Are you a gamer?

"Are you a gamer?"
I get asked this question from time to time. The question bugs me because I don't know how to answer it. Whenever I get an opportunity to talk about games, I kinda go overboard with the subject. But when someone asks me this particular question, I've come to be very cautious about the person asking me before answering. This is because I have  to  figure out if the person asking is a “gamer” or a “casual gamer.” Casual gamers don't know they're casual gamers. Depending on what type a gamer the person asking is, I can more efficiently answer the question. I used to get myself caught in one sided conversations because of this; I would end up feeling like I was talking to a seven year old about the theory of evolution when they just discovered that babies don’t come from a stork...

"Hey Anthony! Are you a gamer like me?"
"O heck yeah!! Dude, how psyched are you for ARKHAM CITY?? I read that the game will pack double the number of combat animations than it did in the first one! How crazy is that? Rocksteady is really proving themselves to be a triple ‘A’ studio, huh???"
"..?.. Uh... Black ops?"
"... O... No, I don't play video games.. I'll see you later.."

When I  talk about video games to a person and they look at me like I’m speaking an unfamiliar language, I know I'm talking too much about to much to someone who doesn't know much about much. I know I'm talking to a casual gamer.

I would imagine the term "gamer" is more often used by people who are not very knowledgeable (or perhaps don’t care to know) about people who dedicatedly play video games.. To these people, if you play games, you're a gamer. That's fine and understandable. If you like to shop, I'll call you a shopper; makes sense. My gripe isn't with those people, it's with people who play games who use the term lightly amongst themselves. I try not to use the term AT ALL because I'm not comfortable with what it typically represents.

The term "gamer" tends to represent a very large and still growing group of people who occasionally play games. A majority of these "gamers" are more so competitive gamers. I've become uncomfortable with the fact that video games have become more socially acceptable to the general population, resulting in the saturation of passionate video game players. Basically, what's happening to games is what happened to comic books. For some reason, comic books and anything relating to comic books has become WIDELY accepted by the general population. About a generation ago, it was uncool to read comic books, and in general  was perceived as "nerdy". Now we see the "cool" kids sporting Captain America shirts and having Spiderman theme songs as their ring tones. They've taken something that used to be "uncool" and made it "cool". But the thing is, they most likely don't love comic books. They love Captain America. They love Spiderman. They might own ONE comic book of that hero or none at all. But they don't go out of their way to the comic book store for a new Captain America issue. Their "love" for comic books is just touching the surface of what LOVING comic books is all about. It’s as if comic books became a fad. The devoted readers are now mixed in with the "fad" people. So when a comic book "lover" comes over to talk to a comic book LOVER and ends up not knowing what he's talking about, he leaves the LOVER confused and thinking to himself, "why does he call himself a comic book lover when he's really not? I hope he doesn't think we share the same passion." This is the problem I have with "gamers".

The term "gamer" means "one who plays lots of games". I find this to be the reason because "games" are plentiful in quantity. So if someone plays one game very much, I wouldn't call that person a gamer. I'd call him devoted to whatever game he's playing. You wouldn't call someone who only watches football a "sports fanatic". He's not into sports. He's into football. So when someone comes up to me and claims to be a "gamer" and ends up only playing CALL OF DUTY (COD), I can't help but feel irritated. You need to play more games than COD to be seen as "one who plays lots of gameS". Otherwise, you're not a gamer, you're a COD buff.

I visited my cousin that I haven't seen in a while and he's in his room playing MODERN WARFARE 2. So I automatically assumed he liked to play video games. I come to find out that he only really owns MODERN WARFARE 2. I figure he's a little tight on cash so I offer to let him borrow some of my games. I first let him borrow BAD COMPANY 2. I figure that its pretty close to CALL OF DUTY, in  gameplay. He beat it in two days and says..

"it's alright. MODERN WARFARE is better"

So, I let him borrow FEAR 2; a solid first person shooter with a story that's a little more elaborate than "war stuff." He plays (not beats) it within two days and says..

"I didn't like it. I got stuck at this one part. And I don't like the shooting."

So, I take a step back into war stuff and let him borrow CRYSIS 2; an awesome first person shooter with extremely fine shooting mechanics as well as amazing graphics and gameplay. One day later,

"I didn't like it. It's too confusing.."

Two weeks later, I see him at a restaurant. I ask how the gaming goes.. He says..

"Aw.. Video games?.. Man, I don't play video games anymore. I'm trying to sell my Xbox. How much do you think I can get for it?"

I came to the recognition that he didn't love playing video games.. He loved playing CALL OF DUTY; and even then,  not very much... "I don't play video games anymore"... Needless to say, I was irritated. This guy who was so “into playing games" less than a month ago just gives up on VIDEO GAMES. Not just on CALL OF DUTY.. on ALL video games.. WTF??? Someone who claims to love something and devote a large amount of time to it, then just decides to drop it, couldn't have truly loved it. I cannot even imagine myself selling any of my video games, let alone, the system itself. This is because, I LOVE to play video games. Not just one game extensively, but lots of games. Simply because I enjoy it. If anyone deserves to be called a "gamer", it's me. Not individuals like my cousin. Not the people who bought an Xbox for CALL OF DUTY. Not the people who refuse to give any other game a real chance. Not the people who feed society an image of gamers screaming and cursing over a headset. There is more to a "gamer" than CALL OF DUTY.

(note: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is one of my top favorite games of all time)

So when it comes to the term "gamer" I am very cautious about when and where I use it. I find the term to be meaningful and deserving to be taken seriously. This is because I don't want to be in the same category as the casual gamer. I, like many others, have  worked too hard and spent too much money to be in the same category as a casual gamer (if you need further proof that I am indeed “one who plays lots of games,” just look at my gamerscore. I bet I have more points than you. I rock and roll all day long, sweet susie.)