The Definition of a Gamer

[WelshDanny]

Codemasters are apparently looking for people to develop a a 'service based online game' for a 'mainstream' audience (http://bit.ly/hUDNq9) Which does sound a lot like another one of the big boys trying to jump into the casual market.

Don't think a 'casual' F1 game will really work though. It wouldn't be realistic enough for F1 fans like me to play! :|

 

[Boneasse]

This is going to turn into a hardcore vs. casual-thread. I can feel it in my boooooooooooones.

OT: A gamer is, per definition, someone who plays video games in whatever format and regardless of time spent playing.

 

[erbkaiser]

A gamer is someone who plays games using dedicated software or hardware.
This includes retail games, consoles, emulator software, iPhone iOS, but excludes webbrowser "games" since webbrowsers are not designed for gaming. It also excludes Windows Minesweeper and Solitaire etc. since those are never actually purchased as actual games but just happen to be in the OS.

Edit to clarify: people who "play" Farmville and the like still play games, as are Solitaire addicts. They are game players, not gamers. And personally I would call someone who plays Plants vs Zombies, Bejeweled, or Peggle (and similar) a gamer since they actually use specific software for it. Casual is a misnomer since these people can be as invested in their games as someone on Xbox playing MW2.

 

[Fidelias]

A gamer is someone who plays multiple games on a regular basis.

You guys who are saying that a gamer is anyone who plays games, are wrong. I mean, my mom plays solitaire on her computer ALL THE TIME, but that's it. If she played any other game, she wouldn't know how it worked. No, not even minecraft. She's not a gamer, even though she's spent more time on solitaire than I have on all of my games combined.

It's the same thing with any other game. If you have someone who JUST plays Wii Fit and Minecraft, but nothing else, they aren't a gamer. If you have someone who only plays Call of Duty, or Halo, they aren't gamers.

Edit: Someone who plays an MMO is a gamer, even if it is their only game. Simply because the only way to understand and play an MMO is to become a gamer.

 

[LightningBanks]

Id say a gamer is somone who plays games because they want to

I.e People playing online flash games in a lesson because their bored and thats it are not gamers.

People who only buy consoles or PC's just to play Call of Duty, are not gamers in my opinion. I see that so many times on xbox live.

This person has 2-3 years of membership and only plays ONE GAME SERIES with a GS of less than a 1000. You are not a gamer, you are a tool.

You're not a gamer for just picking up a controller and start playing. Gamer is a title that is earned, not simply given away. If you just casually play Call of Duty and nothing else, i would consider you some average Joe who is just killing time and playing with friends.

If you play games just for the Multiplayer, you are not a gamer. If you prefer Multiplayer over single player, you are not a gamer. Video Games are driven by single player story-lines and gameplay.

Someone who has a respectable amount of Gamerscore, is considered a Gamer. Someone who strongly dedicates there time to beating single player, is a Gamer. Someone who dedicates them selves to great accomplishments in a game, is considered a Gamer.

If you play games just to shoot people and talk trash, then get the fuck out. I like to keep the term "Gamer" respectable, and meaningful.

I finish the singleplayer, and play many singleplayer games (Im currently playing vanquish) but I prefer Team fortress 2 and left 4 dead over other games, these are multiplayer, am I a tool?

 

[Nenad]

Hey, I have a silly thought. I like the idea that a gamer is anyone who considers herself/himself a gamer. Also, this way, a broad range of people can be gamers

Edit: This thread need the distinction between gamer (definition above) and

Okay, for argument's sake (and to prevent everyone from going "Anyone who plays any game" blah blah blah), I going to assume you mean what makes a Gamer. Note the captial 'G'. The people in this catagory are separate from those who sit at their office and play games like the ones on Facebook and whatnot. My definition is "A person who plays, follows, and understands video games. Not someone who just ran out and bought the newest 'Call of War' game because it's the big thing right now. Someone who, when asked about video games, can give an indepth answer regarding his or her favorite game or games that isn't just 'It's so awesome (or whatever adjective you'd prefer).'"

That's how I consider someone a Gamer. I have some friends at work that go, "Dude, I'm a gamer. I got Black Ops." As soon as they can't even tell me the name of the main character or anything about the story, but can give me how many people they killed in the last match, I dismiss them as a Gamer.

 

[WelshDanny]

It is somewhat silly how we're labelled. Someone who watches TV all the time isn't a watcher.

hmm, that sound disturbing. 'I'm a watcher'

 

[veloper]

It is somewhat silly how we're labelled. Someone who watches TV all the time isn't a watcher.

hmm, that sound disturbing. 'I'm a watcher'

Couch potato is often used for them.

 

[WelshDanny]

It is somewhat silly how we're labelled. Someone who watches TV all the time isn't a watcher.

hmm, that sound disturbing. 'I'm a watcher'

Couch potato is often used for them.

That's true. But when there is a tragic event like a mass murder or something you'll never hear the press say 'Killer was couch potato' However, they'll happily report 'Killer was a gamer'

 

[The_Yeti]

I've been working on coming up with a definition of what a gamer is for a while and I have an idea but I don't think its quite their yet. Please take a look at it and tell me what you think.

