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Games Entertainment

This Just In - Gamers Are Human 247

Posted by Zonk from the we've-been-trying-to-tell-you-this dept.
A new study by the Entertainment Software Association reveals that, amazingly, gamers are regular human beings. The study shows that avid game players are just as religious, artistic, and social as anyone else. From the article: "Gamers are everywhere and they're everyone. They are your friends, neighbors, co-workers, relatives, and kids, they lead responsible and caring lives, balancing their enjoyment of interactive entertainment with many other activities important to a well-rounded lifestyle...Indeed, those who continue to portray the game population as single-minded loafers are living in their own fantasy world."
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This Just In - Gamers Are Human More

This Just In - Gamers Are Human

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  • I am? (Score:5, Funny)

    by AviLazar ( 741826 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2005 @06:00PM (#11326853) Journal
    I am human? Jesus why didn't someone tell me? Next thing I know they will tell me I'm white.

    • Something I've noticed (Score:5, Interesting)

      by bonch ( 38532 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2005 @06:11PM (#11327045)
      Something I've noticed is that it's become okay to be a gamer, even a computer gamer. When I first got into computers in the seventh grade, you were a nerd if you chatted with your friends via text. A mere three years later, and it was hip to be chatting your friends on Yahoo or AIM. Jocks and trendy girls were sending e-mails to each other, and it was okay.

      While it was kind of hypocritical, it is cool because the result since has been that the image of a gamer is more mainstream now. In fact, I've noticed a lot more older gamers these days, which is natural since the people who first played Super Mario Bros. in the 80s are grown adults now, often with families, who still follow gaming. But I think the barriers of age, social class, and so on have kind of broken down. Though you still have gamers even other gamers won't touch, like EQ2 players. ;) The nerds of nerds.

      All in all, though I think gaming companies are in trouble, the gamer is doing pretty well these days. And yes, we are human.
      • "you were a nerd if you chatted with your friends via text".

        When I was a kid, if you wanted to chat via text, you had to put it on a 5 1/2" floppy written in Basic and pass it to your friend. Sure there was IRC, but you had to hook up your 9600 baud modem to make it work.

        I have been a gamer though throughout. Back then it was Brickout and Lode Runner. For me today it is SOCOM II (I am biased against Halo) and Doom and various RTS computer games. In my experience, the most successful games are 'soc

    • Man... (Score:5, Funny)

      by raehl ( 609729 ) <(moc.oohay) (ta) (113lhear)> on Tuesday January 11, 2005 @07:12PM (#11327924) Homepage
      I guess that means I lose my +1 INT, DEX and WIS. On the upside, the -2 STR was getting rather annoying.
    • Because I'm still pretty sure my wife is a troll.
    • Negro Please

  • "Gamers are everywhere and they're everyone. They are your friends, neighbors, co-workers, relatives, and kids, they lead responsible and caring lives, balancing their enjoyment of interactive entertainment with many other activities important to a well-rounded lifestyle,"

    Caring and responsible lives? I thought playing games like GTA were rotting my brain and teaching me to kill indiscriminately [christiananswers.net]. Whatevah. Who actually *reads* these "family-friendly" reviews?

    • The same type of peope who buy Super 3D Noah's Ark [encyclopedia-obscura.com] and other games like that from companies like Wisdom Tree [wisdomtreegames.com].

    • Re:But I'm evil, or so I thought... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by acidrain69 ( 632468 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2005 @06:20PM (#11327167) Journal
      Actually, that was a pretty reasonable review. They didn't massacre it for it's violence, they just said it wasn't very good for christians.

      I like the quote at the end, " it makes no allowances for the Christian gamer. " Like they expected Rock Star games to have you witness at the end and find Jesus. Lol.

      But seriously, they didn't berate the game, they didn't complain that it was killing society, and why won't someone think of the children? An altogether responsible review. No, I don't agree with their outlook, but I don't see anything wrong with it. As long as they aren't trying to keep ME from playing it.
      • They didn't massacre it for it's violence, they just said it wasn't very good for christians.

        I like the quote at the end, " it makes no allowances for the Christian gamer. " Like they expected Rock Star games to have you witness at the end and find Jesus. Lol.

