What is a Gamer? How do you define it?

Warning: My grammar always sucks.

What is a gamer?

Is it someone who buys all the latest games and plays them? Is it someone who simply plays games? Or is it the core demographic that plays the high production games such as GTA V or Call of Duty? Is it in the one that purchases games or the one that plays them at a competitive level?

Recently through a PBS video the claim was made that 45% of gamers are female they got this demographic through Theesa. However to many this is a dubious claim as there is no definition of what a gamer is. The PBS video continues to back up this claim by stating that 46% of the game purchasers are female. However again, because one purchases a game does not necessarily mean that one is a gamer. This would seem to disregard the fact that females are more likely to do the shopping in any circumstance in a relationship (mother/son, wife/husband).

http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2013.pdf

So again what is a gamer?

I think the question is faulty one and is too generic, but more on that later.

During the GTA V review done by transgender Carolyn Petit (a GTA enthusiast) she was attacked in the comments for having a feminist viewpoint of the game GTA V and giving it a 9/10 for misogyny. It is obvious that she is a gamer and she felt that the game was a bit sexist. People used her transgender status against her to attack her review of the game. The question here is why are they upset at this? I believe they have a credible reason to be upset and it revolves around the “what is a gamer” question.

http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/grand-theft-auto-v-review/1900-6414475/

I consider my wife to be a gamer… However she only plays non stressful JRPG’s, Pokemon, Minecraft and Facebook games like candy crush. Core Gamers would not consider her a gamer yet she plays games and regularly.

I am also a Digital Technology Teacher at a secondary school (ages 13-17) in New Zealand. Many of the girls in the classes play games and enjoy them… But they wouldn’t play GTA V or Call of Duty.

So finally what is a gamer?

Finally I think the question is invalid. A Gamer is someone that plays games full stop. However this causes all sorts of problems particularly with the feminist movement in games and critics that play candy crush and then go on to dismantle and insult GTA V.

I think what we need to do is to take a step back and relate it to other forms of media.

What is a magazine reader?

Someone who reads magazines

However, this is problematic again because what if I really enjoyed cars and then I reviewed a Wedding Magazine as horrible and sexist because it had no cars in it.

What if I was a fashion designer and I reviewed hunting monthly and insulted the magazine for men having bad fashion and street ware.

This problem that is happening here is a magazine reader insulting a magazine in which they are not the intended target audience.

What about movie reviewers? Well if I was an action/comedy movie watcher it would be unfair for me to critically rate movies that were solely romantic or drama based.

Here lies the rub; the term “Gamer” is now too generic to be used to describe any one person. Much like saying I listen to music, I like movies or I read.

This never used to be the case however, as games used to be very limited and harder to access. Gaming cabinets being the only means or your dad’s 486 computer.

As games are easier to access so too does the demographic change. I.E how could you appreciate music if you had no access to it. The Nintendo Wii and rise in smart phones has increased the amount of other demograph’s in gaming.

Why were people so upset when gamer Carolyn Petit reviewed GTA V and called it Misogynistic? For two reasons perhaps, she is a gamer but she is not the intended demo graph for that game. In her position as the unintended audience she marked the game lower then she would of if she had been in the targeted demographic. She could have argued that the game was not inclusive to her world view, but this leads to the second reason that people were upset by the review. The second reason would be that the characters in the game are well researched characters based off interviews from FBI, and prisoners.

http://www.gameplanet.co.nz/xbox-360/news/g522e80a686b49/GTA-V-character-research-includes-interviews-with-FBI-Mafia-more/

Just because she did not relate to the characters or target audience does not mean the game was poorly researched, it means that she fell out of the game because of her own worldviews.

Perhaps maybe we should judge a game by its demographic audience rather than argue that it is not inclusive to your particular personality.

