Real Talk

I basically took this from a letter response in May's GameInformer that stood out to me. I promise not to have an opinion too often ;P P.S. Let's avoid any hateful/angry debate in the comments, okay? Everybody play nice.

118 thoughts on “Real Talk

  1. I like this. Both make valid points, yet can still be countered. I only hope HCA is not the ganer that brags about PC graphics when playing an 8-bit game on it.

    1. On gamercats side he has a strong idea of it

      What pixel said about validation to the game gave him that point he was making

      But still on the other hand pixel is right about discrimination against so-called fake gamers

      Wow . Whoever thought that politics would go into play in video games?

      Eat your heart out FOX News

      1. They will only do so if Obama takes a side.

      2. At least Fox News does its job and reports on things whether or not they agree with it!

        1. Saibot: Um… no. They tend to “report” things that aren’t true, much like a tabloid.
          Every time a Republican has been caught in a sex scandal, Fox listed them with a (D) beside their name instead of an (R). Bill O’Reilly & Glenn Beck are nothing but sensationalists (basically, paid to lie for ratings). Carl Tucker makes a bunch of false, and very racist, claims – like “black teens make neighbourhoods more dangerous.”

          During a recent study, Fox has been found to only tell the truth about 18% of the time; MSNBC is almost as bad, only telling true stories about 30% of the time.

    2. I’m on GaMERcats side the only mobile game I found myself enjoying was SoulCalibur. (And I realize nobodies gonna read this) forever alone :’)

      1. Except that SoulCalibur is was born on a console and is always better played on a console. Also, I read it ;)

      2. I mainly only play browser and mobile games because I’m not allowed to get a console and my 3ds is broken :(

    3. You may like it. I’ve no liking for it.

      While it is entirely reasonable to point out the glaring No True Scotsman fallacy that crops up in these sort of situations… it is downright undeniable that the act of trying to expand the gaming market to include those who would never have looked at a game twice before is changing the standard of game development to favour people who aren’t dedicated gamers… The more time, effort and money is put towards making F2P mobile games with microtransactions and the like, the less time, effort and money will be put towards big, high-profile, content-rich games.

      In short…. those “filthy casuals” are shifting the industry in a direction harmful to the rest of us.

      1. i think mobile and at home games are great no difference to me except the device i use

    4. Funny he says “Do you play **REAL** games?” Because he plays cookie clicker.

  2. The Gamer card is a real thing.

    1. Get me one.

      1. You have to earn it.

  3. I don’t get it. I knew that the “hurr durr ur not a ril gamur if ur not hardcore” joke was inevitable in a gamer comic, especially one that introduces a female character (because we all know girls don’t play games and there are no girls on the internets), but he has already seen her buying/considering buying Assasin’s Creed. It might be a mainstream crap, but is definitely not a casual, mobile game. His questions don’t make any sense to me and feel forced.

    1. He’s basically trying to confirm what he saw. She could have been picking up random games for all he knows. I realize I worded this poorly and it looks like the question is coming out of nowhere. My bad :(

      1. And that DS game? She was steamrolling him in army size.

        I dunno which game it is, but given he accepted it as a valid proof, it must not be ‘casual’.

        That said, I am fine with this, like, its not so much as him re-checking as giving Pixel a chance to counter his opinion. And it shows us she is not a shy girl. ;P

        1. Actually the Warrior’s Way game is very casual and not at all a valid proof of skill. You gain army size by Street Passing people and adding to it. Not very hard. It was just another silly example of validation that isn’t really validation at all.

          Even Assassin’s Creed is questionable, as apparently a lot of people don’t think of it as a decent example of a game a “real gamer” should play. It’s all just pandering to Gamercat’s own idea of what he thinks a gamer should be.

          End result, I didn’t word this particular comic properly. I should have had him ask something like “Are you REALLY a real gamer or are you just pulling my leg.”

        2. Not a valid proof of skill. Wow. I’m sorry, I didn’t realise I had to go through 5 years of school and earn a paper that says “congratulations! You’re a real gamer with skills! Now you can finally enjoy playing games like any MALE gamer would do, except you will have to prove it every time by showing this!”.
          Games. Do you understand that word? We play games. This is supposed to be fun, enjoyable, a funny thing to spend time. Not a fucking competition.
          AC games are games, COD are games, mobile phone games are games, indie games are games, AAA games are games, and people with that “you don’t deserve respect ’cause you don’t play the same stuff as me” are shitty people.

        3. Wait, are you angry at me? I’m the one saying anyone requiring a “valid proof of skill” before they’ll let you into their club are being elitist snobs.

          That being said, no, Warrior’s Way doesn’t really require skill. That doesn’t make it less fun. I quite enjoy playing the game and encourage others to try it.

        4. I think he’s mad at being defined as a casual gamer?

        5. I think the point is that skill isn’t the only metric that defines a gamer. Dedication can also be a sizable component. Just getting a number that big means you care about games, and have at least some of the requisite skills to play other games.

