Throughout video game development, gamers have also evolved. How to spot a gamer in real life? How many signs do you get?
It was in October 1958 when a physicist named William Higinbotham made what is believed to be the very first video game. Albeit unnamed, the game was compared to a virtual tennis game similar to Pong, a 1970’s video game.
Fast forward to today, you can play different kinds of video games in various ways. You can play them through mobile phones, gaming consoles like a PlayStation and/or an Xbox, and a desktop and/or a laptop.
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The Difference Between Casual Gamers From Hardcore Gamers
Let’s get one thing straight first: when I say “gamer”, I refer to people who spend hours playing video games on their consoles or computers. They are, shall we say, the “hardcore gamers”. Although by definition, people who play mobile games like Farmville on their mobile devices are technically gamers as well, they are more like the “casual gamers”. It’s just like people reading 100 pages in 5 minutes and those who do it for months.
I’m not gatekeeping the term “gamer”, but let’s just say that the latter is a different kind of gamer.
Now that we got that out of the way, let’s go back to the main quest – err I mean the main point (excuse the gamer pun). As a gamer, you might sometimes feel alone because you’re mostly at home playing video games. Yeah, I know that’s only me stereotyping gamers, but it’s a stereotype gamers know to be mostly true.
With that being said, having a social life outside of the gaming network is kind of hard. So, we decided to make a quick guide on how to spot a gamer in real life.
WATCH VIDEO: Serious Gamers vs Casual Gamers
Things That Gamers Do When Out In The Real World
There are some things that gamers do and say that will give their gamer identity right away. Some of these things are very easy to spot, some are not. Below are some very gamer things:
Gamers would usually wear a shirt of their favorite video games.
I’m not talking about Super Mario or Pac-Man shirts; so how can you spot a gamer shirt? These are shirts with logos and/or characters of video games like The Witcher, The Last of Us, League of Legends, and more.
Yes, there are people who wear shirts that have a video game print, for comfort, and you shouldn’t judge them for that. If you want to know if they’re real gamers, then you should ask them.
Gamers usually have other merchandise from their favorite games.
This makes it easier to filter a person who played a game from those who haven’t. While most people wear random shirts sometimes, gamers buy specific merchandise of the gamers they love. Examples of these merchandises are caps, key chains, bags, and some accessories. Not only have chances to get multiple merchandise and collect coins; and a gamer’s earnings may be lucrative, up to 70,000 a year or even more.
Gamers have an extraordinary fashion sense.
Some gamers love dressing up to look like their favorite video game characters. They would dye their hair, get tattoos, and wear specific clothes to resemble a video game character they love.
Gamers look a little awkward in public.
Well, gamers have gotten used to interacting with game characters or other gamers in the cyber world so when they’re out, they wouldn’t look comfortable. They’re probably thinking how much better the graphics are in Skyrim or Resident Evil.
Gamers would always give a strange excuse not to socialize.
They would sometimes say they have deadlines at school or work, but we all know they’re only saying that so they can stay home to play games, entailing some unexpected dilemmas accordingly.
Gamers use an image of their favorite games as their phone’s wallpapers.
They usually relate to a video game character’s story and struggles that they can’t help but set their images as wallpapers.
Gamers use a photo of a video game character as their photo on their social media.
They do this probably for the same reason as number 6. Some characters in video games seem more 3-dimensional than a real person, for some gamers.
Gamers have a strange taste in music.
Most video games have amazing soundtracks and original songs. And for gamers who spent so many hours listening to these songs while playing, it’s only natural that their taste in music is influenced.
Gamers have different and quick reflexes.
This is because they have spent so much time using their keyboards or controllers to maneuver their characters in the video games they play.
Gamers would talk about their online friends who are in another part of the world.
There are numerous online games where gamers can interact with different people from different cities and countries. It’s very common to build a kind of cyber social circle for gamers.
They also have this kind of secret mentality where they tell themselves “I’m a gamer, I have many lives.” Of course, as someone who has assumed control over different video game characters in different settings, that is unavoidable.
Have you been using gaming consoles all this time and want to try building a PC and play some PC games? Check out the tutorial on how to build your own PC.
No Gamer Is An Island
English poet John Donne once said, “no man is an island” and that is true. No one can be independent and we all need friends, whether it’s in the cyber world or the real one. The latter might be a harder setting for some gamers to find friends. But, let’s normalize going offline once in a while to find some genuine connections with someone in the real world. You’ll never know when you might meet another gamer who is into the same games as you.
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