You Don't Know Us - Redux
After my original post about gamer stereotypes, I got a number of comments and e-mails from gamers telling me how much they appreciated the points I made.As I read each, I was encouraged to hear from gamers that rail against the stupid stereotype that has been pushed upon us.
It also really got me thinking about the whole issue.
This is a big thing for me. I'm not the kind of guy who puts a lot of thought into the things that I hate.
Takes all the fun out of random hatred.
But, because I felt that gamers deserve better, I spent some time really thinking about the stereotypes we're faced with.
Let's see if you can follow along.
We'll start with the whole "all gamers are fat, 30 year old, virgin loser guys who live in their parents' basement" stereotype.
You know something funny though?
When they talk about playing online, they always start with the "12 year old moron" stereotype.
So... All gamers are 30 years old, but are also 12 year old loud mouths...
Huh...
Okay, okay. They're diversifying their stereotypes. I suppose one contradiction can't be that bad.
So we're all "fat, virgin loser guys who live in their parents' basement".
Wait... Whenever anyone talks about first person shooters, they always talk about the drunken frat boy types.
College people.
So, now we're 12, 20, AND 30 year olds. And we live in a dorm AND in our parents' basement.
I'm getting confused.
But we can all agree that we're "fat, virgin loser guys", right?
Oh shit... The losers thing...
They know we have a whole sports league now, right?
And that people make millions of dollars playing and designing games?
Dammit.
So, we're left with "fat virgin guys".
I don't know about you, but I've had sex.
The little person running around my feet seems to be a good indicator of that fact.
Okay... So... "fat guys"...
Do we not have overweight NON-gamers?
Even assuming SOME gamers were overweight, is that somehow an isolated characteristic of our demographic?
They've got a point. You never see fat baseball or football fans.
...
Yeah.
So... What are we left with?
"Guys."
I suppose they got us there. We're all guys, right?
Wait...
What about chick games?
You know every time they make a new Babyz or Horsez or whatever game, it's automatically stereotyped as a chick game.
Do you think a bunch of guys went out and bought all those copies of Nintendogs?
Seriously?
Shit. So what does that leave us with?
" "
Not much apparently.
If you take into account all of the gamer stereotypes, we are "12, 20, AND 30 year old, possibly fat, possibly sexually active, losers with lots of money and fame, men and women who live in houses, dorms and maybe our parents' basements."
Doesn't that cover pretty much everyone on our planet?
So... the prevailing gamer stereotype is "gamers are people".
Well, would you look at that...
Apparently, if you mix enough stupid together, you get the right answer.
posted by Goblin Smithy @ 5:31 PM
19 Comments:
"mix enough stupid together and you get the right answer..."
Or an Aneurysm.
ahaha brilliant.
I actually went and dug up my old blogger account just to comment on this. I've been thinking about commenting on many of your posts, but this is the one that actually made me post.
Awesome cause, awesome logic, awesome conclusion, awesome post.
Soylant
Green
is
people!
I always knew you were smart.
Good.
Now email me that fanpack!
You gotta remember that those who usually put those stereotypes on us aren't usually the smartest of the bunch =P.
Well played my good sir.
This should be posted on the major news sites. Excellent hack and slash of gamer stereotypes.
Short, brutal, and completely true. Besides, I live in my mom's attic, not her basement!
Wow, I dont fit any of those catagories. 57 yrs old, grandmother of 9. oh wait....I do play in my basement.
Excellent article.
[GM]Dave you are a god. I always laugh when they say all gamers are loser virgin guys.
lol, way to go [GM]Dave. I like how you put everything into perspective. Gamers are people, but what does that make jocks? lol
[GM]Dave, man you are so made of win, I enjoyed so much this post. thanx, keep up the good work.
Its retarded when people blame video games for other peoples problems. Every once in a while ill tell my friends im just going to chill at home, and then for a week i hear shit about how gaming is bad and you should come out and hang with us. It pisses me off, sometimes they do retarded boring things and i dont want to go.
Or I made plans on a game, like a raid or such(I hate the "just pause it" fucking choke a bitch)that i "could" break, but gaming relieves my stress.
Sometimes games are more important than spending a few hours watching TV at a friends house.
I have a few friends who are always doing something outside. They think that staying inside for a couple days a week is a sin(Its a nice day crap) and they expect you to want to go play a sport you dont like instead of playing a game that you do like, when none of them will pick up your game.
rant over
Heh yeah... you can't forget the "They have no life" stereotype.
I'm 26 y/o, served in the US Army for 5 years, spent one of those years in Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom 2, the other 4 years I was stationed in Germany (which isn't exactly the virgin capital of the world if you catch my drift). IQ of 138...
I don't know about you guys, but I think people need to focus more on drug addicts than videogamers.
But maybe that's just me.
Hey, I LIKE MY BASEMENT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
Sarcasm aside, those are some good points.
Everyone knows gamers are losers.
We just rule the world.
Yep. Totally losers.
I don't know about any of you chumps, but I'm only 24, I live in an apartment (no basement), and not a virgin.
They've got me on fat and loser though. I'm working on getting rid of the former though, and I'm comfortable with my standing as the latter. I'd rather be a loser who's true to myself than a winner at something I'm not.
The sad part is the people in the powerful positions are the ones stereotyping gaming and gamers alike. I wanna see people like you holding influential positions, maybe we can wake the world up. It's ignorance that drives this country man, and many don't even wanna wake up from it.....
Hey there, not a "gamer," full of stereotype assumptions, but riddle me this:
Why must the word "gamer" be used, as if what you Soylent Greeners were doing were anything other than playing video games? Why redefine it as a group or a sport, when it is simply, "I like to play video games"?
If we're going to add a label to a hobby (admittedly an addictive one), why not call me a "Capitalist Promoter every time I get my subscription delivery of The Financial Post?
No disrespect, tongue only incidentally in cheek and only partly cynical, but I really do want to know.
Thanks.
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