          I don’t want to make a big deal about it, but I’m kind of on the side of “We already saw enough evidence of Pixel liking and being good at games, and it was done better the first time.”

          This comic, while understandable, is necessitated by the world we live in, not the world the characters live in, nor the characters themselves. I completely understand why you would feel the need to make this kind of statement, but it’s kind of at odds with the tone of the rest of the comic, in a way that people trying to enjoy the comic as a work of art, rather than as a social commentary, are probably going to dislike.

          (And yeah, extreme necro, but what can you do?)

      2. Thank you for the helpful explanation, now I get it. And even can relate, too, as a non-gamer without any skill that has beaten a few games anyway :)
        I also want to apologise for my first comment ever being a slightly negative one, I really like your comic, the story, the jokes, the drawings, the cute cats, and am looking forward to the next ones.
        Thank you for drawing it, sharing with us and taking the time to reply nicely!

    2. “It might be a mainstream crap”

      Methinks you find the questions forced because you’re not fully grasping the concept.

  4. Dude u r blowing it! shape up or she’ll dicth u

    1. You Beta. Gamercat is just beeing himself

  5. The biggest reason PC gaming will never die – mods.

    1. Yeah, although you`re missing out on a few great games if you don`t have a console

      1. Last of Us, y u no have PC port? ;_;

  6. To avoid any arguments about “real” gamers over not “real” gamers, I think Pixel is cuter than Glitch; let’s argue about this instead!

    1. Oh, you just opened a can of worms!

      1. Glitch is cuter, Pixel is hotter. Now, can we get to the comic where hilarity and violence ensues when they try to agree on a game they all wanna play together?

        1. thegAmercAtisbAckwArds

          I think that Gamer Cat is the cutest…even if he is a guy. I just love the face ^-^

        2. I’m more interested in the comic where sweet comes over and steals pixel

    2. I think my avatar should sum this up fairly nicely.

      However, I am quite curious as to what made you decide to expand the cast, Celesse? I mean, yeah it’s great that you did, but WHY these added party members?

      1. It’s more material to work with. Different genders, personalities and priorities create varying situations and opportunities for different jokes.

        1. Don’t call a cat hot. It makes you sound like a furry or someone who fantasizes gamer girls. (Glitch is cuter.)

    3. Nyan and Pusheen were cutest. I love Glitch, though. I want him as a real kitten.

  7. I think there’s a more pressing controversy that everyone seems to be ignoring… how can these cats play video games… WITH NO OPPOSABLE THUMBS???!

    1. They’re all polydactyl cats. All of them. In colors they can’t be, yet are.

      Yeah.

      (Okay, fine: a wizard did it)

    2. That says nothing about Gamercat’s owner that is a gamer, yet does not find it out there is another account in his consoles, and games appear out of nowhere that he did not buy.

      I am hoping he finds out eventually as is all like ‘DUDE, AWESOME!’

      1. He knows ! Kind of…
        Remember the cookie clicker game ! He saw Gamercat play ! :D

    3. Shhh! shhh. SHHHH!!!!!

  8. I wanna know who’s gonna play as peach now, pixel or sweet… it would be cute to find that peach is sweet’s favorite character and that he refuses to let another person to play as her :3

    1. Bet Sweet stays as Peach, just for the sake of reverse expectations, Pixel meanwhile shall use the most ‘evil’ characters and laugh while slaughtering the others, regardless of what game they play.

      1. This is actually pretty accurate, women are evil.
        Source: I am a woman.

  9. Though as a counter-point, there are toads and frogs, but both are actually frogs. Toads are frogs, and frogs are true frogs.
    Likewise you could argue that there’s casual gamers and real gamers.

    Though I would urge for a different term.

  10. Wow, like 2 speaking parts in and this already? :(

  11. But assassin’s creed is casual AAA bullshit. Everybody plays that. Its not rare for a girl to play ass creed.

    Ps. Stop using strawmen

    1. Please refer to the fourth panel of this strip for my response to this nonsense.

    2. True, but its far less casual than angry birds, farmville, happypets, bejeweled, or peggle. But then most games being created today are extremely easy, that they might as well be those with greater graphics. And when you play older games, you find them easier than they were because your skills at those games get passively better as you age, even if you rarely played them.

    3. AAA does not mean casual or bad (unless you’re some kind of gaming hipster), “everybody” does NOT play Assassin’s Creed, and it’s not rare for females to play ANY single game that males play. You just don’t notice them because they have learned not to advertise that they’re female, because of the horrible, immature, and misogynistic attitudes they get in “hardcore” games.

      “Casual” implies little to no challenge. The first AC was considered a “serious” game when it came out, and was played by “hardcore” gamers. And even if it weren’t, there’s nothing wrong with casual games.

      TL;DR – What yellowcrash10 said.

