“Non-gamers are weird.”
Someone searched for this phrase and landed on my blog. This type of thinking bothers me because it prevents both gamers and non gamers from getting along, and it paints a silly picture of both sides. Really both sides could do better.
The phrase makes all non gamers look bad. It paints this group of people all one color with a swift and silly stroke. And it doesn’t even explain what “weird” is. You could never prove such a ridiculous claim about so many people.
Gamers who agree with the phrase also look immature. The phrase offers no evidence for its irresponsible claim. Worse yet, the phrase attacks a large group of people instead of offering a thought-provoking statement. It’s as dumb as calling someone a name that a six year old would use.
Some gamers might find this phrase to be cute. It points out, in an immature way, that there are differences between gamers and non-gamers. It might bring a smirk to your face. But it isn’t funny for long.
Can’t we all we get along? Phrases like the one that began this article will not help us achieve this goal. If we all do get along, then I hope people will see video games and gamers in a positive light. Perhaps some people will then play video games for the first time.
I hope more people will challenge their negative assumptions about video games and play them for the first time. I want everyone to have fun, and I think video games offer that experience. But I can’t force non gamers to try this hobby, and it won’t help to call them names. We have to approach each other with mutual understanding and respect. Let’s do it!
Video Games Nebula 
I’m weird and a gamer.
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A great reply :)…
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What I really like about this is that these gamers ostracize others for not liking games. Worse are the ones that lash out and ostracize others when they demonstrably like games, but have the audacity to be out of step with what’s arbitrarily, and often contradictorily, considered the status quo. This is despite the fact that a lot of these people were bullied, or ostracized if you will, for liking games when they grew up. Evidently, a skill these people never mastered is the appreciation of irony.
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Good point! You’ve identified another serious reason why the quote that begin my post is so wrong.
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I really like this, and may do my own post in the future based on some recent experiences I’ve had as a gamer among… “non-gamers”? People who aren’t as enthusiastic about video games as I am? The misinformed general public?
Anyway, I would argue that, as part of a sub-group that is ragged on by the media and others who don’t fully understand who gamers are and what gaming is, it’s easy to shoot back with an insult that makes us feel vindicated in the short-term. “You think I’m a basement troll? Well I think you’re weird.”
But we have to be the “bigger person,” as it were, and show the acceptance we want to be shown.
You like to play console games? Cool. You play PC games? Cool. You play Candy Crush and call yourself a gamer? Cool. You don’t do any of these things? Cool. I wholeheartedly agree: let’s stop creating more arbitrary lines that keep us separate.
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“…we have to be the ‘bigger person’…” Yes to this!
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