Why Do You Think You Deserve to be Called a Gamer?

Published on September 22, 2010, by Haoson - Posted in Features 35

Disclaimer: any comments positive or not are welcome. This is a personal view and does not really express the thoughts of all the back2gaming staff.

In the information age, self-entitlement is a common thing (and problem). With blogging getting easier by the moment, it doesn’t take a person who has gone through a whole course in IT to get one up and then call themselves the authority in anything they decide to focus on . Back2Gaming in itself isn’t run by IT experts, heck among the staff, writers outnumber the IT peeps one to two.

Self-entitlement is not just rampant in the blogging scene, but the gaming world as well. Games have evolved from consoles to pcs to online and even social networks these days provide flash games for the bored. The title “Gamer” has been passed around these days that it has become hard to tag if what they claim is true or not.

Being a kid who grew up on the famicom as our family’s form of entertainment find this pretty disturbing. I don’t really care much about titles except the title “Gamer” because it has a significant importance to me. Call me a snob, a purist or whatever but there are some lines that you don’t cross and it people have been jumping across the “gamer or not” line mindlessly these days.

I then started to question myself, why do I think I deserve to be called a gamer? While I’m not like the guys here on the blog who have next-gen consoles or who are familiar with a lot of old classics, I think of myself a gamer just because I spend more time on games compared to the rest of the things I do in life. I’ve been wasting myself away on MMORPGs when we had our first PC unit a decade ago, and when I started to earn for a living I’ve been investing a lot of time and money on my psp rather than my wardrobe.

While I’m not like nicole or cher who loves their RPGs or even Billy who loves his fighting games or mac who knows more about classic games than me or even Drew who has a ps3 and has had a psp years (or months before I got mine) and has played a hell a lot more of games than I have. However I can say that I’m at least on a legit level because I have played my own fair share of games (even on consoles because I have friends who let me play on their units).

You better be sure or he's gonna beat ya up

Even among the gaming circles I’m the least knowledgeable because I never had the opportunity of a family who can provide me the money to buy all those consoles and games. To be honest, even if I’m with them I feel inadequate as a gamer because they know more about games than I do. Mention a japanese name and some of the people in the circle would probably ramble on about why they think the person’s cool or not and I’ll just be left nodding.

I personally put the title “Gamer” into high regard because it deserves respect because of what this title brings out. While there are a lot of types of gamers out there they belong to only one major category. I strictly believe that a person should prove himself or herself first before saying that he or she is a true blue gamer.

Being a gamer to be doesn’t mean you have to know everything about games, or to even own a lot of consoles. All you need is one unit, a pc, a console or even a handheld and spend a lot of time on it playing games. I won’t focus on a specific “type” of gamer because being a “blank” type of gamer is more of an acquired taste.

A friend of mine posted this on his wall on facebook while he was raging over his so-called “pseudogamers”:

For those who play the games on Facebook and have the balls to call themselves “Gamers” already. We didn’t spend years as social outcasts to watch you assholes fuck this up. WE memorized the ultra combos. WE wrote down pages of passwords. WE defeated the robotmasters, knocked out Tyson, and SAVED THE FUCKING PRINCESS. I know what we are, and you’re NOT.

I also believe this as snobbish as it may sound. So Why do you think YOU deserve to be called a gamer?

http://Website Earlyseven Strikeland

Being a gamer is immersing yourself in the game you’re playing, making yourself part of that world.

It doesn’t matter how you involve yourself and how you conquer the game, as long you devote yourself to become as engaged in the game as you can, you can call yourself a gamer.

I’m still a snot-nose punk and still say skill beats volume or completion anytime. Speedruns and low-level completions on RPGs, 0-kill rates in FPSs, 2-minute domination in RTSs, flawless victories in fighters, so and so forth. If you excel at a game, love it, you are a gamer. If you’re a gamer and place bets on matches, you are a hustler. If you’re a hustler and now plays for a company, you are a pro-gamer. But whoever or whatever you are in the gaming hierarchy you are still a gamer.

The desire to dominate is what makes a gamer though it doesn’t define him/her. Playing 24 hours isn’t being a gamer, that’s just being irresponsible.

