Gamer "Inflation." Everyone is a "Gamer" now.

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I think there can be a couple of definitions of gamer

1. Someone who plays games.

2. Someone whose main hobby is playing games.

I think of the second one as a 'gamer'. I certainly wouldn't think I was a 'Surfer' for spending 20 minutes on a body board on holiday.

I've been a gamer since well before the nineties and I certainly don't have 'manboobs'

 

[Dusty Donuts]

1. All games are not equal. That's why I have always, and will always, differentiate between "gamer" and "game consumer".

A gamer has a large library of games spanning some time where at least half of the games are quality games. In addition, a gamer is good at most games, and cares to some degree about quality of games and the art within games.

A game consumer typically buys mostly heavily marketed games like Assassin's Creed, The Sims, Call of Duty, FIFA, Madden, Gears of War etc. and don't own a significant proportion of quality games that weren't heavily marketed or totally casual games from an app store for their mobile device or facebook. A game consumer views games as pure entertainment.

That is a great way to differentiate for you, but nothing is quantifiable and is all subjective based on your own perception.

Basically that. Particularly in these parts

Large library of games spanning some time where at least half of the games are quality games

No numbers, and plus that implies that people who own a lot of bad games have to own at least half that amount in good games in order to be classified as a gamer. (You probably didn't mean that literally though)
Also for that matter, there's no way to say what is a good game, 100%.

In addition, a gamer is good at most games

For Team Fortress 2, someone who is good just comes down to "better than everyone else on the server at the time". And that's just one example. In general, most "gamers" who meet all other criteria would get absolutely creamed in a tournament in the top division for a competitive game. What threshold defines "you're good at this game?"

and cares to some degree about quality of games and the art within games.

Not all games are artistic. You can't compare Braid to VVVVV with art, and all people inherently care about the quality of games, even if that's "damn, this game is bad", you're still making a mention about the quality of it. Unless that's a subjective definition of the quality of games based against your experience.

A game consumer views games as pure entertainment.

To me, that comes across as you take games very seriously and people who take games very seriously for me are the ones who shout down the mic. If you're not having fun, it's not much of a game as far as I'm concerned. I can understand getting mad at your teammates if you have to rely on them, but you can't fault them for trying if they're not up to your standards in the game.

Of course, if you're in a single player game, it doesn't affect you what the "game consumers" do and then you don't even have to think about it, so it shouldn't even cross your mind.

 

[CommanderL]

1. All games are not equal. That's why I have always, and will always, differentiate between "gamer" and "game consumer".

A gamer has a large library of games spanning some time where at least half of the games are quality games. In addition, a gamer is good at most games, and cares to some degree about quality of games and the art within games.

A game consumer typically buys mostly heavily marketed games like Assassin's Creed, The Sims, Call of Duty, FIFA, Madden, Gears of War etc. and don't own a significant proportion of quality games that weren't heavily marketed or totally casual games from an app store for their mobile device or facebook. A game consumer views games as pure entertainment.

That is a great way to differentiate for you, but nothing is quantifiable and is all subjective based on your own perception.

Basically that. Particularly in these parts

Large library of games spanning some time where at least half of the games are quality games

No numbers, and plus that implies that people who own a lot of bad games have to own at least half that amount in good games in order to be classified as a gamer. (You probably didn't mean that literally though)
Also for that matter, there's no way to say what is a good game, 100%.

In addition, a gamer is good at most games

For Team Fortress 2, someone who is good just comes down to "better than everyone else on the server at the time". And that's just one example. In general, most "gamers" who meet all other criteria would get absolutely creamed in a tournament in the top division for a competitive game. What threshold defines "you're good at this game?"

and cares to some degree about quality of games and the art within games.

Not all games are artistic. You can't compare Braid to VVVVV with art, and all people inherently care about the quality of games, even if that's "damn, this game is bad", you're still making a mention about the quality of it. Unless that's a subjective definition of the quality of games based against your experience.

A game consumer views games as pure entertainment.