  12. I think the “real gamer” is as real as a “real reader/movie/seriesjunkie/art connoisseur”.
    In every medium there is a elitist/snobbish group looking down on everybody else. That’s normal (if you have consumed much of medium you have a broad knowledge and it can be boring talking to an novice).
    But that is no excuse to be an asshole. Like in every other medium you should be open to someone who is new to the medium and wants to learn!

    1. So true. I don’t get how gamers can be so shitty. I’m a girl, I have been playing since I was 5, I own lots of consoles and a pc with tons of games, and I regularly get this “oh but you didn’t play this, you’re not a real gamer”. I wasn’t aware there was a list of games you have to play to be considered a gamer, that only seems to apply to women.
      And when people who don’t play tons of games tell you “hey, this stuff looks cool”, if your reaction is “omg fake gamer you just want attention” instead of “holy shit! You like the same stuff! I know lots of things about it! I’M GONNA SHOW YOU EVERYTHING!”, you probably shouldn’t be allowed around people anyway.

      1. I usually just don’t tell anyone my gender, or make a big deal over it if someone calls me a “he” in game, works fine.

      2. sooooo… i believe you, I started playing at the same age. the first game i played was MKDS (Mario Kart DS)
        Actually, What was your first game? Just curious.

  13. I swear, everytime I hear this “YOUR NOT A REAL GAMER!” crap, I honestly wanna punch the annoying D-bag who opens his mouth about it. Honestly, if you are a person who thinks others should be looked down, because they don’t apply to your own personal standards, first off shut up and nobody likes you, second get a life.

    1. Quote “P.S. Let’s avoid any hateful/angry debate in the comments, okay? Everybody play nice.”

      *coughs*

  14. I don’t think we have to be at each others’ throats as long as we acknowledge that there’s a difference. In my day you had videogames and then you had silly LCD handhelds that are basically toys.. Then you had videogames but you also had cheap simple java or flash games, fun for a quick diversion.. Now people are playing these “apps” and I’m not exactly sure what they are except that they’re inferior versions of existing games.. But if people enjoy them, great! Ideally it should be a gateway drug to “Real” games. Oh you enjoyed farmville? try Harvest Moon.. etc.

    1. Farmville is completely different than Harvest Moon, if anything it would be Enjoyed farmville? Try these city building games instead, Ex Sim city 2000, pharaoh, ect.

  15. You’re blowing it GamerCat, and it’s ruining your chances! On this topic, I’ve always thought the whole “real games” and “real gamers” was absolute crap and one of the stupidest, snobbish, and just all around discriminatory things devised by the fandom.

  16. It’s not only that but why are women automatically questioned and discriminated against? When a guy says they’re a gamer no one bats an eyelash but when a girl says she’s a gamer either no one believes her or she gets ganged up on and is asked to answer tons of questions before being deemed a faker or a gamer. There are cases where no one will question a girl that says she’s a gamer but the instances where she’s questioned or labeled a non-gamer because she’s female completely outweigh the former.

    1. You know, I’ve never seen this happen…ever… I have questioned some guys before but that’s cause I knew them personally and I knew they didn’t know what the hell they were talking about.

    2. Where exactly does this questioning happen? As a 30-year-old woman who has been gaming since the NES days, I have never, not so much as once, had anyone question whether I’m a gamer just because I’m female. Not at stores, not to my coworkers, not to anyone else. I read a lot of articles and comments about it on the internet, but I’m not entirely convinced that this actually happens in real life.

      1. Kiryn, it happens a lot online (either on the internet, or via services like XBL & PSN). My roommate’s a female gamer – 31 years old, been playing since NES as well – and has stopped using a mic during Halo because of the “fake gamer girl” accusations, rape “jokes,” and general awful/immature/sexist attitudes from males (mostly teens & younger, but a few adults) in certain games.

        It’s most common in online FPS games, from what I’ve seen.

    3. Why does anyone have to believe a girl is a gamer? I mean, yes, that does happen. But if a girl really just wanted to play games why not just play them instead of trying to prove it to everyone? People might question her over and over again but it’s not hard to ignore stupid questions. The most common reasons guys ask girl gamers those questions/ask her to prove it is so they have an excuse to exclude her, wanna laugh at her expense or just wanna make her mad. None of those are good enough reason to warrant a response unless she cares about labels and more about what others think rather than her own enjoyment.

    4. You know, she hasn’t actually called herself a gamer yet either. :)

      Yeah, we had a couple of D-bags in school that thought that way till our gaming group formed. Getting trashed in your favourite game by a bunch of girls who’d prefer j-rpgs to what your playing tends to jerk guys back to reality. And who says there isn’t going to be a clip of her with a laptop beside her while she’s playing mario anyways? Any mature fortress doesn’t require your full attention anyways.

      1. does the sex matter?

