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We are all gamers

Imagine a stressed out office worker “John”, a bored housewife “Jane”, an imaginative teenager “Jerry”, and an ordinary young girl “Jesse”, all of whom are to be candidates to assume the identity of a “gamer”. A sensible enough observer will notice that there are many differences that separate John from Jane and from Jerry from Jesse (including strength and height). The distinctions could be better understood if you were to take a step back and realize that these four types of people could possibly resemble your own family!

 

Instead of focusing on what separates them, we should find a way to bring them together. Something like videogames? John must unwind from a hard day’s work, so he flips open his laptop and starts playing Left 4 Dead, cooperating with total strangers he likes better than his co-workers in the never-dull task of massacring zombies. Jane boots up the living room computer and starts playing The Sims 3, where she maintains the lives of a super-idealized version of her own family. Jerry turns on his own PC and takes the role of an awesome sorcerer in a heavily-modded[1] game of Oblivion, where his decisive actions determine the fate of everyone in the land. Jesse, preferring to experience the intrigue of a well-written story set in the charm of an immersive fantasy world, borrows Jerry’s Playstation 2 to continue her quests in Final Fantasy XII. Perhaps after dinner and a lively conversation, the family will gather around the Nintendo Wii to engage in the entertaining, competitive, and arguably mindless button mash-fest of Super Smash Brothers: Brawl. This family, despite the differences in its members’ personalities and experience, has found one instance of common ground. How can this hilariously rose-colored fabrication of a story be applied to real life?

 

As a mass of human beings, gamers vary extensively in temperament and degree of dedication. The only thing that ties them together is the simple motivation to play videogames, and because the industry is now old enough, there exists a game for everyone. If such a game doesn’t exist for you, it will eventually be created; most likely by someone not too different than yourself. Unlike a talented artist, a successful novelist, a popular party-goer, or a heavy-set football player, a gamer is an identity all of us have the ability to legitimately claim, no matter our race, religion, sex, or creed, and definitely regardless of our strength and height.    

 

So in the end, one must understand that gamers are essentially one big, open family, with its own unique personalities, and yes, flaws--just like any population of human beings. It seems to be a devastatingly elementary concept that many are unable (or unwilling) to understand at first. Hopefully, as a now enlightened individual, you have an advantage by possessing this knowledge. Understanding this will help you understand the nature of any kind of hobby (no matter how esoteric), and will ultimately allow you to develop a stronger sense of open-mindedness much demanded by today’s society (in liberal Southern California, it’s actually a prerequisite for your continued survival).  

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