You call yourself a Gamer?!?

[Vault101]

If by gamer you mean "people who spend countless amount of time playing video games" no, you are not, but once you have real responsibilities there is no way to play as much as we did when we were kids and do something with your life.

ummmmm....ok?

well it depends on what you define as gamer. a gamer could be somone who spends a reasonalbe tiem playing, but also has a keen interest (is enithusiastic, takes interest in the gaming world and reads/consumes gaming media)

 

[Vault101]

I consider myself a "retired gamer."

Former FPS Legend back when Doom II and Quake was still the shit, PK in Ultima Online (although that wasn't really much of a skill; obtain crossbow of death, click poor sonnabitch, loot body, ruin someone's entire weekend), elite raiding guilds in a few MMOs to follow, etc. I was 'hardkore' for a number of years. (I even beat Battletoads, mofo.) I had all the consoles, and was spending thousands on incremental hardware updates to my PC to eek out a few extra FPS, mastering the newest games... until one day, in what alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarity, I came to the realization (while in an MMO no doubt) that I was a dick, and I ran with dicks who were proud of being dicks, so I left the scene.

While I still play and get into quite into a number of titles, I do not want to directly associate with the current generation of elitist, foul-mouthed little teabagging shits that overwhelm the multiplayer community while spewing their hate on how the "casual crowd" are killing the industry by creating a market for "simple, fun games" and how a bunch of people still playing Mario Kart on their Wii is somehow "ruining gaming for the Calladewty crowd" on their mighty PS3s!

I've yet to meet an "Angry Birds" player who was a royal **** about the number of pigs they squished.

Kind of like how I still enjoy anime quite a bit. Been watching and collecting since the days where we still traded poorly-translated VHS tapes that had been re-recorded so many times they were fuzzy as hell through the mail. (Yes, postal... the old guy who visits your house with junk mail every day. They used to deliver packages.)

Frankly, weeaboos ruined that for me, too.

you let other people ruin games for you? (oh and genrelize them as well)

you ever experience the wonders of single player? on your own, withouth the dickheads and the worlds judgemnt? Im just saying I can get that you tone down the gaming if your older/have more responsibilitys

but "the other kids are being MEAN! I dont wanna play anymore!" the cure for the is staying away from forums and online

 

[Savagezion]

no, No , NO ! Playing games does NOT make you a gamer ! Taking a picture does not make you a photographer , playing an instrument does NOT make you a musician, watching a movie does NOT make you a film critic !

No, those are all professions is why it doesn't make you that. A photographer, musician, and film critic all get paid to do that. Or if you don't mean professional, then yes - playing games does make you a gamer. I would even do you one better and say that you don't even have to play games just like to play games.

Now that being said, Op is a gamer because he has a passion for gaming. He enjoys it, he reads up upon it , he dedicates time , money and effort on his hobby ( even if he isn't good at some genres ). Just playing games does not make you a gamer, it's much more than that. It's his passion and love for gaming that makes him a gamer. My Mom is NOT a gamer because she plays peggle ( peggle is a gamer and she plays it ) , OP is a gamer because he cares about the medium as a whole.

Your mom is a "casual gamer". Gamers come in many shapes and sizes. What you are talking about is hardcore gamers by my personal definition. People who play only/almost exclusively COD, Peggle, Angry Birds, or any 1 genre and/or have a very small gaming paradigm are casual gamers.

 

[BloodRed Pixel]

It´s not important to have everything or spending tons of time. It´s more important to know what you like and to have a passion when you play.

And as long as you can understand WHY it means so much to some one to play game "X" and the world is breaking for them because they cannot, you´re a gamer.

that´s it.

 

[Vault101]

My short attention span, My love of multitasking, the fact that I don't own every console, and my love of girly things which takes time, energy, and money away from it.

Then there's the fact that I only really started gaming when the Xbox 360 game out.

Honestly, sometimes I feel like less of a gamer because i'm girly, and not really a tom boy.

gaming has everything to do with playing the games, not what kind of person you are..you just dont fit the steryoptype, thats a good thing

 

[Halceon]

Will you people stop with these ridiculous ideas of "true" gamers? You can be a smart gamer, you can be an idiot, you can do it while it rains outside and you can devote weekends to raids. You can even be a hardcore bejewelled player, or you can be a casual CoD dabbler. All of those are valid gamers, none of those are the core demographic of gamers and most importantly they have little right to claim they know the opinion of all gamers.

