Types of Gamers

Ok this is inspired but an episode of "The Game Overthinker"(google it, watch the series) and let me just say that MovieBob is definitely an intelligent and entertaining guy on all of his shows(He also does "Escape to the movies" and "The Big Picture" on The Escapist) and people should go check out his stuff.

Let's look at the types of gamers we know and then I'll get to the main point of this blog post. Let's start with the "Casual Gamers"

What is a "Casual Gamer"? Well as far as people seem to be concerned, it's a person who plays small, pointless games that have no depth, storyline, small amount of mapped buttons and is played by women mainly. Ok I admit even I'm not really completely sure what constitutes a "Casual Gamer" 100% but this seems to be the basics that gets reiterated online. These gamers usually play games like Bejewelled, Tetris, Farmvile, Brain Training, The Sims and the list goes on. It seems if you play games that actually help improve mental activity, your a "Casual Gamer". Well I hate to admit this to the "Hardcore Gamers" but I play these games every once in a while... except Farmville.

Now as for the "Hardcore Gamers", what is a "Hardcore Gamer"? In a nut shell you can just say people who own Xbox 360's but that's incorrect as wells as being accurate. "Hardcore Gamers" are people who play video games that are usually violent and contain adult content and play online frequently with other people in competitive matches. These gamers are mainly newer generation or reformed jocks who have only been playing games since the late 90's. The games they usually play are Call Of Duty, Halo, Mass Effect, Gears Of War, Killzone and the list goes on for eternity. I don't really play these types of games very often and pretty much don't like them very much either.

Then there's the "Fanboys" who only own one companies consoles or just one console of each generation or like a specific genre of games. These people only play the games on the console of choice and usually own the majority of the exclusive titles on it or own every console just to be able to play a specific genre of games. "Fanboy" has also become an insulting term for a person who's passionate about their choice or defend their choice.

Now here's the question? what about those gamers who enjoy games like Ratchet and Clank, Super Mario bros, Final Fantasy and all the other games not synonymous with the "Hardcore" or "Casual gamer? Well there isn't one. And what about the gamer who owns every console and plays any type of game? There isn't one.

Does this mean they need titles? Yes and no. Yes to make those who need labels happy and no because the labels are pointless. If they must get names how about for those who like games that don't fit in the current types of gamers "Enjoyment Gamers" who put the enjoyment of the game over things like blood and guts or puzzles and problem solving and for those who own everything and play any type of games "Devoted Gamers"(Which I pretty much am) who love games so much it doesn't matter what console a game is on and which audience it's meant for, it's about playing games and having fun. These are only suggestion for labels but I'd rather not bother with labels. Hell even the label gamer isn't really needed either. Also speaking of the label "Gamer" you should watch the "Gamer" episode of Extra Creditz on The Escapist, trust me all the episode are good but this is an eye opener.

The world is full of people who enjoy video games so why do we need more prejudice as well? Seriously between racism, religious intolerance and social classes do we need the same thing among people who play video games? Sure I like the term "Gamer" but now that there are more people who play games now in comparison to when it was first introduce it's become a pointless term for the most part. I'm still going to use it though.

I don't see the labels in video games ending anytime soon but there are really only 2 types of gamers. Those who play games a lot like me and those who play for short periods of times... in other words casually play games. Look at it this way, if you play less then 4 hours a day your a casual gamer. If you play more then that you are an obsessive gamer like me. These are not labels, just truths about the habit.