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Your identity as a gamer.
Mr_Snuffle
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Registered User regular
I was talking to a work mate on the way home. He plays WoW, and awful lot. He's got a level 70 and generally devotes a fair amount of time to it. I hadn't had that much of a chance to talk to him before, but seeing as we both had about 20 minutes on the train to kill, we had a bit of a chat. I was under the impression that he'd had a bit of a gaming history. Most people I know that play WoW have had some kind of gaming history before it, but I was suprised as I talked about other MMOs I'd played myself, and other single player games I'd like, that he had pretty much no general gaming knowledge. He only plays WoW.
Now in contrast, I tend to keep up with gaming news, and play a wide variety of titles, but as a general rule don't actually devote that many hours to gaming. It got me thinking, I'm someone with years and years of gaming history, but I don't actually play that much in comparison to my work mate, so who is the gamer? I identify myself as a gamer, but I don't actually game that much. I play in small bursts, and spend most of my time following the industry. My mate plays a lot, but entirely focused on one title, with no interest in anything else outside of it. He's willing to place so much more time into playing games than I am, but he's not willing to take any interest in the industry itself.
By my definition, I don't think I'd put him in the social box of 'Gamer', regardless of the amount he plays. He's someone who just happens to play games, not someone who has gaming as a hobby.
What are your thoughts? Would you define him as a 'Gamer'? What do you define as a gamer?
Discuss?
Now in contrast, I tend to keep up with gaming news, and play a wide variety of titles, but as a general rule don't actually devote that many hours to gaming. It got me thinking, I'm someone with years and years of gaming history, but I don't actually play that much in comparison to my work mate, so who is the gamer? I identify myself as a gamer, but I don't actually game that much. I play in small bursts, and spend most of my time following the industry. My mate plays a lot, but entirely focused on one title, with no interest in anything else outside of it. He's willing to place so much more time into playing games than I am, but he's not willing to take any interest in the industry itself.
By my definition, I don't think I'd put him in the social box of 'Gamer', regardless of the amount he plays. He's someone who just happens to play games, not someone who has gaming as a hobby.
What are your thoughts? Would you define him as a 'Gamer'? What do you define as a gamer?
Discuss?
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seeing how games usually have to be fun be classified a game.
It's a state of mind.
If anything, I think that my interest in the gaming hobby defines me as a gamer, since my financial situation doesn't particularly lend itself to buying a new game every month. It's more like every 4 months.
At least that's how I see it.
This is exactly what I would classify myself as being.
I would consider myself a "hardcore" gamer. However, I think even your WoW friend qualifies as a Gamer, albeit one with a lacking gaming lexicon.
No one can emphasize this enough, honestly.
WoW counts as gaming.
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Really, the definitions have been cast.
I mainly play FPS's, RPGs, Racers and Military sims, but I'm partial to different games Like Katamai Damacy and Elite Beat Agents.
I currently own a DS, PC, XBox 360 and PSP and I'm planning on getting either a wii or a PS3. I'll just see how I go.
I want to do game development as a living, maybe game design. I'll see. I'd definately say I'm a mid-to high end gamer
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My mother plays Tetris on the computer every couple days.
I don't consider her a gamer.
I wouldn't in the least consider him a gamer, probably because, even though he plays games when he feels like it (WoW, sometimes a new adventure game, stuff like that) it's so rare that I can't even see it as "casual"
It would be like defining reader as 'someone who reads' when you are on a book forum.
Years back I gamed much more, I'd put hours in to flight sims complete with complicated joystick setups, I'd make Quake maps and mods and so on and so forth. Nowadays my time is much more pushed so I can't.
That said I'm really really sinking my teeth in to Super Paper Mario, just started cracking on with 3-1 I think. Undoubtedly I'll complete it (as I'm really enjoying it).
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
More seriously, i'd classify anyone a gamer who actually plays more than one game and is decently knowledgeable about gaming in general.
These people who only play WoW are just casual gamers in the sense that while they may play that single game for longer periods, it's more out of socialisation than actual gaming.
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I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
As for the World of Warcraft dude, people who play a hell of a lot tend not to be interested in anything else, including what is outside of their room.
Gaming enthusiast ("I rarely play games, but keep up on the industry")
Hardcore gamer ("The library of congress has nothing on my collection")
I play alot of video games.
The end
This description works for me. I'm a "retired" hardcore gamer now that I have a wife & 2 year old son...but I still keep up on industry news and play shorter, more casual games whenever I get the chance. I still enjoy my more time consuming games, but I hardly ever get the time to put into them.
Sometimes, if not for my DS, I'd never game at all.
I did my thesis study on this. Personality factors that have been found to predict problem gambling - in particular depression, stress, and anxiety - also very heavily predicted addictive internet habits and behaviours.
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If your mom spends more time reading, watching TV, going to movies, playing board games or card games, collecting something, etc. than playing Bejeweled, she's not a gamer.
I mean, how hard is this? You're a gamer IF GAMING IS THE LEISURELY ACTIVITY YOU DO THE MOST.
A gamer would generally have to have some experience with gaming in the general sense. Playing some variety, no matter how small. Not necessarily genre variety, but a variety of actual titles. If somebody spends a bit of the free time playing Bejewled, does that make them a gamer? Probably not. If they scour the internet for more of those single-serving games and can't play enough of them, does that make them a gamer? Probably so.
Then there's the issue of individuality. Definitions aside, a gamer is anybody who would reasonably self-classify as a gamer.
I do not consider myself a gamer, at all, and I never have. I do like keeping up on what's coming down the pipe, but gaming certainly isn't something I'd consider a defining aspect of who I am as a person. Gaming is a hoby for me, one of many, although there are aparently people who have made it their culture, their identity, and the activity that all other aspects of their lives exist only to support. People like that are the people I would call "gamers".
So true.
I wouldn't say he was a gamer.
I'm the same way, at least lately.
The only games I've played in recent memory are infrequent short spurts of Hotel Dusk and Dawn of Sorrow.