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So there are two types of gamer: Hardcore and Casual. Hardcore being somebody who spends all of their money on games and generally has a little
shrine with several consoles littered over it in their room. Casual gamers are people who buy the most popular console (I'm not going to start any console war pap in this post though) and buy the occasional movie spin-off game while their console gathers dust. I know most people are in the middle etc. but I'm not going to go into detail about all the stereotyping.
But what is hardly mentioned is the gamer ability and mentality, which I will try to divulge to you in this post.
Right, so what makes a good gamer? In my opinion a good gamer needs these qualities:
The ability to pick up and play:
One of the, I think, lost skills of gaming. The skill of being able to pick up and play a game without practice and without knowing the controls instinctively, sometimes on a different controller to what you are used to and be good at the game. One of the reasons for this is the lack of regular arcade gamers. Most people play on their console almost exclusively only playing arcade games on holiday. This is mainly due to the increasing cost of the machines and their difficulty. This is a shame as their difficulty is what makes them an essence of gaming, and being able to play a game level after level, enemy after enemy when on completely new territory is one of the greatest skills a gamer can have.
Perseverance:
This is maybe not a skill but more of a mentality, even when a game is getting tough or maybe long-winded you keep going to the end. One of the lesser factors of a hardcore gamer is that they always complete a game fully and tend not to play another one until they have, even if the game has taken hours of their free time. This is generally worth it as you normally get treated to an amazing end sequence after a enthralling story of many twists and turns, or you unlock that little extra that gives the game that extra edge when replaying it.
Playing a game with style:
This factor is important to being a good gamer, as it is about style and skill. One of the most abused game genres is the Beat 'em up, known by the term 'button bashing'. As you probably know many poor gamers just bang buttons randomly pulling off the odd combo or special move, it can also be somebody using the same move over and over again. In First Person shooters some people decide to go 'camping', and no that isn't a pleasant holiday in France spent under a canvas, it's a term for people who hide from view and steal peoples kills. This is a really bad way to play as it angers people and means you are in deep water with lead boots if you come face to face with somebody.
Another of these factors, and probably the worst is cheating. Yes that eternal word associated with every game of every sort and in none of them is cheating absent. A good gamer shouldn't use cheats until they have finished a game and even then only use them for some extra fun from the game. Using them to complete it is just poor and an easy way out, and normally this brings the other categories crashing down around their ears too. Definitely something to be avoided.
Grace and humility in defeat and victory:
Although this maybe should have gone in the style category I thought it should have it's own as it has some moral aspects as well. In the unlikely event that you lose a game against somebody it is not a good idea to start quoting "You cheated" , "I let you win" in a snivelly whine or of course knocking them out with an well-aimed punch. Instead it is better to just challenge them to another game and then whip them in style. In the event of winning however you won't look good if you prance around like a pixie on ecstasy ending with you tripping into some very hard, precariously placed object. Instead just say some witty remark and watch your opponent fume and make up excuses for their loss.
These four essences of gaming make someone a gamer of legendary status and don't need to necessarily need to be a hardcore gamer.
And if we all played like this the world would be a better place.
Well maybe...
Ali
shrine with several consoles littered over it in their room. Casual gamers are people who buy the most popular console (I'm not going to start any console war pap in this post though) and buy the occasional movie spin-off game while their console gathers dust. I know most people are in the middle etc. but I'm not going to go into detail about all the stereotyping.
But what is hardly mentioned is the gamer ability and mentality, which I will try to divulge to you in this post.
Right, so what makes a good gamer? In my opinion a good gamer needs these qualities:
The ability to pick up and play:
One of the, I think, lost skills of gaming. The skill of being able to pick up and play a game without practice and without knowing the controls instinctively, sometimes on a different controller to what you are used to and be good at the game. One of the reasons for this is the lack of regular arcade gamers. Most people play on their console almost exclusively only playing arcade games on holiday. This is mainly due to the increasing cost of the machines and their difficulty. This is a shame as their difficulty is what makes them an essence of gaming, and being able to play a game level after level, enemy after enemy when on completely new territory is one of the greatest skills a gamer can have.
Perseverance:
This is maybe not a skill but more of a mentality, even when a game is getting tough or maybe long-winded you keep going to the end. One of the lesser factors of a hardcore gamer is that they always complete a game fully and tend not to play another one until they have, even if the game has taken hours of their free time. This is generally worth it as you normally get treated to an amazing end sequence after a enthralling story of many twists and turns, or you unlock that little extra that gives the game that extra edge when replaying it.
