Sigh... Already cousing trouble

well not really. When I first started with HC, the section was science based (you have to have a biology degree to get the job-makes sense). Anyway, but they REALLY turned it into an admin position. Very "what does the decision tree say to do" instead of "what does your brain tell you to do.". Needless to say: that ain't me. SO I heard about an assignment in anothr group and asked the lady in charge about it. She had to dash but was very happy I came by. I have NO details: not even sure if it will be my cup of tea, but we will see!

On another note: latest editorial on Gamefocus. Bit PO'd cause Tdrag makes my writing look like a school kids. SO... if anyone knows her in real life, like make her sniff glue or something: give us other ladies a chance. Here's my editorial:

A while back I was reading some sites about women and gaming, and I came across an article highlighting some fantastic ladies, who were gamers, and also rather gorgeous. Let’s just say I am sure the editors found them by searching for “gamer” and cross referenced that with “model” on Facebook. The article featured some racy shots of these ladies, one was posing with some games wearing fishnet stockings, and another was in her underwear, that sort of thing. Well, obviously the backlash ensued. “They aren’t gamers! Look at her, she said “Legend of Dragoon” when EVERYONE knows that it’s “Legend of THE Dragoon!” Ha! Fricking Noobs!”

Seeing past all of the static rose the question that begged to be asked and has resonated with me to this day: How much gaming, or rather how into games does a person have to be in order to be considered within the gaming community to be a hardcore gamer?

The reason why I am thinking of this now was the vibe that came out of E3. The general consensus was that there was lots of stuff for the casual gamer, not much for the hardcore gamer. But the underlying note was that casual gamers deserve nothing but disdain from we, the gaming community. Oh, I mean we GET it. The big three have to make money and if Nintendo has shown us anything it’s that casual games can make big money. We, as in those of us on the hardcore side of the gaming fence look over at the casual gamers and sigh. “Oh, THEM.” we say, “Yes, those are the casual gamers. They bring in huge amounts of dollars for Nintendo, poor brain dead souls, waggling their Wii-motes, and tinkering with their DS. But pay no attention; they don’t even know an RTS from an FPS. MWA-har-har-har.”

I am that person, who sits at that party and glances nervously around. “Ha ha...noobs” I say, trying to muster a smile, to fit in. Sometimes it’s just like being in high school, with three main cliques: the non-gamers, the casual gamers and the hardcore gamers. And me? I’m not really a part of any of the communities.

I am as passionate as any hardcore gamer, heck I choose to spend my precious free time writing for this site. It doesn’t get much more passionate than that. I have lost many hours playing games, I have spent wakeful nights thinking about how to get past that one boss, I relish ranking up and joining my clan mates, just like every other hardcore gamer. Whereas the stereotypical hardcore gamer sinks their teeth into one or two genres, and maybe even one or two games, I prefer to nibble at many different genres. I am up for anything. I also GET the casual games; I enjoy them. There really is nothing better than after a hard day, than just relaxing with something, well, casual. I don’t have to pay attention to story lines, or keep track of any strategy, or even talk to anyone if I don’t want to. So, instead of being an outcast, maybe I should think of myself as a chameleon, able to blend into any niche I find. I’m a passionate gamer who likes to play everything from First Person Shooters, Role Playing Games all the way to casual Family Friendly games, dammit and it’s time I stood up and said it. Call me a noob it you will, but I can only be me.