Is it publicly and socially acceptable to be a gamer now?

First off, I want to say that it doesn't matter what anyone thinks of you. If your happy doing what you love to do, then screw the rest of the world. You will never need anyone's approval for anything.

And also: there is no such thing as normal. So anyone that thinks gamers aren't normal, they're right. But that's only because no one is.

Honestly, being a hardcore gamer is not always accepted. Usually it depends though: hardcore female gamers are not as accepted as male ones, and most of the time black gamers aren't as accepted as well. Because when you think of a typical gamer, people still see the 20 year old white boy. So for some people it is not socially acceptable to be a gamer. But like I said - who cares about what everyone else says? Be you how you want and don't change for anyone.

When I started college last semester, I tried to find some group to get involved in. I ended up joining the Sci-Fi and Comic Book Club. But you know what? I don't like Star Wars, or Anime, or Dungeons and Dragons. Yet this club on campus still organized many gaming events so I decided to join.

While gaming is getting a little bit better than it was in the 80's and 90's, it still is grouped amongst stereotypical geek hobbies. And yes, when I am refering to gamers, I am not using the same broad definitions that convinced Nintendo that 25% of gamers are over 50.

Of course there are college gamers who buy Madden every year, or girl gamers who play the Sims, or middle aged gamers who play solitaire. But this is not the demographic that drives the sales behind most video games.

I don't want to generalize, and this obviously doesn't apply for a lot of people, but I wouldn't be suprised if the majority of gamers who purchase more than three games a year, are white, 12-30 year old, single, middle class males. While I would say that the line "stay out of my culture" is a bit extreme, there still is a vast cultural difference between those who play games like Madden and GTA, and those who don't.

Now don't get me wrong. There are gamers who play Final Fantasy, and Madden, and Zelda, and Halo. But despite the anticipation of games like a new Zelda, it still does not come near the sales of a "new" Madden. For the most part, there is a clear cultural distinction.

I think the question lies in; what does it mean to be a geek? I've always grown up playing video games. I also happen to wear glasses(not as bad as the guy in the picture).Retarded as it sounds, I still think many people associate a nerd as someone with glasses. This person with glasses, might not be viewed as attractive. This non-attractive person may not be wanted at social events. Because this person is not socially desirable, this person is more likely to do things by themselves, such as: watch trilogies, read comics, and play video games.

I can talk about music and it can definitely impress some girls. Even if I talk about some movies it may make me look intelligent. But I'm sorry, gaming has not reached this point. At least not yet. Not until the fact that just because I'm a gamer, I also must like Lord of the Rings and Comic Con.

You missed the point Grunge, again.

The people who play Halo and GTA and madden only care about being cool and socially accepted among their little group of friends. Thus we get shit like them tellimg people like me that Halo 1 was the greatest game ever made. Bullshit like that makes me mad, and I find it insulting to be grouped with them. I don't care what their likes in video games are, but to tell me something that stupid is just wrong.

When it goes back to playing games for the sake of playing, not filling a niche and being popular then I'll be fine with gaming being socially acceptable.

Comics are WAY WAY WAY MORE socially significant than games, sorry guys.

Any time you ascribe to a culture that revolves itself around an object or a past time it is highly more significant that independent individuals are able to contribute to that culture. I'm not a comic person myself, but we all have to admit that first and foremost we are consumers. As gamers our entire experience is mediated by professionals who work for a very limited list of coprerations.

I think it is becoming more and more socially acceptable to be a gamer, yes. But I dont think it is ever going to be a sorce of pride for many people.
Be proud to be a zinester, a writter, and indie musician any person who's culture exists within a socially dynamic niche.
Once gamers adopt a voice and begin to contirbute back to thier own culture, as you see with the writter of this blog, it will become more and more socially acceptable. But unitll there is room for dialogue and contribution, we are all basically clones, consuming voicelessly and responding only through our bank accounts.

And thats the part that looks ugly to most people, when people hear gamer they dont think of someone proud or independent with a voice, they think of game devotees who sit up all night giving their time and livelyhood over to a product and get fat, lazy and additcted in the process. Change that and you'll change the social accepibility of being a gamer.