The types of gamers you meet—part 1

There are a lot people who consider themselves video game players, but the word “gamer” means different things to different people. Here are the different kinds of “gamers” you may meet.

Elitist

On the Internet, there is a narrow demographic of gamers who are elitists. They consider themselves the only true gamers, and any other form of video gaming is beneath them.

Elitists play very few different games, often no more than three. In fact, many only play one, citing their game as the one and true game of gamers. The only kinds of games holy enough for Elitists to commit themselves to are FPS and RTS games, or mods of the same The main reason they play games is to compete with other gamers, and anyone who does so for other reasons and they play it so often that their games often have a chess-like quality to them—the best opening move and best counter-move to the best opening move become universal standards. When a build order or timed grenade becomes out of fashion and someone continues to use said build order or grenade spot they are cited as n00bs, presumably because of lack of dedication. While they exist almost solely online—the success of Halo and Halo 2, along with XBox live, has led to EZs cropping up amongst console gamers.

Where they hang out: Internet Cafes / LAN centers, MiRC channels, battle.net, Xfire, forums of professional gaming leagues

Examples of games played: Counterstrike (either), anything with the words “Unreal”, “Halo”, “Quake”, or “Craft” in it

What they talk about: Hacking, cheaters, patches, balance of the game, mods, teams, replay videos, trash-talking, computer specs, gaming leagues, n00bs, why their game is better than some other game or all other games, and anything to establish how cool the individual person is.

The Casual Gamer

The casual gamer is your every man’s man who has played video games at one point or another. Your typical male under the age of 30 that lives in the United States has likely been to a Halo party, played a variety of consoles, owned a console, and played games at every age and in a variety of circumstances. However, this player has never played any game excessively, and he probably hasn’t played consistently with anyone online. He may have purchased a computer game or three, and he’s probably beaten a few games in his day.

The casual gamer has other interests, and can recognize the skill that more serious gamers possess when they come up against them. Some casual gamers consider themselves pretty good, having only played other casual gamers, for the most part. They rarely talk about games and they don’t consider it an important or top hobby; rather, it’s just another thing to do, like watching movies.

Where they hang out: all kinds of places. Casual gamers represent a broad base of people with a large variety of interests. They are almost undetectable.

Examples of Games played: Sports games, Halo, Mario Kart, Call of Duty

What they talk about: social life, sports, jobs, women, the current game’s match—while playing.

Stay tuned for part 2.