With how popular gaming has become, the gaming community has also exploded like a really loud fart you'd normally hide from the rest of the world. Whether it be LANs, Tournaments, TV Shows, Web series, Machinima, and just random people on the internet recording themselves talking about popular games and/or their in-game footage. For me, this is good, and bad. It's sort of the way I feel about Goth culture becoming as mainstream as it is now. It all gets dumbed down a little bit. Why? Because it's taken a left turn onto Mainstream Avenue, where the parking is tight and you gotta get in SOMEHOW, right? So in order to attract the mainstream residents, there's a little bit of tweaking that occurs. Little bit of humoring the would-be newer target audiences, amirite? (I totally am.)
Tweaking like.. big hair and guys wearing chick's skinny jeans, retarded bracelets and Billy Holly glasses you don't really need, but wear anyway because being a 'nerd' is soooo cool. Trust me, you're an atrocious walking insult to all tech support people everywhere. My tech support roommate looks nothing like that, btw. So... yeah. Fuck you and your stupid Star Wars t-shirt that says something on it you don't understand the reference of.
Apologies to all STAR WARS fans everywhere. <3 you.
ANYWAY
So as all this popularity grows, I've noticed the the girl gamer movement is now stronger than ever before. And at first, I was all hey that's kind of neat. I can stop pretending to be a dude now and like... it won't be annoying. Or something. However it's gone down the road that I was hoping it wouldn't. You could probably guess.... it's not that hard... (that's what she said.)
It's been tremendously glorified and sexualized to the point where I'm like .. ew. K, guess I'll keep pretending to be a dude, thanks... ladies.
I am aware the female form was designed to attract but C'MON. It's pixels here!! And we're just slutting gaming up and down like rampant Nazis. Seriously now... it's kind of gross. I took pride in the fact that I wasn't just some smut that threw the word "gamer" around w/ my vagina for bragging rights. But now it's just like.. ew. Stop ruining that for the rest of us that have some dignity left in their hobby plx. It's sooooo overdone. This whole 'girl gamer' thing.
Hurh. Guess what. I used to work at EB Games. AND Game Stop. OMGGGGG NO WAAAAII. Ya totally. Way fucking before this shit blew up. HOKAY? Way before that 1337 Lauren douchebag pissed all over my hobby and lifestyle and turned it into a frickin BOOBS AND SEX ... thingie.
So... in order to get this off my chest, I decided to interview a gamer. Because I feel that real hardcore gamers that have been doing this since they were teeny tiny, and never flaunted it, aren't being appreciated enough. Just because you have boobs and a vagina and picked up a controller AND SUDDENLY BECAME ATTRACTIVE doesn't mean shit. Probably never been to a LAN in yo LYFE, SON. Probably didn't even know you could totally gank someone off the EXIT sign in _office w/ a KNIFE, SON. CHECK IT. Probably don't even know how to RUSH a mfker, SON. gfto of here.
And now, some appreciation to a typical, average gamer who is one because that's just what he enjoys. And why I like him so much.
Actually I'm lying, I like him more because he has a Mind Flayer tattoo. (So hot. We're gonna LARP and I'm gonna be Triel Baenre and he's gonna be Sluuguth.)
My boyfriend; Rotten Rotny
when did you realize you were a gamer?
When you told me I was one! Just kidding, prob when I would fake being sick so i could stay home and play my NES.
how do you feel about the glorification of female gamers?
Sex sells I suppose but I think I like gaming more before it started getting such strong media publicity.
what does "gamer" mean to you?
A gamer is pretty much always playing some game or another. Like people who read, they go from one book to the next. It's a daily lifestyle.
what gaming platform do you like most and why?
PC, though I miss the days of NES SNES and PS1, PCs offer the best RPGs usually and now MMOs.
what was your very first happy memory involving a video game?
I remember playing asteroids on my Atari 2600 when it was brand spankin new!
is being a gamer something you can become or do you think it's just something you are naturally fond of growing up?
I was fortunate while growing up to have acquired the major gaming consoles as they came out. Others may not have had access or interest, though I think in today's age most people have at least tried a game at some point in their childhood. For me I was hooked from an early age he he.
there are table top gamers, LARPers, and video game fanatics. do you think the term "gamer" has changed in meaning?
It's broader now and can refer to all those. I think mostly it means video gamers.
gaming is obviously a part of your life, what if your significant other wasn't into your hobby?
That prob wouldn't work out ha ha. People don't accept it as a legitimate hobby, it's treated as juvenile.
how do you feel about 'gaming' becoming as mainstream as it is?
It's had a negative impact in my opinion. Game developers are less concerned with putting out a quality game as with how much profit they
can make. Developing games for a casual gaming audience seems priority #1 and this had dumbed down games quite a bit.
when you toured, did you ever miss any games in particular?