        How dare they not pander to their special-interest group! ; )
      • Yeah, it is a reasonable enough review. I would only add that there are also lots of peaceful non-christians who this game also isn't for. I'm an atheist, and I find it offensive too. And no, that doesn't mean I would advocate banning it or anything like that. Censorship is even more offensive.

  • That's great (Score:2, Funny)

    by Dunbal ( 464142 )
    Now if only someone could convince my wife...
  • I am a gamer and most certainly a "single-minded loafer".
  • Wait, so was the general oppinion that they are some wier zombie-like creatures who play Vice City and drink the blood of mortals?

  • well ... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by crazy_speeder ( 155626 )
    well duh!!

  • Also... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Blue-Footed Boobie ( 799209 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2005 @06:01PM (#11326876)
    In other news: 1) Slashdot.com is a Website! 2) Apple makes computers! 3) Chickens are just birds! 4) Microsoft is a company! 5) Water is wet!

    • Re:Also... (Score:4, Funny)

      by daevux ( 626542 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2005 @06:15PM (#11327102)
      In other news: 1) Slashdot.com is a Website! 2) Apple makes computers! 3) Chickens are just birds! 4) Microsoft is a company! 5) Water is wet! I don't know what's funnier. That post or the fact that it was mod'd "insightful" :-/

    • Re:Also... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Titusdot Groan ( 468949 )
      It's not funny nor insightful if the article already makes this "it's obvious" point in it's subject ...

      Knowing that Games in general are not a subset of the population means that we are a demographic which can be a good thing as companies start thinking of us a targe audience.

      This might mean more games.

      It also might mean more advertising in game :-/

      • Re:Also... (Score:4, Insightful)

        by acidrain69 ( 632468 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2005 @06:23PM (#11327201) Journal
        Knowing that Games in general are not a subset of the population means that we are a demographic which can be a good thing as companies start thinking of us a targe audience.

        What?!? Run that by me again. How does not ebing a subset of the population make one into a demographic? It's that what a demographic IS? A category to put someone in? Hence, a SUBSET?
        • Sigh. What I meant was that we are not a particular demographic that are also "Gamers" that we run the gamet of demographics in addition to that of Gamers.

          Currently we are categorized as "people who live in their mother's basement and annoy comic book store owners with long arguments about Wolverine vs. Spiderman".

          I must have been drinking when I posted the original -- I don't usually have a dozen spelling mistakes either :-)

        • I think what he was trying to say is that now that marketers see that gamers are a demographic which is not wholly isolated (i.e. has other interests outside of gaming), they'll start catering to us (i.e. using video games to advertise other products). As an aside... I hardly notice that Axe Body Spray billboard that repeats throughout Burnout 3, but I do get a kick at the one with Tiger Woods angrily pointing at me whenever I crash. It's like he's saying "take that, ASSHOLE!!!!!"
      • we are a demographic which can be a good thing as companies start thinking of us a targe audience.
        This might mean more games.

        Like hell.
        What it'll probably mean is more gamer-oriented ads for chips and soft drinks.

        Mario gets home after a long day of eating mushrooms and popy-flowers and goes to the fridge for band-y sugar-loaded carbonated water, stuff like that.

        Being a demographic just means that they are figuring out ways to get at your wallet, not to provide you with quality products. Just effective
    • Did you see those 'Awards' on SpikeTv? Obviously not everyone believes gamers are normal people, as that show was obviously targeted to a different demographic then this study indicates.

      Penny Arcade commented [penny-arcade.com] on this a while ago. The situation remains unchanged.

    • Re:Also... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Ayaress ( 662020 )
      I live in Michigan, and at this time of year water is, indeed, not all that wet at all.

    • 3) Chickens are just birds!

      Oh, yeah? When did you see another bird to dumb to fly away when given a chance or a Kentucky Fried Pigeon? Oh, wait a sec . . . the original comparison was between gamers and regular people . . . never mind, I take it back. Just us birds here. :>

  • Ominous (Score:2)

    by UWC ( 664779 )
    Gamers are everywhere and they're everyone. They are your friends, neighbors, co-workers, relatives, and kids...

    This sounds more ominous in print that I think was its intention. It's the pod people! Or iPod people, maybe?

    • I think it's kind of like telling people who are so spasmically afraid of germs that everything in the world is effectively coated in a thin film of bacteria and other microorganisms.