So kids, play responsibly. Give back to society. Don’t do drugs. Get your game on and start pwning.
http://otakushrine.wordpress.com Jo-chan

No way…people who play flash games call themselves gamers? UGH! I don’t think its snobby or even elitist to get mad at pseudo-gamers, I’m an otaku snob who absolutely loathes it when people say they’re anime fans but can only actually name Sailor Moon, Samurai X (not even Ruruoni Kenshin, guuuh!), or Dragon Ball. But I do think that a lot of people want to call themselves gamers because they think it makes them cooler. I have a DS Lite, regularly play Left 4 Dead when stressed, and used to write the walkthroughs for Ran Online but I don’t think I’m that much of a gamer because I don’t have a console…so… *shrugs*
http://gamespeakz.blogspot.com/ Derek

I’ve played over 10 MMOs in a span of 5 years but I still don’t consider myself as a true blue gamer. And these bunch of wannabes take for themselves that elite title? How pathetic! It’s really depressing how people nowadays find ways to be noticed.
http://www.rochellesychua.com Roch

I honestly believe that it’s not right to judge people who only play a certain game. I do honestly believe that as long as you play games, no matter what they are. You can still be called a gamer.

There are however different levels of being a gamer. There’s the social gamer, hardcore gamer, etc etc.

I believe I’m a social gamer. I’ve played the family computer, SEGA, Palm OS games, counterstrike, red alert, command & conquer, SIMS, etc. Now I’m playing iPhone Games, some Facebook games, playstation 3 games, PSP games and currently addicted to World of Warcraft. I’ll even create a website just for my WoW addiction hehehe.

With my interest in games whether it’s PC, mobile, online or console, I do deserve to be called a gamer.
http://Website yabee

after playing 10hours a day for years now and entering international tournaments.. i think its safe to call me a gamer.

Haoson

what competitions have you taken part of?

http://mikeabundo.com/ Mike Abundo

Your friend’s Facebook rant is from VG Cats.

Haoson

thanks for the info

http://nightdreamer.i.ph nightdreamer

Hey guys. Saw this site before from Nicole Eniego’s Dragon Age Origins link. I like the direction this site is going and I find it refreshing to see a videogame site that gather the voices of fellow Pinoys in something that’s like a community blog (which it probably is). As a whole, I’d like you to keep up the good work with this site. Hope to see more content from you.

I’ve been playing videogames since the Famicom days, so I can say that this form of electronic entertainment has shared quite a history with me. However, I’m gonna have to take a contrarian tone with respect to the article. I honestly find it very unpleasant whenever people who have been gaming long time feel that they have a need to define who is or is not a gamer. See, we can’t deny that videogame has found more successes recently due to better public exposure – it certainly is no longer quite the niche hobby that it used to be. Some people are gonna be more interested in gaming due to word of mouth and the ease of access to videogames – they can just do it in facebook and iphone these days. They contribute quite a bit in making game developers earn bigger bucks than before. So how exactly is a form of elitism, this “inclusiveness”, going to inspire new players into playing more games?

Think of this as what happens when a guy is interested in Dota, then he played with a group of hardcore crowd only to be insulted by the hardcore group who wants him to play a certain way and how stupid he is that he didn’t bring this iteam and not use the hero like he’s supposed to blablabla raaaage. He’s just going to walk away and, most likely, never come back.

That’s not how you promote Dota, and that’s not how you promote videogaming. Is it premature for a person who played 1 hour of Bejeweled to be declaring himself a gamer? I say let him have this label; it’s not like him saying he’s a gamer is physically hurting us, plus that can only be good for game companies.

Haoson

Thank you for the compliments, they are highly appreciated

Now, regarding your comment, I’d like to point out that the post’s aim is to make the reader’s think about calling themselves as gamers.

I place a high regard on a person’s credibility before he/she has the right to be called a “gamer” because that’s how important gaming is in my life. However the post is not here to impose judgement but to make us think.

As you mentioned gaming now is getting out of the niche that it once belonged to and because of that people now are mindlessly calling themselves gamers without a second thought.

For a person who loves gaming I can’t really stomach the fact that people are doing this, it’s just like the time when some titles started to become popular (for example emo) that people keep on labeling them as such without even considering if it’s a correct label or not. (there are a lot of people who call punk as emo because they have similarities but they are in fact they are two diff. things)

I don’t want this to happen to the title gamer that’s why I wanted people to think through this post. In fact, I didn’t concentrate on the divisions of the title gamer because that’s where it gets more divisive and would tarnish my goal for this post. I want people to at least think for a little while about their position as a “gamer” and if they see it fit or not.

That’s why I hope future readers who may get to read this post stop any judgements and read it through. I hope that they think about it and if in the end they still call me an elitist prick it wouldn’t hurt so much because my goal is served.

The post is not here to condemn but rather to make you guys think.

http://nightdreamer.i.ph Nightdreamer

>> I place a high regard on a person’s credibility before he/she has the right to be called a “gamer” because that’s how important gaming is in my life. However the post is not here to impose judgement but to make us think.

