Definition: Gamer

So first of all to start of this subject I had typed in the definition of a 'Gamer' in an online dictionary as it resulted in "A gamer is a devoted player of electronic games, especially on machines especially designed for such games and, in a more recent trend, over the Internet. Playing such games is known as gaming, a term first used as a synonym for gambling. An IDC Research document, Trends Today, Insights for Tomorrow, IDC's 2001 Videogame Survey, reported that the average gamer is a twenty-one year old male who devotes 9-10 hours a week to this hobby. " (Whatis.com) I find this quite funny at first considering that I will be turning 21 this year and having no interest in games whatsoever, however relating to all my friends who are obsessed with it.

Being surrounded in these so called 'Gamers' my whole life it is to what extent that can we classify someone to be a 'gamer' and people who just have large interest in games. There is always a distinction whether you choose to be someone of something which is drawn from a fine line. As this topic was brought up in tutorial last week I find it quite interesting to see people who devote their lives to gaming but are not classified gamers. Being a Korean I enjoy the occasional visit to our local net cafe being heavily surrounded by people who play DOTA and WOW. I imagine everyday thinking what would they be doing if their was no WOW or DOTA would they be more athletic or would they just be playing Warcraft 1 or still playing Starcraft for the 12th year..? Do we classify these people as gamers? or just people who enjoy the gaming environment.

When we had discussed this issue in tutorial last week I had brought the issue if someone would call introduce themselves a a guitarist who just played casually once in a while and someone who might play in a band for instance? I feel that the same principle is here when it comes to defining whether someone to be a gamer or not. Although I see these people in the Net Cafe playing games I feel it is just a sense of entertainment just like playing casual guitar and people who are actually joining clans and being heavily involved in this gaming culture. Both of my brothers enjoy playing games everyday. My older brother plays DOTA everyday before he sleeps and my little brother is a more active in the gaming community as he is officially in a clan and go out to competitions where the money is on the line. This is where I feel that there is a distinction between who simply enjoys games and who is a gamer. If there was no distinction I feel that I could be many things has I have experienced this and that throughout my life. This is just my opinion but I guess in a different perspective I guess it's whether a person would classify them as something or not which brings the final say.




Michael