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I think "gamers" isn't an appropiate term anymore

Guilty_AI

Guilty_AI

Gold Member
Ignoring pejorative connotations the word has been given by some, over the years i've been feeling more and more disconnect from what we would consider "the gaming audience". I absolutely don't get excited by the same things, think some beloved games are absolutely boring, all while others feel the same about the things i like and get excited about. It isn't even simply about different opinions, its like we're looking through completely different lens.

Thinking about this a bit, i believe it has a lot to do with how games have been "branching out". We have completely different sets of games made with completely different purposes in mind, with such purposes often leaning towards certain types of media and entertainment.
We have esports, which by the name we can see leans towards the notion of sport and competition.
We have all those cinematic AAA games, which lean towards movies.
We have certain RPGs and visual novels leaning heavily towards books.
And a whole lot of other types that lean towards social media, toys, puzzles, etc.

We often find ourselves within some of these categories, some times even and making fun of other types. We can even draw some parallels from realities of different industries, such as comparing the console wars with comic book wars (DC vs Marvel stuff) or all the gossip and drama from hollywood being also present on dev and game journalists circles.

Ultimately, i can't help but ponder.
Can we really consider a guy who mainly plays visual novels and jrpgs and a guy who only plays FIFA as really having "the same hobby"? That is, "playing games"? A "gamer"? Even though the interest for their hobby are completely different in nature, like comparing someone who plays ball with someone who watchs anime?

Just rambling a bit.
I'm not drunk.
 
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Kuranghi

Kuranghi

Member
Yes, I prefer "computer-men".

I think its still fine to be honest, I always just said "I like playing computer games", which is a bit more broad anyway. I've never once referred to myself as "a gamer" in a serious way.

edit - I am also not drunk.
 
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makaveli60

makaveli60

Member
Guilty_AI said:
Ignoring pejorative connotations the word has been given by some, over the years i've been feeling more and more disconnect from what we would consider "the gaming audience". I absolutely don't get excited by the same things, think some beloved games are absolutely boring, all while others feel the same about the things i like and get excited about. It isn't even simply about different opinions, its like we're looking through completely different lens.

Thinking about this a bit, i believe it has a lot to do with how games have been "branching out". We have completely different sets of games made with completely different purposes in mind, with such purposes often leaning towards certain types of media and entertainment.
We have esports, which by the name we can see leans towards the notion of sport and competition.
We have all those cinematic AAA games, which lean towards movies.
We have certain RPGs and visual novels leaning heavily towards books.
And a whole lot of other types that lean towards social media, toys, puzzles, etc.

We often find ourselves within some of these categories, some times even and making fun of other types. We can even draw some parallels from realities of different industries, such as comparing the console wars with comic book wars (DC vs Marvel stuff) or all the gossip and drama from hollywood being also present on dev and game journalists circles.

Ultimately, i can't help but ponder.
Can we really consider a guy who mainly plays visual novels and jrpgs and a guy who only plays FIFA as really having "the same hobby"? That is, "playing games"? A "gamer"? Even though the interest for their hobby are completely different in nature, like comparing someone who plays ball with someone who watchs anime?

Just rambling a bit.
I'm not drunk.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I feel this especially in certain segments of conferences and shows where I expect interesting content but then realize that I'm not the type of audience they are doing this for.
 
Kuranghi

Kuranghi

Member
makaveli60 said:
Yeah, I feel this especially in certain segments of conferences and shows where I expect interesting content but then realize that I'm not the type of audience they are doing this for.
Click to expand...

I think most people that play games don't reallydo it as their main hobby, thats why these things have to appeal like that. So I guess you could call casual players "gamers", we should be called "computer-hobbiests" lol
 
Kuranghi

Kuranghi

Member
My favourite description was in an article I read about people who started playing games before PS1 era (or around then anyway): True Gaming Whores. lol. We were up for anything, we'd play any genre as long as it was a fun/engaging game to play!
 
makaveli60

makaveli60

Member
Kuranghi said:
I think most people that play games don't reallydo it as their main hobby, thats why these things have to appeal like that. So I guess you could call casual players "gamers", we should be called "computer-hobbiests" lol
Click to expand...
But I don't know why they get such a spotlight. How many of them are watching these? I'm talking about conferences like EA, Ubisoft and any other where they spend 15-20 minutes on sports, card games, freemium bullshit etc.
 
