'Gamers' don't have to be your audience. 'Gamers' are over. - Polidicks

[QUOTE]I often say I’m a video game culture writer, but lately I don’t know exactly what that means. ‘Game culture’ as we know it is kind of embarrassing -- it’s not even culture. It’s buying things, spackling over memes and in-jokes repeatedly, and it’s getting mad on the internet. It’s young men queuing with plush mushroom hats and backpacks and jutting promo poster rolls. Queuing passionately for hours, at events around the world, to see the things that marketers want them to see. To find out whether they should buy things or not. They don’t know how to dress or behave. Television cameras pan across these listless queues, and often catch the expressions of people who don’t quite know why they themselves are standing there. ‘Games culture’ is a petri dish of people who know so little about how human social interaction and professional life works that they can concoct online ‘wars’ about social justice or ‘game journalism ethics,’ straight-faced, and cause genuine human consequences. Because of video games.[/QUOTE] Source: [url]http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/224400/Gamers_dont_have_to_be_your_audience_Gamers_are_over.php[/url]

hit the nail right on the head

So is she claiming gamers are a parasite to society while writing for a gaming journalist site?

[QUOTE=Fangz;45828131]So is [I]he[/I] claiming gamers are a parasite to society while writing for a gaming journalist site? The irony is delicious.[/QUOTE] Leigh Alexander wrote the piece. Take from that what you will.

I came in here expecting some shitty Kotaku article. I can see the point the author is trying to make, but he seems to be on that "hurdur basement dweller" rant. "Gamer" culture anymore is fucking embarrassing.

[QUOTE=Fangz;45828131]So is he claiming gamers are a parasite to society while writing for a gaming journalist site?[/QUOTE] I don't think you know what irony means. He points it out, himself at the very beginning [quote]I often say I’m a video game culture writer, but lately I don’t know exactly what that means.[/quote] He isn't happy about this or his job.

Sure, when you paint it like that, if you use the term "gamer" to refer to the COD-playing socially-awkward group of entitled dudes, and use it exclusively so. Last time I checked though, it wasn't confined to that definition. [quote]they can concoct online ‘wars’ about social justice or ‘game journalism ethics,’ straight-faced, and cause genuine human consequences. Because of video games.[/quote] And once again, that entire clusterfuck is being either misunderstood or misrepresented.

"gamers" became irrelevant around the time they started rejecting certain games for not being 'real games'

[QUOTE]“Gamer” isn’t just a dated demographic label that most people increasingly prefer not to use. Gamers are over. That’s why they’re so mad. These obtuse shitslingers, these wailing hyper-consumers, these childish internet-arguers -- they are not my audience. They don’t have to be yours. There is no ‘side’ to be on, there is no ‘debate’ to be had..[/QUOTE] Leight said, while atop his high horse.

All i can say is the term gamer is really off to me, since you don't call athletes or people who watch sports "sporters" . Especially when someone says "I'm a gamer!" No, you're a person who plays video games. If you're going to make a term for something, adding "er" only really works if the prefix is a verb. "Teach"er, since you can team somebody. The term "Let's go game" is rarely used, and only really started being used the same time gamer was.

the fuck you say about gamers I promise I am a hardcore grill gamer and will fite u in real life I sware on me mum that my powerful gaming fingers will use my thousand times folded katana steel to slice you in half. lunchyard at 3

leigh alexander isn't a dude, ya dinguses

This whole article is just a continuation of the argument that gamers are vitrolic sperglords just like the continuation of feminsts being man hating sperglords. This article servers no function, it doesn't hit the nail on the head. It instead of actually looking at the industry or even attempting to understand the core of the anger being felt, insults it. It bemuses it, treats it like a noble treating a commoner looking for a reason why he can't have a loaf of bread. The idea that Gaming culture is the only culture with a circle jerk is hilarious, since every form of media has said circlejerk. There are peer agreed on important milestones in Television, Movies, Literature. For Genres. The article then links 3 different other articles that no only blatantly ignore facts but don't even themselves attempt to dig into the issue. This article is just the continued, insulting tradition of gaming journalists insulting the gaming public to make themselves seem superior. This article adds nothing but fuel to a fire and is biased to a degree that it'd be championed by one side of the extreme, and insulted or ignored by the other. This writer has done nothing.

-snip-

[QUOTE=Punchy;45828165]all i can say is the term gamer is really annoying to me because you don't call athletes or people who watch sports "sporters" especially when someone says "i'm a gamer!" No, you're a person who plays video games.[/QUOTE] Gamer is probably a contraction of "game player". The definition of that phrase would be someone who "Plays video games."

The most sensible people in the gaming industry are the ones who quietly realise the whole situation is shit and not partake in the discussions and just buy fucking things that entertain them. I realise I'm being a hypocrite in saying this (and having 250+ games on Steam) but having "favourites" or blindly defending a fucking [I]video game company[/I] or even hating on them is just pedantic and actually pretty pathetic when you look at it. The best audience to target is ones who are in it for a nice time, not spitting acid at each other over Reddit/4Chan. And so I'm not being hated, FP is generally those people in GGD. Except in Sensationalist Headlines... [editline]28th August 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Craigewan;45828177]Gamer is probably a contraction of "game player". The definition of that phrase would be someone who "Plays video games."[/QUOTE] It's like saying "I'm a Movier" or something everyone's a fucking gamer. It's a stupid term that you generally rarely, if ever, should have to use. Also this line in the article [quote]You know, [B]young white dudes[/B] with disposable income who like to Get Stuff. [/quote] Was that entirely necessary? I'm not trying to sound like somebody who's getting angry at nothing but that's kind of a dumb thing to say.

