In preparation of my upcoming podcast regarding Gamer subculture and how I associate myself within it, Ryan interviewed me and we had some good discussion about how stereotypical gamers are viewed by society. We talked about how society judges and draws stereotypes to the whole gamer category. I suggested that the underlying characteristic of competitiveness could be the fuel that feeds a gamer in his quest to defeat others. I know that I am incredibly competitive and for that reason I enjoyed testing my skills against others whether it be on the battlefields of Call of Duty or under the Friday night lights of the high school I attended. This competitive aspect of my personality has led me to search for methods of testing my worth against others, in which I have found athletics and gaming.
"They are sort of put off by it. People who are not gamers and do not understand gamers kind of look down on the subculture as the gamers are inferior to them because the gamers enjoy this thing that is not really real. But, the truth is not all gamers are stereotypical gamers and they enjoy a lot more things than just gaming and gaming is simply a manifestation of their competitiveness, and things like that."
"So do you find that your competitiveness brings you into other subcultures too?"
"Absolutely. I've always played sports. I think my main thing is competitiveness, like everything branches off of that. I played baseball and football my entire life, up until recently, coming to college I had to stop, and that is part of the reason why gaming has come by into my life to fill the void left by sports."
"Right. So gaming is more of an avenue to get towards a deeper cause."
"Yeah, I need to beat people."
"Do you think that is common in the subculture?"
"Absolutely, people who play video games love the competitive aspect of it. In the end they just want to be better than someone else."
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