Our latest show, Episode 44 – The Wii Battle, got me thinking. What kind of gamer am I?
Dictionary.com simply states:
gam⋅er [gey-mer] noun: a person who plays games.
Well, by that very loose definition, we all could be considered gamers. But, no, that's not what I mean. We throw around terms such as Hardcore Gamer, but I don't feel like I fit in either of those categories. Several years ago, I probably considered myself a hardcore gamer. I'd buy the latest games at launch. I'd play them for hours without end, sleep and other tasks I should have attended to suffering for it. I'd connect to Xbox Live for intense firefights in Halo 3 or the casinos of Las Vegas in Rainbow Six. Show me a Wii and I'd laugh you out of the room.
Then something changed. I can’t say it’s when I became a father or a husband, because I played in the hardcore style even then. Did I grow up, even though I claim to be too old for it? Did my tastes change, for different games or different entertainment? Did the other things in life finally demand my attention more than the game? Or did I simply change.
That last one, Did I Change, is a simple way of saying all of those things happened. Life does have other responsibilities. Not only am I a father, but my kids are getting old enough to want to play, and have the ability to understand the games. I’m watching more Blu-Ray movies, reading more comics, and playing different types of games.
Through all that, I’m still a Gamer. Not a hardcore gamer, or even a casual gamer, but a Gamer. I doesn’t matter if I’m playing all night shooting Locust Horde or swinging the Wiimote getting beat at tennis by a 5 year old girl, I’m a Gamer. Dictionary.com had the right definition after all.