"Pretty" people~

[Oliver Nue]

What's with the generally accepted idea that only "unattractive" people play videogames? I mean sure, the ones you see most often in the media aren't exactly in the best of shape, and those that are play things like CoD exclusively, but come on.

Help a wee sociopath out. What's up with this.

AKA I went my entire middle to high school (After moving to another state, thereby leaving my gamer buddies behind) life never being able to play games with others because no one believed I played videogames at all, so I fell into the great deep void that are MMORPGs. And now I cry myself to sleep at night.

 

[Marter]

I don't know if this is still the generally accepted idea, as games have become far more mainstream. It's, at this point, more of an incorrect stereotype than anything else.

I don't know anyone who doesn't play video games, really. Yes, those mobile games are included here, but I think they still count.

 

[Oliver Nue]

I don't know anyone who doesn't play video games, really. Yes, those mobile games are included here, but I think they still count.

Suppose they kindof count, but because they're newer they don't really have much culture behind them. Microgames like Angry Birds have been around for ages, just not on mobile devices almost everyone owns. You're right about pretty much everyone playing videogames these days if we're counting those, though.

 

[Fappy]

Yeah, the stereotype is starting to wain as times goes on. As Marter said, everyone plays video games now to a certain extent. Back when it was just for "nerds" there were plenty of attractive gamers out there.

 

[Dags90]

According to published research in the U.S., people who play video games have higher BMIs, and are more depressed than average. They're also more likely to seek social interaction online. [footnote]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32463904/ns/technology_and_science-games/t/study-average-gamer-fat-bummed/#.UHcNQcXA9ho[/footnote] In the U.S. especially, "fatter than average" is saying something big. Reubenesque, even.

Higher BMI and depression (which is correlated with poorer personal hygiene/grooming) aren't considered particularly sexy.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

snip

Should probably include an opinion with that Youtube video.
[sub][sub]Just warning you.[/sub][/sub]

---------
OT: Quite a few things that were considered "only for geeks"
have become much more accepted these days. It's not only video games.
Just look at the popularity of superhero films.

 

[DugMachine]

Silly stereotype. Beauty in the eye of the beholder and what not. I think the cast of jersey shore are absolute ugly mofos. Orange skin and 10 pounds of hairspray/hairgel running down their sweaty foreheads as they fistpump the night away.

But I think I'm ugly as sin so how am I or anyone else to judge

 

[MopBox]

I can't speak for most gamers, but I for one am tragically handsome!

 

[Oliver Nue]

I can't speak for most gamers, but I for one am tragically handsome!

You give me cause to doubt.
Gamers can't look good, it's impossible.
All those empty calories, the 6+ hours of sitting on your duff a day, surely you jest.

 

[JimB]

I've never heard that stereotype before. I'm only guessing the progression of logic goes something like this: Video games are computer games; computers are for nerds; nerds don't bathe or wear nice clothes.

 

[AlwaysPractical]

The stereotype is waining with time but it is still there in some social settings, definitely. I've found that being a "gamer" is generally not looked down upon at school or college level, might be mistaken though.

As much as we might hate it, FPSs and Sports games are one of the main reasons that gaming has become so widely accepted and has gained so many players. By the time that the 90s kids move into jobs and so on, almost everyone in the world will have played a video game at some point in their life and enjoyed it.

In any case, trying to hide from the problem will only make it worse. Go out there, be a gamer and be proud of being a gamer. There are millions just like you, I'm sure you'll find someone.

 

[Vicarious Reality]

More of a statistical fact that people who play videogames all the time are going to look like pizza potatoes in time

 

[anthony87]

*Ahem*

Spoiler: I'll have you know I'm a bloody ride /vain

Seriously though, is that stereotype even still a thing? Considering that pretty much everyone and their grandparents play or have played videogames in some form nowadays I figured that that stereotype had long since faded.

 

[PsychicTaco115]

I realized that while I was reading this thread...

I'm a very handsome person! (JUUUUUUUUUUUUUUST Kidding! )

Anyone who plays games is a gamer, and everyone looks different

What one considers pretty is subjective, so who cares?

Enjoy the dang vidya games!

 

[JochemHippie]

Ofcourse gamers can be pretty.

They generally don't have nice asses though =(

 

[Stasisesque]

I know a couple of models who play video games, they just don't have lives that revolve around it. They also don't announce their hobby to the world, which I think may be the most important part of the equation. Short of football fans, gamers seem to be the most vocal about their hobby and that gets old fast.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

Allow me to recall some of the responses that I can remember when I've told someone I'm a gamer.
*ahem*

"... But you're black!"

"... but you don't look like a geek!"

"... But you could actually have sex!" (this one had me laughing for a week afterwards)

"Don't you think you're just wasting your time?" (the person who said this to me admits to spending most of her waking life in front of netflix looking for new movies)

I might be a personal trainer, but I don't get watching sports. It bores me to tears. You're not actually doing it. It's not fun for me. So I look at people sideways when they tell me how pumped they are to watch the game with all their friends. I don't get it. I don't know what it's about, and all of my attempts to understand just made me watch the clock with a longing for it to be over.

Then it goes down to human nature. When we don't understand something, we tend to demonize it. Look at just some of the contradictory responses we have in our own forum. we all love games, but maybe not the same games. If someone loves a FPS here, they are CoD dumbasses who can't wait to throw their money away for the same exact game with two different maps. If someone loves sports games, he's a Madden Broseph who wishes he could have gotten into a fraternity but instead must digitally act like he did.

If you don't get it, if you don't like it, basic human nature is to look down on it and everything associated with it. I can just sum up that thought with the word 'Brony' and see how many people are ready to rage. And since we were already associated with the outdated model of what a geek looks like, it's so easy to say that's what we are.

Spoiler: Me and stuff

I don't remember why I was looking so pissed here. Maybe I was craving fries. I do that a lot

 

[thesilentman]

What's with the generally accepted idea that only "unattractive" people play videogames? I mean sure, the ones you see most often in the media aren't exactly in the best of shape, and those that are play things like CoD exclusively, but come on.

We aren't. The idea came back from the 90s [sub]Don't hurt me, pwease?[/sub] when we used to equate gamers as that. Now most gamers I see are pretty normal looking nowadays and since everyone has a Wii/PS3/X360/PC game, it seems to have died down a fair bit.