As a secondary school Digital Technology Teacher I bring this up. It’s actually in an assessment the official wording is “the appropriateness of material in its context”. Students have to talk about how set of material is appropriate in one context but no appropriate in another.

http://nzqa.govt.nz/nqfdocs/ncea-resource/achievements/2011/as91070.pdf

This brings up an interesting point about gaming, as they start to diversify so too does its audience. Just because you play games doesn’t mean that all games should be tailored and made to make you feel inclusive. When the Dead Island bust came out it was targeted to specific individuals in order to boost sales. The marketing company probably realised that the majority of players were guys and choose to create a product to appeal to their demographic.

Perhaps we should stop calling ourselves gamers but start getting more specific about how we identify ourselves. For example stop saying “I am a female and a gamer” and say “I am a female and a hardcore gamer”

Here are some more definitions

Lite/casual gamer

Someone who only really plays cellphone games/ or casual games such as minecraft or plants vs zombies. They may own a console but mainly for games like sing star or wii tennis.

Core Gamer

This gamer owns a console and plays all major releases that come out

Hardcore Gamer

This gamer has owned nearly every console and a PC with steam, he/she has played nearly every mainstream game you can think of.

Competitive gamer

Gamers that play for multiplayer online component only

Sports Gamer

Someone who is enthusiastic about all sports games such as madden or fifa.

MMO player

Someone who simply plays World of Warcraft or other MMO’s religiously.

Please let me know what you think you are? Come up with a label for your self

I would consider myself a hard-core classic gamer moving to casual core gaming.

I will finish with this.. As gamers gets more diverse games will naturally change to meet the demand of the gamers. An example of this is Mass Effect or the latest Tomb Raider. Don’t get annoyed because the core targeted demographic for a video game is not you, just pay for a game in which you are the intended demographic. Just like magazines, movies or books or other media.

Why do we have to label ourselves? I just say I like video games.

@audiobusting:

The problem is that when you say your a gamer and then state that certian games are offensive and don't relate to you

Games are diversifying and so are the audiences

saying you like video games is the same as generiacly saying I like music or I like books

I couldn't really define what kind of gamer I am as I tend to flip-flop between different 'types' depending on how I feel.

Just.. a plain gamer? I like to play games. I've played them since I can remember. I don't play multiplayer games in general but I have been known to play MMO's and online games in short bursts. Sometimes I can go months without playing a game, other times a game will be constantly on my mind and I can't wait to play it religiously. But I don't stick to a particular way of gaming.

I don't like to use the term, but I've always thought a gamer is someone who plays games with more than a passing fancy.

Wait. I like games. And I like music. And I also like books. OMG! What am I?!?!?!

A gamer is a person who plays video games. The word 'gamer' is the closest thing to a buzzword you will ever see. Different variations of the term are used by corporations to label various types of 'gamers' (consumers). They do this so they can be aware of, understand, and attempt to appeal to any and all possible subsets and their 'sensibilities'; make you buy stuff from them

Some people even label themselves by these terms; they feel a sense of pride calling themselves a 'hardcore gamer'. Maybe they feel like they are a part of a group, adding some meaning to their lives. This makes me sad

I started to write the exact(ish) same thing and saw your comment.

Here's a new question: Who cares what kind of gamer you define yourself as? And who is asking you anyway?

I love going to the movies when I can. I mostly see the raft of comic book adaptions ... should I define myself as a "comic book movie guy!?". Fuck that.

All these labels and conjecture about someones reasons for scoring a game lower than YOU would like is strange. Game reviews are subjective. It's not a statement of fact but opinion. If they feel that a game's particular worldview annoys them to the point that it harms their enjoyment they should say so and mark the game down. It's a personal reviews.

Then you go on to say we need MORE labels because the definition of 'gamer' has broadened. Who needs these labels? Marketing guys or PR departments? I play Bookworm on my iPhone, Pokemon X on my 3DS, Last of Us on PS3, imported Phantasy Star Online 2 for my Vita and have hundreds of hours in Battlefield 3 on Xbox 360. I don't need a label. I don't think I'd even fit into YOUR rigid world view.

