The Definition of a Gamer

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Anyone who plays any kind of game by choice is a gamer. This can then be reduced to: Anyone who plays games. You can separate gamers based on what they play, how they play, how enthusiastic they are about it etc. But, essentially they are all gamers.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

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 am ashamed. You call yourself a gamer and then throw it around as if it makes you better than others who play in a different way to you. You have no right to disallow people to use the term because you disagree with their interests and play-style. You don't have to like the players who talk trash or only play a particular series, but you have to accept that they have taken an interest in a game and play it, just like you, me and everyone else on this site. Take a look at that post, I hope you realise what a dick you sound like and apologies with sincerity.

 

[allinwonder]

If you play computer games, you're a gamer. Full stop. Doesn't matter if it's Demon's Souls, Super Meat Boy, Mario, FarmVille, whatever, as long as you on average dedicate a resonable amount of time to it.

Disagree. Just because you drive a car doesn't make you a racer. Just because you play a game of football, you're not a football player.

Farmville and the likes are not games. If you count them as games, then posting on forums should be a game too, post counts are like highscores.

But driving a car makes you a driver, amirite?

 

[xdom125x]

Search around, you'll see other discussions for both what a Gamer is and why the term should not be used. The arguments are all around the table.

For starters, I would not call anyone who plays games a "Gamer." Just as you wouldn't call everyone who watches movies a "Film Buff." Everyone watches movies, it's pretty much a fact excuse for a few who for some reason or another choose to not watch them. The line between casual viewer and Film Buff is how devote the individual is to the medium and/or the craft and art of the medium.

I count myself as a Gamer; I say this not just because I own a gaming console and play a lot of PC games, but because I have an interest in Game Design, I'm working on a collection of retro consoles and games, and I have a few models and memorabilia from a variety of my favorite game titles. Not to mention time spent on the lore and history of some of my favorite titles.

You're specific reasons may differ, but I feel if you don't have this level of interest in the medium you are not a Gamer. If your house is full of sport trophies for example and half your time is spent watching or playing sports? Just because you own a 360 or play games online does not make you a Gamer. It simply makes you a game player, just like watching a movie doesn't make you a Film Buff, just a movie viewer.

I see a gamer as absolutely anybody that plays games (from Bejeweled to Call of Duty). A hardcore gamer is somebody that has games as the central part of their life which seems like how you define Gamer.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

You're all wrong. Playing games might make anyone a gamer in the sheerest sense of the word, but you don't go around calling everyone a breather just because they breathe.

A gamer is someone who identifies themselves as a gamer.

This. If you ask the majority of people who play casual games -- and in this case, I mean play them exclusively, avoiding the more substantial releases -- they'll tell you they play the occasional game, but that they aren't gamers. To me, "Gamer" is a term that denotes someone has gaming as a major hobby, along the lines of "movie buff" or "audiophile." In this example, simply watching the occasional movie doesn't make one a movie buff, nor does listening to a tabletop radio make one an audiophile. By the same token, occasionally playing a game doesn't make one a gamer.

 

[Twilight_guy]

I refer you to Extra Credits: [a href="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2005-Gamer"]And there you have it![/a]

Thank you Extra Credits, you have once again said it better then I ever could.
A gamer is someone who plays games the cultural meaning is loaded though so people don't accept such a definition.

 

[Cadaverezzi]

If you play games you are a gamer. You can be a good gamer or a bad gamer, a casual gamer or a hardcore gamer, or somewhere in between, but you are still still a gamer.

 

[Greyhald]

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.

It depends what you mean by "Gamer". There's 2.

One is like "hockey player". It just means they play hockey on a reasonably regular basis.

The other is like "Emo", "Punk", "Jock" and so on where gaming has a profound impact on their personality and social interactions.

 

[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'

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.

That's quite true, I don't know if you're in the UK but did you hear about the recent BBC Panorama 'investigation' into games addiction. ( http://bit.ly/hMb7Xs )

It was really, really, poor reporting about what is the only section of interactive media that is still growing in the UK. Right at the start the reporter seemed amazed that people were waiting in line for the midnight launch of Starcraft II. People don't get so shocked when people are waiting for a film or the latest Harry Potter book.

To conclude, yes, yes I agree with your point.

