What is a gamer to you?

What do you consider a gamer to be? What is your opinon?

I'm writing an editorial and I just want to get some of your opinions.

I like to play the odd video game. When I was younger, I loved them, but I couldn't play for hours on end, unless it was a certain game (Romance of the Three Kingsdoms III). I also have played a ton of games in my career, yet, I would never consider myself a gamer, and neither would my friends call me one.

That being said, I would say that a gamer is someone who plays games very frequently. Not all day everyday, but someone who definatly has games high on their priority list. When you buy the magazines and chat online about the games, then you are a gamer.

Someone who plays a wide variety of games from FPS to RPG and plays atleast 2-3 hours a weekday, and about 4-6 hours a day on the weekend and stays up until 4 am playing. :D

I play CS until 4 am usuall on Fridays and Saturdays, and once I get my first paycheck, probably going to get Ultima and check it out because I have a few friends who swear it's great, so I might check it out. I enjoy games, get magazines hear and there, but I wouldn't call myself a gamer though I love playing games.

I would take a much less strict approach. 2-3 hours a week day and more on the weekdays is a "hardcore gamer" to me. I don't know of many people that play that consistently. Though I probably would if I wasn't married...

I think someone that has a few different systems and plays them once or twice a week could qualify. but really i think the mind set is more important that the actual play time. like me, i read about games very often and know about pretty much everything coming out all the time. but i really don't spend that much time actually playing games because i work so much, then i have other obligations when i am at home. but i am most certainly a gamer at heart.

Yea, at heart, I am too, lol, but I don't actually have the time, or money to play all the games I would like.

Somebody with NO LIFE!

Lol! I would have to say one thing:
someone who plays in a clan online.

I play in a clan for CS, not 100% serious or anything, but it's still a clan, and I still wouldn't cal myself a gamer, computer geek, sure, but not really a gamer.

a gamer is a person that plays those rpgs, like everquest. They have the eq bible, cloth map, bed sheets, wallpaper, and play in the limited edition wizard robe. lol

What about how a gamer interacts with the other gamers in the 'gaming community' welcoming a new gamer, true gamers, do you find them to be nice most of the time?

I know I do, the other day I was at EB and maybe a 55 year old man was asking questions about a game, so I took about 15-30 minutes to explain to him what to do and gave him a few websites to check too. I find most 'true gamers' to be nice to others as well. I think that is also another essential part of a gamer.

Opinions?