What It Means To Be A Gamer

[Mark-x]

What is a gamer? We rarely ask that question because we are usually certain what a gamer is. If you're reading this then chances are you see one in the mirror every morning. Being a gamer, however, is not the same thing anymore. When I say 'what is a gamer?' I mean 'what is a person who's lifestyle involves, or is based around, playing video games?'. How is that differentiated when there's one gaming console or another in the majority of the houses in the U.S. today?

Being a gamer has changed in recent years to mean more than just a person who plays video games. It means more to just exist and play games. A gamer is someone who doesn't just play games for fun, or a sense of superiority when pit against his peers. A gamer is someone who plays because it means something more to him than just that.

Let me explain, because I know right now that I'm going to confuse a lot of people, myself included, without an elaboration. I consider myself a gamer, and I have a friend who plays video games but he wouldn't be classified as a gamer. How I came about this conclusion occurred this weekend. I had purchased a copy of left 4 dead 1 for the 360 with the specific intention of playing it with him, and we did. I myself am an avid L4D fan, and he had wanted to play it for a while now, so it seemed like a good game to play. How we played, however, was entirely different.

His gaming 'methods' was incoherent to say the least, and consisted of running around like a chicken without a head blasting zombies, the Ai survivors and pretty much anything without knowledge of what he was doing. We barely survived the last stand of the no mercy campaign on normal, which is saying much considering that I could probably run it on expert with bots on a good day. I'm not mad at him, but I did learn where the plethora of incompetent gamers comes from; they fall from the tree of casual gamers.

A casual gamer is to regular gamers what C&C4 is to the rest of the C&C universe, an ugly, ugly entity that exists only because something better came before it. Casuals were essentially created as a result of games attempting to reach out to a wider audience. Games like Call of Duty and GTA, games with no inherent tie to fantasy or sci-fi, appealed to people who might enjoy games if they were less 'nerdy'. While good games by most standards (in quality, this isn't a morality topic), they essentially teared a hole in the boundary between gamers and the rest of society. People who never even played games before enjoyed a universe they could identify with, but one that didn't have the same boundaries.

And since then that has been the focus of the gaming industry. It must be remembered that any video game business is still a business, with profit being the number one priority. Instead of cultivating the gamer lifestyle, companies tend to capitalize on it. Games that appeal to the casual breed are often released annually with minute updates to appeal to these gamers. Games that fit outside this basis (shooters, sports games and some adventure games) are often downsized to make room for this demographic since they are the majority.

There are casual gamers, and then there are gamers who live the gaming lifestyle. This group treats games less like a time killer and more like a hobby or lifestyle. This demographic doesn't always differentiate simply by what types of games are meant to be played, but by consistency and ultimate goal of playing games. A casual gamer might play games with friends to pass the time until a party or after class/work to unwind. A gamer would make the game the party, or play for the sake of mastering games. Gamers often favor games that are more challenging, both in terms of mental ability and gaming ability, over games that are more streamlined for po[CENSORED]rity.

There would normally be a tenuous to kinship-like peace between these two groups who share a common hobby albeit for different reasons, but recent conditions in the gaming industry are creating a Cain and Abel esc effect.

First and foremost, there is a freezing tension between the two over the favoritism of the gaming industry. As previously mentioned, game developers are businesses with the intention of making money. Their focus is primarily that, which means they will make games that appeal to the majority, which at the time is casual gamers. With that respect there isn't enough in terms of time and energy to go around, which means that if the gaming industry is appealing to the majority, they will make games geared for casual gamers first, and then regular gamers if there is any money left to use. Strategy games, survival horrors and certain rpgs play second fiddle to games such as multiplayer oriented shooters and rhythm games. You can imagine how unhappy a pc gamer who loves rts games will be when rts' stop being made, and the ones that are made are more dungeon crawlers than rts in terms of gameplay.

The second conflict, besides a lack of attention to both parties, is the conflict of identity. The majority of people in the U.S. play games. I remember reading an article in the Washington post that claimed as much as 85% of youth ages 8-18 played games on a regular basis. How many of them, even if the majority are casual gamers, identify themselves as gamers? In all likelihood more often than not a person who plays games calls himself a gamer even if he is not 'into it'. How many general gamers appreciate losing their culture to what is trendy? A person doesn't spend years being called a nerd for gaming in the extreme only to be 'a face in the crowd' when things change and everyone games. It can only be compared to other cultural trends that have gone from a form of expression to what is po[CENSORED]r (rap comes to mind).

Finally, while not often as big of a problem, there is the problem of the two classes of gamer overlapping in certain games and causing issues. Take left for dead for an example. It is an extremely po[CENSORED]r game for both demographics because it appeals to both challenge and po[CENSORED]rity. I was a bit annoyed that my friend enjoyed the game only as a novelty when I practically viewed it as an art, so I can only imagine how often strangers meet under similar circumstances and create tension. It's hard to get into and enjoy a game, even one as great as L4D, when the people you rely on don't take things as seriously as you do.

In the end video games mean many different things to different people. They can be art, culture, hobby, time waster and even drug, but when people view games in one light and not the others it creates problems with those who don't share the same beliefs. Games have come a long way, but I believe gamers have changed more over the years than the games they play. While I don't think a civil war will ever break out over games, I do believe that problems will arise over the lifestyle that is video games.