What does it mean when someone says they are a gamer? Google defines a gamer as “a person who plays video games or participates in role-playing games.” If that is the case wouldn’t that definition cover close to 90% of Americans? I commute to work every day and notice that almost everyone is on their phone and most of them are playing a game be it Pacman or Candy Crush. However, if you ask those folks if they are gamers the most likely answer will be a resounding no!
I owe my career to gaming
My career today is due primarily to my love of videogames. I always wondered how games were made and that curiosity was enough to get me to study math and computer science. I also became super interested in computer graphics and even built a game for my thesis project. I have always played around with making games, but I became an applications programmer because I needed to be able to make a living :)
Do I still play games
I do still play semi regularly. I find that I play what my children like to play. I have a game room setup that is half retro, or what I grew up with or would have liked to own back in the day, and half newer stuff. I try to get my kids to play older stuff and that is how I judge if a game I enjoyed in the past still has staying power. Most of the time the cringe at playing older stuff, but when they finally play the really enjoy themselves.
Do I still buy games
Unfortunately, I buy way more games than I should. Sometimes I see a title that my younger self would have loved to play and I buy it and never play. One of my favorite genres to play as a kid was RPGs. The reason I really liked these games was the gamer really got a bang for their buck. For your 60 bucks you would get 60-80 hours I gameplay, but I cannot devout that time to a game now. Today I really appreciate 5-10 hour games like a Golf Story.
Following the industry
I still do follow the industry. At times I feel as it is more fun to see the twists and turns of the industry more so than actually playing the games sometimes. Like Shenmue for example, when it was announced that was awesome. I was super excited and it was cool to be a part of that. I even kicked in $150 to the Kickstarter. That announcement and excitement might be even better than playing the game whenever it comes out.
Console wars
Console wars can be fun, but I feel really weary about it all these years. The blind allegiance some gamers have to their system of choice is ridiculous. I think it is crazy when people compare 900p versus 1080p and talk about how they can tell the difference between that or 1 to 5 extra frames. Gameplay is rarely discussed as differences because the game is the same on both platforms. Even the Switch, which is a slight downgrade from the other systems, still looks great and once you start playing the games it really isn’t noticeable. I feel as if growing up with the SNES vs Genesis was different because the games were actually different. The Genesis has a distinctive sound as the SNES. Many times you would have the same title that was vastly different on the other platform, such as Aladdin.
So, am I still a gamer
I feel like I’m still a gamer. Being a responsible adult changes my time for games from the 10-15 hours a week as a child to maybe 3-4 hours as an adult. Those hours are usually playing something I don’t want to play because of my kids, but I still love and support this industry and probably will for the rest of my life
You my friend have a serious case of Gameritetous...lol But nah all is fair in Game and war my friend. It's simple..KEEP playing games! BUT, upload your game play! Dtube gamers are making a killing right now just playing games and uploading on social media! You'll be able to stay with your kids....game when they nap or goto bed..make a few extra bucks. Win! Win!
Nice advice @izzymiyake, I will look into that and give it a try.
Well, answering this questions with you and coming up with different answers, I'm currently more gamer than you (but yeah, Console Wars feel unjustified and I never took part.)
I still imagine not having time to play in the future, and my answers would be identical to yours., actually being on steemit now makes me play more than I would otherwise, because I write reviews and #thinkingwhilegaming posts.
But once gamer, would still be gamer even if they don't play much anymore. I mentioned this post in my Daily Picks.
Thanks for the mention. Looks like a cool inititative you have over there with have over there with your Daily Picks. Being on Steemit makes me want to play more too. Some of the enthusasm folks show for gaming is pretty cool.
Exactly!!
Andy, I love these glimpses into your personal story. You, my friend, is a gamer to the core. You not only speak of games, but you write about the history of the US gaming industry, the pros and cons of past and current gaming consoles, the frame rates and processing power... Non gamers don’t think about this stuff, and I bet some game players don’t either. True gamers like you support the industry and purchase games even though you don’t have time to play.
I loved how your passion for games help define your career as a coder. You were one of the lucky ones to find your passion early and ran with it.
It would have been cool if you had a picture of your retro gaming space. Your kids don’t know how good they have it.
Thanks for the kind words @mellofello. I am glad that my good friend told me about Steemit because it is a great forum to tell my stories. I do have some pictures of my game space, maybe in the future I will write a blog about how I put it together. Thanks for the idea!
Congratulations you have been upvoted and resteemed as part of #newbieresteemday's top 10 posts for the day! ...
We invite you to use our tag to connect with more of our members. To learn more: Come Join Us!!! (Newbie Resteem Initiative)