As the countdown for writing this blog dawned upon me, I found myself increasingly anxious at the thought of undergoing this task. This triggered a very important question in my mind: WHY? 

Indeed, why is a confident person struggling to write a simple 300 word blog about something so familiar? I've discovered the answer, and it lies within that same concept of the 'gamer'. It is no longer accurate to define a gamer as 'a person who plays a game or games'. A gamer, in this context, belongs to a far more exclusive elite. And an outsider (like myself) will undoubtedly feel slightly intimidated amongst an elite he/she does not belong to.

The next question is, do I wish to belong to this elite? Well, yes and no. Sure, it would be nice to show off my great gaming skills in front of my colleagues… But I understand that to become a ‘gamer’, one must sacrifice a lot of time and energy—both of which I am not willing to exchange for a label. I can continue to play the casual videogame, but will have to reap the consequences of my actions when more competent gamers humiliate me at social videogaming events.

Another reason for my reluctance to become a skilled and frequent videogamer is that I sometimes believe it is too late for me. Gamers are way ahead, and I am far too inadequate to catch up. I will never walk besides those gaming giants; I can only but admire them with the utmost respect.

And so, there you have it. Gamers are perhaps excluded at times, but their world is a very exclusive one. 

Samah Seger