Gamers: Image and Reality

Video games have become very popular. There are numerous games for the
personal computer. Additionally, game systems, like the Sony Playstation and
the Xbox, can be found in many homes. As video games have become more
popular and sophisticated, they have influenced popular culture. The
character of Lara Croft from the game, Tomb Raider, is well known even to
people
who have never played the game. There have been several movies based on
video games, Tomb Raider included. Obviously, the video game industry is
highly profitable, and the designers of a successful game can become very rich.
Of course, what this means is that there are many people buying and playing
video games. What kinds of people are they?
There are many stereotypes about gamers. The first one is that most gamers are males. Another stereotype about
gamers is that they are not interesting or attractive people. According to this view, gamers are mostly fat because
they always play games instead of exercising. Even if they are not fat, they are still unhealthy because they rarely
go outside or do anything active. Another part of this image is that gamers are ugly. They play games because it is
impossible for them to find girlfriends. Not only are they ugly, but they are also boring. Gamers have no interests
outside games, so games are all that they can talk about, besides computers. Further, this image of gamers implies
they are antisocial. They do not know how to communicate with other people. This is the main
reason that they play games. Gamers spend all of their time alone with their computers, and they only connect with
other people through the Internet, where they can pretend to be different people. This sort of communication is not
real, since gamers would never be able to talk the same way with people in the normal world.
The most negative stereotype about gamers is that they possibly have emotional problems. Many video games
are violent, so gamers might be influenced by that violence. They may start to feel that it is OK to use violence in
real life. Further, gamers spend too much time in the false worlds of their games. The result is that they can no
longer recognize the real world. They may come to believe that they are characters in a game. The result of this could
be violence or destruction of property, either real or through computer hacking.
Of course, these views are only stereotypes. There may be some gamers that fit the negative stereotype. However,
a recent study about gamers was conducted in the United States by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. This
research involved a survey of 1,162 college students across the United States.
The survey found that most gamers are the same as normal people.
According to the survey, both gamers and non-gamers spent the same
amount of time doing different kinds of activities, like studying and
exercising. Gamers did not spend all their time playing games. They did not
spend all their time alone, either. Most of the gamers in the survey lived
normal lives and had normal friends. For them, gaming was a social activity.
These gamers were unlikely to commit violence against others. Finally, the
survey found that just as many women as men played video games.
According to this survey, at least, gaming has become a normal hobby, like
any other, and as is the
case with many other stereotypes, the stereotypical image of gamers does not
seem to match with reality.

A Mark each statement as either true (T) or false (F) according to the reading.
1. ____ Gamers are not thought to be like normal people.
2. ____ Gamers are thought to be antisocial.
3. ____ Many gamers always play games as a way to enjoy time with friends.
4. ____ More men play video games than women.

B Choose the best answer according to the reading.

1. What is the main idea of this reading?

a. Gamers have similar personalities, likes and dislikes.

b. Gamers are similar to people’s ideas of them.
c. Gamers are different from people’s ideas of them.
d. Gamers are not similar to each other.

2. What is NOT a stereotype of a gamer?

a. They don’t make friends easily.

b. They dislike sports.
c. They are often boring to other people.
d. They frequently interact with other people.

3. According to the reading, what does “stereotype” probably mean?

a. An idea about gamers that is usually true

b. An idea about gamers that is good to have
c. An idea about gamers that is often too simple
d. An idea about gamers that is wrong
C For the next two questions, look for the answers in the passage and write them on the lines provided.
1. Why is it dangerous for gamers to think video games are the real world?

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

2. Why do people think that gamers play computer games?

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

D Fill in the blanks with the words from the list. Use each word only once.

Antisocial - activity – image - recognize - sophisticated - violence

Over the years, video games have become more popular and 1 _____________.
For most people, the 2 _________________ of a gamer is a man who is overweight and lazy. Because gamers sit in
front of computers all day, their lack of physical 3 _________________ makes them gain weight. People also think
that gamers are 4 _________________ because they spend so much time alone, playing games that typically focus
on killing. However, research indicates that gamers easily 5 _________________ appropriate and inappropriate
behavior.
In other words, they are not more likely to commit acts of 6 ________________ than non-gamers.
E Here are six words that are related to the topic but are not in the reading. Fill in each blank with the
best word from the list. Use each word only once.

bias - points - weird - ammunition - juvenile - select

1. Roger does very strange things, so most people think he is __________.
2. Now you have to __________ what color hair you want your character to have.
3. Don’t act in that childish way. It’s very __________.
4. Hey! I got 50 __________ for picking up the gold coin!
5. You need a lot of __________ to shoot all your opponents in Quake III.
6. He has a(n) __________ against people who play computer games.
He doesn’t like to talk to them.
F Discuss the following questions.

1. What are the advantages of playing video games?

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

2. What are some problems that playing video games can cause?

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________