Wednesday, August 13, 2008

What kind of gamer am I?

As of late, a whole lot of classifying words have been flying around. Hardcore, casual and mainstream seem to pop up more than any others. Looking at all these different groups and their descriptions, though, I can't figure out where exactly it is I fit in.

"Hardcore" generally refers to one who prefers action, gripping stories and awesome graphics over much else. However, the hardcore gamer also tends to avoid games like Animal Crossing and Picross, two titles that get so very much playtime out of me. Thus, I am not a "hardcore" gamer.

"Casual" usually entails buying games only now and then, as well as gravitating towards the simpler and more pick-up-and-play titles. While I enjoy many games intended for the casual gamer, I buy and play video games far too often to be considered one. That means I'm not a "casual" gamer, either.

"Mainstream" gamers tend to play a lot of shooters and action games, titles with instant, violent gratification and plenty of grit. While I enjoy games like these from time to time, I also enjoy so many other classes of virtual entertainment. So, I can't be a "mainstream" gamer.

What does that leave? There is no real term that refers to the type of gamer that I am. I play all sorts of games, from shooters to social simulators to strategy games. From Team Fortress 2 to Animal Crossing, I do it all. What does that make me?

Looking at all the words in the English language, I can't seem to find one that, when combined with "gamer", describes my playing habits. For a while I considered the title of "True Gamer", but I felt that to be stuck up and elitist. I also thought that maybe "Just-For-Fun Gamer" would work, but that sounded too much like a casual gamer. No combination of words seems to describe the kind of gamer that I am.

Looking at it all, I'm beginning to think that this whole classification deal is pointless. No two gamers are truly alike, and thus, no groups or classes of gamers can be decided. To me, the words "casual", "hardcore" and "mainstream" mean very little. Wii Sports, The Conduit, Super Mario Galaxy, they're all the same to me. They're all just games. And us...

We're all just gamers

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have the solution: OMNIGAMER, for you play everything.

I like the last line of the article, though, seriously. We's all jus' gamers, yo :)

Anonymous said...

You're an Avid Gamer.

Me Too.

A gamer is someone who plays games.

An avid gamers plays LOTs of games and generally plays games in multiple categories, casual, hardcore, mainstream, whatever.