You call yourself a Gamer?!?

[badgersprite]

I haven't been playing many games recently do to university work taking up my time, but hells yeah I'm still a gamer.

I haven't played a game in months, but I still watch game reviews and read up on gaming news. I just don't have the time anymore, but I don't think that disqualifies me as a gamer.

^ This. I still know what's coming out, what the consensus is on several games, which games I'm going to get when I have the free time, and I keep up on developments in the industry. It's a bit like saying you can't call yourself a music lover if you haven't bought a new album or been to a concert in the last X days.

As someone earlier in the thread said, being a gamer is more about having a passion for games than your level of skill or how many you play, sort of like being a film buff isn't necessarily defined by how many movies you've seen or whether you even see new releases at all but how much you care about film and, at the risk of sounding pretentious, appreciate film as a medium.

 

[New Troll]

It's amusing just how off-topic most people are in this thread. The question wasn't if you are a gamer or what you perceive a gamer to be. The question was what you feel holds you back from your full potential, if anything. But keep it coming. Amusing read.

 

[Vonnis]

I think a more relevant question is: who cares? Do you have some pathological need to belong to a subculture? Just enjoy your hobby without labelling yourself.

 

[Project_Xii]

You sir, are a gamer. You are just a gamer that life has caught up with, like all of us.Like anyone with a passion or hobby, it gets hard to maintain that when family comes along. Some things are simply higher priority then your own desires.

I'd have to agree with other posters about the definition of a gamer: just cause you play a few games, doesn't make you a gamer. If you play nothing but Call of Duty, Oblivion or iPhones games, you are not a gamer. For real gamers, video games are their passion in life. Obviously they can function without them, but it's their personal area of interest, their hobby and their favoured form of entertainment.

Real gamers play a range of games, over a range of genres. They can appreciate individual aspects of certain games, even if the overall game isn't that great. They won't call a game "stupid", "gay" or "retarded" simply because they read unfavourable reviews or played a demo. They reserve judgement until they've played it for themselves and tested it properly. They also know that age doesn't always render a game unplayable, even if it's not quite as easy on the eye as it used to be.

This new generation of XBLA spawn that think their hardcore gamers cause they play CoD or Halo 24/7... yeah, run along now. You have underage drinking parties to prepare for in like 3 years time, and then you'll forget all about this. Their opinions on gaming as a whole seemed to be summed up quite nicely for me at work recently, when I was helping a kid and every game I pointed out to him as good, he dubbed as "boring and repetitive". All I could think was:

"Scumbag Kid - Claims every game is boring and repetitive. Plays Call of Duty non stop for an entire year, buys sequel which is exactly more of the same." Gah.

 

[Hollock]

No I dont. I havent been playing many games this year. But even when i did no, the same way Im not a movie-er

 

[Legion IV]

Snip

I think its fair to think what you want but i gotta disagree.....

Playing a game doesn't make you a gamer it just doesn't. You need to have real passion and dedication to really call yourself a gamer. Me and my friends love fighting games and more importantly love guilty gear, but to the outside world guilty gears dead and yet its the most well designed fighting game ever made. Guess what we did? we loved the game so much we maintain a weekly group get together and practice for the game with tournaments.

Another friend friend of myn decorates his whole apartment with gaming apparel and posters and just simply being surrounded by his passion his noticeably just makes him happy. Another thing me and my buds will do is actually beat an rpg and do multiple playthroughs to actually find out the cryptic hidden items and secret endings without reading any walkthroughs and yet most people just take the no effort way.

Or importing Japanese games and getting your friend to translate or worse if hes on vacation (dammit Andy!! we need you) you try to learn Japanese yourself. Hell i traveled to japan and guess what i spent most of my time on? Competitive Guilty gear at the arcades (all the best players in the world are there)

Sorry i guess these dont prove my points really, just examples of what i see it takes to be a gamer, the passion dedication, the love.

Here , heres the best example i can give a test so to say.

Lets say your madly in love with someone 5 year relationship or something or maybe your married, if she asks you to stop playing games because you should spend more time with her and maybe do some fun new things with her (take up painting maybe?) and if you say sure and give up coming. Your not a gamer, thats it.

