Gamer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about gamers - people who play games. For the Japanese retail chain Gamers see BROCCOLI.
Historically, the term "gamer" usually referred to someone who played role-playing games or wargames. More recently, however, the term has grown to include players of video games. While the term nominally includes those who do not necessarily consider themselves to be gamers (i.e., casual gamers)[1], it is commonly used to identify those who spend much of their leisure time playing or learning about games.
There are many gamer communities around the world. Many of these take the form of web rings, discussion forums and other virtual communities, as well as college or university social clubs. Stores specializing in games often serve as a meeting place to organize groups of players[citation needed]. Prior to the emergence of the Internet, there were many play-by-mail games developed communities resembling those found surrounding today's online games[citation needed].
In October 2006, the Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) was established as the first non-profit membership organization formed to represent American game consumers. A similarly-named entity, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), was formed in 1994 to represent the entertainment software industry. The ECA was formed, in part, in response to the seemingly imbalanced representation (e.g., the ESA, IGDA and others) of gaming in the United States Congress.[1]