Dude. Gaming is important in my life too. From your article, I would consider myself part-nicole, part-billy and part-mac (I refuse to be part-cher, coz I don’t fancy “believing in life after love”!). My twitter is pretty much a dumpsite of my opinions about videogames from past to present.

My point of contention is, how does it affect gaming beyond your self-esteem level? Methinks this has more to do with entitlement than anything — and I understand it. It happens to us nerds. It happens when we see a property get adapted to movie only to be corrupted by an awful contrived hollywood director. Unlike the previous case though, I don’t see how the “nouveau gamers” ruin gaming though. I don’t see how what they do can offend anyone beyond our personal, snot-nosed “harrumph! what a poser!” level.

There’s nothing at stake for what you perceive as wannabes calling themselves gamers, is there? I mean, I can understand the annoyance if they are the ones writing gaming news, reviews, and feature articles, without knowing the proper context to the history of videogames, but you don’t see them do that now do you?

>> As you mentioned gaming now is getting out of the niche that it once belonged to and because of that people now are mindlessly calling themselves gamers without a second thought.

>> For a person who loves gaming I can’t really stomach the fact that people are doing this, it’s just like the time when some titles started to become popular (for example emo) that people keep on labeling them as such without even considering if it’s a correct label or not. (there are a lot of people who call punk as emo because they have similarities but they are in fact they are two diff. things)

Frankly I’m a village idiot who don’t care about labels. Anyway punk is more grungy, thrash-the-system dissonance while emo is about self-loathing. Punk rockers tend to have worse voice than emo crybabies. But I don’t care about labels. Ok maybe I’m just cracking myself up.

>> I don’t want this to happen to the title gamer that’s why I wanted people to think through this post. In fact, I didn’t concentrate on the divisions of the title gamer because that’s where it gets more divisive and would tarnish my goal for this post. I want people to at least think for a little while about their position as a “gamer” and if they see it fit or not.

>> That’s why I hope future readers who may get to read this post stop any judgements and read it through. I hope that they think about it and if in the end they still call me an elitist prick it wouldn’t hurt so much because my goal is served.

>> The post is not here to condemn but rather to make you guys think.

I think there are quite a lot more pressing issues in gaming and its media these days than the semantics of gamers or what defines the casual or the hardcore. The whole issue here is less about elitism, more that different people have different definitions of what a gamer is. Mine for one isn’t the same as yours, and I can respect the difference, but that’s not the point, because we could talk about it whole day and it’d still hardly be productive (unless you really want to go into the academic aspects of gaming? I don’t recommend that though unless you enjoy mind numbing boredom). We should not let it bother is because it’s not harming us nor the industry. If it does in fact harm us in our ego level, because we give so much weight to the title of gamer, then maybe we’re due for a reflection on how fragile our pride is?

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to write a well considered response.

Haoson

I acutally don’t mind the mind numbing boredom that’s associated with the academic aspects of gaming cause I’ve been looking for someone to talk with regarding that.

I strongly believe that a well considered response deserves another so I tried my best to answer your comment in the same manner out of respect for the time you used for commenting.

So moving on, I think it’s just pride in terms of calling myself as a gamer. As i mentioned in my comment I want people to think about their status or label or whatever of being a gamer. While some of the people around me said that I shouldn’t have chosen the word deserve because it means im being an elitist jerk but I wanted people to respond to the post. If I used a weaker word people would just read past through this post and that would then defeat my post’s goal.

I wanted the povs of people on the matter and I want people to respond to it regardless of the polarity of their replies. I want to hear actual people presenting their thoughts on the matter may it be positive or negative because I want to know why do they think they call themselves gamers.

Yes it may be true that it’s just semantics and that there are far more important matters to discuss in terms of games and media but I wanted to focus first on the title gamer because people who are not in the know generalize ALL gamers in one collective mass regardless of their preference or their chosen genre.

I want to emphasize that everyone has their own idea on what a gamer should be using my pov– im not imposing that everyone should follow it and I wanted to hear the thoughts of the people on the matter. Hence I am truly appreciative on your responses because it presents things in another well thought of perspective that a lot of us would often not hear or even read because of one way or another.

So once again I want to thank you for your responses for they have been pretty insightful.

http://Website rachel

“Casual” vs. “Hardcore” aside: why do you seek to promote the “Gamer” title as something only an elite few can have? With so much hatred and division in the world, why create more over something so incredibly unimportant? Most importantly, how does it actually HURT YOU when other people consider themselves something? Surely your social status isn’t so fragile that sharing such a COVETED TITLE would tarnish your image.

