#18 I'm bored of the word gamer
That question - are you a gamer? makes my blood boil.
It’s a question that is that’s exclusionary, unhelpful and archaic - an attempt to create a sense of otherness, whether it’s used positively or negatively.
While historically it was a term of scorn - ‘oh they’re a gamer’ - today it’s become something used as a gatekeeper to try and keep unwanted people out of the hobby - and to be unwanted can be something as simple and hurtful online as not being a straight white teenage or 20 something male.
And because it has a binary answer - it makes it oh so easy to exclude people who don’t fit your stereotypes - simply by saying “You’re not a real gamer’ is a phrase thrown around far too often and one we need to consign to the scrapheap.
It’s also a concept which is culturally irrelevant - because in the same way everyone enjoys music, tv, film and literature in different ways and with different levels of passion, people enjoy gaming in the same way. This isn’t a new argument - and it’s ridiculous that we still need to be making it in 2020.
But it does need to be made - not least because of ridiculous rubbish like Activision Blizzard’s ‘Gallery of the Gamer’.
Not a gamer, the gamer, as if there’s only a set number of ways someone can be a true gamer.
That name alone and the big opening image you can see at the start of this newsletter act as gatekeepers, telling people who don’t consider themselves gamers that they’re not welcome. This isn’t how one of the world’s largest gaming companies should be acting.
And they know it too - once you make it past that ridiculous opening, Activision do attempt to challenge the stereotypes and suggest that everyone is a gamer today. but they do it in such a cliche-filled way that it’s only going to embarrass everyone involved.
I’d be ok if we talked about people who love gaming more than the norm in the same way we talk about film and music fans - game buffs have a nice twee ring to it. But continuing to make out that gaming is something out of the ordinary and needs its own special word has to stop - we don’t describe people who watch films or go to gigs as ‘filmers’ or musicers, so why keep doing it for gamers?
After all, gaming is as culturally relevant today as both of those mediums (and weathering the pandemic a good deal better).
Find me someone who doesn’t enjoy a round of Mario Kart, Scrabble with friends - or some hard earned me time earning XP and new outfits on Duolingo. All are as equally valid forms of gaming as sitting down for an 8 hour Last of Us 2 marathon.
Part of this comes back to my other pet peeve - the console wars. Unless your gaming takes place on the latest and greatest PCs and consoles, it’s somehow seen as less important and relevant. That’s something we need to change as fans of gaming and fast. Because like it or not, our hobby has gone mainstream, and we need to open doors to new fans, rather than looking for ways to exclude them.
So let’s stop describing ourselves as gamers. That doesn’t mean going back to the dark days of hiding our hobby, in fact we need to the do the opposite. If anyone asks, I’m happy to share with them the amazing experiences I’ve enjoyed recently, but I also need to remember to ask them what they’ve enjoyed playing or are interested in trying. As that’s how we’ll make our area of culture feel genuinely inclusive to people who don’t currently consider themselves as gamers - by ending the breakdown between gamers and none gamers all together.
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