    5. Maybe you’re being too defensive about the idea. I’ll try to describe what I mean, and I would like to point out I am trying hard not to be insulting or offensive with anything I say.
      Man 1: “I’m a gamer.” Man 2: “Oh? What games do you play?” Man 1: “(insert shooter, linear adventure, action game)” Man 2: “That’s cool. I like those, but I prefer (insert sandbox adventure RPG, survival, puzzle)” nods all around, shares of hilarious experiences. The End.
      How it also goes:
      Woman 1: “I’m a gamer.” Man 2: “Oh? What games do you play?” Woman 1: “(insert JRPG, Complex RTS [eg starcraft, command&conquer], Platformer)” Man 2: “That’s cool. I like (insert Rhythm game, Stealth game, simple RTS [eg overlord, pikmin])” nods all around, shared experiences ensue. The End.
      How it sometimes goes due to misconception.
      Woman 1: “I’m a gamer.” Man 2: “Oh? What games do you play?” Woman 1: “What, I have to prove that I’m a gamer just because I’m a girl? I have to have proof? (Insert backhanded insult towards him as a prejudiced gamer).” Man 2: “No, I just meant…. Well, I play (insert some game, any game, little big planet why not)” Woman 1: “Oh what, now I guess I’m not a real gamer because I don’t play the games you play? (Insert prejudicing rant).” Now that girl really HAS been labeled as not a gamer, because when given a chance to talk about games, she chose to talk about how she feels girls are in the game industry and start a debate, rather than… Talk about games.
      Granted, I will say far too often it goes like this:
      Woman 1: “I’m a gamer.” Man 2: “Really? Girl Gamer?” Woman 1: “W-well yeah. So? Just games.” Man 2: “I bet you’re a casual. What games? I play real games like (insert Shooter, car racing, some random indie that is popular, etc., you get what I mean).” Woman 1: “I play those too!” Man 2: “Whatever! Then play me in them!” Plays. Man loses, it’s because woman isn’t real gamer because she used ‘cheap’ tactics. Man wins, woman is seen as attention seeking fake. Either way, she loses. The End.
      I’ve never actually seen that happen once in real life but I see it happen in forums a lot and I hear stories about it happening too. However, I don’t think this comic was going for the sexism approach. Maybe you’re being too sexist by thinking that? Just because one’s a man and one’s a woman, it has to be about sexism? Pixel is just a new character and is bringing some new light to the situation. Once again, I’m just trying to share my viewpoints and not offend you.

    6. uhm… were not sexist. we want to know what games you play. most guys probably either
      A) Don’t say anything
      or
      B) Is considered mental
      trust me, if you play games, you are considered mental.

  17. To be fairly honest, I use my gamer card on anyone trying to bash games from 10, 20 years ago on the sole basis that they’re OLD :p Yeeeeah, because “Super Monster Bros by Adventure Time Pocket Free” (google that, but BE WARY) is so much better than say… Breath of Fire 4 =w=;;

    As Deadpool marvelously put it once:
    “Say Jar Jar Binks is an abomination. SAY IT! *clicks revolver*”

  18. Oh no, real gamers aren’t just upset because the initiates don the title without ever having to experience social stigma or a barrier to entry.

    It’s because they don the title sans skill. People don’t play chopsticks and call themselves a Pianist.

    Put together whatever battery of control tests you want, casuals gonna casual.

    1. Spoken like a true bag of douche.

      1. Better douche than wrong. I’ll take that fall for the pianists of any instrument.

        I’m looking at you, 21st century “photographers”.

    2. Tetris is a casual game. Do you hate playing Tetris? :D

      1. I understand I played devil’s advocate and should fit the elitist stereotype, but note I don’t actually hate on casual games.

        However, someone who doesn’t go past Tetris (or Flappy Bird or Candy Crush or Threes or whatever they’re on now) shouldn’t have Pianist on their business card.

        Throw a “Gamer” into a game with them. Myself, I’ve never played a MOBA or anything Dark Souls, so if I want to use that word I’d better be able to hold my own in those unassisted.

        I should even be able to make observations that compare/contrast their elements to the rest of gaming, if I want to claim to be an authority on the subject.

        1. One can be a “real gamer” without ever touching a MOBA or Dark Souls. There’s no defined checklist of games one must play & be skilled at in order to qualify.

          A gamer is simply someone who plays a variety of games (video or tabletop, but we’ll stick to video games for this conversation) as one of their primary hobbies.
          It doesn’t matter if you’re a casual gamer, if you only play old-school systems like the NES, or if you’re at the top of the leaderboards in whatever the hardcore-game-of-the-week is; if playing games is your primary (or at least a major) hobby, you’re a gamer. Full stop.

  19. Watch wat you say Gamercat.

  20. Well, I certainly wouldn’t call someone a gamer, who only plays Candy Crush or that farm game on facebook and such.. *shrug*

    How about calling ‘real gamers’ Gourmet-Gamers? We are experienced and can judge a game based on our knowledge and experience with other games as well as knowing the matter, just like a Gourmet does with food! X3

  21. But there actually is a gamer card. its the Power up Rewards card I mean what sort of gamer would be without that? :P

  22. I can’t stand people who aren’t real gamers. I mean how dare they stand there being figments of my imagination or pieces of my psyche.

