Haha, yes, Daniel is online. Surprised? I normally am.

I believe a gamer is someone who plays a game to enjoy it and relax, while someone who plays a game like maybe Call Of Duty, because there in the army or a pilot play Flight Sim would be doing it for more a training purpose, but now that I think of it, anyoen who plays a game to a certain extent would have to enjoy it or they would simply not be playing one.
So I think, anyone who enjoy`s and plays games for a recreation = Gamer
                   anyone who plays to lose weight(Wii Fit) or for training = Not gamer.

Well thats my opinion anyways.

Most of my friends in real life didn't know I played games as much as I do.   These days.. I just don't care what they think anymore.  Since gaming has gone mainstream, there is no longer a stigma associated to gaming. 

I had a coworker on Monday just start talking to himself outloud out of the blue:

Him: "I need to find out if you need a degree to be a game tester"

I answered him immediately, "No, you don't, but you do need a lot of patience and good communication skills."

He was genuinely shocked that I knew things about the video game field. Now he's all buddy-buddy with me. Video games do make you popular, daniel. They do.

JackiJinx,

that's funny, and I know what you mean. Once you drop some knowledge on the subject it surprises some people. I guess that goes for a lot of things though; politics, sports, etc.

At my College, I dont keep it a secret that I'm a hardcore gamer, I guess they don't know what to make of me, i'm not you're average "nerd" stereo-type.

Gizmo, what college are you at? I'm at UC Santa Barbara

Someone who spends disproportionate amounts of time playing games will still be considered freaks, but gaming as something to do will become more socially acceptable over time.  I think there is a rather strong stigma to gaming these days, but there are for a lot of things.  Meanwhile a lot of far more idiotic things people do have no stigma at all.  That's life.

Gaming has been mainstream for a while now, its completely overtaken watching movies as the first and foremost biggest piece of entertainment. Even people you could probably point out that are totally not into anything game related, and could even as much as look down on people that are, have and probably do occasionally play a game of some kind. I would never try to hide a part of myself though, I don't think anyone should ever feel discouraged from letting out who they are to people, no matter who they are though. If I had to make it seem like I wanted nothing to do with video games, and anyone that liked such a thing was a complete retard to get laid or something like that, that would be the complete wrong chick for me, and she can fuck off honestly.(just using as an example, thought it fit well, as in its not worth it to act that way for something) I'll openly spout my nerdiness anywhere, I don't really care. I could tell people probably a hundred different video game facts others might not know, and hey, I would kinda feel good for knowing, because that's just me. If anyone were to ever look down at you(just a you in general, not pointing to anyone) for enjoying something and being really into something that you love, or make you feel the need like you should act differently or less knowledgeable about it just to be accepted, they really aren't worth it.