Comments: 7 Comments (Go to Comments)
Categories: Commentary
Tags: blog banter
Welcome, welcome to the 4th installment of Blog Banter, the monthly blogging extravaganza headed by bs angel! Blog Banter involves our cozy community of enthusiastic gaming bloggers, a common topic, and a week to post articles pertaining to said topic. The results are quite entertaining and can range from deep insight to ROFLMAO. Any questions about Blog Banter should be directed here. Check out other Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!
What, in your opinion, is the biggest stereotype about gamers?
Is procrastinator a gamer stereotype? Usually I’m ahead of the game with the Blog Banters, but this month I’m working right up to the deadline. Anyway, I think the biggest stereotype about gamers is …
And that’s the problem. There are stereotypes about gamers, but “gamer” is a stereotype unto itself.
There was a time, maybe, that there existed a monolithic entity known as The Gamer. Certainly in the 1970s, people who played games probably had a similar background which led them to huddle around mainframes. You could probably make generalizations about kids who grew up with the Atari 2600, the NES, or the PS1. But at this point, with the huge variety of games available over a huge variety of platforms, how can you lump people into a “gamer” profile?
Hell, at this point gaming is mainstream. Are there stereotypes about readers, people who watch tv, or listen to music?
Let me describe the gamers I know: we are gay and straight, male and female, young and … No. We are all young. We are single and married. We have protested the war in Iraq and served our country in the Marines. We have voted for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. We believe in God and gods and we are atheists and agnostic.
How do you stereotype that?
Check out these other Blog Banter articles! The Average Gamer, Silvercublogger, shinybento, Unfettered Blather, Boom Stick Brigade, Gamer Unit, Zath!, Man Bytes Blog, Game Couch, Video Game Sandwich, Delayed Responsibility, thoughts and rants, Hawty McBloggy
BSB Belpers:
I love it! Short and to the point! Perfect… you’re exactly right… and I’d say we could stereotype ourselves as “real”.
You made me realize though that I stereotype people who watch tv as “losers”… I think… why would anyone waste so much time. I think tv watchers think that same thing about gamers.
I guess that means stereotypes are perspectives, and if you’ve got a million people… you probably have at least a million stereotypes.
bs angel:
I think you make an important point that there is no stereotype that accurately describes any of us. We are all individuals and with our own preferences, our own thoughts, and our own opinions. You are right when you ask, how can we stereotype that?
Silvercube:
Very well said. I liked it :)
Weefz:
Yes, they brought up this point at a Girls in Gaming event i was at. What with web games, Facebook games, ARGs, there is waaaaay too much variation to think of gamers as a group any more. You may as well try to generalise about movie-goers.
That being said, you still stay in of a night and say “I’m planning on playing Mass Effect. Oh it’s this game I bought last week.” without being mocked by web-game crowd.
Terry:
@ BSB Belpers – Everything Bad is Good for You by Steven Johnson has some great points about how watching tv often requires making sense of mutiple characters and storylines. He also shows how television has grown more complex in the last twenty years.
@ bs angel – thanks!
@ Silvercube – and I liked the way you said your bit.
@ Weefz – Mass Effect totally transcends going out. Dude, what’s more important that saving the universe?
Valentine:
Very nice… straightforward and to the point. And yes..we are all young! :)
Bluraven79:
Wow, that was very well put, and true to boot! I guess in my own mind I do generalize “gamers” as basically the same as the “stoner” crowd (which is odd, as I’m not a stoner myself), but what you’ve said has really made me re-consider this perspective.