      By doing this, the goal could be to do one of two things:

      A. Force them to see (even if they won't acknowledge it) the fact that gamers are not bad people. They're everywhere, we all have contact with them. You don't realize it because they're exactly the same as anybody else. There are just so many of them that even a miniscu
  • So... Gamers are normal and non-gamers are the exception?
  • They are your friends, neighbors, co-workers, relatives, and kids, they lead responsible and caring lives, ...

    Crap, maybe I should become a gamer afterall.
  • Egads, they are everywhere. Even in the State Department. I cannot continue to sit back and allow gamer subversion, gamer indoctrination, and the international gamer conspiracy to sap and impurify, all of our precious bodily fluids.
  • You know what, maybe you are human and your parents and most of the people you deal with on a daily basis...BUT

    I am a mushroom-eating, fireball spitting, red-blooded plumber!

    We have feelings too.
  • Hopefully the next thing they figure out about gamers is that violent games to not creat violent people......
  • So no they're all responsible all of a sudden.
  • Something I can post on the basement door to keep my parents from bothering me while I'm playing Halo 2 online! Thanks, Entertainment Software Association!!!
  • Forty-five percent of gamers volunteer at an average 5.4 hours per month.
    Sixty-one percent of game players engage in some type of religious activity for several hours each month.
    Ninety-three percent of game players read books or daily newspapers, while sixty-two percent often attend cultural events, such as concerts, museums, or the theater.
    Fifty percent spend time painting, writing, or playing an instrument.

    Ninety-four percent follow news and current events, and 78 percent report that they vote i
  • gamers are regular human beings
    Unpossible!

  • well (Score:2)

    by revery ( 456516 )
    except for us robots...

    --

    You have been warned. Do not touch my danish again.

  • Enough (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Tackhead ( 54550 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2005 @06:06PM (#11326945)
    > A new study by the Entertainment Software Association reveals that, amazingly, gamers are regular human beings.

    I mean, really.

    > The study shows that avid game players are just as religious, artistic, and social as anyone else.

    I'm a tolerant dude, and all, but...

    > From the article: "Gamers are everywhere and they're everyone. They are your friends, neighbors, co-workers, relatives, and kids, they lead responsible and caring lives, balancing their enjoyment of interactive entertainment with many other activities important to a well-rounded lifestyle...

    ...but this is pretty much over the line. I mean really...

    > Indeed, those who continue to portray the game population as single-minded loafers are living in their own fantasy world."

    ...I have no reason to stand around here and be insulted like this! ENOUGH! Where's my crowbar?

  • I'm a single-minded loafer.
  • Gamers are human? I knew that.

    Now, Slashdotters, on the other hand....

  • I spent all this time building myself up to the ideal geek stereotype. And all this time, they've lied to me. LIED I TELL YOU!

    All this time chasing the perfect stereotype, ruined!

  • Straw man down! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Otter ( 3800 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2005 @06:10PM (#11327014) Journal
    Y'know, it's possible to argue that certain games are inappropriate for young children or that 130 hours a week of EQ is unhealthy and still recognize that gamers aren't a uniform mass of dysfunctional, homicidal teenagers.

    We get a story like this ("Many Gamers Not Psychopaths!" or "Games Good For A Small Part Of Your Brain!") twice a week, always with this triumphant spin as though something significant has been rebutted.

    • We get a story like this ("Many Gamers Not Psychopaths!" or "Games Good For A Small Part Of Your Brain!") twice a week, always with this triumphant spin as though something significant has been rebutted.

      It's to accompany the "senile politician/lawyer attempts to ban videogames" stories we also get twice a week.

    • Re:Straw man down! (Score:2, Interesting)

      by edraven ( 45764 )
      Not to mention, if you're looking to convince someone who believes otherwise they're unlikely to put much faith in a study by a body called the Entertainment Software Association. Consider how /.-ers react to studies about Windows security and/or reliability from Microsoft. A skeptic is likely to remain skeptical, and with good reason.
    • At least half of Slashdot's stories consist of preaching to the choir what they want to hear.