Really ask yourself -- who do these labels serve? Who is asking for them? Do the people who want these labels "gamers"? Or are they people who don't understand the hobby anyway?

I like playing games its fun and I enjoy it a lot.

Yep. I don't have much else to offer in the way of my opinion. It's someone who plays games.

"Why were people so upset when gamer Carolyn Petit reviewed GTA V and called it Misogynistic?"

Because they are morons? We know for a fact they are morons. So maybe the fact they are morons is somehow related.

I'd say it's just someone that has a lot of enthusiasm to play games as a hobby, and often. I wouldn't consider someone that casually plays a game from time to time a gamer though, like only putting in Mario Kart from a few times a week to race a few matches, or to play some cellphone game like Fruit Ninja to kill time. I also don't care for the term gamer, hardcore, or casual. I just love to play games; I don't like to assign names to it. I feel like whenever someone says "I'm a hardcore gamer" They're being kind of immature, especially when someone uses it as an insult to someone else.

I prefer the most basic definition of gamer, that being that it is someone who plays video games. I use less ambiguous terms like enthusiast and casual when talking about gaming habits.

Not excusing the stupidity of their actions, and I don't care about the score, but maybe some of them simply objected to her saying essentially saying "GTA V HATES WOMEN", rather than using a more accurate and less hyperbolic definition. I hate when people use the word "misogyny" for anything other than its actual definition, and I doubt that I'm alone.

Then again, just today I read that One Direction fans have openly confessed to wanting to stab journalists who say negative things about the band, so this type of stupidly is hardly exclusive to males or gaming.

Does it seriously matter? Do you define yourself by the things you consume?

Yeah, what morons calling a game misogynistic for being kind of misogynistic.

I'd call a gamer someone who identifies themselves as one. I know plenty of friends who keep up with gaming but barely play games who call themselves gamers. Conversely I know plenty who have absolutely no care for the industry or most of what it produces, but they occasionally play phone games.

@naru_joe93: Well, as someone who grew up in the 80s I can safely say that the term "gamer" was not always a marketing term. I don't know how old you are, but you better believe that there was a time where the culture of games was very much underground. You have to remember, the scene emerged from the dark rooms of arcades and the hum of computer monitors. Most people reviled games, did not understand them.

That's where the nomenclature for gamer comes in. It used to be, when you claimed that title, you got "it".

You understood the coin up, the dos commands and winner stays terms. You earn your reputation and admiration. You knew what it was to lust after obscure import games.

And it was all communicated to each other with one word..."gamer".

So Don't be surprised if people still cling to that term, it has a whole lot of connotation.

Do you play video games regularly? Then you are a gamer. If you play a Wii once every two years you aren't a gamer. If you only play Angry Birds once every few weeks because you're stuck on the train you aren't a gamer.

I like exercising, I wonder what defines me, but anyway a gamer is someone who enjoys playing games.

JRPG's aren't stressful? Have you fucking played Nocturne?

The man I see when I look in the mirror.

I've always thouht rigid subculture self-identification by lable ownership to be pretty dumb. If someone play just a handful of mobile games and call themselves a gamer that's completely fine. I just think when you apply such a lable to yourself though, realize what assumptions come along with that.

Also, in Swedish, we have no equivalent to that word really. And I know plenty of people who play games that would never apply such a lable anyway, because to them it's not important or a defining characteristic of themselves.

I would could probably define myself as one, because games are a big part of my lifestyle. And sub-categorisation woudn't be needed eithervway because I play all sorts of games. But at the same time I don't need to call myself a gamer because I don't need to identify myself by one hobby.

I game therefore I am a gamer. It's that simple.

A gamer is someone who considers themselves one. Simple!

I think it's a stupid term so I don't use it

Me too. To me it always sounds so silly as well when people say it. It sounds like a term that came from Parents.