Playing a game with style:
This factor is important to being a good gamer, as it is about style and skill. One of the most abused game genres is the Beat 'em up, known by the term 'button bashing'. As you probably know many poor gamers just bang buttons randomly pulling off the odd combo or special move, it can also be somebody using the same move over and over again. In First Person shooters some people decide to go 'camping', and no that isn't a pleasant holiday in France spent under a canvas, it's a term for people who hide from view and steal peoples kills. This is a really bad way to play as it angers people and means you are in deep water with lead boots if you come face to face with somebody.
Another of these factors, and probably the worst is cheating. Yes that eternal word associated with every game of every sort and in none of them is cheating absent. A good gamer shouldn't use cheats until they have finished a game and even then only use them for some extra fun from the game. Using them to complete it is just poor and an easy way out, and normally this brings the other categories crashing down around their ears too. Definitely something to be avoided.
Grace and humility in defeat and victory:
Although this maybe should have gone in the style category I thought it should have it's own as it has some moral aspects as well. In the unlikely event that you lose a game against somebody it is not a good idea to start quoting "You cheated" , "I let you win" in a snivelly whine or of course knocking them out with an well-aimed punch. Instead it is better to just challenge them to another game and then whip them in style. In the event of winning however you won't look good if you prance around like a pixie on ecstasy ending with you tripping into some very hard, precariously placed object. Instead just say some witty remark and watch your opponent fume and make up excuses for their loss.
These four essences of gaming make someone a gamer of legendary status and don't need to necessarily need to be a hardcore gamer.
And if we all played like this the world would be a better place.
Well maybe...
Ali
Thanks for the replies.
I know that I don't have all four essences of gaming. For starters my perserverance is poor and I still have a few games I'm yet to finish on the Megadrive and SNES but I'll probably play them sometime...
Also I don't take losing easily either so that's the grace and humility out the window.
I know that I don't have all four essences of gaming. For starters my perserverance is poor and I still have a few games I'm yet to finish on the Megadrive and SNES but I'll probably play them sometime...
Also I don't take losing easily either so that's the grace and humility out the window.
I agree and disagree in equal parts. I consider myself leaning more towards the hardcore end of the spectrum, and I'd love to finish all the games I start, but there's simply not time. It's not because I lack perseverence, but that I can't, especially bearing in mind that I like to try to play all of the good games....
The pick up'n'play is indeed a true marque of gamer. I couldn't have put it better myself. What I think's interesting is that this applies to many non-game situations as well. I learn things quickly. I thank a youth spent gaming for that
and as for grace and humility, you never saw me losing at Street Fighter or Mario Kart. Suffice to say that it's a good job SNES controllers were designed not to break when hurled against the wall.
The pick up'n'play is indeed a true marque of gamer. I couldn't have put it better myself. What I think's interesting is that this applies to many non-game situations as well. I learn things quickly. I thank a youth spent gaming for that
and as for grace and humility, you never saw me losing at Street Fighter or Mario Kart. Suffice to say that it's a good job SNES controllers were designed not to break when hurled against the wall.
Good post.
Of course I'm too modest to say that I have all 4 gaming essences in abundance.
Of course I'm too modest to say that I have all 4 gaming essences in abundance.
So there are two types of gamer: Hardcore and Casual. Hardcore being somebody who spends all of their money on games and generally has a little
shrine with several consoles littered over it in their room. Casual gamers are people who buy the most popular console (I'm not going to start any console war pap in this post though) and buy the occasional movie spin-off game while their console gathers dust. I know most people are in the middle etc. but I'm not going to go into detail about all the stereotyping.
But what is hardly mentioned is the gamer ability and mentality, which I will try to divulge to you in this post.
Right, so what makes a good gamer? In my opinion a good gamer needs these qualities:
The ability to pick up and play:
One of the, I think, lost skills of gaming. The skill of being able to pick up and play a game without practice and without knowing the controls instinctively, sometimes on a different controller to what you are used to and be good at the game. One of the reasons for this is the lack of regular arcade gamers. Most people play on their console almost exclusively only playing arcade games on holiday. This is mainly due to the increasing cost of the machines and their difficulty. This is a shame as their difficulty is what makes them an essence of gaming, and being able to play a game level after level, enemy after enemy when on completely new territory is one of the greatest skills a gamer can have.
Perseverance:
This is maybe not a skill but more of a mentality, even when a game is getting tough or maybe long-winded you keep going to the end. One of the lesser factors of a hardcore gamer is that they always complete a game fully and tend not to play another one until they have, even if the game has taken hours of their free time. This is generally worth it as you normally get treated to an amazing end sequence after a enthralling story of many twists and turns, or you unlock that little extra that gives the game that extra edge when replaying it.
