What constitutes a "real" gamer?

This stems from something that happened to me yesterday. I was, as I often do, wearing a stylish, but not overtly-nerdy shirt with a video game reference on it. (in this case, a moogle from Final Fantasy) Well, a few of my friends and I decided to spend the afternoon together. As we were enjoying our fellowship, one of my buddies, D.C., asked me what was one my shirt. I said, "Why, it's a moogle, of course." His response was, "what's that?" I exasperatedly explained that it's something from the Final Fantasy series. He responded with, "oh, well how was I supposed to know that?" I dais, "I don't expect you to, since your not a real gamer." I guess at this point I need to explain something. This guy does play games. Specifically, Call of Duty. He's dabbled in other things, like Need for Speed and Borderlands, but almost exclusively it's CoD for him. That's all I ever see him playing when he's on Xbox Live. Now, my crack about him not being a "real" gamer was sort of in jest, but it got me thinking. Does a person who plays only one type of game/franchise/single game deserve to be called a "real gamer" or, for that matter, a "gamer", period?

My whole point, I guess, is that, to me, I can't understand why someone would go and purchase a game machine ($300-$600 worth of hardware) to just play a single game/genre of games. Maybe I'm just old fashioned? It's like anything else for me. I like variety. Going to the same restaurant gets old after a while. Oh sure, it's your favorite, but how can you stand eating there every day? Try something new, perhaps you'll find out that that "favorite" isn't what it's all cracked up to be.

Well he should exist in a physical space for one....






oh and you sound like a snob, let your friend play what he wants

Do they play video games? If yes, then they are a gamer. Just because some one doesn't play every game that comes out like some of us do doesn't mean they are any less of a gamer- just less informed and experienced gamers. Some people only watch certain kinds of movies, listens to certain kinds of music and reads certain kinds of books. That doesn't not make them any less of  movier/musicer/booker.

If he plays games, then of course he's a gamer. What kind of question is this?

Real gamers don't use the term "real gamer".

I dunno, I find something there's something really fake about people who feel the need to advertise their supposed intelligence or love of something with an item of clothing. 

" Do they play video games? If yes, then they are a gamer. "

I have a friend who only plays NHL and Battlefield. He's not a gamer and doesn't think of himself as one. He only plays these games when he's hanging out with other people and bought his Xbox360 off of Kijiji only after his roommate with one moved out.
But I do consider myself a "real gamer", I've played more videos than I could possibly care to count, from the NES to all the Current Gen systems and my brand new 3DS (which i love, completely hooked on SSF4 right now). And I do 99.9% of my gaming offline, playing SSF4 on my 3DS the last two weeks is the most online gaming I've done since TheZone.com shut down its Age of Empires servers...

" Real gamers don't use the term "real gamer".

"

" I dunno, I find something there's something really fake about people who feel the need to advertise their supposed intelligence or love of something with an item of clothing.  "

Nothing, and stop saying that.

They have to refer to themselves as "dude-bros".

A gamer is someone who has FUN in gaming.
That's the principle for me anyway, anyone taking stuff to serious or who's mental about collecting stuff is more of a well...collector!

Having diabetes.

People who are 14 years old or douche bags are "real gamers" all the other are just people who enjoy playing games.

I've been playing games for over 20 years and I've never heard of a Moogle. OP is silly.

people who only play cod are annoying to me.  it's like, you bought an xbox and you'll only play one game?  there's SO many games of different shapes and sizes and genres that he's missing out on.

I wouldn't say that crusader8436.  Does playing Halo on the weekend make the frat-house tea-bagger a gamer?  Does an awkward girlfriend going a few rounds in Streetfighter, just so she can try and fit in maker her a gamer?

Calling yourself a gamer implies a level of dedication.  Calling oneself a "real gamer" may be a misomner.

The friend that ssj4raditz mentions goes for the FPS afficionado angle and suffers from a  general knowledge of gaming.  Even if your not into certain genres, as a self-aware gamer you just inherit that knowledge by proxy.  Is it what we know that defines a real gamer?  Or is it what we DON'T know?

But  then for someone like me, I shun sports and driving titles - they just don't jive with me.  I play almost every other genre, having recently added fighting games to my repetoire.  Am I a real gamer because I know a Hadoken from a Shoryuken? Am I NOT a real gamer for not having played the latest "pigskin sim"? 

I'm more hardcore than most of my friends, and the ones that rank higher than me are PC purists who look down on my console habit.  Am I not a real gamer because I refuse to kit out my rig and play WASD style? Are they real gamers for hosting LAN based frag-fests?