[QUOTE=Propane Addict;45828172]the fuck you say about gamers I promise I am a hardcore grill gamer and will fite u in real life I sware on me mum that my powerful gaming fingers will use my thousand times folded katana steel to slice you in half. lunchyard at 3[/QUOTE] swing first bro

Sayre's Law, often invoked in the Kissinger context: the conflicts surrounding video games are so bitter precisely because the stakes are so low.

[QUOTE=Manibogi;45828175]No, you call them athletes.[/QUOTE] you call them spectators...

[QUOTE=Craigewan;45828177]Gamer is probably a contraction of "game player". The definition of that phrase would be someone who "Plays video games."[/QUOTE] It's rarely really used like that nowadays though. Gamer is slung around just like nerd or geek, Even for people who just watch streams and never play games can coin the term gamer just for having some sort of link to the genre

Very true. I get a bit annoyed when news outlets use the usual stereotypes of 'spotty, pale teens etc. etc. same old ill informed bollocks'. I think Newsnight did that recently during a report on Dota 2's The International and the rise of eSports. People play games, or don't play games. Gamers no longer exist.

[QUOTE=Swilly;45828174]This whole article is just a continuation of the argument that gamers are vitrolic sperglords just like the continuation of feminsts being man hating sperglords. This article servers no function, it doesn't hit the nail on the head. It instead of actually looking at the industry or even attempting to understand the core of the anger being felt, insults it. It bemuses it, treats it like a noble treating a commoner looking for a reason why he can't have a loaf of bread. The idea that Gaming culture is the only culture with a circle jerk is hilarious, since every form of media has said circlejerk. There are peer agreed on important milestones in Television, Movies, Literature. For Genres. The article then links 3 different other articles that no only blatantly ignore facts but don't even themselves attempt to dig into the issue. This article is just the continued, insulting tradition of gaming journalists insulting the gaming public to make themselves seem superior. This article adds nothing but fuel to a fire and is biased to a degree that it'd be championed by one side of the extreme, and insulted or ignored by the other. This writer has done nothing.[/QUOTE] I would say its rather accurate.

[QUOTE=ZombieDawgs;45828190] It's like saying "I'm a Movier" or something everyone's a fucking gamer. It's a stupid term that you generally rarely, if ever, should have to use.[/QUOTE] Gamer is the equivilant of Comic Book Lover, Movie Enthusiast, TV Binge Watcher. You have fandoms just around specific fucking TV shows like Dr.Who being called Whoovians. This isn't some strange alien concept, this has been here forever.

You can complain and rant about neckbeards and memes all you want, but at the end of the day nothing sounds more embarrassing than a female faux pseudojournalist calling herself a 'Video Game Culture Writer'.

[QUOTE=ZombieDawgs;45828190]The most sensible people in the gaming industry are the ones who quietly realise the whole situation is shit and not partake in the discussions and just buy fucking things that entertain them. I realise I'm being a hypocrite in saying this (and having 250+ games on Steam) but having "favourites" or blindly defending a fucking [I]video game company[/I] or even hating on them is just pedantic and actually pretty pathetic when you look at it. The best audience to target is ones who are in it for a nice time, not spitting acid at each other over Reddit/4Chan. And so I'm not being hated, FP is generally those people in GGD. Except in Sensationalist Headlines... [editline]28th August 2014[/editline] It's like saying "I'm a Movier" or something everyone's a fucking gamer. It's a stupid term that you generally rarely, if ever, should have to use.[/QUOTE] I'm not the one using it, I agree the term is irrelevant, but I'm not the one claiming that they people traditionally represented by that term have suddenly become an irrelevance and disappeared. The people traditionally represented by it are still there, and still the largest/most dedicated audience for the reception of vidyagaems.

Gamasutra's comments are always a great read. What I really don't understand is what exactly is meant by [I]gamer culture[/I]. So many different things come to mind and most of them seem to have their own cultures.

[QUOTE=NoDachiUK;45828214]I would say its rather accurate.[/QUOTE] I would say its not because it generalizes to a degree that it fails. It is generalizing to insult said group which should never, ever be condoned ever.

[QUOTE=NoDachiUK;45828214]I would say its rather accurate.[/QUOTE] Judging a group of people based on the vocal and visible minority. No, it's a shit article that contributes nothing.

I think the easiest way to look at it, is who fucking cares? I'm a gamer because my biggest passion and hobby is video-games, both playing and designing them. "Gamer" is nothing more than a term to describe people whom have a very big investment in gaming as a hobby. It does not imply anything beyond what it explicitly states to be. This article is pointless and literally does not need to exist.

[QUOTE=Swilly;45828227]I would say its not because it generalizes to a degree that it fails. It is generalizing to insult said group which should never, ever be condoned ever.[/QUOTE] I found it a pretty accurate observation when compared with my own observation