    My definition of a real gamer: If I was to poke you, would there be resistance? Do you breathe? Is there a need to consume a certain level of calories? Are you human? If you answer yes to these questions you are obviously real. And if you play games of any kind, then you are a gamer. Therefore by connection you are a real gamer.

    Of course if you were just deep seeded issues of my psyche you would answer yes anyway, so beware! :P

  23. This is terribly off topic but people mentioning Sweet got me thinking:
    Is Sweet in any way a reference to the Web Comic “Lackadaisy”? He bears a resemblance to the character Asa Sweet.

    Of course this could also be a case of “-the hell? How could I reference or plagiarize something I didn’t know exists?!” I know that happens to me all the time.

  24. So just caught up with this comic after catching up with Fanboys’ webcomic. And I can’t help thinking that a cross-over between the two would be awesomesauce of epic proportions. Just saying. No need or expectations for followups to that.

  25. I think what often gets confused among the “Not a real gamer” debates is the idea that we don’t afford greater respect to people who have greater skill and/or knowledge of video games.

    I’m not saying anyone deserve disrespect based on their experience with video games, or anything really, we all started somewhere.

    I think where my frustration comes from a lot of times is when you have presumptuous people who think they get to demand the same level of respect as a veteran or highly experienced player simply because they put on airs of being that experienced.

    I.e. the guy who only does LFR in WoW but struts around like a narcissistic a-hole deserving the same respect as a guy who cleared the latest hardcore raids several times over.

    Or someone who thinks that they deserve special consideration or treatment over other people when they’re not anything special.

    A lot of gamers have naturally put themselves into a meritocratic mindset. When people act like they deserve special treatment with no merits or very easily acquired merits. It’s presumptuous and amusing, if not outright irritating.

  26. If you’re gonna bring up elitism in games, and the dude doing it specifically likes AC and Xbones (or just consoles in general), you’re doing something wrong. This cat is basically Angry Joe but without the yelling.
    They’s all casual. Where’s my true non-casual character? Where’s that jaded Siamese that sits at a PC at all times, managing a 200-man Dorf Fort?

  27. One individual has been cooking for years, making a variety of dishes from various cultures.
    The other has made Mac and Cheese a few times.
    Is the latter as much of a chef as the former?
    No, they’re both technically chefs, they both cook, however one has more experience than the other.
    The whole “Real Gamer” issue’s problem is that it looks at it as two points, Real and “Fake”, when it’s a spectrum full of individuals who engage in the hobby at various levels. There isn’t some threshold where you play this many video games for this much time in order to be considered a real gamer, but someone who has played more is more a gamer than someone else.

  28. It would probably not have been as rude for Gamercat to ask if she was a casual gamer versus hardcore gamer – or even better if she played mainstream games. Pixel probably just thought Gamercat was being sexist, but there is a different kind of problem nowadays; at least for my group of friends:
    It’s very difficult to find people who play the same games. It used to be me and my friends played only a few game series, and we all bought them when they came out and we talked about them. But now everyone plays different games. And while mobile gaming or casual gaming is no less credible than mainstream gaming, it’s not unreasonable to want to know if another gamer actually plays something you play. The indie market helps, but I do miss the days of everyone playing the latest Mario and I really haven’t seen that; we’re all just doing our own thing.

  29. Love this. I don’t like all the “true gamer” stuff. While I hate candy crush, farmville and all that mischievious crap, I’m sick and tired of elitarists and snobs. Let me enjoy BOTH Dark Souls and Layton, will ya?

  30. Nice. You go girl! Why, pray tell, DO some gamers look down on us casuals?

    1. Yes they do and it’s stupid. I’ve been in gaming since the early 80s when arcades were in their heyday. I’ve watched the video game crash and the rise again of home gaming. I’m very much a retro gamer and a hardcore gamer. Though I can enjoy casual games.

      I outright reject the concept of real gamer or not real gamer. You’re a gamer or not. Fully, I am a historian of gaming and for me, that’s enough. Though I do smugly gloat about how I have the very first handheld game that came out on the market. I’m rather proud of that fact.

      1. For some reason I never saw the Why part. Allow me to add to my post now even though it will probably only be seen by someone doing an archive binge.

        There’s a certain stigma to gaming that survives to this day. It used to be if you were a gamer you just needed to go out and play, even in hurricane season. Or you were socially crippled, no matter if you were the opposite. Pus faced losers that had nothing better to do and were likely mentally damaged idiots.

        Now a days, you game, you’re a psycho killer hitman; even if the truth is that games can’t teach you to be a killer. Not even in any bit of logic. I had to answer many people when they asked me if I used a PS2 to launch nuclear missiles at Russia, true story.