What’s truly frightening about this article is not its awful, insipid style (or lack thereof). The real villain is the author’s seeming need to create “insiders” and “outsiders” in a community that, for decades, consisted ENTIRELY of “outsiders”. Why bring back the bad juju, bro?

Haoson

I do see your point. However I’m just emphasizing on my own perception of what a gamer should be… I’m merely presenting my thoughts and some thoughts of who also have the same POV as I do.

I am merely speaking out and asking YOUR povs on the matter. If that is your pov then I have no problem respecting it.

However one must not ignore the fact that regardless of how much we try to even things out. Our world in general is divisive and the gaming community is not immune to it. Heck, the division is even more enforced in the gaming industry.

What I seek to promote is to solidify your own pov of what a gamer is. I strongly believe a person is who he or she thinks she is regardless of whoever says otherwise. I want people to think if they should call themselves gamers or not, even at the expense of me being called a snob I want people, gamers in general to be conscientious of labeling themselves as such.

I our time today we love to label ourselves with different titles, for an example, I’d like to take a swing at our title/label “the only christian nation in asia”. With that claim I don’t think it’s right to have “the second most corrupt country in asia” right beside it. I want people to think about calling themselves gamers seriously even for a tiny bit because I care for the title “gamer” in as much as I care for being a Filipino.

To be quite honest I have no problem considering casual gamers as not gamers because I consider casual gaming as part of the gaming division. What I can’t take are people who mindlessly call themselves gamers without even considering or at least thinking for a few minutes if they can really consider themselves as one.

http://Website rachel

To be quite honest I have no problem considering casual gamers as not gamers because I consider casual gaming as part of the gaming division.

Read that sentence again.

Haoson

sorry about that that’s a typo in my part– it’s supposed to be To be quite honest I have no problem considering casual gamers as gamers because I consider casual gaming as part of the gaming division. thanks for pointing it out.

http://Website Earlyseven Strikeland

Then what’s the point of competition? Or more precisely, multiplayer mode? Can’t seem to find where the guy said “Gamer” is an ELITE thing.

This ain’t the ghetto, boo. People don’t fight and bicker over who is THE gamer, they play and find out who IS THE BETTER gamer.

Oh that guy has played Final Fantasy 7 over 9000 times, but he still hasn’t beaten Emerald weapon under 20 minutes. Well he sucks then. But he still a gamer, bie.

Oh that guy can’t even get his character to level 10 in a DotA match. He sucks.

Never in those situation will a person be referred to as a non-gamer unless he proclaims it beforehand yet lack the swag to back it up.

You call the subject unimportant but preceded that with a declaration that the topic creates more hatred IN THE WORLD. WOWA!!! SUCH SCALE for an unimportant matter.

ENTIRELY of Outsiders? The gaming community? NATAWA AKO.

http://jepoy.bengero.com jepoy

I know how you feel, but the more gamers are out there, the merrier XD
http://nightdreamer.i.ph Nightdreamer

Wow so much anger in the comments? It’s like this discussion has become an Alodia Goesingfiao whinefest or something. Chillax lang kayo. No need to be so worked up to the point of insulting other people.

Haoson

i seriously lol’d at this one XD
http://Website Earlyseven Strikeland

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH laro na lang sineseryoso pa kasi.

Sino ba kasi nagsabing gamer si HAOSON!!!???

Haoson

SELF-ENTITLEMENT IS FUN! WE SHOULD ALL DO IT!

- oh and I say this jokingly lest someone should take it seriously

http://Website Earlyseven Strikeland

iseewhatudidtahr
http://Website Earlyseven Strikeland

BTW, if you edit this comment of yours. I will so scorch your ass.

http://Website Shiver

Cool story, Nightdreamer. :3 A-lol-dia Whinefest? Your words not theirs.

I’m a gamer. I can beat minesweeper in 3 seconds. Hard mode.

http://Website Earlyseven Strikeland

I once went 3.1 seconds. Damn you’re good.

http://Website Shiver

You’e a wuss. =)) CAN YOU CALL YOURSELF A GAMER?! HAH! >:3

I challenge you to a Marvel vs. Capcom vs. Tatsunoku vs. SNK vs. Squaresoft vs. From Software vs. Konami vs. EA GAMES vs. Lucas Arts vs. Team 17 vs. Eidos vs Activision vs. Bayformers vs. Gundam!

http://Website Earlyseven Strikeland

MY PRIDE AS A GAMER HAS BEEN TARNISHED!!!!!!!!!

