Quiz time: Can you spot the "real" gamers?
by Kyle Orland 
{ Nov 12th 2007 at 2:26PM }
If there's one thing you can count on this holiday season (besides annoying relatives), it's holiday ads full of glossy, high-res pictures of people pretending to play games. But are they really just pretending? And would you be able to tell if they weren't?MTV's prolific Stephen Totilo has set up a cute little quiz to find out. Inspired by a six-story Target billboard (right) featuring a mischievously grinning "gamer," Totilo has laid out ten pictures, some of people actually enjoying our favorite pastime and others of people who are just posers. The answers will be posted tomorrow, so head on over and see how well you can pick out the vacant stare of a true gamer.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
samfish @ Nov 12th 2007 2:40PM
Oh! OH! I know I KNOW! It's the fat one! Yeah, the one with orange crap smeared around his lips!
Slaziman @ Nov 12th 2007 2:43PM
Hey Kyle, you linked to your own comment
Kyle Orland says:
November 12th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Real: 2,3,6,7,9,10
Remove the #comment-4801 from the link
milestailsprowe @ Nov 12th 2007 2:45PM
yeah it called people who are broke right now and have not bought any presents for no one except their girls/boyfriends
kostaki @ Nov 12th 2007 2:51PM
last time i checked the ps3 wasnt fun to play so why is target trying to market the ps3??? it should be the wii or atleast the 360 and no i am not a fanboy...im looking at this from a business stand point.
Seraphim @ Nov 12th 2007 3:47PM
You obviously no nothing about business.
Fanboy.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 12th 2007 4:14PM
It's because Sony pays Target to advertise them. And even if the Wii is a much more popular item, Target isn't going to turn away from anyone who's going to pay for advertising space.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 12th 2007 2:51PM
1. Surprisingly no, I don't see Miyamoto as a gamer. Sure he has created some of the best known games of our time, but he doesn't seem like the type to go home and play some Wii regularly.
2. No. Not because she's a girl, but because of that emo picture and the hat. Defiantly not a gamer.
3. No
4.Yes.
5.Absolutely not. Look at the way he dresses. does that look like a gamer to you?
6.yes
7.yes, but probably only plays Madden or 2K
8.yes
9. yes
10. WHAT THE FUCK??? I CAN'T EVEN SEE HIS FACE!!!
G @ Nov 12th 2007 3:21PM
Hey Vegeta, just to let you know, not all black people like sports games! Yeah I know...it's SHOCKING! And if your wondering, that is me in that picture. I also thought you'd like to know I'm a HUGE Dragon Ball Z fan. Been a fan of the series since the early 90's.
p.s. A good word of advice is to usually keep comments like that to yourself. In the end it just make you look like the bigger fool ;)
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 12th 2007 4:00PM
ummm what? I wasn't really even basing my claims on race. And yeah I know not all black people play sports games because, duh du duh!!!!! I'm black as well and I can't stand games like Madden (if I can't kill something than it's not worth playing).
elmersglue @ Nov 12th 2007 2:56PM
boring
Kazi @ Nov 12th 2007 3:04PM
1. Real
2. Real
3. Real
4. Real
5. FAKE, so fake. stop looking at the guitar douche.
6. fake
7. fake
8. fake
9. fake
10. real
Woo, now to check my answers tomorrow!
Phranctoast @ Nov 12th 2007 3:35PM
It always cracks me up when they put video games in shows/movies. They may show a real game and a real controller, but the sounds that are coming from the game are from the atari 2600.
Its as if we cant associate a video game with the sounds that are used today.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 12th 2007 4:01PM
I believe it has something to do with movie producers not wanting to pay off game studios to use their sounds. So they just use generic video game sounds.
G @ Nov 12th 2007 4:15PM
Vegeta, your a funny kat. What where you basing your claim off of? Was it my hat?
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 12th 2007 4:27PM
I'm happy we were able to avoid a major argument.
Anyways, yeah it was the hat and your clothes. In my school (at least in high school) people who dressed similarly to you usually talked about Madden when gaming is mentioned. I'm sorry if I offended you in any way.