        A lot of people, in response to this extreme stigma and idiotic hatred have responded with similar idiotic hatred and proclaimed themself “real gamers” so they can judge casual players and flash game players. This gives way to the “true scotsman” arguments. You’re a real gamer if you play PC games only, or if you hate Halo. (Consequently, I do hate Halo, but it doesn’t figure into my life even to exclude others.) If you like the Wii U you can’t be a real gamer because it doesn’t have a ton of 3rd party games. You can’t be a real gamer if you play indy games. You can’t be a real gamer if you play mainstream games. The whining and shuffling of definitions just keeps changing.

        I think I have an acceptable at least for me definition of real gamer now that I just thought about it. A real gamer plays games he thinks is fun, not in an ironic way, not in a snooty I’m better than you way. A real gamer plays to have true, unabashed fun. Because that is the point of gaming to begin with. Just to have fun.

        1. oldmangaming I dont understand.
          You say you’re not a real gamer if you like the wii u (which i do) You then say that a real gamer doesn’t play mainstream games. You say that a real gamer plays solely to have fun. Are you trying to contradict yourself. If I play the wii u purley to have fun, am i a true gamer or not? If all someone plays is PC fortnite for fun, are they a true gamer, or are they not allowed to play popular games. If the point of gaming is to have fun, why do you ban specific games because they’re popular, or consoles because… I don’t know why you ban consoles. i understand not wanting to be compared to someone who plays flappy bird in bed, but if gaming is for fun only, then am i a true gamer if i just have fun playing mobile games? (I don’t) Am i not a gamer because i’m not on pc? am i not a gamer because i use a $300 gaming machine to play video games vs an $800-$1300 one? What if I have fun playing indie or mainstream games? What if I play the JUST TO HAVE FUN? You’re very contradictory, and frankly, you drive no point home. You’re like two arguments condensed into one post, both merged together to make one deformed jumble of words

  31. I’ve always found the real gamer thing rather ironic since there are so many guys that only use the console for –
    1. Call of Duty
    2. Sports Games
    3. Netflix
    4. Some Combo of those.

    Not that using those is bad, just the irony.

  32. Well, as much as I knew, after the moment I read the comic, that this post was going to get tons of flak, mostly because we all know that many of us ” real gamers” are narrow minded ignorant twits, it does raise one very good point.

    However, while I at first I did think it the comic was simply going to beat a dead horse on the topic of the non-existent difference between “gamers” and “girl gamers” the notion of casual vs hardcore gamers seemed a bit tangential, while not wrong by any means.

    The response itself, while a more clever retort, mightn’t actually give the right message about the entire ordeal, at least so I feel. So I ought probably do a bit of devils advocacy here.

    Sure, when we hear the studies on the proportions of male vs female gamers and note that in the results themselves, it is shown that the much larger majority of female gamers classified as “gamers” even whilst the greatest majority of them were gaming on mobile platforms to make up for the 50/50 sum we see quoted all over the internet.

    The entire problematic reasoning doesn’t stem mostly from such, it stems from defensiveness to keep the male dominated, dare I say AAA platform as samey (As people do not like change) as possible while “threatened” by change due to this 50/50 perceived number of male to female gamers that to them, could bring change to the medium that they like. And this is in fact something that is being pushed by certain organisations and people (Cough, Anita Sarkeesian, cough **Even though she does also raise many valid points herself**)

    The reason why they wish not to treat “casual gamers” as “real gamers” is mostly due to the fact that they feel it may impact their self entitled medium, even though it oughtn’t as the very same females that invest equally as much time into “real gaming” want more of the very same that all male “gamers” do.

    It is really problematic to not actually define gamers by the medium they use as otherwise studies, marketing and others will bleed the likes and dislikes of the different platforms into one another that both have pros and cons in both areas.

    I mightn’t be best at formulating what I meant to say, but if I had to TLDR’s my own opinions.

    “Casual” gaming is not inferior to “hardcore” gaming, they are games for a reason and are to be enjoyed by those who play them. Those who don’t have no real right to criticise the medium solely upon the fact that it doesn’t fit their standards for what qualifies as a “hardcore game”, they are still fun.
    They do however at this very moment have a very different demographic crowd of people playing them meaning that assumptions and generalisations are made about this majority group. For better or for worse… Usually worse, and due to such we have people who assume and take these actual generalisations for fact. Male gamers and female gamers are the same, casual and hardcore gamers play different games and have different communities, but none is actually properly “superior” and both should be playable without any bickering from either side…

    I don’t know

  33. I want Pixel to be Peach. I think it would be funny if Sweet was a Toad :3!

  34. I agree with the entire point of this strip, but it feels a TAAAAD preachy with this whole plot line just leading up to a “lesson on how gaming is a bit sexist and exclusionary right now everybody and we should love everyone from now on” – know what I mean?

  35. I usually like this comic, but this one is preachy.

    And no, if you only play mobile games you are NOT a “gamer”. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if I said, “I played football with a friend once! that makes me a football player!” you would say I was a moron.