To me it just means someone whose primary hobby is games. Since adults are generally referred to by their jobs and not their hobbies, I assume the term gained prevalence from games historically bring played by young people.

You musicer! I hate musicers!

Labels are so useless and there no such thing as hardcore, casual, softcore or anything else in regards to gamers.

Do you play a game on any platform , be it pc, mobile, console. then you are are a gamer.

This is terminology I really hate in gamer discussions. Core gamer is a bullshit term. Keep "casual", but replace core and hardcore with "enthusiast", since that's less judgmental and far more illuminating.

I'm a softcore gamer. Mmm yeah.

A gamer is anyone who self-identifies as one.

A miserable pile of consumerism.

I like video games, so I'm probably a gamer but I hate that word. So yeah, if you play games you're a gamer, I guess.

Also your definitely of hardcore gamer is silly. It's not about how many consoles you own, or if you use steam on your PC or not it's about how seriously you take video games. By the way, hardcore gamer is a sillier label than gamer.

A gamer is someone who enthusiastically plays video games. There's no hard science as to where the line between "casual observer and occasional consumer" ends and "enthusiast interest" begins, but there's a difference.

Does the word suck? Some of the connotations with it do, but the word's actual meaning is fine.

I'm not a gamer, I'm a videogame player.

Went furniture shopping with the wife today. She tells the salesman I need a nice chair because I'm a gamer. I smile a sort of cringing smile but I do this groggily as I had only a few hours ago finished playing PS2 games for 25 hours straight, streaming it over the internet. That's my moment I realized I'm ok with the term.

A person who enjoys playing video games.

I asked a few people on my friends list if they thought they were gamers. A lot of them play COD every damn night together and nothing else, only moving onto the next as they're released. I don't consider them gamers and most of them don't either.

I'm still happy with the "Addicted to videogames" label. It's so quaint.

I'm a musicer and, when drunk, a bit of an arter as well

The term "gamer" didn't bother me years ago, but now it does seem a little degrading. It's like OH you're a gamer. Like it's a disease. I don't call people readers or movie watcher. Gaming is such a big part of culture but people still act like it's a scandalous fetish.

Are you a singER, or a guitar playER, or a drumER, or perhaps a paintER?

I don't understand people who assign some creepy alternate meaning to the word gamer. It's simply the English language.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/er?s=t

-er

a noun suffix occurring in loanwords fromFrench in the Middle English period, mostoften names of occupations ( archer; butcher;butler; carpenter; grocer; mariner; officer ), butalso other nouns ( corner; danger; primer ). Some historical instances of this suffix, as inbanker or gardener, where the base is arecognizable modern English word, are nowindistinguishable from denominal formationswith -er 1 , as miller or potter.

Either that's something that you're reading into the conversation, or you need to find better friends, or you need to stop talking about video games with people who who don't care about them.

@spaceinsomniac: I think singing, painting, writing, etc are considered to be fundamentally different considering they are about creation, not consumption.

You may be a director of a movie, but you are not a movier when you watch them.

Regardless, I was just poking fun.

and whats wrong with saying "i like music," or "i like books?" It's not like most people, outside of high-school, like one style of music, or one genre of books.
A gamer is anyone who plays games in their free time. Sure, you put categories on what type of gamer you might be, but those are all just sub-categories. I for one fit into every single category that you mentioned except for competitive gamer.

I was obviously referring to the people who object to misogyny being pointed out.

Learn to read.

I am a Pepsier and hot dog enthusiast

I'd say a person who play's all kinds video games, or just more than one genre.

I was about to apologise for misinterpreting your comment, and clarify I was hasty because i've read so many comments on games sites that immediately shrugged off misogynist criticisms of GTAV in that way.

Then you decided to edit in an insult to your comment. Classy.

I don't know, what does Webster say?

I don't believe in categorizing people and putting them in boxes maaaaaaaaaan.

I accept your apology.

ヽ(´ー｀)ノ