To me, that comes across as you take games very seriously and people who take games very seriously for me are the ones who shout down the mic. If you're not having fun, it's not much of a game as far as I'm concerned. I can understand getting mad at your teammates if you have to rely on them, but you can't fault them for trying if they're not up to your standards in the game.

Of course, if you're in a single player game, it doesn't affect you what the "game consumers" do and then you don't even have to think about it, so it shouldn't even cross your mind.

I prefer to split into people who play games and gaming Enthusiast's A GE is some one gets all gushy when talking about there fav games who seeks out other like minded people

 

[MetalMagpie]

Yes, people who play video games are gamers.

Basically this.

I fence, therefore I am a fencer. I play video games, therefore I am a gamer.

The term can seem less appropriate if a person doesn't do the activity very often. (I've known fencers who train less than four times a year!) But trying to define some minimum knowledge/skill/commitment level to "qualify" for a term like "gamer" is more than a bit ridiculous.

Gamer, fencer, jogger, dog breeder, stamp collector, train spotter, sailor, and surfer are not protected terms. You are perfectly free to call yourself one if you like. (However, doctor, dietitian, policeman, dentist, and Member of Parliament are protected terms!)

Now, thanks to Microsoft Brainwashing and xbox360, gaming is more or less socially acceptable for today's 20-something basement dweller, kids of all ages, your dad, your mom, your grandmom.

Yes, brainwashing people into realising that video gaming is a fantastic past-time that can be enjoyed by everyone, not just by twenty-something nerds living with their parents. Video gaming is a massive industry these days (in the UK it's worth more than cinema!) so I'm sorry if you've lost your feeling of being part of a persecuted "niche" hobby, at the special table with your gamer friends.

Take up fencing. It's a fantastic sport and not nearly enough people try it. Plus you get to laugh with your new fencer buddies at those silly "normal people" who can't tell a foil from an épée and don't understand the right-of-way rule.

 

[l0ckd0wn]

I think there can be a couple of definitions of gamer

1. Someone who plays games.

2. Someone whose main hobby is playing games.

I think of the second one as a 'gamer'. I certainly wouldn't think I was a 'Surfer' for spending 20 minutes on a body board on holiday.

But then what about those whose main hobbies include gaming and say backgammon? Or Equestrian arts? How about a hobby in dead languages to accompany their gaming habits?

By the sheer language definition, a gamer is a person playing a game currently. Right now I'm gaming the definition of the word gamer and in turn gaming your analysis based on the notion that I must occupy the majority of what is projected as personal time to be considered a gamer.

I know/used-to-know some high level competitive FPS gamers that I would still consider to be gamers, yet don't play as often as they have, are they then former gamers for occupying their time with other matters while still participating only occasionally?

As stated, rather than "us vs them" why don't we talk about "what is now;" by that I'm referring to the many dimensions we have to gaming based on hardware, whether it be on a.) a computer, b.) a console, c.) a portable console, d.) a smart phone, e.) a tablet, f.) a pseudo platform like Facebook. All of those people play games. Some play games from multiple categories while others only play games from certain categories. The one thing they have in common is they all play games, regardless of the many, many differences.

When we target audiences with a purpose, we generally are trying to target specific persons that will enjoy the game and desire to continue playing, but will also either provide us personal information which is then converted to marketing information to then sell to other entities in search of monetary compensation, or a one time direct monetary compensation with the possibility of additional content at more cost, or a subscription based pay-to-play model. I know of know other business model (minus that of Steam/Valve which created the gaming digital distribution platform as we currently know it) for the gaming industry.

So what we have in it's most simple forms is gamers of different hardware types that subscribe to different types of models based on their gaming habits. No one combination is less important than the other, however certain hardware types and certain games models are much more profitable than others. You can take certain combinations and break them down to probably 3 base categories; occasional gamers, regular gamers, consistent gamers. Occasional probably play on hardware categories D, E & F and stick to more free to play games based on submitting marketing info or paying a one time payment for the game; regular gamers may play on A - F with more time on A - C, probably shying away from free to play games looking for better content in single pay or subscription based games; consistent gamers probably play on all hardware platforms A - F but probably play the more single pay and subscription based games.

