. We label because it helps us categorise and understand the world around us, but the stereotyping is the negative aspect. My opinion is that if you want to say someone is a gamer then fine, but hold off from taking on the negative connotations that naturally come with that, like the ones Yahztee said such as making it sound like you're in an elitist minority etc etc because (as far as i can see) that is the problem causing aspect here. We're all gamers, but some of us are IT Technicians, others musicians, software engineers, gardeners, even moviegoer.

The label isn't bad, its the sterotypeing.

 

[The Mapper]

Awwww... NO ZP or XP for a week... im sad...

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.

Wait, are you talking about the same Aeris/Aerith as Yahtzee? She must be the most unimportant character in any game I ever seen. Hell they killed her off for a reason...

Also he said he wasnt going to have a XP next week, so you'll have to wait two weeks for he response (if he feels you are deserving of one.)

Clearly you either, A. have not played the game, B. played through Disc 1 and stopped, or C. are one of the legions of Aerith haters who have constantly screamed at me for 13 years how bad a character she is but have STILL not provided me with a legitimate reason for such. That's another hivemind that needs to be purged with fire.

And I don't give a rat's ass if Yahtzee chooses to urinate on my comments.(Pun intended.) He isn't likely to do so anyway, and if he does I'll just shoot back at him like I shoot back at all you fanboys.

hahahahahahaahaahahaah Sir John the Net you have made my day with your rants. Aerith wasn't a good character coss they did next 2 nothing 2 make her likable other than that she is a girl. FF7CC did a lot more 2 try and make her an actual human but that was only coss they were trying 2 play 2 the fanboys (like you) that they knew she had =)

that is why at the end it is almost just a picture of her XD (well there is that bit with cloud after the credits but you know)

 

[Mnemoscat]

I'd like to note that video gaming is not the only (or oldest) hobby that uses that descriptor. Although I enjoy and play video games, when I describe myself as a gamer, I'm talking about RPG's and LARP. While role playing isn't going to ensure world peace or save the rain forests, I'm proud of my hobby nonetheless. I don't know of many others that involve building imaginary worlds out of whole cloth and writing stories for other people to imagine themselves into (except for writing, which is unarguably a respectable hobby, and another of mine). In an era when many people spend their free time watching reality shows and arguing about what to put on the Netflix que, I think a hobby that actually involves creative effort is something that is well worth being proud of. Yes, our hobby has its share of socially inept twits who are allergic to soap, much as writing has its share of self-obsessed snobs. That doesn't make it any less valuable. I am a gamer, and I am not ashamed to say so.

 

[Ledan]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....
Very good article, and I agree with the message of it. It breaks down barriers, and in my Ideal world there would be no barriers at all. If we see someone walking down the street, we see someone walking down the street. We shouldn't even notice that they are white, hispanic, asian, dark skinned, native american, indian, male, female... well, we will probably still notice the difference between guys and girls, since we will still be looking for one or the other........

Anyways, nowadays I still use the term gamer, but that's just because there is a gamer "culture". Actually, not even just "gamer" culture, our culture has a subpart of it that has to do with games. Like there are people who are especially knowledgable about movies, or moviestars, there are people who are very knowledgeable about games, anime, mangas, etc. Just nowadays, most people PLAY games. But the knowledge about gaming characters or about moviestars is about as useless....

 

[Aegwadar]

Great article and great point.

Personally, I never really try to label myself. I let other people do that for me; I play games, party, work to party, hang out with my lady (A non-gaming person), and geek it up. I've never been labeled a gamer because I don't advertise I'm a gamer, simple.

Off-Topic: In my version of FF7, It was spelled Aeris... I love how Yahtzee called it BTW... and the whole stream of discussion pending that one nerd-rage comment, Sir Whatever-his-name-is... HA!

 

[TraderJimmy]

Eh, every so often Yahtzee will go on a "Waaah, I'm NOT a nerd!" rants.

What is it this week? Ah, sweaty manchildren with neckbeards. Huzzah for unoriginality!

Look at yerself, Yahtzee. You have a scratty unattractive beard, a hat that REALLY doesn't suit you, appalling taste in clothing - it's bad enough when hipsters dress as badly as you, but you seem to think it ACTUALLY LOOKS GOOD. Yer a nerd, and ya always will be. You can accept it, or you can keep crying about other people acting in a way that SOMEHOW conspires to make you end up looking nerdy.

Ah, forget it, I don't want to shatter his clearly fragile ego. Yahtzee, you're not a nerd. Only reason people think you're a nerd is because you're mildly reactionary (without being interesting), slightly pretentious (without being clever) and utterly witless. Um, I mean, because other people use the word gamer.