Also if you feel you'll eventually grow tired of gaming your grow to old for it. your not a gamer. Its simple as that.

And before you say thats unfair. My best friend's passion in life is music, he was playing some form of musical instrument. So if some girl he knew for 5 years asked him to play less or not at much at all, even if he was engaged am sure he would tearfully say no. When you do something that long with so much passion and love and that you want to do for the rest of your life, you'll never give it up for anything.

Thats a gamer, thats a musician, thats an artist, thats an athlete. Theres one thing all those share, passion and love for the game/art.

 

[geK0]

I used to rent most of my games, but with the rise in price of game rentals and the closing of large movie/game rental stores, Ive found myself a bit out of the loop with current gen.

Also, I have a habit of obsessing over a few games rather than trying a lot of different games. There are a lot of titles that people would expect me, as a self proclaimed gamer, to have played; such as diablo, assassins creed, god of war, but I've yet to try any of those = \.

The amount of time ive spent on my NES, SNES, N64, PS2, PS3, WII and computers collectively though.... it probably adds up to more time than I've spent in school!

 

[geK0]

I'd have to agree with other posters about the definition of a gamer: just cause you play a few games, doesn't make you a gamer. If you play nothing but Call of Duty, Oblivion or iPhones games, you are not a gamer.

I Loved Oblivion, and played quite a bit of COD! what exactly makes these non-games? the fact that they're main stream?

 

[Sud0_x]

As far as I'm concerned, you "true Gamers" can have your little club.

I'll just continue doing my thing over here.

What's that? You want my credentials now? Who the fuck do I have to prove myself to?
Honestly, I'd be ashamed to be associated with some of you people.


OP,
What's holding me back? Nothing, I get everything I want out of games, I've learned to avoid those games that leave me feeling like I've been dangled upside-down and had my pockets shaken empty. It's easy, just look for the ones with the most favourable reviews.

Dedicating my life to avoiding life? What are we a fucking cult now? Do you want that in blood?

I've never called myself a gamer or "Gamer". I never will.

Gamers are people who fling crap at each other all day long and try to exclude those who supposedly aren't worthy, why would anyone want to be a part of that?

 

[Savagezion]

Snip

I think its fair to think what you want but i gotta disagree.....

-Snip as those scenarios actually coincide with my point of view-

Sorry i guess these dont prove my points really, just examples of what i see it takes to be a gamer, the passion dedication, the love.

Here , heres the best example i can give a test so to say.

Lets say your madly in love with someone 5 year relationship or something or maybe your married, if she asks you to stop playing games because you should spend more time with her and maybe do some fun new things with her (take up painting maybe?) and if you say sure and give up coming. Your not a gamer, thats it.

Also if you feel you'll eventually grow tired of gaming your grow to old for it. your not a gamer. Its simple as that.

And before you say thats unfair. My best friend's passion in life is music, he was playing some form of musical instrument. So if some girl he knew for 5 years asked him to play less or not at much at all, even if he was engaged am sure he would tearfully say no. When you do something that long with so much passion and love and that you want to do for the rest of your life, you'll never give it up for anything.

Thats a gamer, thats a musician, thats an artist, thats an athlete. Theres one thing all those share, passion and love for the game/art.

No offense intended but the fact that you use that particular example is disturbing. It implies that a "true gamer" is selfish, close minded, and has no character. Not to mention socially inept. She is asking you to do something with her. You know the other 'equal' in your relationship. Overall, I say there is just way too much information missing here. Exactly how much time does this guy in question attribute to games per week? 5? or 50? If 50, then I think he could spare 10-20 hours a week to spend more time on his relationship.

There is a stigma attached to gaming that gamers are all socially crippled human beings and your example just further cements that stigma as "the way it should be". Your example assumes there is no compromise available which is almost never true. It is quit gaming or stay married/involved. As far as involved goes, "eh, depends on the chick" - as far as married goes, Why the fuck are you two married? first off. But dude, you made vows. Chances are in a marriage, the games aren't the problem. It's you for being a social cripple and she is carrying the weight of the entire relationship. Like I said, assuming there is no compromise is a huge flaw in that example - and actually resembles a bit of social ineptitude.

