I’ve been playing video games religiously for over the past decade, and I’ve played nearly if not every type of game on the planet. I would not hesitate in calling myself a “informed” gamer, I skim the blogs, I watch the videos, and I view the forums. And since I’ve been a part of the “informed” gaming community I think it is also safe for me to say that I’ve had countless encounters with every type of gamer. One of the observations I’ve made regarding these different types of gamers is that each type can usually be pinpointed with a certain level of intelligence.
Now to determine each type of gamer is a difficult task, because there are simply a countless number of types. However for me I like to parse gamers up into the “Halo” gamers and the variety gamers. Now I’ve left out the casual gamer because they are Wii gamers, or just a gamer who sees games from a childish view. Someone who knows about and plays games, but doesn’t pay attention to how they’re made, who makes them, and doesn’t take interest about being informed on gaming news or when what games come out when. However, your “Halo” and variety gamers I consider to be both “informed.” They pay attention to release dates, news regarding games and the video game industry, and the biggest part of the “Halo” or variety gamer is that they love multiplayer.
When I say “Halo” gamer I don’t mean someone who likes or plays Halo, even though they probably do. I mean a gamer who has limited themselves to the largest “Blockbuster” of games, be it Halo, Call of Duty, Gears of War, or for PC Counter Strike Source. These gamers tend to play these epic games online day after day after day. Yes, they may switch between these games but they are very much the same. The games are all shooters. The gamers all shoot another enough times to win no matter what the game mode for the most part. These are the gamers who will get the most frustrated when getting killed, most likely blaming 90% of their deaths on some random anomaly. When the truth is the other guy shot first therefore killing you, yes life sucks. When you listen to this type of gamer play it seems like they are not enjoying the experience, just hating it.
Also since “Halo” gamers are “informed” they are in the loop of the gaming network. They’re interested in the latest details and videos of games. However, what makes them different is that they obsess about anything. I was sitting in my Computer Aided Drafting class the other day listening to two guys blather on about the newest tiny details about Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 like it was leagues more important than the debate on health-care or the class itself. But it wasn’t the stuff they did know about that shocked me, it was the stuff they didn’t. When they couldn’t remember the newest released details on some of the multiplayer perks they freaked, they became worried in a way. You know it’s bad when these guys were more worried about the latest news of Modern Warfare 2 than the quiz, which was in about five minutes.
Perhaps one of the biggest characteristics of a “Halo” gamer is that when they play games they are more focused on progress and killing, not the unique experience and depth the game brings. A good example would be from Shadow of the Colossus. A “Halo” gamer would never see the fact that the slaying of the colossi is cold blood murder. You go in and start killing these magnificent holy creatures that don’t have any incentive to harm you until you invade them. A “Halo” gamer would see the killings as justified simply because the colossi are in the way of their personal progression through the game.
With “Halo” gamers I from my own gaming observations I have seen that they posses a lesser intelligence in the way they speak, write, and express themselves, than your variety gamers. “Halo” gamers speak with more with demand than reasoning. They usually defend the heck out of the repetitious games that they are addicted to, and not defending their love for video games. They are much like Senators and congressmen in this sense. I know it sounds like I’m hating on anyone who only plays the “big” games, but I’m hating on the people who only play those games even though they have the time and money to be able to spread their gaming love.
Variety gamers if you haven’t already guessed play a variety of different games. This means genres to difficulty to playing both single and multiplayer. Variety gamers seem to be more focused on fun, which is the overarching reason of gaming, rather than smashing the other team or torturing themselves to get that meaningless achievement. Diverse gamers love games for the sake of video games and are not just fanboys of their favorite game series or franchise. They love the challenge and range of video games and not just the simplicity of gunning down your buddy in Halo with aim assist. Variety gamers don’t progress through a game to reach the end they do it to advance the storyline and characters.
Gamers who broaden their horizons when it comes to games from my experience usually have a higher intellect and more enjoyable personality. They play games to have fun first then to win, not the other way around. Someone who can have fun and play a JRPG, racing simulator, adventure, and shooter has a higher chance of having their head on straight than someone who only plays gruesome shooters, in my opinion. As the saying goes “Variety is the spice of life.”
I know it may seem like I’m saying that if you are a “Halo” gamer it makes you stupid, but I believe more firmly that being stupid and abrassive makes you a “Halo” gamer. So then I also believe that that having a decent intelligence makes you become a variety gamer, not being a variety gamer makes you smarter. However, these feelings are my own and I know there are an immense amount of exceptions. But I think if you took 10 “Halo” gamers and 10 variety gamers and had them take the SAT or whatever, I would bet a decent amount of money that the variety gamers would have a higher average score. On a more positive note, I really believe that out of all the “informed” gamers there are way more variety gamers than “Halo” gamers. However, I will agree with the overall stereotype that video gamers are less determined when it comes to academics, but there are also a giant number of exceptions.
So if you skipped the last 7-9 paragraphs what I’m trying to get across is that gamers who choose to play the same type of games without acknowledging that other games might be good are less intelligent than the gamers who play a wide range of game genres.
P.S. I would also like to note the Halo series is terrible. The same terrible game has been made four times, with the latest only making the huge innovation of non-recharging health. I won’t even get into the terrible gun mechanics. Also the game isn’t full HD, it’s only 480p. So when Microsoft puts 1080p on the back of the box it’s really not. So they have literally have been making the same game over and over, same game and even same graphics. I will the vehicles are pretty fun however. Seriously people go play a real work of art *cough* Uncharted 2 *cough*.
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I full heartedly agree. and i believe that all who read this will agree, mostly because if they’re on the Tecgoat site then they are probably not a “Halo” gamer.