Socially Acceptable Gamer?

I Have always wanted to express my feeling about this topic for a long time so today i decided to spend my time perfecting this message

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Almost everyone has been asked this when first meeting someone. It is also my least favorite personal question and has always made me give some kind made up load of bull. Here are some truthful answers, I play tennis alot, Lounging around with my friends, Church, and Academics.

I am an honest person and I'm always strait to the point, sometimes to a fault. So why am I forced to dodge video games? Sure, computers and Re-building Stand Ups could be stated as some of my hobbies but only some people and you all at ScrewAttack know that, but why do I always dodge writing down my real hobby? Tennis is considered a favorite pastime, as are reading and clubs. I know the games I play have more positives than enhancing your hand-eye coordination, so why does listing "video games" as a hobby seem like such a bad move?

As a younger child I dedicated my free time to games and didn't care what adults thought of it (I didn't start playing tennis until my later years). The current average American gamer is thirty years old. Even now, though, I feel as though I will be judged harshly for calling myself a gamer if the issue comes up with anyone significantly older than me.

This inferiority complex of sorts may be uniquely mine, but I doubt it. The problem isn't so much that I am ashamed of my entertainment of choice. The issue is the reader or listener's unknown disposition toward games, and the (perceived) risk of labeling oneself as a video game enthusiast. On the other hand my scapegoat could be stated as "I write, review, and conversate with my "family" over games and other topics on my blog(ScrewAttack)." That might sound acceptable to some but still others take video games as a joke, and i dont
respect that.

Where is the underlying fear? That non-gamers or even very casual gamers can and quite possibly will jump to conclusions. As Masahiro Sakurai (The creative force behind both the Kirby and the Super Smash Bros.) so professionally stated, "It seems like America is mired in the shooting-game genre." The mainstream press magnifies this tenfold, both by obsessing on morally questionable gaming material while simultaneously perpetuating stilted views toward family-friendly games and their supposed "real" target audiences. Movies are so widely accepted as to be weekly news, yet stories about video games are reserved for new systems and alarming content! (Companies behind televised news have ulterior motives for reminding viewers about new films, but that's beside the point.) It is quite reasonable for an average forty-five-year-old to hear "video games" and think of the bloody coated hooker beating coke smoking GTA4 or Halo but not less mainstream games like Fire Emblem or Katamari Damacy.

Of course, many gamers are competent and probably would not judge a gamer very harshly for his or her taste in games. The problem is larger: the dominant culture does not accept games as an upstanding form of entertainment, period. For example if you walked into a room with 10 random "casual gamers" and you didn't come running in guns a blazin' with the name (Halo,GTA,Guitar Hero,or Rock Band) tattooed to your forehead they would think your some kind of freak for enjoying a quick run through of Portal or sitting around with some friends playing a round of Super Smash or Perfect Dark. When our current decision-makers grew up 50+ years ago, cartoons in America were low-budget filler material, not high-budget Japanese animation. I distinctly remember people dismissing Akira merely from its promotional poster outside the theater and because its one of those "stupid animes". To this day all of us still get together and watch that movie.

Again I digress…. Many adults see something "cartoonish" and immediately assume it couldn't be of any value to a mature mind. And while the march toward realism has retained large portion of Americans who grew up with games, it seems they have little mind share within more seasoned generations. In fact, the steady and significant presence of cartoon franchise games reinforces these perceptions, especially when the older person is buying the game for children or grandchildren (I personally have seen 100's of adults buying their kids the latest Naruto game for every system). With such strong ties between games and children in older Americans' minds, anyone who admits to playing games could be ignorantly labeled as immature.

Even worse, the person could be suspected of having an unhealthy gaming obsession. Perceptions regarding unhealthy addictions are based on observed behavior but are over-generalized by the dominant culture. No gamer should deny that video games, like many activities, can be addictive and time consuming. Many who disvalue games saw or still see what they believe to be unhealthy addictions in their children or their friends' children. Kids would rather play games than do their homework, and a good portion will do so without fulfilling their "primary objectives" first. Naturally, their parents would see games as a force threatening the child's upbringing. And still many parents disregard that and do not enforce any rules of play time.

Generalization of the excessive patterns to all gamers of all ages of course, is the fatal flaw and a source of strife for young-adult gamers. I know I played games a LOT when i was younger, and I still go on gaming binges some weekends and while my free time slots are open. Unlike my younger self, though, I have more discipline. Like many maturing gamers, I am able to balance work and fun: if I am working 8 hours a day or have a big school project/report, I adjust appropriately. Anything can be done in excess. Parents with compulsive child-gamers who point fingers solely at products fail to realize that their kid could have been just as easily distracted from schoolwork by any other number of activities. Of course, many of those activities are physically (though not necessarily mentally) healthier than gaming. This is especially goes for adults. Enjoying alcohol is acceptable it is only a problem if you are an alcoholic. A person who enjoys their work is considered admirable, unless he or she enjoys work at the expense of relationships. Video games are not inherently problematic, and someone who enjoys a cigar after a hard day's work, a movie on the weekend, or a weekly poker game should understand and accept someone who likes to retire for the evening with an hour or two of video games.

In the eyes of America's ruling generation, the term "gamer" is associated with excessiveness, immorality, and immaturity. Those who play games casually often do not consider themselves gamers. The term can be saved from its curse by getting non-gamers, especially older ones (such as those running the country) to respect and understand the broad range of video games and game players. What will it take for them to understand games as an upstanding form of socialization, mental stimulation within a safe environment and relaxation? Is this a non-issue now, a problem already fixed and merely imagined among those who consciously or unconsciously know that they play too many games? Is it an issue that can only go away with time, when the Atari generation holds the political and economical reigns?

Time is healing things already, at least to some extent. Some influential individuals have a level view of games, such as John Stewart of the Daily Show, who openly and regularly admits to playing his PS2 'til the wee hours of the morning. Then again, most of his viewers are already gamers. Also J Chasez (N-Sync) stated "I Love the part when you pulled of some kind of move from Street Fighter" on Americas Best Dance Crew

In time, games will be recognized as a standard leisurely activity in America, just as manga penetrates virtually all demographics in Japan. Unless game companies and gamers are willing to wait ten or more years, though, developers will have to convert them. After all, how many gaming elders have you seen or heard of buying a Nintendo Wii that is the most popular thing on the market because of it "family friendly games"? Many Women have also got on the gaming wagon picking up Guitar Hero or Rock Band and just recently i got my gf to pick up the Vocal section when we play Rock Band. Also you see alot of people playing some simple flash games or cell phone apps and with Nintendo's new marketing ploy to get people playing the ds they slap some stars playing Nintendogs and New Super Mario Bros.

It's about time we cleared our good names. Responsible hardcore gamers should feel comfortable talking about their passion, and casual gamers should not be wrestling with semantics so as to not be labeled gamers. Better mainstream coverage of games and gamers would go a long way, but we can start off by making a conscious effort to be more open about our hobby.

Tell me what you guys think I appreciate every single comment.