I Call Myself “Gamer”
Why would you ever want to identify yourself as a hardcore gamer? It is a common practice for people to identify themselves by what they associate themselves with. People call themselves writers, musicians, programmers, artists and any number of other titles, but why would anyone consider themselves a gamer? In all of the above examples, people are identified by what they produce rather than something they consume. People don’t refer to themselves as ‘televisioners,’ ‘filmers’ or even as ‘readers’ with any regularity, so why the hell do we have ‘gamers?’
Are mainstream gamers actually gamers? Five simple words that have ignited debate from the moment that gaming evolved from two white sticks throwing a ball between each other to a multi-billion dollar industry with its own rapidly-changing, always-evolving subculture. Elitism is my absolute biggest pet peeve, so I have no problem pointing out the fact that just about all of us started as mainstream gamers and need to get off our high horses. Hate leads to suffering and all that, so let’s treat the younglings with some sympathy.