  36. By this definition my parents are gamers cuz they play solitaire all the time. Oh no! It’s facebook all over again.

  37. WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO ADD PIXEL TO THE CHARACTERS SECTION? PS. IM NOT ANGRY I JUST LOVE CAPSLOCK

  38. This is awesome. I’ve thought about something like this before, but this comic brings it out in the best possible way. Good stuff. :)

  39. “Gamers” are people who’s hobby is games. They spend countless hours and most of their free time playing them, learning they’re secrets, etcetera.

    Like someone who’s really into mountain biking and goes out and bikes every day and up to the mountains every weekend. Then spends all their extra cash on new bikes and mods their bikes all the time. Stating that someone like that to someone who just uses their bike to commute or for fun is exactly the same would be insulting. Gamers feel the same way.

    We unlocked all the extra modes, we got 100% completion, we climbed the tower and saved the princess! We don’t wanna be compared to people who just play angry birds on the bus, or candy crush at work. A number of us don’t even want to be compared to those who just play Halo or Madden.

    So the next time you think a gamer is being snobbish, it’s just cause their hobby is looked down upon; and they want to protect it. My hobby is looked down upon, and I want to protect it. I climbed the tower, and I saved the princess. I am a gamer.

  40. I feel like this attitude is why no one will take games serious ever. No one will see video games as a true art or a true sport, and tournaments for games will be frowned upon and everyone will still treat gamers like they’re just children or immature and won’t grow up. If I cook something once and know how to cook something once, I can never tell anyone I am a chef, they would laugh. If I played football with my friends, we all actually had enough for two teams, played a couple times then never again, I can never put football player on a résumé. If I play chopsticks on a piano and can’t play anything else, don’t know what notes or chords are, and can’t read sheet music, my friends will be disappointed if I told them I was a pianist. If the best I could do was draw stick people, the Louvre will not be accepting me as an artist. However, if I downloaded a single free app, played it, it took no skill and was a “tap this button” cookie clicker type game, no one is ever allowed to not call me a gamer or they’ll hear this criticism. I’m just as much a gamer at that point as Maximillian Dood or Matt and Pat from Two Best Friends. Sure they can play anything and I don’t even know the buttons for Mario, or what Mario is, and I don’t even want to know, because I don’t even like video games that much.
    What I mean to say isn’t to hate on that, because I think someone who only plays free mobile app games CAN be a gamer! Someone who plays Jetpack Joyride and some of the mmo’s on the phone can be a gamer. Hell, if they had Clash of Clans that would even make them a gamer because it’s a baby steps to RTS games. It’s not about what you have played, it’s devotion. A microwave hotpocket is not a personally-cooked meal made by a personal chef, and a Kardashian’s game app is not the only thing you need to be called a gamer. It’s not about what you play, and the level of gamer you are is defined by your skill and man hours but it won’t define that you ARE a gamer, it’s choice in games. Madden players? Gamers. Clashers? Gamers. Joyriders? Machine-gun-Jetpack-toting gamers. Halo? Gamer. CoD? Gamer. League of Legends? Sorry DotA fanboys, they’re gamers too, and you should treat them with respect, because one day they may play DotA, and your influence will make them bully lol players like they used to be, and the vicious cycle will never end. It’s time we gamers earned respect for ourselves so we can be taken seriously as an art. It’s the devotion in a game, the appreciation and adoration in each meticulously colored pixel. If you played Jetpack joyride once? You aren’t a joyrider. If you look up at the birds and see mechanical wings and can’t escape that music being played over the P.A. Even when the game is off? You’re a joyrider alright. It’s okay to not be a gamer. Playing chopsticks may not make you a pianist, but it might get you interested in piano. Then, you’ll care, adore, and devote time to the piano. Learning about the piano, learning about reading sheet music, learning about some sister instruments like the sharp Harpsichord. Once you can safely say that you wouldn’t be the same person if you never had a piano, THAT’S when you’re a real pianist! And THAT is when you’re a gamer! If you could have all games erased from your past, and you would be like “aww.. Well… Whatever.” Then you don’t devote much to the game you play. We gamers LOVE Link, he changed us with his brave silent protagonist ways who knows that actions speak louder than words, because everyone knew his face. If you took Link away from gamers, we would have history missing. And some people never played Zelda, well that doesn’t apply to them, but replace that with whoever you want. Gordon Freeman, Chell, Zoey Francis Louis and Bill, that custom character you made as the perfect QB you named “Rick Rolld” as a joke and regret it but you come to know that that regretted name is a bit of who the character is, and even that character that I made. My first character on vanilla WoW as a young boy. A female gnome with a green short bob hair. My brothers mocked me for playing a girl and relished in it when anyone would think I was an IRL girl. Honestly, I just enjoyed looking at a badass freaking girl when playing games so every character on RPG games were always girls, but this was my first MMO. I hated her and even begged my dad to give me his credit card for $25 so I could remake her as a human boy. He declined for 2 months, and for 2 months I wandered Azeroth with a dress on as Nelmadge. Finally, my older brother got tired of looking at her, and asked dad. Seeing as how not only he is the favorite, but I am the least, it was a cinch to get the money for him. I had the credit card in hand, and I declined. I would never get rid of Nelmadge, because she was me as much as Samus is me and Mario is me. My brothers then just stopped playing with me, and I ended up quitting, being a young kid with no one to play with in an MMO. I rejoined WoW later, and I will never delete Nelmadge, because sometimes, I’m a genius engineer who just so happens to be a female green haired gnome, and that doesn’t negate who I am. That’s what a gamer is. Take us seriously, because calling games childish, calls everyone whose lives were changed- and saved- by games childish. That one clicker may not be a gamer yet. But he may be interested, and we as a media should remain very open to him, but if we treated him like he was a real gamer and began discussing moral representation inside of Mass Effect, it might scare him off, and that chopsticks player got too scared by the expression of conflict in Beethoven’s 5th or was intimidated when compared to Tchaikovsky. Bottom line, we need to be able to identify that they really AREN’T gamers to not scare them from our media, but we need to change, to learn to say “You’re not a REAL gamer… But… Would you like me to help you see what it’s like? Games are fantastic, and you might want to be a gamer yourself!” Places that are guilty of this are PC gamers mocking Halo and other console players, Console wars mocking whoever bought the opposing company’s console, and everyone shunning Temple Run fans because mobiles can never be taken seriously… Just like games in general. Love your brother gamers, do not fight over who is and isn’t a bigger gamer, fight to spread games as both fun, friendly, family, and mature medias. When a game that’s released like GTA vice city, everyone and their mothers blamed it for violence and depravity found in their kids. Television and movies used to suffer the same shame-blaming with violent movies and provocative female stars that are sexy and independent. They’re taken seriously now, though. Don’t you think it’s about high time we are, too? No more games banned because they were based off of military events and one mother was offended by it and sued (google it), when movies like Saving Private Ryan, Zero Dark Thirty, and The Beast are out there showing off blood and military events with horror happening all around but it’s allowed because it’s considered a “mature and serious media”. Extra Credit on YouTube, look him up, too. I AM a gamer, for all of my life, and I just want to be able to keep my love and devotion on the pedestal I held it on for so long.

