The term "Gamer".

[Vault101]

i play games therefor i am a gamer. i swim so i am a swimmer. i drive so i am a driver

its just a word

enthusiests all have names

cinephiles, film buffs, audiophiles that kind of thing

its somone who has a very strong interest/passion for games that goes deeper than angry birds or playing the Xbox now and again, they are up date with all the latest gaming buzz OR have a broad knoweleg of games

snip.

you can choose not to assoiate yourself with the term..and just say "I like games"

but you cant changet the fact that my majority definition..you ARE a gamer..just like me (I rather not use the term though, but I'm not going to deny it fits)

 

[Gene O]

If people learn that I play games and then want to call me a gamer I insist that they have to call me a reader, watcher, author, chef, singer, cyclist, musician, hiker, mathematician, stage hand, artist,and listener as well.

 

[MHR]

Yeah, I'm a "gamer" because it's basically my life; the good part anyway.

Regardless of whether I love/hate the term, It inextricably applies to me. However I never call myself that out loud or use the term in general conversation. To regular people I don't talk about videogames and to other gamers, what's the point in calling each-other gamer? We call each other assholes like normal people.

I'm a hardcore gamer anyway. If someone said they were a "gamer" and all they played was farmville or fruit ninja, I would probably be annoyed.

Why bother avoiding or changing a term? You can call them the job-creators or sandwich-artists but they're still the rich people or the Subway sandwich guy respectively.

 

[Shaughn Caso]

I've considered myself a gamer for a long time now, mostly because when I have the chance, I choose gaming over most other forms of entertainment. it is also because I like to immerse myself in the culture of the medium. though I watch movies, I don't consider myself a movie goer/watcher because I don't immerse myself in the internal politics, i don't follow the new releases, stand outside of theaters for hours on end to get into the midnight release. with video games, I follow who is in what company, which companies are doing what, whats coming out, reviews for all the newest games.
I don't see being called a gamer as being demeaning or insulting, though I can understand those who do feel that way.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

A gamer is someone who plays games. I, however, (and I would argue everyone on this site) am a games enthusiast. I keep up to date with news in the industry, I spend a not insignificant portion of my time playing games etc.

 

[LiberalSquirrel]

I'm a gamer. I call myself a gamer. Because I enjoy playing games. Much as I call myself a reader, a sports fan, a writer, a music lover, a musician, a singer, a dancer, an anime fan, a... well, you get the point, I'm sure.

To me, "gamer" is just a word to describe having enthusiasm for something that I like: in this case, games. Just because some people have different opinions on "what defines a gamer" or "how being a gamer reflects on me" doesn't mean that I should be ashamed of labeling myself as one.

...In the process of listing my other "-ers" up there, I realized there is no good word to describe someone who enthusiastically defends the fact that bats (the winged sort, not the baseball sort) are adorable. Seeing as my love of bats has reached a strange sort of memetic status among a few friends, I believe this needs to be rectified.

 

[JDLY]

What annoys me about the term "gamer" is how it's thrown around so casually nowadays. Before I go further I'd like to say I've never encountered a person in real life that thinks the term "gamer" is a negative connotation.

To me, a gamer is one who's job or hobby is gaming. Just like a cyclist's hobby is cycling, a writers job is writing, a hikers hobby is hiking.

To me, the people who play just iPhone games, Facebook games, or other games of the sort aren't gamers. As it's not a hobby, it's a time-waster, such as passing time on a bus ride.

Someone who spends a large amount of their free time gaming, has devoted time and money to the activity, and plays games for enjoyment and not as time wasters (basically what I'm getting at is if gaming is their hobby), to me, that's a gamer.

 

[Raggedstar]

I call myself a gamer. I like games and it's my passionate hobby, so that's more or less the only criteria. I've never been in a situation where I've been seen negatively. Some people are surprised, some are happy they have someone to talk about games with, and most are indifferent. I know there are some out there that can see it in a negative light as the cheeto-scarfing, hate-spewing hermit way, but here's the way I see it.

I call myself a gamer. I play games on a regular basis. It doesn't define me, as I'm also a metalhead, a reader (when I feel like it), a fan of animation, and veterinary technician. I'm not fat, in fact I bike about 4 KM 6 days a week to get to my JOB after I recently graduated from one of the most demanding college programs in my province (and it's closely linked to the medical field). I consider myself to be quite polite and at least try to have proper grammar and such. I know the difference between the gaming world and reality. I try to think critically on both levels of surface entertainment value and the bigger underlying issues of engagement. While I hate cheetos, I like chips and it's not a food group to me. The amount of schools I shot up is at 0 and I'll keep it that way. I have nothing to be ashamed of. Anyone who has a problem can get bent.

Way I look at it is that the best way you keep the word "gamer" as positive as you can is to make yourself not look like a douchebag.