 

[Zantos]

I consider myself a Gamer because I pour plenty of time and money into the medium for my own amusement. I like to collect trinkets and toys and posters so even when I'm not gaming it's easy to see I still have a great passion for it. I've been carrying around my new octus medal for the past 2 days now, when I can find the time I'm turning it into a necklace. COG tags won't have shit on me.

What's holding me back? Not being good at RTS games. Somewhere in between my inability to micromanage and my refusal to include anything more than counting in my downtime I never really got off the ground with them.

 

[krazykidd]

no, No , NO ! Playing games does NOT make you a gamer ! Taking a picture does not make you a photographer , playing an instrument does NOT make you a musician, watching a movie does NOT make you a film critic !

Now that being said, Op is a gamer because he has a passion for gaming. He enjoys it, he reads up upon it , he dedicates time , money and effort on his hobby ( even if he isn't good at some genres ). Just playing games does not make you a gamer, it's much more than that. It's his passion and love for gaming that makes him a gamer. My Mom is NOT a gamer because she plays peggle ( peggle is a gamer and she plays it ) , OP is a gamer because he cares about the medium as a whole.

Gamer [Gey-mer]
- a person who plays games, especially computer or video games.

Seems pretty straightforward.

Still trying to come up with a term. Maybe Gamarse? It has the first three letters of 'game' and another word for ass, which is largely what the more self-righteous and egocentric among us tend to be. But the really cherry here is that it sounds like a butchered pronunciation of gamers.

no, No , NO ! Playing games does NOT make you a gamer ! Taking a picture does not make you a photographer , playing an instrument does NOT make you a musician, watching a movie does NOT make you a film critic !

No, those are all professions is why it doesn't make you that. A photographer, musician, and film critic all get paid to do that. Or if you don't mean professional, then yes - playing games does make you a gamer. I would even do you one better and say that you don't even have to play games just like to play games.

Now that being said, Op is a gamer because he has a passion for gaming. He enjoys it, he reads up upon it , he dedicates time , money and effort on his hobby ( even if he isn't good at some genres ). Just playing games does not make you a gamer, it's much more than that. It's his passion and love for gaming that makes him a gamer. My Mom is NOT a gamer because she plays peggle ( peggle is a gamer and she plays it ) , OP is a gamer because he cares about the medium as a whole.

Your mom is a "casual gamer". Gamers come in many shapes and sizes. What you are talking about is hardcore gamers by my personal definition. People who play only/almost exclusively COD, Peggle, Angry Birds, or any 1 genre and/or have a very small gaming paradigm are casual gamers.

Okay then by you guys logic , If i play a game so i'm a gamer ?

So, if i play a game of:

chess
tag
cards
checkers
catch
poker
peggle (video games)
connect four
charades
etc...

i am a gamer? These are all games btw . Just not VIDEO games. Therefore the entire world is full of gamers?

What i'm trying to get to is that the definition is wrong. It was a definition created before video games was considered an art form. And that the term gamer , requires someone that enjoy the medium as a whole.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

What i'm trying to get to is that the definition is wrong. It was a definition created before video games was considered an art form. And that the term gamer , requires someone that enjoy the medium as a whole.

By your definition no one is a gamer.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

We shall go by the name of Gamaru yes i totatly made that up on the spot if its somthing real well what a odd name xD

OT: I consider myself a real gamer because im extreamly dedicated to my gaming and I enjoy doing it more then anything and I love to play it in all forms weather it be console handheld or PC game like Total Annihlation.

Iv spent more money on games then anything else and iv had prob killed myself without it due to lack of anything for me.

Gamaru..... Isn't that the word Japanese gamers use as a derogation of Western titles? Has a nice ring to it though, and would serve well for a blanket term; instead of sorting through the many related taxonomic terms.

 

[go-10]

I don't play as much as I used to but I'm still a gamer, I just got different priorities now. And while I consider myself a gamer I don't think I'm hardcore anymore I'm more of a casual. Save for games I really like such as: Persona series, Zelda series, Ninja Gaiden, Borderlands, and a few others

 

[targren]

I used to, but now that I'm in my 30s I've started trying to dissociate myself from the title and it's negative connotations. Not the bullshit the media spews about being prone to violence or playing at the expense of my job and that sort of crap, but the things that are all too prevalent in the actual gamer community. The slavish, virulent loyalty to consoles, game publishers, or genres, and the resultant flame wars so devoid of logic and reason that they make Democrats vs. Republicans out to be mature, well-adjusted people by comparison.