Unfortunately, I feel myself coming back to the "Casual/Hardcore Gamer" continuum, where based on the depth and breadth of gaming experience designates you a title on that range.  As cliche as it may seem, it's about as accurate as the gaming community has come since it's inception.

But at least you avoid ruffling feathers calling out someone for not being a "real" gamer :)

Spend a lot of time on games, I guess?

" This stems from something that happened to me yesterday. I was, as I often do, wearing a stylish, but not overtly-nerdy shirt with a video game reference on it. (in this case, a moogle from Final Fantasy) Well, a few of my friends and I decided to spend the afternoon together. As we were enjoying our fellowship, one of my buddies, D.C., asked me what was one my shirt. I said, "Why, it's a moogle, of course." His response was, "what's that?" I exasperatedly explained that it's something from the Final Fantasy series. He responded with, "oh, well how was I supposed to know that?" I dais, "I don't expect you to, since your not a real gamer." I guess at this point I need to explain something. This guy does play games. Specifically, Call of Duty. He's dabbled in other things, like Need for Speed and Borderlands, but almost exclusively it's CoD for him. That's all I ever see him playing when he's on Xbox Live. Now, my crack about him not being a "real" gamer was sort of in jest, but it got me thinking. Does a person who plays only one type of game/franchise/single game deserve to be called a "real gamer" or, for that matter, a "gamer", period?My whole point, I guess, is that, to me, I can't understand why someone would go and purchase a game machine ($300-$600 worth of hardware) to just play a single game/genre of games. Maybe I'm just old fashioned? It's like anything else for me. I like variety. Going to the same restaurant gets old after a while. Oh sure, it's your favorite, but how can you stand eating there every day? Try something new, perhaps you'll find out that that "favorite" isn't what it's all cracked up to be. "

" people who only play cod are annoying to me.  it's like, you bought an xbox and you'll only play one game?  there's SO many games of different shapes and sizes and genres that he's missing out on. "

" Real gamers don't use the term "real gamer"

" Real gamers don't use the term "real gamer".

"I wouldn't say that crusader8436.  Does playing Halo on the weekend make the frat-house tea-bagger a gamer?  Does an awkward girlfriend going a few rounds in Streetfighter, just so she can try and fit in maker her a gamer?"

I don't think "Gamer" is some sort of honorific to be earned and I think when you start talking abut "real gamers" you start leaning towards an unsettling level of elitism. Yes, some people have a much greater knowledge, skill, or passion over video games than others, but this isn't something we should judge people by in general and I feel when your only options for defining a games consumer are "real gamer"/"not real gamer" then you're being very reductionist about the issue anyway.

I guess a gamer is anyone who designates videogames as their prime hobby. There are things I'm into such as movies, but I wouldn't consider them a major part of my life. Therefore, my knowledge on actors and specific titles are minimal. 

Arbitrary Moogle knowledge constitutes a real gamer.

I feel like this situation is like when someone listens to only the popular songs a band has and not any of the other tracks on the cd. just because they listen to the one song most people would say that they "like that band" when in reality they only know a couple of songs by the artist. 

" I guess a gamer is anyone who designates videogames as their prime hobby. There are things I'm into such as movies, but I wouldn't consider them a major part of my life. Therefore, my knowledge on actors and specific titles are minimal.  "

Someone that doesn't just  play mainstream games ,Madden,COD,Halo, ect.Also someone that follows games watches trailers gameplay videos knows the devs and publishers and there track record.As stated in this thread enthusiast about games.Knowing stuff that the casuals doesn't care about or have no knowledge about such as framerate,Ati Aliasing V-sync ect..

If you're under 20, you are not a real gamer. 

If someone doesn't consider gaming as one of their real hobbies, then they aren't a real gamer.

Terms like "Real gamer" kinda put me off. It's kinda nonsense. 

Real gamers don't use the term "gamer."

"I wouldn't say that crusader8436.  Does playing Halo on the weekend make the frat-house tea-bagger a gamer?  Does an awkward girlfriend going a few rounds in Streetfighter, just so she can try and fit in maker her a gamer?

" "Real gamers" is a stupid term. If he plays and enjoys call of duty he is a gamer. He does not need to know what Actraiser or a moogle is. "

If I saw someone wearing a Final Fantasy shirt, I'd punch them in the mouth.

Who wears a shirt with a moogle on it? Jus sayin.

That must be a pretty retarded shirt.

" Who wears a shirt with a moogle on it? Jus sayin. "

A real gamer is someone that's experienced enough games to tell you that Mass Effect 2 isn't anything special.

" @crusader8463 said:

" Do they play video games? If yes, then they are a gamer. "

This. "