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Extra Punctuation: Don't Use the Word Gamer

NullPointer said:
Well, we have to stop calling the whole genre "video games" first. The moniker fits for some, but not all titles.

I sure as hell don't know a better term, but "game" seems too small a word for the whole spectrum of my experiences.
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Game's too general. "Board games, pen and paper games..."

"Video" fits for "games" like MW2, blah blah blah... because they are an Audio/Video, Visual aspect.

I don't see why dropping "Video Games" needs to be done.
 
NullPointer said:
Well, we have to stop calling the whole genre "video games" first. The moniker fits for some, but not all titles.

I sure as hell don't know a better term, but "game" seems too small a word for the whole spectrum of my experiences.
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What titles are you referring to exactly?

And are you objecting to the video part or the game part?
 
anonymousAversa said:
Came here to post this.... seriously, anyone have any other ideas?
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Finger jockey...
honestly who the fuck cares?

There's a strange parallel with this thread and games as art debates in that the underlying motivation is that gamers that are sensitive to this just want to be respected for their hobby not ridiculed for it which is stupid if you ask me.
 
Oh so now gamers don't want to be labeled as gamers?
Well too damn bad.

BTW: My argument is that people who play games and gamers are not the same. In fact more often than not gamers are the ones who don't play games.
 
Graphics Horse said:
Digital as in using your fingers then? I guess that works...
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What about Kinect Games?!?!? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Edit: Also, I guess that means I gave myself some digital entertainment last night. Hey-O!
 
All of 'em: The win mob

Singular 'gamer': Continue man / girl

Edit: To be honest, it doesn't get much better than 'gamer', no matter how you slice it. I guess that's not the point of the article, but that's besides the point. what
 
i agree, something about the word and usage doesnt feel right. bookworm is different, it kinda just means smart. buff is just something you add to any category to use an adjective for an enthusiast. gamer seems to imply exclusivity.
 
Rorschach said:
Film connoisseur
TV Buffs
Bookworms
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Exactly. His argument rests partly on his ignorance of these terms. My ex brother-in-law is completely defined by his status as a movie buff.

He should stick to the relevant part of his argument, which is the part where "gamer" carries too much negative connotation, which it does. I'm not sure ignoring the term will help, though.
 
Video games are games. It's simple. You still play video games. I don't know, calling them "experiences" and stuff like that seems a bit pretentious.
 
PounchEnvy said:
Video games are games. It's simple. You still play video games. I don't know, calling them "experiences" and stuff like that seems a bit pretentious.
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obviously you can't call yourself a digital experiencer, then. sorry!
 
ultron87 said:
What titles are you referring to exactly?

And are you objecting to the video part or the game part?
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I'm not saying the term *has* to change, and I'm not offended or anything, but the term "video game" is too minimalist a term for me. Just like how we can describe some movies as films, action flicks, and just plain old movies, there are subtle differences.

Games like Red Dead Redemption, GTA4, MGS4, Flower, Fallout 3, Bioshock just seem to me to need a better term. The best terms we have right now, "sandbox game", "open world", and "non-game" just don't do them justice imho.

But yeah, I don't know a good term that encompasses the entire range of gaming and still fits. I just have a hard time believing that 20 years from now we'll still call these things video games.

PounchEnvy said:
Video games are games. It's simple. You still play video games. I don't know, calling them "experiences" and stuff like that seems a bit pretentious.
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The term "video game" is simple, but not all that descriptive. Not meaning to come across as pretentious, but I use the term "experience" because I don't have another word.

Pong is a game. Red Dead Redemption is a game. They couldn't be more different from each other, across the board. The experience is so radically different that lumping them all together as "video games" just comes across as useless.
 
Gravijah said:
obviously you can't call yourself a digital experiencer, then. sorry!
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i like it

hey guys lets go to my place experience some digital experiences :lol

im serious, im going to use this.
 
This is just one of those silly "I'm going to rant about something trivial, but instead of just simply admitting that it's an unimportant pet peeve, I'm going to meander about as though my outrage is justified" pieces. If you're parading about identifying yourself as a gamer to a population that doesn't care, the problem isn't the term in as much as it is that you're identifying yourself by a hobby to a populace that doesn't care. There's no term that's going to make that individual seem cool.
 
NullPointer said:
Games like Red Dead Redemption, GTA4, MGS4, Flower, Fallout 3, Bioshock just seem to me to need a better term. The best terms we have right now, "sandbox game", "open world", and "non-game" just don't do them justice imho.
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You might see it like that now, I'm sure you'll revert your opinion though, given time.
 
NullPointer said:
I'm not saying the term *has* to change, and I'm not offended or anything, but the term "video game" is too minimalist a term for me. Just like how we can describe some movies as films, action flicks, and just plain old movies, there are subtle differences.

Games like Red Dead Redemption, GTA4, MGS4, Flower, Fallout 3, Bioshock just seem to me to need a better term. The best terms we have right now, "sandbox game", "open world", and "non-game" just don't do them justice imho.

