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> We didn’t even call video game players “gamers” until the fairly recent past. I certainly don’t remember hearing the word “gamer” in the mid-’90s Gamer origi
by RyanZAG 13y ago
> We didn’t even call video game players “gamers” until the fairly recent past. I certainly don’t remember hearing the word “gamer” in the mid-’90s
Gamer originated in the 90s, in particular round-about 1996 with Quake, but well before that too with other games. A gamer was someone who packed up their big computer and lugged around a monitor in their car to a LAN party. There were plenty of girls around too, however they were mostly girlfriends and sisters.
The strange rape-approving culture and other terms such as 'gg', came about because of two factors (I think, anyway). First, most people involved were generally high school or university students, and if you've been to a boys high school party then you shouldn't be surprised. Secondly, you generally sat around in a large hallway and the games let you use text chat. It was amusing at the time to talk congenially with your friend next to you and then send him a text message about raping because most of the people didn't even know what rape was. You generally saw complete shock if a younger player who was sending messages about rape was actually told what it was. It was probably the novelty of real time text communication. 1337 speak was also very popular around the time for the same reason - it helped to cement who was 'in the know' in the community.
Gaming itself was very much a meritocracy. People at the top of the kill board were the popular ones and people listened to them, and these people would generally travel around to other lan parties and pick up the 'rape culture' from them, and then it would spread at more lan parties when these knowledgeable players talked about it. Standard social dynamics, I guess.
- mcv 13y ago> Gamer originated in the 90s, in particular round-about 1996 with Quake Gamer predates its use for video gamers. I was a gamer in the late '80s because I liked RPGs and wargames.
- ebbv 13y ago> Gamer originated in the 90s, in particular round-about 1996 with Quake This just isn't true at all. Kids who played Dungeons & Dragons and other games were "gamers" in the 80s, and probably before. The term only entered the mainstream in the 90s when DOOM and Quake made PC gaming a mainstream activity.
- RyanZAG 13y agoI'd say the term got re-used. It felt like a different subculture to me at the time. The people involved in D&D/tabletop gaming were generally not the same people at lan parties as well. I don't think joining the current gaming culture to the D&D/tabletop culture is entirely correct...
- ebbv 13y agoIn my case and most of the people I knew, it was the same people. It depends on your generation, I suppose. But everyone I knew who was into D&D was also into computers and computer games. I'd challenge you to find someone who was into D&D and NOT into computers and computer games.
- RyanZAG 13y agoThere were a lot at the time. Computers for playing games were expensive and lan parties tended to take a whole weekend including sleeping there, while D&D was more relaxed and was just a couple hours in the evening. I'd still say the culture was vastly different though. A few people sitting around a board rolling dice was just a completely different social interaction to a hundred people in a noisy hall. There also wasn't the same level of 'scoreboard hero' in tabletop games that arose during Doom/Quake. I guess I'm actually talking more about 'quake culture' than gaming culture at the time, but it's actually that 'quake culture' which has gone mainstream rather than the 80s gaming culture which is still around today. Without the lan parties and quake, you wouldn't have the 'rape culture' they talk about and that's why I'm saying the two are something different.