Gamer stereotypes and Me

Recently I was talking to some friends from work, casually discussing video games, and the thought occurred to me that it was very strange. It was strange because of the openness everyone had discussing video games in a culturally diverse group of people who get stuck together in an office for hours a day. There was no judgment or fear of being judged. It was very odd of me because of the way I used to treat the idea of video games.

As a teenager I was an avid game player but I was very select about when, where and who I was with when it came to even mentioning games. Purely because of how heavily invested I was in the gaming culture myths. Reading the cracked article "5 reasons it’s still not cool to admit to being a gamer" (http://www.cracked.com/article_18571_5-reasons-its-still-not-cool-to-admit-youre-gamer_p2.html) I was aware of how much I had believed them just a few years ago.

The King of Douches

Now I am certain that I was not the only gamer who while not being ashamed of playing video games was a little apprehensive of judgment. This issue is rooted in how game player see themselves. They consume media showing how geeky, weird, or even gamers as The Sovereign Lord of Douche-Baggery and buy into it.

However we are repeatedly shown in lectures these stereotypes are grossly inaccurate.  As we see in the picture above marketing companies seem to think they have figured it out and won’t be changing their target market soon. No, I think that the requirement to change lies with us. We as the consumers need to “vote with our feet” and force the change by no longer meekly accepting this representation and make an active effort to change the way we view ourselves and the standard of conduct by which we hold ourselves. If we continue to fail to challenge the status quo then video games will struggle forever to capitalise upon its vast potential as a narrative medium and gamers will continue to fear judgment.