“What is a gamer” is the type of question I could write a whole book on (maybe I will someday!).
You could say a gamer is just someone who plays and enjoys video games, but this seems overly simplistic and reductive.
Then there’s the stereotypical, capital “G” hardcore Gamer, but that’s also highly reductive in addition to being problematic and stigmatizing (and something I don’t personally identify with anyway, despite enjoying many of the games associated with this cohort).
I think at the end of the day, a gamer is someone who derives deep enjoyment and even meaning from games, on a deeply subconscious, primal, and even spiritual level. And that’s definitely the case with me.
A parallel to this would be my wife, who deeply enjoys movies. Watches them all the time, devours commentary tracks, directors cuts, and BTS podcasts. Dives deep into the historical, cultural, and biographical context behind her favorite movies. Doesn’t just watch films, but lives and breathes them in a deep and visceral manner. Just like I do with games
Not that you have to be as intense as I am to be a gamer, lol. Maybe the best definition really is the first one: if you play and enjoy games, you’re a gamer!
People have different passion! But I believe that the main thing should be not gate-keeping, and recognizing why you like such thing.
I think it's very toxic to just push people back if they aren't invested the same way because I've seen that a good amount. I agree with your last point, a person doesn't have to be as invested as your wife in movies to be a movie-goer/lover, and people don't have to be as invested as you and I in games to be considered gamers. This is how people an ensure a survival of a community/fanbase/etc.
Play games! Help others! Give them gold so they can buy equipment or help them go through dungeons, or something.
That's kind of crazy that we sort of similar epiphanies throughout our respective journeys. I was a competitive fiend growing up, besting in drawing dungeon maps with my middle school friends, competing professionally in Dota 2, grabbing Grandmaster in TFT, sinking deep into Ascension 20 in StS.. of course going through many periods of "Who am I without video games?" etc.
And now I'm completely infatuated with game development. I just know that my life would be very different, and probably sadder, if I wasn't introduced to video games.
BROTHER, YOU WERE SUPER DEEP IN THERE. Dope you got out of it, because playing comp games for "fun," isn't that fun.
I was scratching my comp itch with Tekken 8, went for a few LoL matches, and now I just play a few Marvel Rivals games, because they're quick, I get angry for 5 minutes, and done. Though, to be fair, I only play with friends, because otherwise, I go back to my other games.
Man, comp games are so sad, "fun," and anger inducing.
From a research perspective, no one has been able to answer the question "what is a gamer?"
Most will classify it as amount of time spent gaming with some arbitrarily infrequent duration falling into the non-gamer category and the rest as gamers.
I wonder what would happen to some of the results if the grouping was simply, "do you play games?"
In any case, I'm glad you are enjoying games again! Save your joycons (and desks and walls!)
You would have to recognize gaming as your hobby, I would say. How frequent it would be is hard to say, but a person who enjoys fishing can't always fish every week, you know?
It could be interesting to see if people consider themselves gamers, and then ask them how much time they spend gaming, what games and where. I think I read something a while ago, but I think the key part would be not gatekeeping.
And I am enjoying games! No longer breaking anything. It was costing money.
I loved reading your introspection and history with gaming. 💚
Thanks for sharing it so openly.
I also appreciate the call out to just play as many games as you can/want to to experience different types to find out what you like. I also see it as consuming art and find it inspiring to think about how I would make my own game (I won’t ever be able to I don’t think but it’s a nice thought exercise).
Keep driving looks awesome. I can’t wait to see your review on it. 🎉
You can always make your own game little by little. There's no rush if it's a passion project.
And people have to play a variety of games to see what's up in the landscape. There's so many different type of games! My wife is still surprised the types of games that exist.
“What is a gamer” is the type of question I could write a whole book on (maybe I will someday!).
You could say a gamer is just someone who plays and enjoys video games, but this seems overly simplistic and reductive.
Then there’s the stereotypical, capital “G” hardcore Gamer, but that’s also highly reductive in addition to being problematic and stigmatizing (and something I don’t personally identify with anyway, despite enjoying many of the games associated with this cohort).
I think at the end of the day, a gamer is someone who derives deep enjoyment and even meaning from games, on a deeply subconscious, primal, and even spiritual level. And that’s definitely the case with me.
A parallel to this would be my wife, who deeply enjoys movies. Watches them all the time, devours commentary tracks, directors cuts, and BTS podcasts. Dives deep into the historical, cultural, and biographical context behind her favorite movies. Doesn’t just watch films, but lives and breathes them in a deep and visceral manner. Just like I do with games
Not that you have to be as intense as I am to be a gamer, lol. Maybe the best definition really is the first one: if you play and enjoy games, you’re a gamer!
People have different passion! But I believe that the main thing should be not gate-keeping, and recognizing why you like such thing.
I think it's very toxic to just push people back if they aren't invested the same way because I've seen that a good amount. I agree with your last point, a person doesn't have to be as invested as your wife in movies to be a movie-goer/lover, and people don't have to be as invested as you and I in games to be considered gamers. This is how people an ensure a survival of a community/fanbase/etc.
Play games! Help others! Give them gold so they can buy equipment or help them go through dungeons, or something.
That's kind of crazy that we sort of similar epiphanies throughout our respective journeys. I was a competitive fiend growing up, besting in drawing dungeon maps with my middle school friends, competing professionally in Dota 2, grabbing Grandmaster in TFT, sinking deep into Ascension 20 in StS.. of course going through many periods of "Who am I without video games?" etc.
And now I'm completely infatuated with game development. I just know that my life would be very different, and probably sadder, if I wasn't introduced to video games.
BROTHER, YOU WERE SUPER DEEP IN THERE. Dope you got out of it, because playing comp games for "fun," isn't that fun.
I was scratching my comp itch with Tekken 8, went for a few LoL matches, and now I just play a few Marvel Rivals games, because they're quick, I get angry for 5 minutes, and done. Though, to be fair, I only play with friends, because otherwise, I go back to my other games.
Man, comp games are so sad, "fun," and anger inducing.
From a research perspective, no one has been able to answer the question "what is a gamer?"
Most will classify it as amount of time spent gaming with some arbitrarily infrequent duration falling into the non-gamer category and the rest as gamers.
I wonder what would happen to some of the results if the grouping was simply, "do you play games?"
In any case, I'm glad you are enjoying games again! Save your joycons (and desks and walls!)
You would have to recognize gaming as your hobby, I would say. How frequent it would be is hard to say, but a person who enjoys fishing can't always fish every week, you know?
It could be interesting to see if people consider themselves gamers, and then ask them how much time they spend gaming, what games and where. I think I read something a while ago, but I think the key part would be not gatekeeping.
And I am enjoying games! No longer breaking anything. It was costing money.
I loved reading your introspection and history with gaming. 💚
Thanks for sharing it so openly.
I also appreciate the call out to just play as many games as you can/want to to experience different types to find out what you like. I also see it as consuming art and find it inspiring to think about how I would make my own game (I won’t ever be able to I don’t think but it’s a nice thought exercise).
Keep driving looks awesome. I can’t wait to see your review on it. 🎉
You can always make your own game little by little. There's no rush if it's a passion project.
And people have to play a variety of games to see what's up in the landscape. There's so many different type of games! My wife is still surprised the types of games that exist.
Keep Driving IS awesome.