Poll: Do you know the definition on gamer?

[CaitSeith]

As reasonable person I try not to create polemic post. But sometimes curiosity takes the best of me, and this time is the word "gamer" that itches the back of my head. Technically gamer just means a person who plays games. But the community has given to that word a deeper meaning. So, I want to ask to the gaming community.

UPDATE: The Escapist's publisher offered his opinion about the definition of gamer in a recent article. I think it's worth to make a reference to it:

Publisher's Note: The State of Gaming

Spoiler

Nowadays more people than ever play games, and that's a wonderful thing!

But let us not be fooled: Not everyone who plays games is a gamer. A gamer is a game enthusiast, a person whose primary hobby or avocation is the enjoyment of games. The "enjoyment of games" is a deeper pursuit than merely playing them. It encompasses dedication towards their mastery; understanding of their history; commentary on the design; insight as to their relationships into the web of source material from which they are derived.

 

[Colour Scientist]

Someone who plays video games.

Do I win?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Someone who plays video games.

Do I win?

I think you do, I'll go get the whips and paddles.

 

[Zhukov]

"A person who plays games, but only games that I approve of."

There's your deeper meaning.

Colour Scientist and Daystar just don't get it. They probably play Candy Crush and Bejeweled.

 

[StriderShinryu]

To me gamer means someone who isn't just a player of games but is someone who has a deeper knowledge and/or interest in their creation/industry/design/etc. It's basically the videogames version of a movie buff or wine connoisseur. Everyone watches movies and many people drink wine, but most people don't really care about or know about the things behind the scenes. That, of course, doesn't make them any less valid as people who watch movies or drink wine but it does note a very measurable level of interest.

 

[TheRiddler]

Someone who plays video games.

Do I win?

I'd also add that, generally, gamers also identify as such. Like, someone who plays games once in a while but doesn't really consider themselves a gamer, I wouldn't try to convince them that they're wrong and that they are in fact a gamer.

So, to reiterate, to be a gamer, one must:

1. Play video games.
2. Call oneself a gamer.

 

[CaitSeith]

Someone who plays video games.

Do I win?

Damn forum! It should show my post before the poll... Anyway, I was asking a different definition to "Someone who plays video games". One definition that the gaming community feels it gives identity and deeper meaning to word gamer.

And sorry, you didn't answer in the form of a question; but thanks for participating.

 

[AwesomeHatMan]

I don't consider myself a gamer. I do have a question though:

I saw one of the new Star Trek movies and thought it wasn't that bad. Does that mean I'm a trekkie?

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

Well, can you really compare someone who has a casual, fleeting interest in video games when they're bored and have nothing else to do to someone who plays games as a serious hobby, or may even live a career off of them? I feel there should be a distinction between them. Now, I'm not saying that people who play video games casually on occasion should be looked down upon or some equally retarded bullshit, but I do feel there is a difference and one that should have different terms. I mean, would you call someone a "movie buff" if they only watched one film every now and again when they have nothing else to do? Probably not, and I feel it's the same kind of thing here.

Personally, I'd rather a different term altogether, since the word "gamer" just sounds dumb to me. But that's just a little peeve of mine that has no overall bearing. But as a recognised term, I do think a distinction between "casual gamers" and "hardcore gamers" should be made. Preferably with less silly sounding names, but there is a difference and one I feel should be recognised.

It's just to me there is a difference between someone who might play some game on their phone to kill time (an act of which there is nothing wrong with, mind) and someone who invests a lot of passion and effort into their hobby.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Gamer = game fan

You may watch tv while at a bar but you're not a tv fan like how someone who will sit and watch their favorite shows for hours on end and make that the main event.


You may have read books but you're not a book fan like those who can't wait for the new sequel in their favorite series to come out, then proceed to read it in a day or two, bascially non-stop until it's finished.


You may go out to dine once a week but you're not a foodie like how someone who follows cooking shows, travels to foreign countries specifically to dine in famous places, pays for 3 star Michelin meals rather than buying cars or going to vacation, etc.