Kuranghi

Kuranghi

Member
makaveli60 said:
But I don't know why they get such a spotlight. How many of them are watching these? I'm talking about conferences like EA, Ubisoft and any other where they spend 15-20 minutes on sports, card games, freemium bullshit etc.
Click to expand...

I don't think hardly any of them watch it to be honest, but the reason they have all that bullshit (to us I mean) is that the content of those shows is driven by the customer feedback they get (mostly on social media these days I'm sure) and the sales ofc, so its like "Wow 10 million people played this on mobile so we have to put something in the show because we want more of that sweet sweet can-day" kinda thinking I'd assume.
 
Abear21

Abear21

Banned
Some of us have a bunch of time to branch out and try different games and others just play Sports games or COD.

I think “Gamer” is still appropriate, but there are Hardcore versus Casual. Mobile versus PC. Etc. At the end of the day it’s interactive entertainment on a screen—Games!
 
Happosai

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
Guilty_AI said:
Ignoring pejorative connotations the word has been given by some, over the years i've been feeling more and more disconnect from what we would consider "the gaming audience". I absolutely don't get excited by the same things, think some beloved games are absolutely boring, all while others feel the same about the things i like and get excited about. It isn't even simply about different opinions, its like we're looking through completely different lens.

Thinking about this a bit, i believe it has a lot to do with how games have been "branching out". We have completely different sets of games made with completely different purposes in mind, with such purposes often leaning towards certain types of media and entertainment.
We have esports, which by the name we can see leans towards the notion of sport and competition.
We have all those cinematic AAA games, which lean towards movies.
We have certain RPGs and visual novels leaning heavily towards books.
And a whole lot of other types that lean towards social media, toys, puzzles, etc.

We often find ourselves within some of these categories, some times even and making fun of other types. We can even draw some parallels from realities of different industries, such as comparing the console wars with comic book wars (DC vs Marvel stuff) or all the gossip and drama from hollywood being also present on dev and game journalists circles.

Ultimately, i can't help but ponder.
Can we really consider a guy who mainly plays visual novels and jrpgs and a guy who only plays FIFA as really having "the same hobby"? That is, "playing games"? A "gamer"? Even though the interest for their hobby are completely different in nature, like comparing someone who plays ball with someone who watchs anime?

Just rambling a bit.
I'm not drunk.
Click to expand...
I applied the term to myself in the past; I wasn't really a gamer, though. I collected, read about, and obsessed more over the gaming culture. All the while, I rarely played. Right now, for example -- I play about once or twice a week. My wife has always been more of a gamer (long before I knew her). I think the term is thrown around for people to use as if it's a career profession. Gotta think that it will always be a hobby (no matter how vast, skilled, or expensive someone's rig is).
 
UltimaKilo

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
I never understood “gamers” moniker and how it relates to people who enjoy video games. A “gamer” could be a basketball player, a poker player, a chess player, etc.
 
brap

brap

Banned
It's gaymer now you bigot sandwich. You're either with gaymers or against them.

GCbH1E6.jpg
 
MiguelItUp

MiguelItUp

Gold Member
lock2k said:
Gamer is, and always was, a stupid label.

Are people who watch TV "Tveers?"
Click to expand...
Exactly! That's how I looked at it.

Then when the term became more known and common, it had this negative undertone that came with it. So people already didn't want to associate with the term, but the even more so, lol.
 
OutRun88

OutRun88

Member
Gamer is completely fine and appropriate. It's a person who plays video games, of any sort.

Just like I'm a reader. It doesn't matter what I read. It's the fact that I do read.

The stereotypical gamer of the 90s/00s isn't the majority anymore. I think that's where your criticisms of the word are rooted.
 