Maybe one guy has a lot of passion in his life for gaming and would LOVE to play more often. But between his oldest kids volleyball games, and his two youngest's baseball games, as well as school functions and general homework help, as well as trying to be there to listen to his spouses stories and do things she wants to do, he gets about 10 hours a week of 'me' time. Of that 10 hours, he plays games as that is his passion. What you have there is a good father and husband who is a gamer. But he knows that responsibilities come before playtime.

 

[Savagezion]

As far as I'm concerned, you "true Gamers" can have your little club.

I'll just continue doing my thing over here.

What's that? You want my credentials now? Who the fuck do I have to prove myself to?
Honestly, I'd be ashamed to be associated with some of you people.


OP,
What's holding me back? Nothing, I get everything I want out of games, I've learned to avoid those games that leave me feeling like I've been dangled upside-down and had my pockets shaken empty. It's easy, just look for the ones with the most favourable reviews.

Dedicating my life to avoiding life? What are we a fucking cult now? Do you want that in blood?

I've never called myself a gamer or "Gamer". I never will.

Gamers are people who fling crap at each other all day long and try to exclude those who supposedly aren't worthy, why would anyone want to be a part of that?

I agree with this sentiment. Only I do call myself a gamer. The ones you refer to though, I just refer to as elitists, and they are in everything. I totally get why someone would avoid the term gamer though.

 

[Sud0_x]

Snipped for size

I agree with this sentiment. Only I do call myself a gamer. The ones you refer to though, I just refer to as elitists, and they are in everything. I totally get why someone would avoid the term gamer though.

I was expecting some bad heat when I saw I'd been quoted.
Of course I don't honestly think everyone is bad, I just found a lot of the replies in this thread to be quite disagreeable.
I just can't get behind labels, personally. You're right though, there are jerks in everything.

 

[Project_Xii]

I Loved Oblivion, and played quite a bit of COD! what exactly makes these non-games? the fact that they're main stream?

No, they're games. And they're very good games (well, CoD4 and back were). However, I said "If you play nothing BUT...". As in, if those are the only games you play. I know a lot of people like that. They think Oblivion is the epitamy of adventure RPG's, so they won't play any others. They think CoD is the best of all shooters, so that's literally all they play. Then they act like they're superior gamers, cause they only play "the best".

That's doesn't make them a gamer, in my opinion anyway. It just makes them boring, close minded people who refuse to leave their comfort zones and experience other genres. Open to interpretation I guess, but yeah. You get the idea.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

"Scumbag Kid - Claims every game is boring and repetitive. Plays Call of Duty non stop for an entire year, buys sequel which is exactly more of the same." Gah.

This comes to mind...

OT: I'm a gamer. I play most genres, if not all. That doesn't mean I'm good at all of them, but I try anyway.

Nothing has really held me back from gaming, except for running out of cash.

 

[nokori3byo]

Sure I'm a gamer, though I don't really split hairs on the hardcore issue. Games are a diversion for me. Great games can be a very compelling diversion. But to hear people pulling rank on others about how hardcore they are is really just sad.

That said, I feel out of place whenever Wii party games make an appearance at a gathering. I can only feign interest for so long. Part of me regrets this as I like to stay abreast of current trends in media/tech yadda yadda yadda. Truthfully though, I only have so much time to give to this hobby and I'd rather give it to what I really like.

 

[easternflame]

No, I play games and love them, I'm not a "gamer", I watch movies and love them, I'm not a "filmwatcher", I read books an love them, I'm not a "reader".
I don't like the social etiquettes, I HATE THEM!

 

[KimuraYuka]

I won't play online games any more, that made me lose so many.

 

[emeraldrafael]

I game. I've cosplayed too, but i dont think that counts towards being a gamer.

Though I've gotten in the habit of calling two of my friends junpei and Aki-san. And of course there was my P2:IS pick up line.

...

im proably more of a nerd/geek/loser more then anythingelse (not that those three terms are all interchangable).

 

[Heartcafe]

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.

Ninja'd

As much as I would love to spend everyday lost in my game stack, girly things tend to create a divide. It's a choice between a new top or the new game.
I'm not really girly, but I love new clothes