Poll: Do you object to being called a "gamer"?

[Meggiepants]

No. It's not like we were once a race of people enslaved and this is the term our oppressors used to label us. It's a descriptive term of our hobby. I've never been denied anything because people knew I was a gamer. Being treated differently by morons because I'm a gamer doesn't bother me either. If people look down on me because I play games for entertainment, then those people aren't worth my time.

I don't really care if Fox News or the like misunderstands me and uses the term as some sort of lame insult. If they aren't clever enough to come up with something more barbed than "Gamer" to talk derisively about me, why should I care? The pathetic attempt to vilify the word "gamer" is amusing to me, nothing more.

 

[Noala]

most metalheads don't object to being called metalheads either

 

[blankedboy]

I don't mind it. I never refer to myself as a gamer but I don't mind if others say it. I don't really see why I would.

 

[Hugga_Bear]

I voted yes but it's more complex than that, I think it was in Extra Credits where they nailed it, you don't call yourself a 'filmer' or 'film watcher', nor a 'TVer'. Gaming is something I do, I do it a lot. I also work, I also go to the gym, I also watch films and the news, I read several political magazines, I go to bars, I drive a lot. These things don't define me, they're a part of me but not the whole.

Calling me a gamer because it's one of the things I do, even if it's often, is just bizarre. I'm not a gamer, it's a lame and rapidly becoming nonsensical label. Who isn't nowadays? Most people play some games, even if we cut out the extremely casual side, Bejewelled/Farmville etc it's not like there's only a few people in the world with a console or gaming PC. It's a huge number of people and being labelled as a result of being part of that group is just weird, really weird.

I'm not a gamer any more than I am a gymer. I play games and I go to the gym, they are things I do. Not what I am.

 

[Adrian Neyland]

I don't reject being called a gamer. I do however reject all the negative stereotypes that come with that title (which are clearly false). Society tends to group certain people together to better understand them, which is good in theory, but people don't work like that. Everyone is an individual and having certain interests does not determine what kind of person they are. I am happy to call myself a gamer, hell, I'm happy to call myself a geek, but does that make me any less of a person?

Of course not.

 

[BlueMage]

I'm interested in games, so no, I don't mind being called a gamer. Don't mind being called a gun nut either, even though I only own one. It's not like the name implies a lack of interest in anything else.

No, but it does imply your bunker is almost ready, and the government better get off your damn property 'cuz you got rights!

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

...A little bit, yeah. It just has derogatory associations, is all. And I almost NEVER use the word myself.

 

[Panorama]

I don't find any shame in being associated with games.

Simple yet affective thank you as i steal it for my opinion.

 

[Apprentice88]

Gamer is just slang for a gaming enthusiast.

I am a major gaming enthusiast so I have no objection to being called a Gamer.

 

[harbinger124]

Hell no!
I am a gamer and i love it when people call me on my passion for Eg i have tattoos of mario & luigi on my right arm and the cast of FF1 on my back so no its my choice and i choose to be a gamer with pride!

 

[EradiusLore]

many of us were gamers long before gaming went mainstream, so no i dont object being part of the old guard

 

[Veldel]

No I dont I am accualy happy to be called one Gaming is my major thing to do in life and what I enjoy most.


Id have prob died of bordem without it seeing how I had a shitty childhood due to constent surgerys and such

 

[Novander]

I identify as a Gamer. It's a shorthand way of letting people know that not only do I play and enjoy video games, but I have at least a passing interest in video game news, culture, theory and all the rest. Yes, the label is very subjective and what I think it means might not be what someone else thinks it means and it won't always work in my favour, but that's also true of the labels 'emo', 'geek', 'liberal', 'secularist' and 'film buff', all of which I accept as part of my identity.

If my options are to abandon labels completely or risk being occasionally misjudged, I'll take the latter because I don't have time to get to know everyone intimately.

 

[Jester00]

What I do object to is other people being called gamers when they haven't earned that title. See: CoD players.

you know that beeing a gamer means you play games right? haters gonna hate.
i played mw2 1052.1 hours. i'm no gamer. ok.

 

[Floppertje]

well I dislike being labeled, but I don't really mind that people know if I play a lot of videogames.

 

[NoNameMcgee]

Sort of. I will refer to myself as a gamer around other people who game, such as in this community. But never around people who arent gamers, simply because if I call myself a gamer it doesn't just imply I play games, it implies I'm interested in the "culture" (and I use that word with quotation marks the size of the hollywood lettering) that surrounds it, and the majority of the gaming community, which are two things I really do not want to be associated with in my personal life. No offense guys...

 

[Num1d1um]

Sadly, the word "gamer" has become associated with the udnerage xbox crowd, at least where I live, and I don't want to be associated with that audience.

 

[Hamish Durie]

yes i do read books, see movies etc but i am a gamer because thats where i spend most of my time