Guilty_AI

Guilty_AI

Gold Member
Jubenhimer said:
What's wrong with "gamer"? Its an accurate description of people who play even an ounce of video games.
Click to expand...
As someone said here, it sorta feels like saying TVeers. Not in the stupid naming sense but in the sense that it feels too broad.
Someone who watches TV could be someone who only watches movies and series, or someone who only watches news and documentaries.
I don't think a person who only plays Counter Strike really has "the same hobby" as someone who mainly plays CRPGs. Calling both gamers feel weird, like putting people who read comics into the same pot as someone who plays poker.
 
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Jubenhimer

Jubenhimer

Member
Guilty_AI said:
I don't think a person who only plays Counter Strike really has "the same hobby" as someone who mainly plays CRPGs. Calling both gamers feel weird, like putting people who read comics into the same pot as someone who plays poker.
Click to expand...
I don't say it that way. To me, whether you play nothing but Minecraft, or are playing every latest blockbuster release, you're considered a gamer. Being a Gamer is nothing to be ashamed of IMO.
 
lock2k

lock2k

Banned
Guilty_AI said:
As someone said here, it sorta feels like saying TVeers. Not in the stupid naming sense but in the sense that it feels too broad.
Someone who watches TV could be someone who only watches movies and series, or someone who only watches news and documentaries.
I don't think a person who only plays Counter Strike really has "the same hobby" as someone who mainly plays CRPGs. Calling both gamers feel weird, like putting people who read comics into the same pot as someone who plays poker.
Click to expand...

Exactly my point.

I mean, I know people who only play Fifa, people who only play LOL, people who like Triple AAA current gaming and people like me who are into a lot of stuff but mostly Arcade shit. All of us are labeled gamers but we are way different from each other. To the Fifa only guy the stuff I'm into is nearly alien.
 
OutRun88

OutRun88

Member
Guilty_AI said:
As someone said here, it sorta feels like saying TVeers. Not in the stupid naming sense but in the sense that it feels too broad.
Someone who watches TV could be someone who only watches movies and series, or someone who only watches news and documentaries.
I don't think a person who only plays Counter Strike really has "the same hobby" as someone who mainly plays CRPGs. Calling both gamers feel weird, like putting people who read comics into the same pot as someone who plays poker.
Click to expand...
This is a pretty weak argument.

As I mentioned above, people who read are readers. People who fish are fishers. Then you get scenarios where the verb and noun don't line up, such as people who play sports are called athletes.
The English language just doesn't have a word for someone who watches TV. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe because it is entirely passive?

Let me continue on. A basketball player is very different than a hockey player is very different than baseball player....you get my point. Yet we call them athletes. Because they are.
 
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Zog

Zog

Banned
I don't identify myself by my hobbies. What next, should I call myself a reader or an audio book listener?
 
Guilty_AI

Guilty_AI

Gold Member
Zog said:
I don't identify myself by my hobbies. What next, should I call myself a reader or an audio book listener?
Click to expand...
Its not really to identify yourself as much as allow others to identify you. The label becomes somewhat necessary if you want to talk to others about the hobby. If neoGAF didn't called itself a gaming forum, people who like games wouldn't gather here.

It doesn't really need to be a label thought, i agree wearing this as some sort of badge of honor feels stupid and i honestly think very very few people actually do it unironically, perhaps younger people in their teens.
 
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Zog

Zog

Banned
Guilty_AI said:
Its not really to identify yourself as much as allow others to identify you. The label becomes somewhat necessary if you want to talk to others about the hobby. If neoGAF didn't called itself a gaming forum, people who like games wouldn't gather here.

It doesn't really need to be a label thought, i agree wearing this as some sort of badge of honor feels stupid.
Click to expand...

I don't mind labeling my TV a TV (much like this being called a gaming forum) but I don't go around labeling people. Why would I, I don't label myself.
 
RedVIper

RedVIper

Banned
The gaming industry has grown to large.

Gamers used to be about people that were actually dedicated to games, it was their hobby.

Everyone plays games now, my mother plays games on her phone, most girls I date play games of some sort, nerds play games, jocks play games, young people play games and old people play games.

The term is pretty meaningless, it's constantly used as a marketing term to try attach people to certain brands and/or products.

