Tackling Gamer Stereotypes

December 12th, 2007

video game stereotypes

It goes without explanation really that as gamers society has formed certain stereotypes about the type of people that we are. Sometimes these stereotypes can be a little hard to swallow because of the pure nature of type casting. So lets take a look at gamer stereotypes and break them down, so that we can understand how they are formed and why they are right or wrong.

What I am going to do is tackle one stereotype at a time. Look at what the requirements are, why people might think this and what the truth really is. Chances are that you’ve been labeled as one or more of these. I know that I sure have. So it should be good to understand both sides of the story.

Gamers are Antisocial

The premises is that people who play video games don’t have much of a social life. The reason being because they are too busy playing games to go out and meet people. They might have a ‘social life’ online through the internet or the games themselves but this isn’t a ‘real’ social life. The main point here is that: gamers would rather play video games than spend time with their mates.

Why Someone Might Think This

Its not hard to see why someone could easily get this impression. When we play games we are shutting ourselves out from the world and concentrating just on what is happening on screen. We are purposely trying to block out any distractions that might be around us.

children playing videogames

Furthermore a good deal of gamers play their games for long periods of time with only a few breaks. It is easy for us to forget our worries and just play a game until we are satisfied. MMORPG players fit into this group very well. So all of this time that we game is time we are not interacting or socializing with anyone else.

Is This True?

I don’t believe that this is the case for the majority of gamers. Much like any other form of entertainment some people obsessively take advantage of video games while others play in moderation. It really depends on the individual person. But in theory gamers are no more antisocial than people that watch TV, go to the movies or listen to music as its all entertainment. I say in theory because video games are a much more engrossing medium than other forms of entertainment.

Just recently infact, my brother and I encouraged our Mum (who hasn’t properly played a game for maybe 10 years) to play some Dr Mario as we had the NES hooked up and she use to enjoy that game. Now it didn’t take long for an addiction to form and for a few days she was always eager to play Dr Mario.

You might have hear the expression: ‘To get lost in a good book’. Well its much easier to lose yourself and become addicted to a good video game.

All forms of entertainment can be enjoyed socially, you can go to a music gig, watch a movie with friends etc. This is no different to video games, infact video games have always been about soial enjoyment. Take the very first game ‘Tennis for Two’, this was a multiplayer game, the late 1970 and early 1980 consoles and arcades all had multiplayer. Even when advertised the games were being enjoyed socially.

Almost every game on the market includes some form of multiplayer which means that gamers are more social than ever before. Online gaming has also made gaming more social. Although I believe that this makes general gameplay much more social (as you can never play alone), personally I don’t think that this type of gaming (or any form of online communication) should be used to substitute actual real life socializing.

Overall video games aren’t antisocial. Think of the example that guns are not the problem but its the people use them. Its a similar deal. Multiplayer almost destroys the antisocial debate. Consider this: When you compare a group of people watching a movie to a group of people playing a video game, you tell me which one is more social.
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Tags: nerd, social stereotypes