What is Digg?51 Comments
- stronglikedan, on 04/08/2008, -0/+16Who cares? If you play video games regularly, you are a gamer. If you golf regularly, you are a golfer. Seriously...who gives a ***** about a term? I agree with the author's counterpoint to the stupid point.
- byronm, on 04/08/2008, -1/+8Why does it even matter? Labels are only as strong as the idiots who sustain them. Its not the fault of the "gamers" that "gamers" would be a label with any insinuation to it outside of those actually making the insinuation to begin with.
This guy probably hates "liberals" and "hippies" and "scientists" and everything else too. - zyl0x, on 04/08/2008, -1/+8I'm a gamer, and I'm proud. This guys needs to get a life; maybe stop worrying so much about what other people like to do with their free time. Ever been to PAX? Largest, most entertaining expo I've ever been to. It's a celebration of games and of people who label THEMSELVES "gamers". The term is far from being "played out".
Buried. - Harabeck, on 04/08/2008, -0/+6It's well understood that "gamer" includes a huge sub-culture as well as casuals. The quote is a big to-do about nothing, the newsweek author is right.
- Lazn0r, on 04/08/2008, -0/+6I think we should be called "Pixelteers".
- inactive, on 04/08/2008, -0/+5I AM GAMER. HEAR ME CLICK!
- edborden, on 04/08/2008, -0/+5No, but the author's conclusion I thought was spot on
- gameyharp, on 04/08/2008, -0/+4"The very notion of the "gamer" implies that games are a niche hobby, only for the sufficiently devoted. This exclusivity is exactly what impedes games from attracting a more diverse player base beyond the white adolescent male stereotype."
Does the term gamer really make people turn away from trying games? That just sounds stupid. - Lazn0r, on 04/08/2008, -0/+4He's right. That "tuber" anecdote is dumb, "gamer" is only used by those who game as a hobby not as a casual thing. Television watchers have "Couch-Potato", we have "gamer" both are good. Both stay.
- TheMean, on 04/08/2008, -0/+3Saving a planet, is the thing to do!
- MercFox1, on 04/08/2008, -0/+3"The very notion of the "gamer" implies that games are a niche hobby, only for the sufficiently devoted. This exclusivity is exactly what impedes games from attracting a more diverse player base beyond the white adolescent male stereotype."
Bogus. I know plenty of people who play games outside the majority. A large number of that "minority group" starts with RPGs and sports games, but when they branch out into Strategy games or FPSes, they find something they like and stick with it. If people are staying away from "gaming" because they view it as a niche hobby, they're doing themselves a disservice, and it is in our best interests to fix that; abolishing the term "gamer" isn't going to fix the problem.
Besides, Doug WIlson's premise that TV doesn't do that same thing is flawed, case in point: Reality show watchers, devoted fans of Mythbusters (I am one), HD snobs, those that just watch it for news...the same subsets exist in television viewers, but there aren't any grandiose labels that define them. I'm pretty sure if anything is killing TV viewing, it's the writers and the content (you could say the same for gaming), not some silly label a program's following has garnered. - blah247, on 04/08/2008, -0/+3I've never referred to myself as a 'gamer' although I play a video games and have for 20+ years. I don't refer to myself as a 'cooker' or a 'driver' or a 'internet lookeruper' either even though I do all those activities.
- GeekyGerge, on 04/08/2008, -0/+2Playa
- Xanrez, on 04/08/2008, -0/+2*yawn* It's not going anywhere. It will always be there to discern between "I play video games." and "I'm a gamer." If it's not {gamer} it will be {insert new slang term here}.
- bosssmiley, on 04/08/2008, -0/+2Needs more pretension. Possibly "Diggeur"?
- surKaz, on 04/08/2008, -0/+2Stupid Digg... screwed my comment up.. here's the full thing..
All of the comments above agree that:
1. The term gamer is not played out
2. It labels a wide/diverse group of people who play. The term doesn't really exclude anybody. Anybody who plays games/ reads about them is a gamer.
3. The author of the quote should chill out. We also aren't a niche community...
4. Serious comments/arguments/points made by most diggers here. Where am I?
5. The authors rebuttal and verdict was fairly agreeable.
- inactive, on 04/08/2008, -0/+2i spend about 30 hours a week gaming and have gone through probably 16 hour stretches of nothing but. my addiction to gaming, energy drinks, coffee and cigarettes makes me both equal parts gamer and loser XD
- o0joshua0o, on 04/08/2008, -0/+2I think the word "player" is much less cliquish, and more respectable. It's more on par with the term "viewer" or "reader".
