Maybe you could call them a mainstream gamer, but Marvel Rivals and extraction shooters are not fake games, so I don’t know that the people who play them should be called fake gamers.
It’s more like…would you call yourself a fan of Japanese food if the only Japanese food you ever ate was sushi?
Videogames are a very mainstream medium, but it seems like anyone who plays them still considers themselves a gamer. Is my mom a gamer because she plays Candy Crush on her phone? At a certain point it became a hobby that anyone can enjoy, and the label of gamer is now more used for people who play a lot of games.
If someone’s favorite board game is Settlers of Catan, I’m still happy to let them call themselves boardgamers if they so choose. I might try to subtly try introduce them to games that are more… good, but I don’t feel the need to exclude them just because they’re basic.
What’s the problem? My dad was a gamer when I was a kid watching him play Gamecube, and he was still a gamer the way he kept on top of Candy Crush and My Singing Monsters as new content was added when I was in high school.
Would you consider someone who exclusively plays Hearts of Iron IV for hours each week a gamer, even though they’re not playing lots of games?
What you’re describing I might call a hardcore gamer, but I think if someone feels gaming of some sort is a part of their identity enough to call themself a gamer, I’m fine with calling them one. It’s just too difficult to pin down one common definition that everyone can agree on for me to do otherwise.
Maybe you could call them a mainstream gamer, but Marvel Rivals and extraction shooters are not fake games, so I don’t know that the people who play them should be called fake gamers.
It’s more like…would you call yourself a fan of Japanese food if the only Japanese food you ever ate was sushi?
Videogames are a very mainstream medium, but it seems like anyone who plays them still considers themselves a gamer. Is my mom a gamer because she plays Candy Crush on her phone? At a certain point it became a hobby that anyone can enjoy, and the label of gamer is now more used for people who play a lot of games.
If someone’s favorite board game is Settlers of Catan, I’m still happy to let them call themselves boardgamers if they so choose. I might try to subtly try introduce them to games that are more… good, but I don’t feel the need to exclude them just because they’re basic.
“I’m a fan of Japanese food, sushi specifically.”
“I’m a fan of gaming, Overwatch specifically.”
What’s the problem? My dad was a gamer when I was a kid watching him play Gamecube, and he was still a gamer the way he kept on top of Candy Crush and My Singing Monsters as new content was added when I was in high school.
Would you consider someone who exclusively plays Hearts of Iron IV for hours each week a gamer, even though they’re not playing lots of games?
What you’re describing I might call a hardcore gamer, but I think if someone feels gaming of some sort is a part of their identity enough to call themself a gamer, I’m fine with calling them one. It’s just too difficult to pin down one common definition that everyone can agree on for me to do otherwise.