Gamer- Someone who plays non-casual video games on the regular bases during their free time.

Fixed it.

I would say someone who spends a good hunk of their free time playing casual games is still a gamer.

Something like this response is what I personally find so blasted irritating. The main reason "Gamers" like to be called "Gamers" is a form of mutual respect between each other, as well as the game makers themselves. Say game makers spend years or decades of their lives making an experience as tear jerking and heart pleasing as seeing kittens saved from a fire by a dog with three legs, with a story so expansive and in-depth that you really could forget your own existence a few hours in; the "Gamers" are not people who merrily play-through, sight-see, and comment on how lustrous the art was, as well as how exciting those explosions and climactic moments were. "Gamers" are those whom take the time beyond the game to appreciate and understand the story, influence, and experience as a whole in a manner of 50% personal glee and 50% respect for the effort and care that went into making life seem more pointless; yet more enjoyable.

Those that play casually suffer emo-pains from not being selected into this selection, and have decided they deserve the respect of a respecter when they are an amusement park patron at best. They'll fight tooth and nail for what they believe they deserve, and it comes at a price of mental suffering to those whom enjoy gaming on a non-casual basis like a flash clicker pitting a rock versus a pencil with gritty one click animation before an ending sequence that has the nerve to call itself a game. I'm not saying casual gaming isn't gaming, but photoing the sculpture doesn't mean you've done your service to respect the sculptor; and in no way gives privilege to converse about games like a "Gamer" in a form that normally fades into mere harassment, as if they were entering a conversation between two "Gamers" on the importance of an assassination of an important figure that had a worlds worth of consequences with effective story and world changing results and exclaiming to the both of them how cool it was when that knife used in the aforementioned assassination looked so shiny; causing a slow building tumor in both "Gamers" to grow several times its own size.

To put it frankly, to be a "Gamer" requires a deal of respect that simply rarely could be fathomed by the average pleasure-seeker looking for a thrill or to simply fill that ignorant void in which they were out of & or accepting time without booze, naughty imagery, or celebrity fan Fodder in which the majority have proven to base their entire pleasure, acceptance, and ignorance clinging daily lives around to an extent that could be considered third person stalking, mentally self-defeated approach to putting the blame on a higher power, be it a god or Nintendos cheeky distractions.

 

[veloper]

It is somewhat silly how we're labelled. Someone who watches TV all the time isn't a watcher.

hmm, that sound disturbing. 'I'm a watcher'

Couch potato is often used for them.

That's true. But when there is a tragic event like a mass murder or something you'll never hear the press say 'Killer was couch potato' However, they'll happily report 'Killer was a gamer'

That's because the old media cater to the potatos. They'll only demonize stuff their viewers don't understand, so the perp was a goth or a gamer or a hacker.

 

[Lusty]

It's a stupid label invented by social misfits so that they can feel a sense of belonging to something. I like games, but I wouldn't describe myself as a gamer any more than a 'filmer' or a 'TVer'.

 

[veloper]

It's a stupid label invented by social misfits so that they can feel a sense of belonging to something. I like games, but I wouldn't describe myself as a gamer any more than a 'filmer' or a 'TVer'.

and yet here you are, posting on a gaming forum.
Everybody here who's wasting time here is already a misfit. That alone doesn't make you gamer, but you still have nothing better to do right now. Even if you don't want to label yourself, others will label you.

 

[Lusty]

It's a stupid label invented by social misfits so that they can feel a sense of belonging to something. I like games, but I wouldn't describe myself as a gamer any more than a 'filmer' or a 'TVer'.

and yet here you are, posting on a gaming forum.
Everybody here who's wasting time here is already a misfit. That alone doesn't make you gamer, but you still have nothing better to do right now. Even if you don't want to label yourself, others will label you.

Playing games does not make you a misfit and neither does posting on a forum about games. My dig was at people who describe themselves as 'gamers', not just normal people who play games. The word has a kind of geeky elitism about it, as demonstrated by the earlier posts about minecraft and such like.

Plus, it's just a horrible bastardisation of the English language. You're not gaming, you're playing games.

 

[Harlemura]

A gamer regularly plays games.
My nan walked through some grass on a Pokemon game a few years back, I don't think that makes her count as a gamer.

Don't think the type of game makes a difference though.

 

[DonSolo]

From what I've read, they're quite a few opinions on what a gamer is...
My personal definition of a gamer is and will stay, as followed;

A gamer- is someone who would rather have a lan party with friends instead of go barhoping or parties. Someone who quotes videogame lines on a daily bases, and randomly hums videogame tunes (I still hum zelda and mario music from time to time. Possibly a person who says 'Good Fight' when they lose an arugment to a friend. A guy who would rather upgrade a graphics card instead of buy a carspeaker or rims. If your a fanatic, someone who would take a week off work just to play a brand new videogame.

From what I read I couldn't tell if this thread was put for arguing your opinions on the definition of a gamer or just stateing what you thought, so I went with the ladder

 

[Chibz]

you sir are not a gamer. your just an elitist.

I can see where he's coming from. There are many gamers who utterly disgrace the term "gamer". I wouldn't want associated with them either!

Now if you'll excuse me, there's Cave Story to be had!