The term is no longer used to describe the dedicated fans, it's used to describe your average joe.
 
Guilty_AI

Guilty_AI

Gold Member
Zog said:
I don't mind labeling my TV a TV (much like this being called a gaming forum) but I don't go around labeling people. Why would I, I don't label myself.
Click to expand...
I think you're seeing labels as something inherently negative when used on people, which is understandable given how many labels get thrown around nowadays to invalidate/demean/reduce others or create identities around.
But labels can still be used for simple stuff, like me saying i'm a pc guy. Its not like i'm tying my whole identity to it or anything, just saying i like playing games on pc, i'm into the technical stuff, etc.
 
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B

BattleScar

Member
Gamer is a self-inflicted fucking wound on this goddamn hobby.

It was used as an elitist term as a means of gatekeeping video games. Play a "casual" game on the Wii? You're not a real gamer. Play smartphone games? You're not a real gamer.
Fuck, its still used today - hilariously to both prop up and tear down twitch thots and "gamer girls".

And now some of those same people are sad this term is used to persecute them. Fucking boo hoo.

Most people these days play or have otherwise dabbled in video games. Be it on their phone, Wii, Switch or PlayStation or Xbox. Nobody refers to themselves as a gamer, except on internet forums. Its a needless term.
The only time it could be considered sensible to call yourself a gamer is if you're a professional and you compete.

People who play football on Sunday afternoons don't call themselves "footballers". They just say they play football. So it should be with gaming.
 
Guilty_AI

Guilty_AI

Gold Member
BattleScar said:
Gamer is a self-inflicted fucking wound on this goddamn hobby.

It was used as an elitist term as a means of gatekeeping video games. Play a "casual" game on the Wii? You're not a real gamer. Play smartphone games? You're not a real gamer.
Fuck, its still used today - hilariously to both prop up and tear down twitch thots and "gamer girls".

And now some of those same people are sad this term is used to persecute them. Fucking boo hoo.

Most people these days play or have otherwise dabbled in video games. Be it on their phone, Wii, Switch or PlayStation or Xbox. Nobody refers to themselves as a gamer, except on internet forums. Its a needless term.
The only time it could be considered sensible to call yourself a gamer is if you're a professional and you compete.

People who play football on Sunday afternoons don't call themselves "footballers". They just say they play football. So it should be with gaming.
Click to expand...
 
DunDunDunpachi

DunDunDunpachi

Banned
I don't have a dog in this fight. People can call themselves what they want.

I do find it fascinating how 'gamers' has become a pejorative in a time when lots of political groups are pushing people to be more segregated and to identify more closely with their hobbies/interests. You'd think that a group of nerds that is typically teased / ostracized for their hobby would be encouraged to band together and find solidarity in a common interest.

I mean, these are the same kind of brainlets that called homesteaders "doomsday preppers", and now that COVID is a thing look who ended up foolish.
 
ZehDon

ZehDon

Member
Well, it's a meaningless term now because it was an overloaded term. It used to describe someone who played video games, kinda like the word skater was used to describe someone who skated on skateboards (or roller-blades <3). But, like skater, it was a description of a culture as much as an action. A 'skater' was music, clothes, movies, and attitude, as much as it was about the act of skating. This is also true of gaming.

However, unlike skating, video games are ubiquitous now, more like television. We don't have a coined phrase to describe someone who watches television, because everyone watched television, and the sub-culture of watching television is just... society. Now that everyone plays games - from their consoles, to theirs PCs, to their phones - gaming is the same. While 'gaming' is still a sub-culture, it's so broad that it doesn't really describe anything - it's just 'society'. Calling someone a 'gamer' doesn't mean anything any more.
 
Guilty_AI

Guilty_AI

Gold Member
I'm starting to think i should've worded the title a bit better.
This really isn't about the label "gamers" as much as about the idea that "playing games" can't be considered a single unified hobby anymore. Is it possible for me to change the title?
 
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Azelover

Azelover

Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
How about just "players"? Or just videogame players?

It has a kind of sporty tone to it
 
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