Being a snob about games

"You're not a real gamer!"
"Ew you play Sims 3! Filth."
"She's just a fake gamer"

The above are a few things people have said to me or about me in regards to games.As a result of this, I've become careful about not calling myself a "gamer" but rather... a "game enthusiast". It seems the gaming community has not deemed me worthy of the title of gamer.

Is it because I don't play Halo? Is it because I have no idea what skyrim is? Is it because I always accidentally shoot my own teammates in counterstrike? Is it because I'm not in diamond league on starcraft 2? Because I suck at Dota? Because I've never played Call of Duty?
But I have played games such as Super Mario Bros, Tetris, Street fighter, Raiden II and Metal Slug since I was little. I'm a huge fan of the Final Fantasy series, and bought Playstation 3 just so I could play XIII (I know, I'm one of those people). I still have my gameboy colour and all my pokemon game cartridges!


Do the games you play help define whether you're a gamer or not? I think this might be the case.
Even if, on facebook, you had the most beautiful farm on farmville out of all of your friends, or the most beautiful house in Sims Social, you probably wouldn't be considered a gamer.
Of course you wouldn't! They're not real games!
heh. I'm just kidding.
Kinda.

As seen from discussions in both lecture and tutorial, the label of "gamer" is unfixed. It is all, perhaps, about identity. If you think yourself a gamer and call yourself a gamer, then you are one.
I, however, don't want to anger the gaming community by calling myself a gamer!
just kidding.
But I do think that the gaming community has a huge influence in the definition of "gamer". They gauge it by how often you play games, what games you play and how good you are at those games. But I think the most important factor is the game. if you played dota everyday, no one would have second thoughts about calling you a gamer. However, if you played Robot Unicorn attack everyday, I'm pretty sure no one would call you a gamer.
(Here's the link to the game by the way: http://games.adultswim.com/robot-unicorn-attack-twitchy-online-game.html)

As for myself, I would never touch farmville or sims social and I regard these games with distaste. I constantly tell people to STOP INVITING ME BECAUSE I'LL NEVER PLAY THOSE GAMES!
I'm proud of my knowledge about Starcraft and my skill at tetris. I say things like "i can't believe you've never played Super Mario Bros!" As well as this, I am always impressed when people have knowledge of and play classic arcade games. I think it's because it makes me think that these people truly love games, and aren't just playing for the graphics or the technology. In that way, I guess I'm also a snob about games.

Maybe I'd be able to call myself a gamer if I still lived in the 90s.

As a side note: When Kevin used the phrase "angry 14 year old" in the lecture on friday, it reminded me of this webcomic which made me laugh
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/online_gaming

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