- surKaz, on 04/08/2008, -0/+2All of the comments above agree that:
1. The term gamer is not played out
2. It labels a wider/diverse group of people who play
3. The - Scira, on 04/08/2008, -0/+2We're the Pixleteers! You can be one too!
- bosssmiley, on 04/08/2008, -0/+2There's always "Diggetante", for those who just dabble...
- inactive, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1I'm not your guy, friend.
- staffell, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1Umm
- GiJoeBob, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1Lame.
- Scira, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1I thought gamer was the term to describe people who are significantly more then casual players. As for the television example there are people who will just watch what ever is on, and there are the people that watch their old favorites over and over, practically memorizing each episode.
- dafragsta, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1Does anyone remember when "lamer" was the derogatory epithet du jour? I could never help it when someone called themselves a gamer, that would pop into my head.
- lnxfi, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1thumb jockey
- verkon, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1You are a gamer if you enjoy games and know the back story of games and such.
You own several systems and perhaps do not favour one system before the other.
You are not a gamer if you just play halo and madden, or other sports games or action based games that are popular. - purzzzell, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1I think the difference b/t "player of video games" and "gamer" is similar to the difference b/t "normal person that watches 30-90 min of television/day" to "couch potato"
- bbqsalad, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1DUMB.
- sindex, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1There's nothing wrong with the term "gamer." That's like saying we shouldn't call people who work in banks "bankers."
If you want to bring more people into the fold of gaming, make games that appeal to a wider group of people, but don't criticize the the name of the group of people already pushing your industry to its current 7-billion dollar a year level. - ybotoby, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1people who watch TV do have a name. TV watchers, viewers, home audience. dumb article
- surKaz, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1How about Diggoisseur?.. Hmm.. I don't like adding the word 'sewer' in anything.
- surKaz, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1'Couch Potato' implies more than 30-90 min of television/day. While 'Player of Video Games' (PoVG) and 'Gamer', in my opinion are fairly interchangeable. Except one sounds more grandeur.
- Atom, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1This is pretty dumb if you ask me. Why in the world would we call ourselves "avid players of digital games" instead of just gamers? It not only sounds stupid, but it is still creating a label for ourselves. Besides, this isnt just interactive TV, most games really do take thought and strategy into account, while others require quick reflexes and twitch skills.
- bowserkid, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1What turns people away from gaming is bad games and/or bad ads. The term just may stop people from admitting they play games too. I mean my mom plays more games than me these days, but she'd never call herself a gamer.
- unicronband, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1MY GAMERSCORE IS TOO BIG TO IGNORE!
- surKaz, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1We aren't extinct... yet
- adam.skinner, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1People are gamers when they define themselves as such. I am a gamer. My life has largely been permeated by games of one kind or another. I am "game oriented" - a game enthusiast. Computer games, physical games, board games, lateral thinking puzzles.
When I was a kid, I would rock climb. A lot. I was a climber. I thought about climbing. When I walked by a building, I thought "I could climb that" - same thing as I passed the granite bluffs that surround the highways in NH. I was a climber.
Some people are gamers. They think about strategy, about the tactics they would use, about particular games or games in general. They might even take a hand at designing games or modifying rules. You might research the game, play a game for hours every day (MMORPGs and FPS/RTS aficionados are like this).
These people are self-defined gamers.
They are different from the majority. - inactive, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1i love how a total noob wrote the article telling us what to do
- bowserkid, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1Re: #4
You're obviously in a parallel universe. We all have goatees here -- and cowboy hats. - inactive, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1ugh, burried
- defektiv, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1i wholeheartedly agree. the name can stay although i get his point. tired of the stereotypes, though. it wasn't until the past 3 or 4 years that i've been able to openly admit my hobby is games at work without having people laugh or roll their eyes.
while we're at it, lets legalize and do the same thing for marijuana. everyone is doing it and too many decent people are being criminalized for it while the cops doing the deed are getting drunk every night and beating their wives. (note: that last stereotype on cops makes me hypocritical so i figure i'd disclaim it for what it is, a statement to serve as an analogy to make my point only) - OMGAero, on 04/08/2008, -1/+1Dugg solely because I have an annoying friend who uses the term gamer as if it makes him part of a new race. I much prefer to say to something that I like playing games, not that I'm a gamer.
- lnxfi, on 04/08/2008, -2/+1Exactly, so what.
My captca was perv3 :( - justananomaly, on 04/08/2008, -2/+1In my opinion a gamer refers to someone who uses games via console, handheld, or pc, as their main form of entertainment. Of course nobody can call themselves a gamer without being able to list NES Konami games in reverse alphabetical order.
- SirPopper, on 04/08/2008, -2/+0AMAZING 26 duggs and 1 comment.
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