Top 10 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About Gamers
Misconceptions, stereotypes, misunderstandings, mistakes, delusions, fallacies, and on occasion, flat out lies and slander! These are those pervasive myths that haunt your average gamer. Welcome to http://WatchMojo.com and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About Gamers.
Special thanks to our user “tevin" for suggesting this topic using our interactive suggestion tool at http://WatchMojo.comsuggest
Alright, let's sort a few things out. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 Things That Non-Gamers Get Wrong About Real Gamers.
For this list, we're looking at what we consider to be the biggest misconceptions surrounding video games and the gaming culture by misinformed or ignorant non-gamers. To be clear, we're focusing more on the misconceptions surrounding the hobby of gaming itself rather than video games in general.
#10: Gamers Are Great With Electronics
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For some reason, gamers are typically viewed as being extremely electronic-savvy individuals, despite many not having the faintest idea of how their console or PC works. Perhaps it comes from the electronics-based form of the hobby itself, but whatever the case, gamers are frequently asked by elderly family members, friends, and relatives to “take a look” at their computer or “see what's going on” with their internet. Even building a PC is far easier and less complex than many people seem to think. Just because we can play a PlayStation doesn't mean we know how it works. And unlike what the Super Mario Bros movie implies, we certainly cannot hack a police computer.
#9: Video Games Make You Stupid
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One of the biggest urban legends surrounding video games is that they promote stupidity, particularly in children. Critics argue that gaming is a monotonous, stationery hobby and that gaming can detract from more stereotypical “intelligent” pastimes like reading. While there are certainly health detriments to 15 hour gaming binges, gaming is perfectly fine in moderation. In fact, author Gabe Zichermann theorizes that video games are actually making us smarter. Fluid intelligence, a measurement in IQ tests, has been on a steady rise since the early 90s, and Zichermann attributes this incline to various components of playing video games, including overcoming obstacles and creative thinking.
#8: Gamers Are Single
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A quick glance around the internet will tell you how people view the stereotypical gamer: single, alone, and in their parents’ basement. Perhaps it's due to the hobby’s more personal, reclusive nature, but many people see gamers as the stay-indoors, single type. While there is little data to back this up, it’s safe to say that this is a wild generalization of gamers as a whole. This is one of those misconceptions that you can solve with mere anecdotal evidence – I’m sure you know plenty of gamers with girl and boyfriends, let alone husbands and wives.
#7: Gamers Are Immature
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Playing video games online certainly doesn't help this stereotype, what with the children, screaming, crying, racist comments, verbal abuse, your mother jokes, and trolling. Even social media sites like Twitter aren't safe from the bombardment of childish behavior, such as “No Man's Sky” creator Sean Murray receiving death threats for delaying the game. Unfortunately for most gamers, this vocal minority gives the hobby and its followers a bad name. Many games are filled with great (or silent) people, many of which are more than happy to have a conversation, help you hone your craft, or provide a sportsmanlike challenge. You just have to find the right people, and mute and ignore the dumb ones.
#6: You Can't Make A Career Out of Video Games
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While many non-gamers see gaming as a pointless and dead-end hobby, the truth is that a wide range of individuals make a very comfortable living playing video games. There are gaming journalists, who play and review games for a living, either through a website publication, as freelance or with their own YouTube audience. There are also Twitch streamers, YouTube players, such as PewDiePie, who earned roughly $7.5 million in 2015 alone. There are entire companies devoted to making entertaining content based around video games (he he), and many e-athletes are now making millions of dollars through gaming tournaments. And that’s not even mentioning hundreds of thousand developers, programmers and artist that work tirelessly to bring these games to life.
#5: Video Games Aren't A Respectable Artistic Medium
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While views regarding this stance are slowly shifting with the increased popularity of video games, there is still a lingering view among non-gamers that video games are not art. However, this goes against the very nature and subjectivity of art itself. What some may see as pointless or time wasting, others may see as artistic beauty. Even speaking in a conventional sense, many video games are becoming increasingly artistic. Indie games like “Journey” and “Braid” have been praised for their artistic merits, and even mainstream games like the “BioShock” series have plenty of artistic worth. Like any entertainment medium, there is art to be found within.
#4: Gaming Makes You A Socially Awkward Nerd
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As mentioned previously, gaming still has a personal stigma attached to it in that many non-gamers see players as nerdy, reclusive, awkward people with no friends. However, this simply isn't true. As with most hobbies, there is a wide range and diversity amongst its followers. Sure, some may be socially awkward, but that is in no way representative of the hobby as a whole. Many famous people who are generally NOT considered nerdy, like Vin Diesel, Snoop Dogg, the late Robin Williams, have advocated their love of gaming. Also, with the increased popularity of casual gaming, such as the Wii and mobile releases, it's very evident that gaming is for everyone, not just the socially awkward.
#3: All Gamers Are Male
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Video gaming is still seen as an extremely male-dominated hobby and profession. Many game journalists are male, and many popular video games, like Call of Duty, are marketed more towards males than females. However, via a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, it was discovered that gaming is a pastime almost virtually split down the middle in terms of gender. They found that 50% of men and 48% of women participated in the playing of video games on a console, PC, or mobile device. While it's ignorant to proclaim that video games are played solely by men, it was found that males identify themselves as “gamers” far more than women, which possibly lends some credence to the myth.
#2: Violent Video Games Make You Violent
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One of the most widely discussed and controversial topics surrounding video games is their link between violent content and violent behavior. Politicians like Jack Thompson have advocated against violent video games, and they have previously been blamed for various mass shootings in the United States. The Pew research found that as many as 40% of Americans still believe in this myth, despite years of credible research debunking it, including a study conducted by Oxford University. While it's understandable that an older generation would believe and buy into a correlation, as they grew up without this form of entertainment, the years of study suggests that the myth is simply not true.
#1: Gaming Is for Children
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Perhaps the biggest misconception still circling around the general population is that gaming is meant for children, as adults are supposed to take on more “mature” hobbies.But just as gamers have matured, so have the games. Research performed by the Entertainment Software Association revealed that the average gamer is 38 years old. What is perhaps most revealing is the fact that more gamers are over the age of 36 than between the ages of 18 and 35. It's clear that video games are not only transcending gender, but age as well, as more adults are playing video games than ever before, as they grew up with the medium. While it may appear to non-gamers that teenagers dominate the market, it's clear that gaming is a medium full of adults.
Do you agree with our list? What misconceptions can you see in gaming? For more open minded top tens published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.
