game girl advance: Becoming: Gamer

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April 28, 2003

Becoming: Gamer

Hiya. I’m new. Welcome me to the flock.

First of all, I'm a geek. I mean, I'd be silly to deny it after twenty years. Right down to my reverse Polish notation calculator and Tool albums, I'm all geek all the time, and I know it. I'm also fine with it. Being a geek of the female persuasion nowadays seems a lot easier to me than geek boyhood. Honestly, despite our minority status, we girl geeks have a much simpler time of it. As long as I wear clothes that at least resemble those found at Old Navy, keep MTV on in the background while I read Orson Scott Card, and buy all my M.C. Escher materials online so they arrive brown-boxed and hushed up, I function just fine in so-called normal society. And, to be fair, I live in Olympia, WA, where you can wear corduroy coats without shame and even be considered indie rather than just plain old geek as long as Phantom City Records stocks photocopies of your current homemade 'zine. In a nutshell, I may be a geek, but I'm doing fine. Go me.

So, if I'm a current-day geek, I must be a gamer as well, right?

Oh, dear.

Let's examine the facts.

a) I do own a Game Boy. However, it is of the old gray brick, spinach screen variety. While I do frequently borrow my brother's Game Boy Advance and even my mother's (yes, that's right, my mother's) SP, they don't technically belong to me. The only games I own are Tetris and Kirby's Dreamland, and I've beaten neither. Bloody King Dedede. So I don't have enough games to really qualify a gamer status.

b) I, however, do play/have played a game or two in my day. I've played all eight Pokemon games (eight, good lord!), but I only use cute Pokemon. And, I cheat. So, I feel that doesn't count. I have been known to play The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past, but that's just for reliving my childhood. I can't get past the first level of ANY Mario game, I don't understand Metroid, and Mortal Kombat has always been beyond me, so Zelda is my only retro gaming pastime. Sue me.

c) I happen to like Penny Arcade. But I don't understand all the game-sy strips, so THERE! I just read it for the cartoonish violence. Oh, and the nudity. And of course, the frequent wang references.

d) I know how to play Yu-Gi-Oh. And I don't care to go any deeper into that. Pretend I didn't say that. I'm serious. And I only use the girl cards anyway. Do any of you have a Harpie Lady? Oh, god, forget I said that. Go away. I admit nothing.

Well, none of that seems to shed any light on anything, or make any bloody sense, for that matter. So let's conclude that, while not a full-fledged gamer yet, I have the potential.

All right then, damnit. I won't let it be said that I've failed at something by not even trying. I promise to you, readers, that in the next few months, I will try my damndest to figure out just how to be a gamer. I'll visit the stores, I'll buy the hardware, I'll babble on the message boards. I will explore your world, and return unscathed and enlightened.

But first, I'll buy a freaking Game Boy SP. I really want one of those suckers. Did you see how they fold up and everything? Mmm, baby. And I'll pick up both new Pokemon games, and my own copy of Zelda, definitely my own Yu-Gi-Oh! WWE, and maybe that Metroid deserves another look, and have you seen the Powerpuff Girl games? And I could always pick up a Playstation so I could buy GTA and kill hookers…

Jeez, being a gamer is expensive. Thank goodness I work for the man. Next installment – The Hardware.

Keep on keeping on, sisters.

-M

Posted by agentm at April 28, 2003 04:30 PM | TrackBack

Comments

I'm confused. Do you play games or just enjoy the culture?

Sounds like you just enjoy the culture. Kind of like people who watch Mtv, Mtv2, or MuchMusic, but pretty much don't buy CD's, listen to the radio, go to concerts, or download music.

I always thought the idea of being a gamer is not involving yourself in "our" culture, but making "our" culture your own and thus the reason for a focus on interactivity and open ended gameplay.

Posted by: Draigon on April 28, 2003 05:12 PM

hey, now, anyone who knows how to play Yu-Gi-Oh! is pretty much a gamer in my book!

Posted by: jane on April 28, 2003 06:01 PM

Welcome geek girl! Does this mean I get to pick your brain when I need help with stuff? Jane knows, I'm great at that. :D

Posted by: Liz on April 28, 2003 09:18 PM

Um... Yu-Gi-Oh is for geeks. ;-P
*jk* :D *waves @ agentm*

original gameboy

Posted by: ZYirAH on April 28, 2003 09:42 PM

Yay, girl geeks rock my world! No if only some lived near me...

Posted by: RandomBoy on April 29, 2003 07:09 AM

Hooray, a convert!

I've actually found being a geek/gamer in Olympia quite nice, the people are open-minded (particularly here on the Evergreen campus) and the Gamestop and Suncoast are directly next door in capital mall, so nearly everything I need for my vices (games, anime) except books are within a few feet of eachother. Mmmm. Consumerism.

The transition to gamer is a fascinating thing to behold, particularly when it's a girl making the transition (though maybe that's just my personal bias). I've been trying to nudge a female friend of mine who's almost there towards gaming and full-fledged geek status. It's very cool to be talking to someone you've 'pegged' as a sort of artist/indie girl and find they understand a weird geek reference you threw in for self-amusement.

Posted by: Diosamblet on April 29, 2003 12:56 PM

Im sorry, and I do so mean this in the nicest way possible, but you arent a gamer. A gamer is not ashamed of thier roots, we dont need to fade into the foreground so we can get by, and in no means am i in anyway sanctioning institutionalized angst either. Sipmly having a calculator in whatever format deosnt matter, its what you use it for would you even understand the joke, [(integral)from 10 to 13 2x dx]?, You like Escher, you have good taste, I would say, but htis does not make you a gamer. AS you have siad you cant even beat any games. As for penny arcade, many people enjoy it but its true humor lies in that for us we have actually experianced situations similar to the comics at points. As for yugioh that would land you in the anime group not gamer, MTG and playing table tops would land you in the gamer category. These things do not make a gamer, to be a gamer is a state of mind. We do not simply play games occasionally, we examine the symbolism and try to live our lives but lessons that they teach, such as holding our heads up high and never giving up. We embrace our uniqueness from and our similarities with other people we dont need anyone to tell us. We are. Now dont take this the wrong way im not saying that you arent allowed to enjoy our culture and learn and understnd us, i encourage it, enough of us have a hard time meeting women who can stand us. However like a anthroplogist studying natives in the wild for years, they will never truly be one of the tribe.

Posted by: Areyeh Kapalan on May 16, 2003 10:47 PM

i supose it is safe to say that we have all played a agme or two of pokemon in our own day. i never was much for yu-gi-oh. simnply becasue i was too lazy to re-learn any rules. ha. but fear not. you are not alone in your quest for gaming pleasure. you seem to really enjoy it, its just getting "out there" and finding out what your style is. just play a few different styles of games and see what appeals to you. thats what i did. and i soon learned that i have a weakness for first person shooters. and i like my occasional racing game. yup. the cheesey import ones. just get out there and see what you like. then peport back and let us know what you think. lol.
oh yeah. never deny your geeky roots. no matter how deeply rooted they are. be proud of your odd-ness. thats what makes the gaming culture out own.

fego

Posted by: fego

on November 29, 2005 12:56 PM