I still find Zero Punctuation quite funny sometimes, though. Sometimes.

hipsters are generally people who do something to be cool, usually by trying to do something considered uncool. Sort of like how gamers will hate on a game like MW without playing it because its considered popular. Or like how everyone wants to act like their a gamer now because its not considered rebellious to do so. What happens is it eventually just becomes the new fad.
Think about what hipster music is (something like fallout boy or mcr) it's upbeat and happy sounding yet really repetitive. This is because dark brooding music was popular for so long, it suddenly became cooler to listen to stuff that sounds like pop music but technically isn't somehow.
And I can care less if anyone thinks I'm a troll. It's just a label people give to users who don't take a forum seriously. I don't, this isn't something that affects my life in a deep way. If video games as a medium died, it would suck but i would move on pretty quickly. I don't go around trying to piss people off for fun if that's what your definition of a troll is, I say things that I believe are funny and many other people apparently find amusing. If somebody takes a joke that has no physical harm involved that seriously, then chances are this is a person who's going to get pissed because their show was canceled or because the "game is cheating" and I'm not responsible for how other people react to very minor things.

Hipster music tends to be either brutal and extreme for the sake of it, or extremely chill - folksy music or stuff with gothic overtones without explicitly being goth (Nick Cave, but not Fields of the Nephilim). They go for activities and art that is cliquish, exclusive and elitist. They would never listen to Fallout Boy or MCR, they would listen to old Velvet Underground vinyls and pretend to endorse Nico's racist views in order to be shocking while jacking it to pictures of obscure Belgian trance-metal heroes.

Oh, hipsters.

I actually have hipster friends - this isn't hatred, it's affectionate ribbing. .

Also I have no idea if Belgian trance-metal is a real genre, but I hope it isn't.

 

[MrJohnson]

Hey! Not Every fat bearded gamer smells like milk and has an Aeris/Aerith/anysort of body pillow. It's pretty creepy in my opinion. But I agree for the most part, but not on the fact that just because I'm fat AND play video games that apparently means I'm one of those neckbearded sweat fucks.

 

[MrJohnson]

Eh, every so often Yahtzee will go on a "Waaah, I'm NOT a nerd!" rants.

What is it this week? Ah, sweaty manchildren with neckbeards. Huzzah for unoriginality!

Look at yerself, Yahtzee. You have a scratty unattractive beard, a hat that REALLY doesn't suit you, appalling taste in clothing - it's bad enough when hipsters dress as badly as you, but you seem to think it ACTUALLY LOOKS GOOD. Yer a nerd, and ya always will be. You can accept it, or you can keep crying about other people acting in a way that SOMEHOW conspires to make you end up looking nerdy.

Ah, forget it, I don't want to shatter his clearly fragile ego. Yahtzee, you're not a nerd. Only reason people think you're a nerd is because you're mildly reactionary (without being interesting), slightly pretentious (without being clever) and utterly witless. Um, I mean, because other people use the word gamer.

I still find Zero Punctuation quite funny sometimes, though. Sometimes.

Also this.

Although the people actually fighting about what her name was and FF7 is still hilarious.

Also I enjoy reading through the comments and realizing the only thing Yahtzee and most of the people commenting on this article is that the stereotype is being fat nerd, even though the stereotype for the most part now is the skinny kids sitting in his basement constantly on forums to make up for his lack of any social skills.

 

[Jaded Scribe]

Omg.... seriously???

Yahtzee, I get you have a chip on your shoulder. But seriously dude, get over it. If you have issues with how others label you, that's your problem.

If I skateboard, I'm a skateboarder. If I ride bikes, I'm a bike-rider. If I read, I'm a reader. If I game, I'm a gamer.

See how that works?

None of these things are all encompassing terms. If your fragile ego is so easily bruised, then that's your deal.

And you blatantly sexist look on gamer girls is disgusting. I call myself a gamer girl. It has nothing to do with wanting attention, or screaming "hey, look at me! I'm special." I call myself a gamer girl because I game (game -> gamer has been discussed) and (*gasp*) I'm a girl!!!

Sorry if my being proud of what I am, and how I feel it sets me apart from others (which, in my circle, it does. And it's a welcome thing) bothers you, but you can kiss my ass.


Come off that high horse. The lack of oxygen at that altitude is clearly getting to you.

 

[MikeTheMugger]

I suppose that makes sense. We don't call people movie watchers because we watch movies. But shouldn't there be a term for those people who distinguish themselves by their elite level knowledge of video games. I don't think video games will be an accepted part of culture until we can start calling people "Game Snobs" or "Video Game Buffs".

I believe you meant "Game Guru" or something along those lines, and I hardly see that as an upgrade. Indeed I think it might be tantamount to "Super-nerd" .

 

[MikeTheMugger]

WARNING - TROLLS ARE ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR!!!

...seriously, stop dancing to the troll drums, it just makes them play harder.

Gamers, if you like that term then keep it. If you don't, then come up with something else. But in the mean time STFU. Yahtzee's articles are not law, they are opinions. They may not be RIGHT, but they are his opinions. Respect is a 2-way street.

 

[MikeTheMugger]

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[MikeTheMugger]

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