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coolbeans said:

Eh, I don't know if it's male-specific per se.  I'm less of a fan b/c that's already been taken by film.  The variety in *dedicated to x entertainment* is part of the fun imo.

I like the simplicity of gamer, but you did bring up the key issue.  Since a greater plurality of people play *some* games, it's not as special to say "I play video games."  I don't know... maybe VGChartz can be the hub of wordsmithing a less cringe-inducing disparity between the two. :P

Maybe!

Honestly though, I really do just think the whole debate is a silly, overly academic one that nobody but us cares about or will live according to anyway. One of the surveys I'm referencing (which it's worth qualifying is a few years old now, so there may have been some change in the interim) suggests that about half of American adults today have played a video game before or do so occasionally. The share in the same poll who said the term "gamer" accurately describes them, by contrast, was just 10%. (15% of men and 6% of women.) By this metric, so-called casual players in the U.S. outnumber dedicated hobbyists like us by a margin of 4 to 1. That's a pretty big margin. And it also suggests that they know the difference between their approach to gaming and ours without us having to invent a new designation for them (or for us). The average person's pretty smart that way. I don't see why we can't just keep living according to that very simple and natural understanding that the population has already spontaneously embraced.