You just wait. I will play for 24 hours at that Marvel vs. Capcom vs. Tatsunoku vs. SNK vs. Squaresoft vs. From Software vs. Konami vs. EA GAMES vs. Lucas Arts vs. Team 17 vs. Eidos vs Activision vs. Bayformers vs. Gundam!

BUT WAIT, I heard that game has a sequel already.

Marvel vs. Capcom vs. Tatsunoku vs. SNK vs. Squaresoft vs. From Software vs. Konami vs. EA GAMES vs. Lucas Arts vs. Team 17 vs. Eidos vs Activision vs. Bayformers vs. Gundam vs Lady Gaga vs Megaman vs Justin Bieber vs Final Fantasy vs Photoshop vs. Google vs. Microsoft vs. Armored Core vs. Gary Oak

http://jepoy.bengero.com jepoy

Nightdreamer:

Wow so much anger in the comments? It’s like this discussion has become an Alodia Goesingfiao whinefest or something.

hahahahaha!
http://www.cmablogs.com Chris A

How DOES the gaming community define a GAMER a GAMER? That is the question.

What if the kinds of people that you are referring to, who are flash game players accept the community’s challenge? They’ll buy a console, but only avail those next gen console casual games but spends a day or two. And read up about gaming and gaming history, will then they can be called gamers? Will the community then respect them, and forget that once they brought shame by calling gamers themselves when they are not?
There are a variety of gamers, and maybe, just maybe they have the right as well to be called one, maybe under the casual gaming genre (but that is another issue itself). Why go all the hate. Can’t just people get along? It’s like playstation fan boys vs. xbox 360 fan boys… what’s the use of debating over which is better when both are unique and good gaming device.

Just my two cents on it.
http://www.disney.com Earlyseven Strikeland

And so everyone has forgotten the point of video games…

trolololololololololololololloololllll
http://Website jaypee

Last time I checked, there wasn’t a board licensure exam for gaming, There is no dark shadow council, secretly pulling strings behind the scene.. Gamers need not take an oath or sign a blood pact in order to be allowed into the brotherhood. There is no such thing as a hao-siao gamer..

Play a game.
Like a game.
congratulations, you are now a gamer..

You might suck enough to earn you a spot next to the traitors at the seventh circle of hell.. but, still a gamer.

You might not have played as much games as a career gamer.. or be as skilled as those guys who actually make money by pwning (such an awesome job description!).. but.. still. you’re a gamer.

Sadly, the title of “Gamer” is a bit moot. It has as much value and substance as that cup of ice scramble i bought from the guy with the rickety pushcart a couple hours ago.

A title, by definition, is an established or recognized right to something. Absent a constitution of gaming, a universally recognized list of credentials (this might be a good idea! someone look into this), ANYONE could become a gamer.

I’ve seen people do incredible things in games, and it is true that not everybody can accomplish what they have. i am still convinced that the people who complete those touhou bullet hell games on max difficulty are either mutants, aliens, or genetically engineered government assassins.

Mine Sweeper in 3 seconds? I cant even be bothered to COMPLETE that thing. I see numbers and wonder why people think it is fun.

But i played Pokemon back in 1998, and am now playing it via emulator today. Im a gamer. and noone can tell me otherwise.

Tl;dr:

Have pride in your hobby/life style/thing you do in your free time.. but dont get too hung up on a title that means absolutely nothing.

oh, and dont confuse the title of gamer with being a part of the gaming community. It might be a hair’s breadth away from semantics, but its a whole ‘nother wall of text!
http://blog.mezurashi.com Mezu

Hmm, late to the punch but nevertheless I think you’re trying to target the hardcore crowd? The topic is enlightening but I can see why some people misinterpret it. Perhaps create another topic on “hardcore gaming”. Saying you are a “gamer” is too broad.

If you’re going for a hardcore gamer then the criteria would prolly be someone who has had the privilege of playing on ALL the consoles out there and someone who has played ALL the different game genres.

Back in 2004-2005 in one of the Anime forums that I’ve moderated, I remember having a discussion about “A true gamer”. It peaked everyone’s interest and also a lot of trolls lol. We eventually came to an agreement that a “True Gamer” was a broad term so we had t settle for “Hardcore Gamer”. We even had a forum title for people who proved themselves to be hardcore gamers. The title was coveted so much that even some of the girls would play hentai/ecchi games to prove that they’ve played on every console and every genre of the game.

Just my few cents. ^^

Haoson

as the case is the same here im not really segregating the hardcore and the casual gamer– just the general idea of being a gamer is where I’m driving at–

I just want people to think things through whenever they label themselves as gamers– this is the whole point of the post and im glad at least people provide enough effort to give their two cents into the discussion

Thanks for visiting and commenting too btw