 

[SIXVI06-M]

"An entity that derives pleasure, entertainment, amusement, and possibly enlightenment and otherworldly and conferred worldly experiences, emotional, social and non-social to anti-social engagement from the leisure and recreation of electronic and possibly non-electronic gaming."

And please, please, PLEASE... don't ever tout yourself as a professional gamer unless you're actually making a salary from the pastime itself and people may even consult you for professional advice.
I see way too many deluded and arrogant armchair simpletons here and there with their higher-than-thou opinions about how "Halo is the greatest game ever- this is coming from a professional gamer so stfu" or "COD is the very apex of gaming, as a professional gamer I know, It has taught me everything about guns and survival in war" or some bullpoop like that.

If this is YOU- please consider the fact you sound like the 5 year old kid bragging about your bicycle because it's red or something.

 

[SIXVI06-M]

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.

Hmmm, that's a bit elitist. I'd like to be realistic and keep as many real-world connotations to the meaning rather than demonising or singing its praises.

A Gamer who partakes in Gaming falls under any possible way a person can interact with a game, positively or negatively. Of course- if you want to call it your way, sure- we can have "hey that guy/girl/cat/dog/entity is a champ/really decent/good/pleasant/sexy in a nice way/kind and benevolent /entity/ of a gamer" and conversely when you talk about trash-talking, trolling, game-ruining gamers "that is the biggest fucking douchebag gamer I've ever seen". We deal with them accordingly - and the 'bad' gamers go down in the world anyway for doing what they do, and give us contrast as to what not to do so we don't look like total asshats and the poster-child for contraception and selective/scrutinized courtship and breeding. The word itself has more meaning when the Yin exists with the Yang.

I think the term can as much as be self-proclaimed as well as identified by other fellow 'gamers'.

I think anyone who enjoys a game and not so much "dedicates them selves to great accomplishments in a game, is considered a Gamer." - The accomplishments thing has had too much focus since the latest gen consoles and since the turn of technological advance in games. A person who enjoys a game or so enough - they will explore the game and enjoy it as they will; there is no compulsion for them to "dedicate themselves to great accomplishments".

 

[SIXVI06-M]

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 am ashamed. You call yourself a gamer and then throw it around as if it makes you better than others who play in a different way to you. You have no right to disallow people to use the term because you disagree with their interests and play-style. You don't have to like the players who talk trash or only play a particular series, but you have to accept that they have taken an interest in a game and play it, just like you, me and everyone else on this site. Take a look at that post, I hope you realise what a dick you sound like and apologies with sincerity.

Aww, did I offend the poor baby? Sorry, I realize that it is very easy to offend people on this website, because they have no pair of nuts where they should be. Maybe you guys should learn to take an opinion in without crying about how harsh it is.

And with that comment, you are being hypocritical and calling disrespect to yourself as a gamer - and you're kind of smacking yourself in the nuts with the smelly salmon you're swinging around when you're talking about 'keeping it respectable' etc as if you were actually calling for more respect in the term itself - when you think that behaving as a gamer only holds true in a game and not outside - such as in this public forum about entertainment and gaming.

By the way- the reply made to you by that person was also making an opinion... you know, those opinions "you guys should learn to take... without crying about how harsh it is". Another smack at your own nuts with that smelly salmon...

Chill out- you're waaay to tense about this gamer thing lol.

 

[Deverfro]

I think gamer is a nasty word. Its got so much social stigma attacted too it. Plus when someone hears the word gamer it lowers the opinion of that person. Although it would be nice to have a name to define that hobby, like how someone who loves movies is called a Movie Goer.

 

[SIXVI06-M]

I think gamer is a nasty word. Its got so much social stigma attacted too it. Plus when someone hears the word gamer it lowers the opinion of that person. Although it would be nice to have a name to define that hobby, like how someone who loves movies is called a Movie Goer.

We can always change that. Any change, no matter how little, is a step in the right direction. Start making 'Gaming' and 'Gamer' a welcome term to everyone - make it something to feel good or at least 'alright' to be a part of, an acceptance of sorts.

If we keep the "hurr... you have to play games THIS hardcore/this hard/this many thousand hours or 'only these types of games' to be a gamer" attitude up, we'll forever be seen as one of the many society's douchebags who thinks we're too good for everyone, which will of course keep everyone else thinking less of us, and it's already pretty low as it is.