  • In der n00z (Score:2, Funny)

    by ackthpt ( 218170 ) *

    "Gamers Are Human Beings!"--announces Industry Group

    "People with money are people"--reveals Las Vegas Visitors Bureau

    "Bill O'Riley isn't an evil git"--proclaims his mum

    "Gays aren't people, too!"--admits Karl Rove

    "Moderators are nearly human"--slashdot

    "first posters are fairly human"--slashdot

    "A sufficiently patched hack-job is indistinguishable from actual security until later notice"--Microsoft rolling out any new release

    "Will Eisner, still dead."--everyone BUT slashdot

  • Lacking information. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by rackhamh ( 217889 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2005 @06:13PM (#11327065)
    Does anybody have a link to the full study?

    This article doesn't seem especially informative. It basically just says that gamers spend more time non-gaming than they do gaming, and that they participate in many of the most common mainstream activities.

    What it doesn't provide, however, is any comparison to statistics for non-gamers, including obesity rates and total time spent partipating in cultural events.

    It also doesn't provide definitions for many of its activities. Does "theater" include "movie theater"? Does "daily newspaper" include Slashdot?

    No, we really need more information...
  • game players spend more than three times the amount of time exercising or playing sports, volunteering in the community, reading, or engaging in religious, creative, and cultural activities than they do playing video games.

    Is sex a religious, creative, or cultural activity?
  • I for one welcome our new human overlords.

    ok, that sucked. This would have been more kickass if the news was tha gamers were aliens, robots, or at least some sort of mildly aaggressive animal. Human... just no punch to it :(
  • The sad thing is, since the ESA put out this study, all the critics who are saying that all gamers live up to the stereotypes will either
    • Never see it.
    • Dismiss it entirely.
    • Claim it's biased because of the source.

  • Origins of the Myth (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Thunderstruck ( 210399 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2005 @06:14PM (#11327091)
    At the risk of saying something other than, "Well duh... who posted this?!"

    I think the great engine behind the "popular" image of gamers as loafers stems from marketing rather than popular experience. I see "gamers" depicted in television advertising regularly. It always has 2-3 guys in their early 20's sitting in a dark room, on the couch, surrounded by junk food and illuminated by the blue glow of a television. I see this almost every time I turn on "The Simpsons."

    By contrast, in real life I've only seen this environment a handful of times. Now why exactly the marketing folks think telling me I can be like the balding guy on the couch is going to get me to buy their game, I don't know. Maybe the answer is that gamer/loafers tend to wind up in marketing?

  • So, even though video games can be compared to movies in terms of sales (I know its often misleading,but the fact that they can even compare is noteworthy) people think that so-called 'gamers' are another culture?

    wow.

    +1 Interesting.
  • Gamers ... balancing their enjoyment of interactive entertainment with many other activities important to a well-rounded lifestyle.

    As opposed to chatters, I assume. My roommate discovered ICQ and hasn't been seen in public for about 9 months now. He eats while standing in the kitchen because presumably going to the dining room to sit down would take too much time from in front of his computer. After coming home from work, it's straight to the computer and when getting up he's usually a hurry to get to
  • With real living flesh-and-blood girlfriends? Naaaawwww. You are trolling my leg
  • Gamers are everywhere and they're everyone. They are your friends, neighbors, co-workers, relatives, and kids


    NOOO! I'm surrounded by them! Help!
  • than a lot of other people. They usually have access to computers, games and the luxury of entertainment - something a lot of people do not.

    IMHO, it would be great if more people remembered that:

    • Poor people are humans.

    • Drug addicts are humans.
      Gays are humans.
      Alcoholics are humans.
      Smokers are human.
      Disabled/handicapped people are humans.
      People that don't agree with you are humans.
      People with different religions beliefs are humans.
      People of other races are humans.
      .
      .
      .

      These are people who need t

    • You are spot on and have stated the most basic yet fundamentally important (but overlooked) thing when trying to understand other humans. I think something a lot of people forget at times is that people are people and always will be people. This may seem simple, stupid, or quaint, but I've found it helps explain things when you're intent on viewing a group/person as something thats something other than human. Generally speaking, people do things for reasons, human reasons, and theres a decent chance that if

  • Maybe I am just old (Score:5, Interesting)

    by krgallagher ( 743575 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2005 @06:23PM (#11327218) Homepage
    but when I grew up everyone was a gamer. I played dominos with my grandmother. I played Scrabble with my aunt - a librarian. I played cards with everyone I knew. I played Chess with my best friend. I played Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, and even doctor with the girl down the street. When I was young I would watch as my parents got together with other couples for Forty-Two tournaments. In college we had marathon Dungeons and Dragons games. Even today I am just as happy playing cards with friends as I am playing online. Maybe happier, the conversation is better.

