kortin said:
Nickolai77 said:
I think we've got to the stage now where it is abnormal not to ever play some sort of game (be it on your smartphone, on Facebook, on console, handheld or PC). Like how owning and driving a car doesn't automatically make you a car enthusiast, neither does owning a couple of games automatically make you a "gamer". Not that there is anything wrong at all with that, although if someone went around claiming to be a gamer but they'd only ever played FIFA and Call of Duty titles I'd be a bit sceptical of their claim.
I wouldn't be skeptical, I'd know for a fact that they aren't gamers. People who would defend the "gamers" who only play call of duty and fifa confuse me. They say that Gamers are just trying to make themselves feel better, but I don't see how. Unless it's somehow acceptable for people who play basketball once or twice a month to refer to themselves as an athlete, or someone who watches a movie maybe once a month a movie buff, then I guess I can accept people who only play call of duty and fifa as gamers. But really, most groups are not all inclusive. Should soccer moms who play angry birds and candy crush be considered gamers? Should the guy who rides his bike to work sometimes to save money be considered a cyclist? Or how about the person who doodles occasionally but doesn't really ever work to get better, should they be considered an artist? There HAS to be some sort of cutoff, otherwise everyone is part of everything and the groups might as well not exist.
Except in that case the only "gamers" are people who make a living off of games, because athletes (and to a less extent movie buffs) aren't people who engage in a hobby but use it as defining characteristic of their life. Inherently, the title of "gamer" is self-ascribed and in-quantifiable, thus completely arbitrary and entirely entitling when used to lock others from the hobby for not having played the original Pong and everything since then. People who defend this weird shaming and unsocial behavior confuse me, because it's fucking weird. It's a hobby, not a broadcasted sport (yeah yeah, esports). Sure, some are "enthusiasts" and some are "casuals", but these terms can exist outside of the "gamer" dynamic, just like a casual movie-goer isn't a "casual movie buff". They're just people who go see movies sometimes. This is why "pro gamer" is distinct from the original title, because gamer largely means nothing in today's day and age.
The term spawned out of the exclusivity of the hobby and finding pride in a hobby that at one point in its lifetime, among a lot of circles, was not a social activity. It's a unique circumstance and its continued and needless arbitration shouldn't occur anymore, because "gaming" isn't niche anymore, much like reading books hasn't been a niche thing since they started teaching people how to read. If anything, the removal of the term is something that would do more good to avoid this strange tribalism as related to an entertainment medium rather than any strange judgment system that qualifies you for the title.
OT:
As said above, I will agree in saying that the people who exclusively play CoD and avoid all other titles are avoiding other great experiences available on their platforms of choice, but fuck if I'm going to tell them what they are and are not based on their entertainment preference.