    1. Wow. Long post.

    2. Levels of gaming

      PC
      Console
      mobile, browser
      mobile gamers fall into a mini category. They can be “gamers” if they play games that take SOME skill, like twisty road.

  41. I guess I must be a chief because I know how to use a microwave!
    I guess I must be a professional racer because I drive a car!

    1. i think you mean chef
      not chief

  42. Hi there! I wanted to weigh in on the gamer thing by saying I have enjoyed games since my early teens and I started with a Commodore 64 and then the NES. And I’ve really enjoyed the Gamercat comics Celesse! :) Keep up the good work!

  43. I Love your comics. Great job.

    About the topic. I think that someone really won the gamer tag when he/she has played so many games that when someone ask “which game is your favorite” the answer would be something like “What genre?”. This is in the sense that you would not call someone a fisher if that someone only caught one fish in his entire life.

    And I think that being a gamer is nothing special, is the same as a cinephile, a car lover, etc. It is just an achievement won by grinding.

  44. I can see that asking if somebody is a “real gamer” doesn’t make much sense. But asking if someone is experienced and has played a lot of games can be a valid thing to ask, especially if you are asking them to join a gamer group. If only to know if you need any help getting started.

    Imagine being asked to join a group of hobbyist painters who already have 100k followers on their deviant art, they ask you if you’re a painter, you say “I have painted in my life, therefore I’m a painter” like, no, if you need to be at a certain skill level for a group, where is the problem in asking those kind of questions?

    I get it’s not the intention of this comic, but my god, then why always use this stereotype of misogynistic male gamer? Where have you ever seen somebody asking a girl who looks around in a game shop and picks Assassins Creed if she is a “real gamer”? Exactly, nobody does that. So I guess my real problem with this particular comic is that it’s an unrealistic display of events.

    1. In regards to your last comment, I have had more than one of my girl friends get asked if they were a “real gamer” when they show interest in games in front of strangers. One of them plays Dark Souls and a guy aggressively accused her of faking it until she was able to recount moments in the game to prove her validity. Which is ridiculous.

  45. some things i wont say
    but ill say that there are some good mobile and browser games, however playing just those… does not necessarily make you a “real gamer” but just someone who plays games. In my opinion a “real gamer” makes money off of youtube or twitch or something, so half of us aren’t even “real gamers” anyways

  46. I like to know a gender… because i guess based on they’re name. I really don’t care what gender plays. I just like to know wether to say he or she. soo… If i see a girl in-game i think “oh cool”

  47. I like pixel but the sjw ass messaging behind this comic makes me sick

  48. that’s a gatekeep

  49. The way I see it, you’re a gamer regardless of what you play. Just so long as you play!

  50. Online emulators, though at times they can suck, are something sent from above.

  51. GC you offend me I’m on this on my I pad right now

  52. Ehh hello? You know pokemon go exists

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