I enjoyed the Nerdist article on Wired, pretty funny and at least a little insightful. (yes, I realize it’s several years old)
http://www.wired.com/2011/10/mf_hardwickexcerpt/all/
I’m not sure if I’ll grab the book, but he’s a somewhat interesting guy.
I tend to agree. Now, usage may vary among groups, but the only folks I know who call themselves “gamers” are what apparently are known as “hardcore gamers” in other communities. Somebody who plays video games casually is not someone I’d call a “gamer,” nor someone that I know that self-identifies as a “gamer.” “Gamer,” in my understanding of the term, is not simply “one who plays video games.” It’s someone for whom video games are important in their identity. It’s kind of like “foodie” in that sense. Lots of people enjoy going out to eat. Lots of people enjoy fine foods. Most of those people are not “foodies,” though.
I just had to stop here to say that you’re my hero 
That’s certainly not true. I wouldn’t consider someone with a handful of tchotchkes a collecter, and I doubt many people would. To really be a collector you have to put some serious time and effort into it.
Wow, Bob sounds like a cool guy. Now if you substituted “watching TV” instead of “playing video games” that would send up a red flag.
When’s the last time you heard about a study showing surgeons who watch TV perform better surgery? Never.
Same percentage probably watches porn, but surprisingly no one brags about that either.
Lighten up, Francis. You’re the only one yelling in here.
Fun fact, using all caps doesn’t actually mean I’m frothing with rage in front of my monitor and screaming as I type. And honestly, someone who is trying to peg something that ~65% of the population does regularly as a “red flag” is absurd.
It isn’t that they do it, it is that they are self-describing using that term.
I’m pretty sure nearly 100% of guys masturbate … but I would not put it on a resume as one of my “hobbies”, nonetheless. 
I’m not ashamed of it, but it sends entirely the wrong message.
You can have more than one? Why didn’t anyone tell me?
To who? I’m 32 years old. I supervise the teenagers who are employed at my library to shelve the books. I also (obviously) have an interest in video games. I have hired teens who share my interest because it’s nice to able to work with people who you have something in common with.
So giving up on video games only lasted a couple of months, huh?
Heh, on initial read it looked like you were saying you employed teenagers with a mutual interest in masturbation! :eek:
That’s how I read it too. But what I’m also reading is that one is a ‘gamer’ (versus someone who plays video games) and wants to be in the company of like minded people, certainly put it down. It will self-select for you.
For the record, I like to play computer games, but I, in no way, shape, or form, consider myself a ‘gamer’. If you see the terms as interchangeable, then get up on the mountain and stake your claim. Not that this thread is statistically valid, but I think you can see you won’t have as many people up there as on the mountain that views them differently.
If we’re going to get all gatekeepery about the term, I’m going to go ahead and suggest that a “real” gamer needs to be interested in more than just video games.
I see “gamer” a little like “movie buff” or “bookworm.”
That rings right to me. I like video games, so I might identify as a “casual gamer,” but just identifying as a “gamer” sounds too strong to me. In my crowd, most people play video games from time to time, but only a small segment would identify as “gamers” and I would only identify that same small segment as “gamers.” There’s nothing naughty or dirty about the word. It’s just that to use it to refer to anybody who ever plays video games is not an accurate representation of the way the word is used in my experience. Maybe in Justin Bailey’s peer group, the word has a much wider meaning and simply means “one who plays video games,” but in my peer group, the meaning is closer to “one who plays video games as a real hobby, the way a movie buff, bookworm, or foodie would treat their respective interests, as opposed for casual entertainment/enjoyment.”
THAT. IS. TOTAL. ABSOLUTE. POOPY. KAKKA. MUSHY. MUSH!
Kidding, I totally agree with you.
As I see it, “gamer” is a word that it seems society hasn’t quite narrowed down whether it refers to someone who just enjoys games or whether it’s someone who has a pretty narrow focus or even an obsession with them. For instance, I play World of Warcraft and some people think that just playing it makes one a loser. I raid for about 9 hours a week, and yet I spend more time at the gym (about 10-11 hours a week), about equal time watch TV shows and films (typically about 2 new films a week, plus 2-3 hours of shows), and I spend considerably more time listening to, composing, and performing music, yet none of those other activities are looked upon as obsessive activities even though I spend as much or more free time on them.
Part of that, though, is who one’s peers are. Most of the people who comment negatively about playing games are people older than me, typically mid-40s and up, as most younger probably have fond memories in their youth of playing Nintendo or whatever. There are also others who just see games as less cultured or whatever, but that’s just a matter of time, as pretty much every form of entertainment that is popular and well accepted now wasn’t some time ago.
On the other hand, even as someone who sees gaming as not meaningfully different from another hobby or interest, as many of them, it can reach obsessive levels. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with an ocassional gaming binge, perhaps when that one bad ass game comes out and you spend 10 hours playing it one Saturday, that’s one thing. But if you regularly binge game, and play for hours each night, perhaps forsaking other hobbies, social invitations, or obligations, it’s a bad thing. But that’s not something specific to games, it can happen with any other hobby. For instance, you find a new show and you want to catch up and spend a day on the weekend catching up on last season, that’s one thing, but if you regularly spend your weekend looking for any bit of anime or crime drama or whatever the obsession is, then it’s bad.
Hell, I’d make the same argument about even generally socially acceptable obsessions. If you like to have an ocassional drink, or even go out and party and get a little drunk now and again, that’s one thing, but if you get drunk EVERY weekend, how is that really all that different from any other obsession, other than that it involves being social.
To a certain extent, more non-social activities, like reading, films, TV, and games are becoming more acceptable, but we still tend to favor physical and social activities over non-physical and solitude activities. But still, there’s a bit more yet to come with that, and obsession, no matter what the activity, is still bad and needs to be tempered.
You don’t hear about too many movie buffs and bookworms neglecting their hygeine and starving nfants with their hobbies, though. I’m sure there are people who ARE addicted to movies and books, but these people don’t make the news in the way that gamers do.
I have a coworker (a 50-something woman) who is a gamer. Whenever we talk privately (no one else is around), she’ll tell me about the games she’s playing. I’ve never played a game, so I’ve always got easy questions to ask her to keep the conversation going. I don’t think she’s a loser. Yet, I can tell she feels ashamed that this is her hobby, just based on some of the things she says. Yet other women don’t mind talking about their shopping adventures or their children’s latest antics or their favorite reality TV shows. IMHO, these things are just as superficial and non-productive. But because they are extraverted activities, they are more socially acceptable, I guess.