Yeah, I had so many online friends that I only spoke to in WOW that I missed their company. When you're in vent raiding with people often you get to know them surprisingly well!
favorite game EVER?
Tweaking like.. big hair and guys wearing chick's skinny jeans, retarded bracelets and Billy Holly glasses you don't really need, but wear anyway because being a 'nerd' is soooo cool. Trust me, you're an atrocious walking insult to all tech support people everywhere. My tech support roommate looks nothing like that, btw. So... yeah. Fuck you and your stupid Star Wars t-shirt that says something on it you don't understand the reference of.
Apologies to all STAR WARS fans everywhere. <3 you.
ANYWAY
So as all this popularity grows, I've noticed the the girl gamer movement is now stronger than ever before. And at first, I was all hey that's kind of neat. I can stop pretending to be a dude now and like... it won't be annoying. Or something. However it's gone down the road that I was hoping it wouldn't. You could probably guess.... it's not that hard... (that's what she said.)
It's been tremendously glorified and sexualized to the point where I'm like .. ew. K, guess I'll keep pretending to be a dude, thanks... ladies.
I am aware the female form was designed to attract but C'MON. It's pixels here!! And we're just slutting gaming up and down like rampant Nazis. Seriously now... it's kind of gross. I took pride in the fact that I wasn't just some smut that threw the word "gamer" around w/ my vagina for bragging rights. But now it's just like.. ew. Stop ruining that for the rest of us that have some dignity left in their hobby plx. It's sooooo overdone. This whole 'girl gamer' thing.
Hurh. Guess what. I used to work at EB Games. AND Game Stop. OMGGGGG NO WAAAAII. Ya totally. Way fucking before this shit blew up. HOKAY? Way before that 1337 Lauren douchebag pissed all over my hobby and lifestyle and turned it into a frickin BOOBS AND SEX ... thingie.
So... in order to get this off my chest, I decided to interview a gamer. Because I feel that real hardcore gamers that have been doing this since they were teeny tiny, and never flaunted it, aren't being appreciated enough. Just because you have boobs and a vagina and picked up a controller AND SUDDENLY BECAME ATTRACTIVE doesn't mean shit. Probably never been to a LAN in yo LYFE, SON. Probably didn't even know you could totally gank someone off the EXIT sign in _office w/ a KNIFE, SON. CHECK IT. Probably don't even know how to RUSH a mfker, SON. gfto of here.
And now, some appreciation to a typical, average gamer who is one because that's just what he enjoys. And why I like him so much.
Actually I'm lying, I like him more because he has a Mind Flayer tattoo. (So hot. We're gonna LARP and I'm gonna be Triel Baenre and he's gonna be Sluuguth.)
My boyfriend; Rotten Rotny
when did you realize you were a gamer?
When you told me I was one! Just kidding, prob when I would fake being sick so i could stay home and play my NES.
how do you feel about the glorification of female gamers?
Sex sells I suppose but I think I like gaming more before it started getting such strong media publicity.
what does "gamer" mean to you?
A gamer is pretty much always playing some game or another. Like people who read, they go from one book to the next. It's a daily lifestyle.
what gaming platform do you like most and why?
PC, though I miss the days of NES SNES and PS1, PCs offer the best RPGs usually and now MMOs.
what was your very first happy memory involving a video game?
I remember playing asteroids on my Atari 2600 when it was brand spankin new!
is being a gamer something you can become or do you think it's just something you are naturally fond of growing up?
I was fortunate while growing up to have acquired the major gaming consoles as they came out. Others may not have had access or interest, though I think in today's age most people have at least tried a game at some point in their childhood. For me I was hooked from an early age he he.
there are table top gamers, LARPers, and video game fanatics. do you think the term "gamer" has changed in meaning?
It's broader now and can refer to all those. I think mostly it means video gamers.
gaming is obviously a part of your life, what if your significant other wasn't into your hobby?
That prob wouldn't work out ha ha. People don't accept it as a legitimate hobby, it's treated as juvenile.
how do you feel about 'gaming' becoming as mainstream as it is?
It's had a negative impact in my opinion. Game developers are less concerned with putting out a quality game as with how much profit they
can make. Developing games for a casual gaming audience seems priority #1 and this had dumbed down games quite a bit.
when you toured, did you ever miss any games in particular?
Yeah, I had so many online friends that I only spoke to in WOW that I missed their company. When you're in vent raiding with people often you get to know them surprisingly well!
favorite game EVER?
I'm very fond of the Resident Evil series of games especially RE2.
this entry goes out to my boys at FITES in Pennsylvania. I miss you guys!!! Pink text!!! <3 so cute.