Playing a game with style:
This factor is important to being a good gamer, as it is about style and skill. One of the most abused game genres is the Beat 'em up, known by the term 'button bashing'. As you probably know many poor gamers just bang buttons randomly pulling off the odd combo or special move, it can also be somebody using the same move over and over again. In First Person shooters some people decide to go 'camping', and no that isn't a pleasant holiday in France spent under a canvas, it's a term for people who hide from view and steal peoples kills. This is a really bad way to play as it angers people and means you are in deep water with lead boots if you come face to face with somebody.
Another of these factors, and probably the worst is cheating. Yes that eternal word associated with every game of every sort and in none of them is cheating absent. A good gamer shouldn't use cheats until they have finished a game and even then only use them for some extra fun from the game. Using them to complete it is just poor and an easy way out, and normally this brings the other categories crashing down around their ears too. Definitely something to be avoided.
Grace and humility in defeat and victory:
Although this maybe should have gone in the style category I thought it should have it's own as it has some moral aspects as well. In the unlikely event that you lose a game against somebody it is not a good idea to start quoting "You cheated" , "I let you win" in a snivelly whine or of course knocking them out with an well-aimed punch. Instead it is better to just challenge them to another game and then whip them in style. In the event of winning however you won't look good if you prance around like a pixie on ecstasy ending with you tripping into some very hard, precariously placed object. Instead just say some witty remark and watch your opponent fume and make up excuses for their loss.
These four essences of gaming make someone a gamer of legendary status and don't need to necessarily need to be a hardcore gamer.
And if we all played like this the world would be a better place.
Well maybe...
Ali
shrine with several consoles littered over it in their room. Casual gamers are people who buy the most popular console (I'm not going to start any console war pap in this post though) and buy the occasional movie spin-off game while their console gathers dust. I know most people are in the middle etc. but I'm not going to go into detail about all the stereotyping.
But what is hardly mentioned is the gamer ability and mentality, which I will try to divulge to you in this post.
Right, so what makes a good gamer? In my opinion a good gamer needs these qualities:
The ability to pick up and play:
One of the, I think, lost skills of gaming. The skill of being able to pick up and play a game without practice and without knowing the controls instinctively, sometimes on a different controller to what you are used to and be good at the game. One of the reasons for this is the lack of regular arcade gamers. Most people play on their console almost exclusively only playing arcade games on holiday. This is mainly due to the increasing cost of the machines and their difficulty. This is a shame as their difficulty is what makes them an essence of gaming, and being able to play a game level after level, enemy after enemy when on completely new territory is one of the greatest skills a gamer can have.
Perseverance:
This is maybe not a skill but more of a mentality, even when a game is getting tough or maybe long-winded you keep going to the end. One of the lesser factors of a hardcore gamer is that they always complete a game fully and tend not to play another one until they have, even if the game has taken hours of their free time. This is generally worth it as you normally get treated to an amazing end sequence after a enthralling story of many twists and turns, or you unlock that little extra that gives the game that extra edge when replaying it.
Playing a game with style:
This factor is important to being a good gamer, as it is about style and skill. One of the most abused game genres is the Beat 'em up, known by the term 'button bashing'. As you probably know many poor gamers just bang buttons randomly pulling off the odd combo or special move, it can also be somebody using the same move over and over again. In First Person shooters some people decide to go 'camping', and no that isn't a pleasant holiday in France spent under a canvas, it's a term for people who hide from view and steal peoples kills. This is a really bad way to play as it angers people and means you are in deep water with lead boots if you come face to face with somebody.
Another of these factors, and probably the worst is cheating. Yes that eternal word associated with every game of every sort and in none of them is cheating absent. A good gamer shouldn't use cheats until they have finished a game and even then only use them for some extra fun from the game. Using them to complete it is just poor and an easy way out, and normally this brings the other categories crashing down around their ears too. Definitely something to be avoided.
Grace and humility in defeat and victory:
Although this maybe should have gone in the style category I thought it should have it's own as it has some moral aspects as well. In the unlikely event that you lose a game against somebody it is not a good idea to start quoting "You cheated" , "I let you win" in a snivelly whine or of course knocking them out with an well-aimed punch. Instead it is better to just challenge them to another game and then whip them in style. In the event of winning however you won't look good if you prance around like a pixie on ecstasy ending with you tripping into some very hard, precariously placed object. Instead just say some witty remark and watch your opponent fume and make up excuses for their loss.
These four essences of gaming make someone a gamer of legendary status and don't need to necessarily need to be a hardcore gamer.
And if we all played like this the world would be a better place.
Well maybe...
Ali