 

[CommanderL]

A gamer is someone who plays games. I, however, (and I would argue everyone on this site) am a games enthusiast. I keep up to date with news in the industry, I spend a not insignificant portion of my time playing games etc.

I too am part of the Gamming enthusiast crowd I hate the term gamer with a passion and the term Herdcore gamer even more To me gamming is about fun and to me its part of my life style I play games and I spent even more time talking about them

 

[Rastien]

The people who call themselves gamers generally know little about games at all, and spend most of their game time on facebook/ios apps or casual trash like Skryim and Cod.

This elitism really irritates me, i'm sorry but if you play any kind of game and enjoy talking about it with others you're a gamer.

There is enough isolation and exclusion from people and groups, why feel the need to isolate someone who plays casual games? maybe the people playing casual games move onto the AAA titles? Which means more revenue is generated to make more games that we love!

Seriously though i'm sure EVERYONE here has felt some kind of exclusion from a group for what ever reason, don't be a dick and classify those who play casual games or mobile games as "not a real gamer" get off the high horse people!, talk to them! encourage them! and suggest other titles for them to try! you may even find great joy from seeing someone move from Farmville to say starcraft.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

People are still getting their panties in a bunch worrying about how important the word game is and words related to the word game? If you don't like games then just say that you don't like them. If you don't like the fact that other people look down on games and it worries you then stop. What they think has no weight.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I disagree that people who play games are "Gamers". I don't mean that in a bad way but going to the cinema a few times a year doesn't make me a cinephile and neither does read 1 book a month make a book worm. These terms are meant to be there for enthusiasts and not to "label" people with a casual interest as such. It doesn't make them any less but just because you load up Angry Birds/any game for ten mins on the bus or once a week even if you have the time doesn't make you a gamer. Now if you play Angry Birds/any game for something like an hour a day and are striving to get all levels 3 stars then yes you're a gamer as you have more than a casual interest in games.

It is more to show who has a passing interest in the subject and who takes it be their main hobby not as an exclusion clause. That is how I have come to use it.

 

[Palademon]

I call myself so because it's one of my few interests.

I do tend to be eliist about it in the sense that watching tons of people uninterested in gaming buy one game every year that ends up affecting the industry in a much bigger way than my own contribution - really annoys me.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

A gamer is someone who plays games. I, however, (and I would argue everyone on this site) am a games enthusiast. I keep up to date with news in the industry, I spend a not insignificant portion of my time playing games etc.

I too am part of the Gamming enthusiast crowd I hate the term gamer with a passion and the term Herdcore gamer even more To me gamming is about fun and to me its part of my life style I play games and I spent even more time talking about them

I can't tell if you're joking or not.

 

[herbortamus]

I'm not too keen on the term, but I try not to let it bother me. I don't care for it because in my mind I see a gamer very stereotypically as a 17 year old boy who plays COD multiplayer (I know, I know. Stereotypes don't always make sense. There are many different kinds of people who play games.) So being a 29 year old girl who hates COD, I just don't feel the term fits me.

In short, if someone were to ask if I were a gamer, I would say "yes". But if someone asked about my hobbies I would say I like to play video games.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I disagree that people who play games are "Gamers".

Then go fuss at the writers of dictionaries and the English language.

These terms are meant to be there for enthusiasts

Where did you learn this in grammar or linguistics again?

It doesn't make them any less but just because you load up Angry Birds/any game for ten mins on the bus or once a week even if you have the time doesn't make you a gamer.

Yes it does.

Once again I read books and go to the cinema that does not make me a book worm or a cinephile. I also do Maths but that does not make me a Mathematician. These are title for enthusiasts and professionals same apply here. Now if 1/3 of your argument is going to be a sarcastic jab at how I phrased something and the other 2/3 you can't even come up with more than 1 sentence I'm not going to bother with you. You obviously don't care with my interpretation of the word gamer which is what is being asked here nor are you coming off as not very open to a discussion about it.

If you have your definition and want to keep it as such that's fine but I'm going to keep calling people who only play any game for less that an hour total a week despite having more time for gaming just people. I'm going to keep calling people who spend upwards of an hour a day as long as normal life allows it to play games gamers.

 

[VeryOddGamer]

I would definitely call myself a gamer, and a very odd one at that, since I spend a most likely unhealthily amount of time enjoying video games and gaming related media.

 

[JEBWrench]

*snip* I would much rather be apart of the casual crowd that doesn't force me to like the same things they like than the "Hardcore" crowd that have probably wasted way too much of their lives playing video games.

Come join us on the filthy casual side! We have cookies. And waffles. And don't worry about forcing titles upon people.

 

[xshadowscreamx]

''gamer'' is not a dirty word, but i would prefer something more classy (i think i just shot myself in the foot there). maybe ''visual player''