Gaming isn't a life style, its a hobby.
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I agree with your sentiment but "Lifestyle" is just a marketing term at this point.DBlack said:
Fashion isn't a lifestyle but you always see fashion magazines in the "Lifestyle" section.
It's just the gaming population compensating for all the undeserved flack they get from the anti-gamers in the rest of the media.
It's sort of like a guy in the middle of the street with a megaphone yelling "Respect me!!"
Which really is just as bad as TV standing in the street with a megaphone yelling "Look at me I'm standing in the street with a megaphone!!!"
I'm not saying either of them deserve respect or disrespect. Just that neither of them deserve criticism.
I think it can become a lifestyle depending on how big a role it plays in one's life. An artist at a game studio probably has a "gaming lifestyle" if they play games with their co-workers and contribute to the industry in different ways. A barista at Starbucks that happens to play Call of Duty with his buds on the weekends might not consider themselves as having a gaming lifestyle. Coming from a college where one of the major's was Game Art & Design, I can guarantee you that it's a lifestyle for many. They didn't just play games, they lived and breathed them.
I play Games. I do 3D art for them and 3D art about them. I play Warhammer/40k and was a finalist in the South Aus Golden Demon.
Gaming is a Lifestyle for me. Its what I do. I still have a life outside of it.
I study, I have a girlfriend, I go out, I spend time with friends. I love my life, and I dont regret any of the time I have spend gaming.
If anything, I wish I didnt spend so much money playing WoW but I look back and see I had such a good time, so it was worth it.
Gaming is a Lifestyle for me. Its what I do. I still have a life outside of it.
I study, I have a girlfriend, I go out, I spend time with friends. I love my life, and I dont regret any of the time I have spend gaming.
If anything, I wish I didnt spend so much money playing WoW but I look back and see I had such a good time, so it was worth it.
This thread is bad and you should FEEL bad!
OT:
I feel gaming should be a part of who you are, not all of who you are. Therefore, it is a cornerstone of my lifestyle, but not the keystone, if you will.
OT:
I feel gaming should be a part of who you are, not all of who you are. Therefore, it is a cornerstone of my lifestyle, but not the keystone, if you will.
This was pretty much my reaction. For most of the people I know, though, video games are not, on their own, a lifestyle--they're interested in all sorts of games. They go to games conventions. We have long, involved conversations about games. We get together socially to play games.RedEyesBlackGamer said:
It's just like people who are really into any pursuit, like, say, gardening. (You see gardening lifestyle magazines on racks all the time.) Or bowling. Or home decoration. Or stamp collection They don't have to do it professionally for it to be their main intellectual focus. The difference isn't between amateur and professional, it's between casual and dedicated.
The difference is, TV is generally just something you do when you get home from work or whatever. It's a mode that you slip into when you sit down to zone out on the couch for a while. Gaming can be that way too, but it doesn't have to be. There are certain mindsets or modes of thought that you slip into while you game, and I expect the people who consider gaming to be a lifestyle are the people that assume those mindsets all the time. As I consider gaming to simply be a hobby, I'm just making assumptions based on what I've seen, so don't quote me. But as far as I can tell, there are a lot of people out there who treat life as if it were one giant video game. Personally I would consider that to be a gaming lifestyle.
This falls into trouble because of the case of the "rubber definition" again. Just like the games being art debacle. To some it's a hobby. But by definition, some people would say going to the gym is a lifestyle, because they base what they eat, their daily schedule, around it. Wear the clothes for it. Read for it. Talk to and meet people about it.
Now, do games have enough to determine it's a lifestyle? You might read magazines about games. Surf the web about games. Meet people through games, and when you get together with friends, play games, or at least talk about them. Doesn't this transcend hobby? If you have a lot of other things going on in your life, then maybe it's just a hobby, but if you do more than the average portion of your life with games, I think this can be accepted. Not even talking about those in the industry, it's just obvious that reviewers and designers/programmers it's a lifestyle. Hell, you can even compete now in tournaments in games, where some are televised. You could never do that watching TV now could you.
Now, do games have enough to determine it's a lifestyle? You might read magazines about games. Surf the web about games. Meet people through games, and when you get together with friends, play games, or at least talk about them. Doesn't this transcend hobby? If you have a lot of other things going on in your life, then maybe it's just a hobby, but if you do more than the average portion of your life with games, I think this can be accepted. Not even talking about those in the industry, it's just obvious that reviewers and designers/programmers it's a lifestyle. Hell, you can even compete now in tournaments in games, where some are televised. You could never do that watching TV now could you.
...yes, people have and do?DBlack said:
If you spend a lot of time doing something and a lot of time on things related to that thing, it's pretty lifestyle-y. The popularity of these forums alone is a testament to that.
You do not get addicted to pot. If this statement was false, I would have felt the withdrawal symptoms, since I haven't smoked in 2 months. But that's a story for another time.hem dazon 90 said:
I don't know why would anyone call anything a lifestyle. Life is supposed to be multi-dimensional, not centered around one thing. I play only when I have free time, or to procrastinate. This does not hinder my social life, since I NEVER chose staying at home and playing some game to going out with friends.
I am living through a period where the only thing I desire is pleasure. There are some pleasures that gaming can't offer you, like feeling the summer breeze with the smell of the sea, riding a bike on a sunny day, spending time with people you love, having sex, having an acid trip on a psychedelic party, or just simply getting high at a friend's house.
Anyway, the point is that there is no use making something the central aspect of your life, because then you miss out on other stuff.
*looks up from newspaper* Oh, is it that time again already? *grabs pitchfork and torch* Now then lets see....okay some poor bastard said gaming isn't a lifestyle. *clears throat and straightens tie* GRAHHHHH! *kicks down DBlack's door* YOU WILL ACCEPT GAMES AS A LIFESTYLE!!!Zaik said:
Right, if you're going to wear a big giant sign on your face, it kind of ruins the test. It's not a required uniform, so it doesn't really count as far as pushing a lifestyle, beause for every person who wears one of those, 10 to 30 probably don't, or at least aren't at the time.HG131 said:We don't dress differently?Zaik said:
I beg to differ. We don't speak differently? Lolspeak and memes beg to differ.
It would depend on what your idea of a lifestyle is. I mean does every waking moment of my existence belong to gaming? No. Depending on what situation I'm in I might be spending 10+ hours a day on school or a job. Gaming isn't even what most of my relations with people are formed around. Two summers ago I spent most of my waking hours with people that knew very little and cared even less about video games as a whole. But I mean it's the hobby that I would pick over all others and it's the one that I define myself the most with, even if some weeks I only spend one or two hours playing games. I guess I wouldn't so much call it a lifestyle as I would a mindset. My world is viewed in several different ways but my preferred choice to view the world is through the lens of video games. It's a bigger influence on me then most things, so I identify with it and center part of my life around it.
Anything can be a lifestyle, depending on how much you do of it. Sex, movies, books, music, etc.
