I never understood this concept. The idea of creating a definition for a group of people purely based on their hobby. I don't call myself a movie-goer, or a TV enthusiast, or a book reader. So why are games so exclusive to this trend in entertainment? When you think about it, it is a very negative term. Turning an entire medium into a clique. Considering the gaming industry is trying it's best to sever ties with this notion that gamers are teenage sociopaths who would rather spend time popping heads online with other teenage sociopaths, the term "gamer" isn't very appealing to the hundreds of thousands of people who don't fit that description.

The video game business is opening up to newer markets, and however that makes you feel, it's happening. There's no use fighting it and renouncing companies or games on a message board. So maybe we should start helping the industry to drop their negative title and abandon the "gamer" title. I don't call myself a gamer. I never really thought about it before. I usually just tell people I play games if they ask. That doesn't mean I won't correct them if they call me a gamer. That would be like someone correcting me for misusing some sub-genre of music. I'm sure several other people wouldn't call me a gamer too if they saw the games I played, which is part of the problem. It seems that each "gamer" defines the term differently depending on what games you've played. It's a pretty unattractive trait that would probably put me off games if I didn't play them. No one likes being forced to do things as they are being introduced to something. If you told me I don't like good movies, then told me to watch several picks of your favourites, I'd probably tell you to fuck off and let me watch my so-called crappy movies.

Why do we need to define ourselves by a hobby anyway? Fair enough, some people take it more seriously than others, and that's great. There are people who do the same for movies and books and music, but they don't use a word to define themselves. At most they might describe themselves as an enthusiast, which I think sounds much better for both parties. It doesn't put off the average joe who plays games a few times a week for an hour or two, and it gives the serious person a sense of importance thanks to their title. I suppose this blog is rather pointless, since the term will never die. Hopefully it will one day. It doesn't help the industry, and it doesn't really help people who play games. Maybe if they are talking to someone else who likes them as much as they do, but even then it makes them look elitist to everyone else. Like they are part of a secret club.

OK I'm done ranting now. Back to Rapture. Oh yeah, brought back the NIN banner now Randy is out of action ;_;