Explanation: Gamers Defined

Reasons for my Choices

Casual Gamer: A permissive person who plays at irregular / infrequent intervals.

• Neutral Gamer: A type of person who really enjoys the time playing.

• Impulsive Gamer: A type of person who just plays seeing it as second nature.

With the "Casual Gamer" I wanted it to be a definition of how they somehow happen to play games by chance instead of choice or is unconcerned with video games altogether. I also used my experience with another medium and how tolerant I am towards it. I don't go looking for the medium, but it comes by me I'll watch if everyone is doing it.

Hardcore Gamer: A Person who knows the basics of the industry, is an informed gamer, generally challenges themselves/sets goals, knows what they want, and strives to get it, is what centrally drives them to games.

• Cyber Athlete/Professional (Pro) Gamer: Is a type of person who plays games for money almost to the point where it's like a career or looking for money by playing video games.

• Retro Gamer: Is a type of person who enjoys playing/collecting vintage games and can't live without the backward-compatibility/emulators on platforms.

• Import Gamer: Is a type of person who loves playing games that aren't from their region even if it's in a different language.

• Elite Gamer: Is a type of person who knows a lot about their particular platform, thinks it's the best no matter what, and would rather be caught dead instead of playing games on the rival platform(s).

• Fanatic (Fan-Base) Gamer: Is a type of person who can be a follower in numbers/sales (National Purchase Diary), games (franchises, series), genres (Real-Time Strategy, First Person Shooter), developer(s)/person(s), products (toys, special controllers, special canned beverages), and overall have an intense liking, occasionally has an overwhelming obsession.

Mental Note: There might be other types of hardcore/casual gamers.

What I'm going to talk about here are "Elite Gamers" and "Fanatic Gamers" to show you why I made them significantly different. I did mention why in the original, but I'm hoping this can make people understand better. Fan, is a devotee of a pop star, sport, or hobby. Fanatic, a person who is excessively enthusiastic about something. Elite, most powerful, rich, or gifted members of a group; a belief that society should be governed by a small group of superior people. I gave this definition because I wanted to show that being a fanatic doesn't necessarily mean you have negative qualities. Being a fanatic just means you are an ardent supporter of something. In the gaming community for some reason sees being a "fanatic" means you possess negative qualities.

A good example would be in a rugby game you'll have some players you genuinely get hyped up for a game, while others love the sport they just don't show it as openly. A movie in 2005 was about a diehard Red Sox fan with a girlfriend in "Fever Pitch" starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon. A lot of people will say a fanatic will go beyond the social norms. Then you have to ask yourself, what is the social norm and who defines it? Is talking in slang deriving from the "social norm" is being gothic deriving from the "social norm?" To me this varies on person to person even down to profession, age, or intelligence can determine that "social norm."Someone with a PHD (Doctor of Philosophy) can talk very different from a teenager or someone who's married with kid(s) compared to someone who single with no kid(s).

Without being too sidetracked there will be something we all get obsessed over with and I think being a hardcore gamer would require some form of fanaticism. Considering the tile "hardcore gamer" should imply that you have some kind of intense liking, would it make sense if you moderately like video games still being called hardcore? In the movie "Fever Pitch" a fanatic doesn't necessarily mean you're ready to fight someone who is a fanatic of something opposite in the medium you're interested in. You can easily say anyone who dresses up as a video game character derives from the social norm, one, they're grown adults two, it isn't Halloween. At the same time wouldn't that be the social norm in that particular place or industry? At the same time some people can cross the line even for gamers (COD4 Psycho) on YouTube than there are the gamers who boost/smack talk/taunt that isn't crossing the line, hey what are achievements / trophies for?

It's obvious of why I would connect what is a fanatic in the gaming industry to "elitism" and just twisted it a little. Instead of being upper class they just think they're upper class based on the platform they choose, think it should dominate, and will never touch the rival's platform.

In the end it will depend on what you consider the "social norm" and creating new definitions to fit those particular criteria. As each generation grows up we're as a society is becoming more acceptable to different types of people. Women are being seen as human beings and taking care of a child can be the equivalent to two full-time jobs, while society understands war can make men develop psychological side effects. Eventually I think the "social norm" will be defined by a psychologist and not by society itself.

Related blog: Gamers Defined