That, and I don't buy this 'this is the golden age of gaming' crap. We've got three major console makers, all of whom insist that they own my console even after I've shelled out up to a week's pay for one of them, and can do what they want, whereas I can't, despite the fact that it's my own damn hardware, and innovation is at all but a standstill, while beloved franchises are being 'rebooted' left and right to strip them of their identities and make yet another clone of one of the big-4 console game types (FPS, God of War Clone, MMO, 40-hour-hallway passing as an RPG).

I've already decided that this one most likely my last generation in gaming. With so little coming out to be worth my hard earned money, the scummy practices of the console makers (all of them) and facepalm-worthy design gimmicks (I'm looking at you, WiiU), there's just less and less to offer every passing month.

 

[Something Amyss]

I've been a gamer since I was like 5.

I will probably always be a gamer. I don't care about the negative connotations.

 

[TehCookie]

My definition of gamer is one that has an interest in games. If you play games but aren't interested in them you're not a gamer. If you don't play games but are still interested in them that makes you a gamer. My mom plays her DS constantly every day but she doesn't know anything about games. My dad on the other hand doesn't have the time to play games all day but still reads PC gamer to keep up on the latest gaming news so I consider him a gamer.

 

[Xanadu84]

To be a gamer you have to A) Play games. B) Have an appreciation for games. C) Want to call yourself a gamer. I consider myself a gamer because I play games, love them, and it's an easy term to use as long as I avoid the argument over how evil labels are.

 

[Savagezion]

Okay then by you guys logic , If i play a game so i'm a gamer ?

So, if i play a game of:

chess
tag
cards
checkers
catch
poker
peggle (video games)
connect four
charades
etc...

i am a gamer? These are all games btw . Just not VIDEO games. Therefore the entire world is full of gamers?

What i'm trying to get to is that the definition is wrong. It was a definition created before video games was considered an art form. And that the term gamer , requires someone that enjoy the medium as a whole.

If you mean on a general basis, pretty much, yeah that would make you a gamer. If I play poker on Monday nights with my buddies, checkers and connect four with the kids throughout the week, charades often on a Saturday night with friends, and chess after church on Sunday, I would easily be able to call myself a gamer. Now, if you mean you played a game 1 time, then not necessarily. That would make you a person who has played a game before. But if you liked it, then that means you have a gamer mentality and you are possibly a gamer at heart. Personally, I am OK calling someone who plays poker a lot a gamer so far as it is for the game and not the gambling as that would make you a gambler. Play chess, checkers, and connect four a lot but really nothing else? Those are all TBS genre so casual gamer.

However, pop culture today has associated "gamer" to focus more on video games. Society has deemed the word gamer to mean "someone who plays video games on a semi-regular basis or more". I, amongst most people (a.k.a. society), feel that to be an acceptable assessment. More importantly, the video game industry has deemed this to be so and have launched several marketing campaigns pulling in several billion dollars this very generation around that idea. By your definition people who aren't "gamers" have supported the video game industry 3x as much as 'real gamers'. "Real Gamers" were too busy complaining about how current video games suck while "Not real gamers" were too busy buying, playing, and enjoying the video games they bought. Ironic isn't it?

On a minor note - you can't win at tag or catch so those aren't really games so much as activities or pastimes. You can play catch or play tag but I can also play guitar but that doesn't make it a game.

 

[Veldel]

We shall go by the name of Gamaru yes i totatly made that up on the spot if its somthing real well what a odd name xD

OT: I consider myself a real gamer because im extreamly dedicated to my gaming and I enjoy doing it more then anything and I love to play it in all forms weather it be console handheld or PC game like Total Annihlation.

Iv spent more money on games then anything else and iv had prob killed myself without it due to lack of anything for me.

Gamaru..... Isn't that the word Japanese gamers use as a derogation of Western titles? Has a nice ring to it though, and would serve well for a blanket term; instead of sorting through the many related taxonomic terms.

well a quick google search shows nothing of that and it dues sound nice. We need to spread it xD

 

[Redweaver]

Okay then by you guys logic , If i play a game so i'm a gamer ?

So, if i play a game of:

chess
tag
cards
checkers
catch
poker
peggle (video games)
connect four
charades
etc...

i am a gamer? These are all games btw . Just not VIDEO games. Therefore the entire world is full of gamers?

What i'm trying to get to is that the definition is wrong. It was a definition created before video games was considered an art form. And that the term gamer , requires someone that enjoy the medium as a whole.

You are one of the closest to correct here.

Gamers love games.

Not just video games.

Games.

The term "gamer" existed (and I labeled myself with it proudly) long before Bill Gates got interested in those electric paperweights he helped popularize.