But yeah, I don't know a good term that encompasses the entire range of gaming and still fits. I just have a hard time believing that 20 years from now we'll still call these things video games.
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I think the closest thing to what you're suggesting would be something like "Interactive Entertainment."
 
I don't know guys you are making games sounds way more serious than they actually are.
Gravijah said:
obviously you can't call yourself a digital experiencer, then. sorry!
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Good. That term pisses me off. :\

NullPointer said:
I'm not saying the term *has* to change, and I'm not offended or anything, but the term "video game" is too minimalist a term for me. Just like how we can describe some movies as films, action flicks, and just plain old movies, there are subtle differences.

Games like Red Dead Redemption, GTA4, MGS4, Flower, Fallout 3, Bioshock just seem to me to need a better term. The best terms we have right now, "sandbox game", "open world", and "non-game" just don't do them justice imho.

But yeah, I don't know a good term that encompasses the entire range of gaming and still fits. I just have a hard time believing that 20 years from now we'll still call these things video games.
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Action flicks and stuff like that are genres just like sandbox games and RPGs. It's a perfectly fine label.
 
ultron87 said:
I think the closest thing to what you're suggesting would be something like "Interactive Entertainment."
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Yeah - thats the problem, we end up with terms like that. And yeah, I do prefer a straight up "video game" label over something like that.

But like I said, I do expect the term to change over time as the industry matures.
 
NullPointer said:
Yeah - thats the problem, we end up with terms like that. And yeah, I do prefer a straight up "video game" label over something like that.

But like I said, I do expect the term to change over time as the industry matures.
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It won't. Trust me.
 
I don't think I've ever used the term "gamer" to identify myself in the real world. It's not that I choose not to, it's just never come up. Sure, I often talk about games and gaming to people who probably couldn't care less, but I'm not ashamed by it. :D
 
[yahtzee voice]
Ironic that this is written by the guy who introduced the PC Master Race and console peasants and makes a living out of bashing videogames and even started a special videogame bar with a couple of 'gamer' friends.
[/yahtzee voice]
 
Every time I read something about "I hate the term 'Gamer' and we shouldn't use it", it reminds me of a Mitch Hedberg quote

"If you boat a lot, you're known as a boating enthousiast. I like to boat, I just never want to be referred to as a boating enthusiast. I hope they call me a guy who likes to boat."

And then I go listen to my Mitch Hedberg CDs and forget the issue.
 
Gully State said:
gamers that are sensitive to this just want to be respected for their hobby not ridiculed for it which is stupid if you ask me.
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Well, that's two different things. Wanting to be respected for playing games is silly, sure. But nobody wants to be ridiculed. That's totally sensible.

Personally, I haven't seen much ridicule for my hobby. When I see negative reactions, they're usually based on the idea that gaming is a waste of time, or juvenile. Of course, those same people then go back to watching reality TV, so...
 
People don't want to be stereotype'd. Oh noes.

16kxf60.jpg
 
Eh, this all makes sense but at the same time, I don't give half a fuck about what the "public" thinks of my hobby. They can judge all the want, it doesn't matter to me.
 
playing games isn't comparable to watching movies or reading books because those are things "everybody" does or, at least have some history with. Video games as a sub-culture and 'gamers' as a group are more in line with other sub-cultures like skateboarding (skaters).
 
BattleMonkey said:
Who says people all take pride in it?

Really it's just a fancy name to cover up what is considered nerdy/geeky. "oh I'm a geek who plays games all day", no no no. "Oh I'm a gamer you know...."
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If you are playing games all day, you have bigger things to worry about than labels.
 
Why is it that if a 40yr old man that labels himself as a "football fan" and spends every Sunday watching 12 hours of football seen as socially accepted? But, if the same man spends the same amount of time playing a video game seen as completely wasting his time?
 
The point the author of the article is trying to make has nothing to do with a "language shift" being needed. I can understand that there's not any inherent pride in playing games, that I don't need to be a whiny moron about what others think of it, yet still refer to myself as a gamer. Is it all that I am, is it the only thing that defines me? No. Does playing games have a significant enough impact on my overall lifestyle for me to think of it as an important part of who I am? Definitely.
 
FinFan said:
Why is it that if a 40yr old man that labels himself as a "football fan" and spends every Sunday watching 12 hours of football seen as socially accepted? But, if the same man spends the same amount of time playing a video game seen as completely wasting his time?
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Unfortunately social acceptance isn't based on logic.
 
I don't see how replacing the term with something else will change anything. It'll still have the same meaning and some people would still be offended by it. People just need to get over it. The term isn't even used that much outside of Internet forum and video game sites.

I just don't see the huge deal with the word.

EDIT: :lol Ah crap, I thought I was posting in the other thread. There seriously is no need for two of these in one day...
 
I'm still of the opinion that game has a resurgent negative connotation due to people who play games casually using it to deflect attention from themselves who do that too.

I still wear it as a badge of pride, though, if asked.
 
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