What Sort of Gamer Are You?

Approximately 58% of Americans play video games regularly, but the people who play them have varying personality traits. Some people are cool and collected while others become aggressive when gaming. You might find certain gamers concentrate on specific types of games, where some will look to consumes as many games as humanly possible. So, when you get down to it, there are loads of potential classifications of gamers that have been pigeonholed over the years.

In this featured piece on Games Reviews, we’ll look at some of the types of gamers that often crop up in conversations and how their attributes are best explained.

The overly aggressive gamer

We’ve all got friends that react a little over the top when gaming. Usually they get frustrated with someone’s ability to beat them in situations where they feel relatively confident in, and thus lose their heads quite easily. The usual scenario sees controllers thrown across the room, or several expletives spewed at the direction of the TV monitor. Aggression in video gaming has also been linked to incompetence.

The specialist

This concerns the players who play a certain title not because it’s a hobby but because it is their passion. Revered games such as Tekken and Mario Kart are just some of the example titles that have garnered a cult following over the years, and have a community built on passion, which has meant the titles have been hugely successful.

Retro gamer

Digging up old consoles and playing games that don’t necessarily have the graphics, gameplay or all round aesthetics of today’s games isn’t an issue for the retro gamer. They enjoy nostalgic titles and find solace in playing games that conjure up images of yesteryear. New nuggets of information regarding old titles are something that retro gamers live for, and love to share this information with their likeminded community. However, these old titles aren’t cheap and the retro gamers tend to be individuals who are good with money.

The tourney gamer

This sort of gamer takes pride in getting non-gamers on board with enjoying a plethora of new titles, and tries to show them what they are missing out on. Usually, a component gamer, this sort of selfless gamer would rather kick back and enjoy the camaraderie of several gamers than play alone for hours. They are usually socially minded and tend to be quite family-orientated with the end goal of creating an enjoyable and fun atmosphere for everyone.

The casual gamer

Usually someone who owns only a few titles, the casual gamer often plays with friends just for enjoyment and would most likely be friends with a “tourney gamer” among others. The casual gamer knows very little about gaming history yet they aren’t overly bothered about their lack of knowledge. It’s highly probable that this sort of gamer isn’t the sort who seeks out tutorials to hone their skills nor is part of a community of gamers. More often that not, this type gamer will play purely for social reasons rather than to improve their skill set.

The elite gamer

Always ready for a challenge, this sort of gamer is the most polarizing of all. Boastful, brash, cocky and downright annoying, the elite gamer has usually got an enviable skill set that they are only too happy to tell everyone about. Because their reputation precedes them, the elite gamer will tend to target the lesser experienced gamer and dominate them – then revel in the stats of overshadowing someone that’s nowhere near as proficient as them.

They tend to concentrate on a set number of titles, which means they excel at them at a faster pace. Studies show that the brain deals better with situations if the subject is an expert as they will think logically. This isn’t the case with amateurs as they tend to be “led by emotion in pressure situations.” Thus, the elite gamer sees these as easy prey and devours them. This transcends across all situations in sport, gaming and in life in general.

The Cheater

The accomplishment of completing a game is something that is the overriding reason for buying many titles for a gamer. However, there are those gamers who regardless of the intrinsic values of testing one’s self against the game without cheating, just isn’t in their makeup. This gamer will push the boundaries of cheating to get what they want, and the gaming stats that they crave. If this were a sport, the amount of gamesmanship going on to win would be ludicrous and they’d likely be ejected from the game.

What sort of gamer are you? Let us know in our comments section below.

Exclusively submitted to Games Reviews
by Game Genie