Gamers

There has already been alot of discussion on the blog and in tutorials over what defines a "gamer", and as I'm struggling to find anything to post I thought I'd have a look at the term myself.

Wikipedia notes that the term historically "referred to someone who played role-playing games and wargames". After looking at the second reading earlier in the week that detailed the lineage of arcade machines (and therefore other videogame machines), I thought it was interesting that the term "gamer" had a lineage of it's own.

The Wikipedia article outlines different types of video gamer, from the "casual gamer", to the "hardcore gamer", to the "cyberathlete" (a term that raised it's own issues for me, but perhaps that can wait for a later post). Alot of people readily admit that they play games, but seem reluctant to label themselves gamers; perhaps "casual gamer" is a catagory they would be more willing to fall under?

My own thoughts on what makes a gamer rely more on what that person does outside of the game itself. To me a gamer is somewhat who not only plays computer/video games, but who is also involved in the videogame culture; they post on internet forums relating to their games of choice, and might be involved in "clans" or "guilds". Those who play games only on the odd occasion would not qualify.

Perhaps at the end of the course I'll be able to re-evaluate this opinion.