    What is it about mainstream culture that has made entertainment something you watch rather than participate in. Isn't it more likely that sports fans are the ones that are not execising, going to church and voting. "Can't right now babe, the game is on." OK that is probably a personal bias since I don't watch sports. Still I do not get this attitude that gaming is somehow bad for you. Where did it come from?

  • Killjoy (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Boglin ( 517490 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2005 @06:25PM (#11327234) Journal
    Not to be a wet blanket, but the Entertainment Software Association doesn't exactly sound like the most unbiased source. While my personal intuition would lend me to believe their results, the whole point of doing these studies is that personal intuition is full of crap.

    If Pat Robertson had published a study saying that 83% of all gamers are pedophiles, we would have screamed that the study was obviously biased. Well, if we're going to convert over people who are actually against games, we're going to need studies that aren't going to appear totally biased to the Censor-Happy crowd.

  • No, I don't think so. I think the typical Slashdotter (myself included) falls into a different category that I like to call "Creepy CS."

    I give people I meet in real life that show a bit of computer/coding proficiency a test shortly after meeting them. (New co-workers, etc)

    The test is simple, "Do you read Slashdot?" ... so far nobody has answered "Yes" .. they usually answer with "Slash WHAT?!"

    How creepy is that?

    Anyways, going to social events and playing musical instruments cuts into my coding time.

    Tha
  • The problem with this is that the average person is fucking stupid. I once heard a person remark "Video games? Well, I don't have anything against them..." when people should just realize that VIDEO GAMES ARE ANOTHER ENTERTAINMENT MEDIUM. I was so stupefied by that remark that I didn't reply "Books? Well, I don't have anything against them..."
    • The only difference being of course that a soccer mom will apologize right before she cuts someone else off.

      It's odd, I could say I have nothing against coffee, but then I'd be lying. Most likely the person who told you 'I have nothing against...' really meant he/she doesn't find the activity offensive, but merely boring.

      She's probably scared she would have to try a game, and isn't prepared to be that tolerant.
      • Most likely the person who told you 'I have nothing against...' really meant he/she doesn't find the activity offensive, but merely boring.

        Whenever I hear someone saying something like that, to me it sounds like they dislike said activity, but they don't care if other people do it, while at the same time believing that there is a set of people who do believe that said activity do care about that activity because it is the "new evil" or something. I figure it will just take some time, hopefully we'll get
  • Study sponsored by: Entertainment Software Association

    Dairy Association says Butter good for you... Philip Morris says Cigs are good... etc, etc....

    JEEEEZ!
  • This habit costs real money...

    Up to date video cards, system boards, disk space, games, subscription MMORGs, broadband...

    Sheese, maybe I'll go back to 2nd Edition AD&D...

    ---

    Yea, yea, I'm sure I'll come up with a snappy sig soon

  • Just like the way terrorists respond truthfully when asked "Are you a terrorist?".
  • Well, of *course* gamers are *human*...I think what this survey was possibly talking about was whether or not they are what most of us would define as *normal.*

    My answer to that question is that FPS/RTS gamers in particular probably are for the most part from what I've seen...although the hard-core FPS crowd *seems* a little more anarchic/aggressive than most...which then again isn't surprising given most FPS subject matter.

    With regards to MUDs in particular however...I have strong suspicions that Eugene

  • A new study by the Entertainment Software Association reveals that, amazingly, gamers>/b> are regular human beings.

    In related news, Microsoft claims Windows less expensive than Linux, the NRA claims that guns don't kill people, people kill people (and so do monkeys, if you give them a gun! - thanks eddie!), tobacco companies claim that smoking is not that bad for you, and SCO claims that they own linux.

    Although I obviously agree that gamers are normal people (duh!), shouldn't we question the sou

  • The study also shows that avid gamers are also as drug-addicted, violent, sexually perverse, and prone to suicide as everyone else.
  • So in other words what's being said here is that because I'm a gamer who is a single minded loafer living primarily in a fantasy world, that I'm actually not like every other gamer out there? That's excellent, I always thought I was just 'one of the crowd', and that most gamers were into ther gaming more than anything else. Now I have proof that I'm special.
  • ... is people!

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