the thing i never understood about gamers getting offended at attacks on gamers is that anyone who's spent any time playing games hates gamers

it's exactly like cops, who can't handle any outside criticism but quietly they all hate each other's guts because they're all terrible

@helldude the thing I don’t understand is that unless you’re a pro player or something, gaming is a hobby not an identity in and of itself....
@AmesCG @helldude you'll be damned if they aren't trying to make it one.
@dirjj @helldude On further reflection I bet Gamergate/etc has a lot to do with gaming transitioning from a hobby enjoyed by a niche culture *with* a discrete identity to one enjoyed by everyone in society
@AmesCG @dirjj @helldude the average age of someone who plays video games is like 35 or something. It's like having an entire identity around watching a lot of movies or listening to music.

Even back in the day, though, everyone played Mario and Zelda and Sonic. I felt ostracized in 9th grade because I *didn't* have a GameBoy. If there was a gender divide I don't remember one.

I think gamers like to talk about how much gaming has changed, but I don't think the people playing games have changed as much as the fact that for years gaming companies only catered to a tiny slice of those people, and now they're not