To Be Or Not To Be........A Gamer.

Ahh,the age old question;what defines a gamer?This is a question I always considered to be self explanatory.I've always considered myself to be a hardcore gamer.So seeing as how I consider myself to be a hardcore gamer,then I also consider myself to be qualified to define one,so here goes.A gamer (hardcore or otherwise) is someone who's passion is playing video games.It is their hobby of choice and they spend most of their time doing it.A gamer reads all the gaming mags and websites.They not only care about the games,they care about the gaming industry.

I'm going to pause here because I consider this to be one of the key seperating factors between gamer and casual gamer.
What sparked me to write this was a recent webisode of "The Bonus Round" over at Gametrailers.com.They were discussing the importance of downloadable games going forward.One of the guests was Kellee Santiago (president and co-founder of "ThatGameCompany",the creators of "Flow").Shortly in she says that the head on Manifesto Games said he wanted to create a portal for downloadable games,but have games that appealed to actual gamers.Apparently she was offended by this as she went on to say that he was "discrediting middle aged women that liked to play bejeweled, as gamers."

The thing is that middle aged women that like to play bejeweled aren't "actual gamers".Casual gamers aren't "actual gamers".Actual gamers care about their hobby,they care about the state of the gaming industry.Actual gamers care about the sales figures of their favorite console or game.Actual gamers take offense when some moron says that games make people do bad things.Actual gamers have lots of games with lots of variety and play them every chance they get.

Casual gamers,on the other hand,know nothing about the gaming industry.They don't care about the gaming industry,let alone it's current state or where it is heading.Casual gamers don't spend loads of time scouring the internet trying to find new things to read or watch concerning video games or the gaming industry.Casual gamers don't care when some idiot attacks the gaming industry or a particular game.Hell,I've known quite a few casual gamers that would actually agree with and rally behind the attacker.

Casual gamers are usually the sports fans who only buy Madden every single year or whatever their game may be.I work with a middle aged guy who has a PS2 and owns 4 games:Socom,Socom2,Socom3 and Socom:Combined Assault.Thats all he plays,and he plays it alot.But that still doesn't make him an actual gamer.He doesn't care about video games,he just cares about Socom.If they quite making Socom he'd quite playing games,simple as that.

For years and years we've heard the major gaming companies sing the song of pulling in the casual market.But they know who butters their bread.The only console I've ever seen to have truly mass market appeal is the Wii.But I'm convinced that the Wii's success can be attributed to a fad.It's popular right now,but popularity never lasts and ultimately it's fate will be rested right back into the laps of the purist,the "actual gamers".

I've been playing games since the Atari 2600 and have owned every game system to ever come out (almost).I love video games and the gaming industry.I care what happens with my hobby/obsession.In the end, the fate of any game/console does not rest in the hands of the middle aged mom that likes to play Bejeweled,the sports guy that only plays Madden or even my freind, "the socom guy".Ultimately those fates rest in the hands of the people who actually play all their games and game consoles,the actual gamers.

No,casual gamers ARE NOT actual gamers.And YES, there is a BIG difference.