Mr Khan @ Nov 12th 2007 4:20PM
1. I would say not, from what little Miyamato's said about himself, he doesn't strike me as a frequent gamer, beyond testing his own stuff while at work
2. Yes, because of the hat
3. Yes, although its a narrow decision
4. No, the look on his face seems wrong
5. No, because of what others said, stop looking at the guitar
6. Yes, the look on his face seems right
7. Yes, again because of the hat
8. No, although i'm not sure why
9. Yes, the look on the face is right again
10. No, he seems entirely too interested
Circle Breaker @ Nov 12th 2007 4:39PM
I think 8 is Gilbert Arenas, so that's definitely real.
i_hate_mtv @ Nov 12th 2007 4:44PM
I hate poseurs.
i_hate_mtv @ Nov 12th 2007 4:47PM
1. Real
2. Real
3. Real
4. Fake
5. Fake
6. Fake
7. Fake
8. Real
9. Real
10. Real
gonk @ Nov 12th 2007 4:54PM
page didn't load any pics for me so whateva
Zsavior @ Nov 12th 2007 5:03PM
Just can not judge a real gamer these days it just does happen. I know people that call themselves "hardcore" and have cheated their way through most games, while people who call themselves casual have done the whole freaking game up and down back and forth twice.
Second the term gamer is changing every day so quickly that I don't even bother. I have a friend who is a die hard PC gamer, but you would never notice it from the looks of him, little do you know this man has played every FPS known imaginable. As for Miyamoto if he is truly that brilliant that he can create games with out liking to play them, then I am in awe of his ability. But since the games he creates are so breath taking I have to believe he is a gamer, most times you have to enjoy your art, to be great at it, maybe I am wrong with him. As for the rest of the list, no freaking clue.
G @ Nov 12th 2007 5:08PM
Vegeta, no offense taken. Believe me, I been through alot of one passing judgment on me. But it's all good because I love to see the reaction on their faces when they find out I am the complete opposite!
Grant @ Nov 12th 2007 5:24PM
this is pretty gay in general, because you can't tell just by someones face if they are playing or not.
No matter if you're playing or trying to focus to look like you're playing, the face is going to look the same. Chances are if you look like your having fun, with a big dumb grin on your face, unless you are with a group of friends, you are not playing.
Controller posture is usually THE dead give away, true gamers hold a controller correctly(or even an odd grasp that allows easy access to all "home" buttons) and usually in the most balanced and comfortable postition. it would in no way look like they were having fun, just relaxed and focused, and would probably just make a crappy add.
Mr Khan @ Nov 12th 2007 5:40PM
we take our hobby too seriously to have this... fun? that you speak of
Where have you been?
Grant @ Nov 12th 2007 6:16PM
no where did i say that the people playing are not enjoying themselves, but the display of joy is a social tool. If there is no one around when you are gaming or happy, chances are you will not display this emotion.
Personally, i am typically more focused on the task at hand while playing than giddy as a school girl and grinning like a retard.
Mr Khan @ Nov 12th 2007 6:28PM
total Zing dude
over your head...
Grant @ Nov 12th 2007 6:54PM
Unless it was some nerdcore reference that i am missing, +1 nerds, me 0.
otherwise, not really,
it just wasn't funny.
and i realized i missed those points in my previous statement, so i gave it a proper amendment.
Mr Khan @ Nov 12th 2007 7:15PM
no, not a reference, just an attempt at self-detrimental humor.
I tried too hard i suppose
Dio @ Nov 13th 2007 6:23PM
Agreed, except for the fact that if "gamers" have a shred of humanity left, they should be capable of smiling.
Dan @ Nov 12th 2007 5:45PM
The quiz is hard as can be. It's really quite impossible to tell just going by facial expressions like that.
So, I don't know if the billboard model is playing or not. Doesn't mean I can't be in love with her.
zuburi @ Nov 12th 2007 5:42PM
Dear MTV;
Please stay away from videogames. You've already ruined music, I would hate to see you do the same to something else I love. Perhaps you can go bother sports or something?
Sincerely;
zuburi
RCizzle65 @ Nov 12th 2007 8:37PM
Yeah, we already have G4TV ruining gaming as it is
i_hate_mtv @ Nov 12th 2007 11:38PM
Hahaha, for a second I thought that was directed at me.
raquor @ Nov 13th 2007 12:54AM
1. Yes
2. Yes
3. No
4. No
5. No
6. No
7. Yes
8. Yes
9. No
10. Yes
zwarrior @ Nov 13th 2007 3:09AM
Well obviously she's not really playing since she is staring at a camera photographing her holding the dualaxis, unless they sell TVs with built in cameras that lean 5 feet in front of people. What a moran lololol!1!1
Dio @ Nov 13th 2007 6:21PM
...
"Gamers" don't exist. You have either played video games or you don't. That said, all of them can be gamers. It isn't socially appropriate to try and fit into one box that other people do. All shapes and sizes of people play video games.
The worst thing is, is that Totilo is getting gamers to judge people by appearance, and it's impossible to tell what a person is or what they like by how they look.
I'm disappointed in both MTV and Joystiq.