IMHO of course, but this seems like the type of environment we are in. Mind you this isn't perfect but seems quite relative to sum up a vast majority of what "gamers" are.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

snip

But you see, saying that, you are taking away part of my identity and giving it to anyone who plays Angry Birds for five minutes (not that AB isn't awesome) and that's kind of pants. That's not US vs THEM it's me identifying myself over what I do for the majority of my leisure time, and let's face it, life.

Being a gamer isn't the only thing thing you can be at one time but like I said in my original post I wouldn't think I was a surfer for messing around with a body board for 20 minutes or think I was a stamp collector when I bought a packet of stamps from the post office.

Saying 'I am a Gamer' means you spend a lot of your leisure time gaming (whether that's Farmville or Dark Souls) and you care about it. I don't see why that is hard to understand or needs further definition.

Spoiler: I mean, tell me this does not make you cringe

 

[l0ckd0wn]

snip

But you see, saying that, you are taking away part of my identity and giving it to anyone who plays Angry Birds for five minutes (not that AB isn't awesome) and that's kind of pants. That's not US vs THEM it's me identifying myself over what I do for the majority of my leisure time, and let's face it, life.

Being a gamer isn't the only thing thing you can be at one time but like I said in my original post I wouldn't think I was a surfer for messing around with a body board for 20 minutes or think I was a stamp collector when I bought a packet of stamps from the post office.

Saying 'I am a Gamer' means you spend a lot of your leisure time gaming (whether that's Farmville or Dark Souls) and you care about it. I don't see why that is hard to understand or needs further definition.

I'm going to go ahead and agree with what you said about our personal identification and sense of belonging to a specific title, but what if that title, our title as "gamers" has changed to something more specific?

AB players are gamers all the same, and yes they are vastly different and I'm taking away the title that wasn't coveted at all until recently it seems, but am I doing you or anyone else a disservice?

You speak of times, a quantifier, as an identifying characteristic of being a gamer. (ANECDOTE ALERT!) My girlfriend spends about half of the time I play Civilization in a week playing AB (in Space). Is she any more or less a gamer because she is playing a game on her phone for, in actuallity, upwards of 10-15 hours/week? She is playing AB while watching TV, in between texting, while waiting for dinner to be done... Is this so vastly different than me hitting "End Turn" and doing the same things in between, only that I'm on a computer and may spend up to 2x as long?

If true gamers are now measured in time, how much time is necessary to reach the title of gamer?

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

snip

I'd say gaming would have to be your 'main hobby' to be called a gamer. Like you come home from a hard days work and flick on the pc or console rather than going to do sewing or watching tv or going scuba diving or whatever. It's your preferred activity.

The majority of my friends come to me for advice on games to play because it's pretty much all I do. I am a gamer.

As for your lass I wouldn't say she is a 'gamer' atm but give it time muahahahaha etc. (That's not a put down I just don't think that gaming seems to be her main thing)

Oh and I've been gaming for a long time and I do covet my identity as a gamer as you can probably tell. I always have done.

 

[l0ckd0wn]

I'd say gaming would have to be your 'main hobby' to be called a gamer... I am a gamer.

Amen(sic) brother (or sister), I also consider myself a gamer.

However, we are still on the measurement of a specific length of time to be really considered a gamer. (ANECDOTE ALERT!) I have friends and colleagues who both game and play instruments. The occupy roughly the same amount of time for both; does that quantify them as a gamer or are they something different?

The term can seem less appropriate if a person doesn't do the activity very often. (I've known fencers who train less than four times a year!) But trying to define some minimum knowledge/skill/commitment level to "qualify" for a term like "gamer" is more than a bit ridiculous.

It all comes back to @MetalMagpie said here...