You may play catch with your nephew but you're not a football fan who plays pickup games every weekend, goes to every match of their team, paints their face, argues about it with strangers, etc.


You may have watched DBZ or Pokemon on Toonami but you're not an anime fan/otaku like someone who has been watching anime not available in their country in any way, in Japanese with subtitles, has learned Japanese to watch raw, has multiple terrabytes of content amassed over the years, goes to conventions, has lived/worked in Japan, etc.


You may have played a game or ten but if that's all you're not the same as someone who follows gaming industry news, participates in podcasts, watches/produces streams regularly, goes to competitive gaming tournaments locally, plays games as the core event with which they choose have fun in their daily life and has hundreds of games which they've completed that they can discuss in-depth with others and derive meaning and enjoyment out of those discussions.


Basically, the over-broad "play games, you're a gamer" definition is nigh-meaningless. Due to this, I prefer the "enthusiast/connoisseur" one instead.

 

[small]

well once upon a time gamer was merely a descriptive term that meant "plays games as a hobby" and no there wasnt a distinction between them, none of this casual and hardcore bullshit.

these days its becoming a negative term that people use for their entire identity and use it at a way to look down at others. dismissing people who dont play the same games or as much as they do as not being real gamers.

if someone desperately needs terms then i suggest professional gamer for someone who makes a job out of it and amateur gamer for everyone else.. ha i can already see the indignation "i am not an amateur!!!"

Im just getting sick of people clinging to these stupid ass labels as a way to prove they are better than other people who enjoy the same freaking hobby

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

well once upon a time gamer was merely a descriptive term that meant "plays games as a hobby" and no there wasnt a distinction between them, none of this casual and hardcore bullshit.

these days its becoming a negative term that people use for their entire identity and use it at a way to look down at others. dismissing people who dont play the same games or as much as they do as not being real gamers.

if someone desperately needs terms then i suggest professional gamer for someone who makes a job out of it and amateur gamer for everyone else.. ha i can already see the indignation "i am not an amateur!!!"

Im just getting sick of people clinging to these stupid ass labels as a way to prove they are better than other people who enjoy the same freaking hobby

I don't think anyone who plays games as a hobby is dismissed. I think people who click on cows on facebook for five minutes a day or only played wii sports/candy crush etc. and claim to be the same as those who do indeed have gaming as a hobby are what causes the backlash.


Back in the day there were no non-hardcore people. Everyone who played games played them with a greater degree of determination/conviction than modern day "casuals". That being the case, there was no reason to have the definitions of hardcore/casual emerge. Nobody who played one time at a friends console and didn't know crap about games would go around acting as though they're a gamer just as much as the people who actually care about games.

 

[Colour Scientist]

"A person who plays games, but only games that I approve of."

There's your deeper meaning.

Colour Scientist and Daystar just don't get it. They probably play Candy Crush and Bejeweled.

Please, I am the Candy Crush master.

I crush all the candies because that is how you win the game.

[sub][sub]I don't know, can you tell that I've never played it? XD[/sub][/sub]

 

[veloper]

Gamer = game fan

This one will do. It's narrowed down enough so the category won't cover 99% of the human race.

 

[Phasmal]

No, I don't. And neither do you. Because everyone gets to define themselves, not others.

If you're going to give it a different meaning other than - someone who plays games - you're just trying to exclude people. And I have no idea why. Let people call themselves gamers if they want to, and not if they don't.

If someone tells you they are a gamer and you immediately start quizzing them to see if they play the `right games` or `real games` the problem is you.

Game and let game.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Didn't we already get rid of that word in its honorary sense?

Yes, I know gaming is still considered niche enough for the word 'gamer' to exist to describe someone who enjoys games on more than one occasion, but it's not some honorary title. A person who games is a gamer as much as a person who works is a worker. It's a discription of something you do, not of something you are.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"A person who plays games, but only games that I approve of."

There's your deeper meaning.

Colour Scientist and Daystar just don't get it. They probably play Candy Crush and Bejeweled.

Better check yo self before yo wreck yourself.

 

[DoPo]

Someone who plays video games.

I'd add "as a hobby" to make it slightly more precise but it works either way.