I think we've hit a pretty good milestone as gamers if our grandparents even want to get in on being a 'gamer', whatever the game might be and we'd wholeheartedly let them join us, because... hey, why the fuck not? And if we do- you'd be surprised what doors this medium will be opening up for itself in the future (and it will be more than just games for elderly people ).

 

[squid5580]

I'm sorry but there is no such thing as casual games. When someone dedicates insane amounts of hours into a game like Cafe World or Farmville they are just as much of a gamer as anyone who invests the same amount of time and energy into COD. And believe me there is people who do.

Just because you don't appreciate them doesn't make them any less of a game.

 

[Deverfro]

I think gamer is a nasty word. Its got so much social stigma attacted too it. Plus when someone hears the word gamer it lowers the opinion of that person. Although it would be nice to have a name to define that hobby, like how someone who loves movies is called a Movie Goer.

We can always change that. Any change, no matter how little, is a step in the right direction. Start making 'Gaming' and 'Gamer' a welcome term to everyone - make it something to feel good or at least 'alright' to be a part of, an acceptance of sorts.

If we keep the "hurr... you have to play games THIS hardcore/this hard/this many thousand hours or 'only these types of games' to be a gamer" attitude up, we'll forever be seen as one of the many society's douchebags who thinks we're too good for everyone, which will of course keep everyone else thinking less of us, and it's already pretty low as it is.

I think we've hit a pretty good milestone as gamers if our grandparents even want to get in on being a 'gamer', whatever the game might be and we'd wholeheartedly let them join us, because... hey, why the fuck not? And if we do- you'd be surprised what doors this medium will be opening up for itself in the future (and it will be more than just games for elderly people ).

I can see what you mean and where your coming from, but the problem is that most people who have been gaming for a long time seem to really hate this casual audience. I did have a wii and I sold it 'cause at the time, there was nothing coming out for it. But I can't deny I had fun playing Wii Sports.

 

[TheGreekDollmaker]

Someone who plays videogames.

Everyone that has picked up a videogame controller up in his/her life is a gamer the same that anyone that has attembed to draw is an artist or hum a tune is a musician.

He may not be a goone artist,musician,gamer but he sure as hell is one.

 

[Aerialfrogg]

Snip

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"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.
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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 ...

*snip* (Sorry, my "comment" turned into a personal rant)

I believe that a more precise title is needed for people such as yourself who have a deep appreciation beyond the quick bit of adrenalin video games give or the gorgeous graphics; something akin to a connoisseur. Probably in the "Adjective Gamer" format.
However, having read through various other arguments I will say that my definition was a bit vague. I believe hobby is an old word that still works just fine. It implies a preference and passion to do it above other things, not just because time is open. Also, there is a point when a hobbyist no longer describes the amount of time and effort a person puts into the hobby.

Generic Gamer really hit it on the nail.

It's interesting, we seem to have two definitions of gamer here.

We have the common sense definition: A gamer is someone who plays games and counts them as a hobby.

We then have the definition that a few people are embodying: A gamer is someone who has bad time management and who is overly snobby about their gaming hardware.*

...

* No, I am not implying that you are the later. I just think it is a funny, yet appropriate, exaggeration.

 

[Wondermint13]

Ok.. I can tell you what it is NOT. A definition of a gamer is NOT an entire family unit standing in a minimalist design grand livingroom all smiling the same unconvincing smile as they wave Wii controllers around to games they can probably play in their oversized garden.

As this website suggests. A gamer is an Escapists of sorts. A person who seeks moments of solidarity to tackle the heroic trials of another world or two in the evenings of a long day. In the process he or she will broaden their minds with fantasy and literiture as well as gaining a well rested arse.

 

[suitepee7]

Disagree. Just because you drive a car doesn't make you a racer. Just because you play a game of football, you're not a football player.

Farmville and the likes are not games. If you count them as games, then posting on forums should be a game too, post counts are like highscores.

Driving a car makes you a driver, so under the same definition playing a game should classify you as a gamer. if you were a professional driver, the parallel would be a professional gamer. as for the second bit, no. posting on the forums isn't really a game at all. that's just stupid.