Spoiler: SPOILER: Devil's Advocate

If you haven't noticed, I've erred on the side of ambiguity because of the pursuit of labels seems arbitrary and quite silly really. Even as we struggle to define "gamer" the studios define us differently even further, mostly by how much money we will spend. I'm not sure what is the right answer, but to try and distinguish who is and is not labeled a "gamer" seems to seek this fictitious and self-righteous title that exists to somehow make those who aren't "gamers" inferior. In short, no matter what we call ourselves and how we try to hash it, we are just different demographics of persons who in part spend their money on video game entertainment in one way or another, whether we grind all night looking for an item or trying to get one more level, whether we are stuck in a puzzle that leads us to the next dungeon or just the next puzzle in the series, whether we want the most immersible story imaginable or no story at all, we all just play games.

As for your lass I wouldn't say she is a 'gamer' atm but give it time muahahahaha etc. (That's not a put down I just don't think that gaming seems to be her main thing)

None taken, and I couldn't take that title as a negative. I'm still trying to find the game that hooks her... Maybe I'll get her started with Plants vs Zombies on Steam and see where this takes us...

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I'm still trying to find the game that hooks her... Maybe I'll get her started with Plants vs Zombies on Steam and see where this takes us...

Could be an idea She sounds like she loves her Angry Birds

Rayman Origins is cool if you want a platformer it's gorgeous.

 

[l0ckd0wn]

Rayman Origins is cool if you want a platformer it's gorgeous.

Absolutely, and I already own it! Really need to give it a whirl on my own though, loved the predecessors! Thanks for the tip!

PS. Did you read my spoiler? :-D

 

[More Fun To Compute]

What does that look like to you? To me it looks like a generation outgrowing mario and then...

This makes no sense. New generations of people come all the time so if one generation "outgrows" Mario then another replaces it. But in reality Mario has appeal to a much wider demographic group than most other games.

When the NES first came out it in regions like Japan and US it was the obvious market leader with not so great competition. Next generation they had much stronger competition from SEGA. And the one after that Sony took the lead.

 

[ElPatron]

Yes, people who play video games are gamers.

But people who go to the movies don't get a special tag.

Why do we give a tag to people just for doing something 99% of the Western population has done at least once in his life?

My only response to you is get over it. Gaming has grown, if you don't like it, than find something else to do.

Can't we just say "No True Scotsman" and move on?

-snip-

I think anytime you get into the "us VS them" mindset when it comes to the new people who have entered games and the new place of games in society, you get into the same exclusionary and tribal mindset that lead to your bad experiences growing up. Stop fixating on "back in my day, you had to EARN the title of gamer!"

That's totally not the argument the OP made, but okay.

I share the opinion that "gamer" is useless if you can just swipe a finger to earn a "title" that shouldn't be a title at all.

Now excuse me, I'm trying to get my "Breather" badge.

 

[yuval152]

I don't know if back then you were ridiculed for it, but today I'm not ridiculed and I talk about video games.

 

[Jay Knowles]

Did everyone get together and vote that gaming should be a secret club or something? I'm noticing a lot of angry nerds lately, none to pleased with how popular gaming has become. Is there a 'no casuals' sign next to the 'no girls' one I missed?

I'm on that boat as well. I first identified with the gamer culture around the age of 12 and I mostly played browser based games. that grew into ps1 games, gameboy, then pc games when I got my first job, nearly a decade later and I like to play and appreciate as many games as I can.

is my mother playing angry birds on her ipad any different from me playing big game hunter 2 on my first pc? because if it is, then I'm not happy excluding other people because of some vague line drawn in the sand to keep the ikky people out.

worst case, doomsday scenario: games get made that you don't have to pay for or play if you don't want to.
best case scenario: more niche games come out as more people can support them.

 

[Bertylicious]

Well okay so you've lost 'Gamer' but you can still keep other terms. Terms like 'Recluse' or 'shut-in'.

 

[The Human Torch]

I am not a gamer because I play games, nor am I a booker because I read books and I am not a fitnesser because I go to the gym a couple of times a week. Gaming is a hobby of mine, and I have had this gaming hobby ever since I bought my first Nintendo Game & Watch in 1985. Thanks to the massive growth that the gaming-development has undergone in the past 2 decades, we are now playing the best, the biggest and the most beautiful games ever.

"Gamer" is a useless title.