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The Gamer Subculture

Video games, ever since their introduction almost thirty years ago, have worked their way into the very fabric of our society. It is impossible for one to turn on their TV, go on the internet, or even venture outside without hearing someone talk about them or to see advertisements for them. I myself am a gamer and have been for all of my life. By definition, a gamer is a person who plays games, of which there are two categories; casual and hardcore.(Wikipedia) Despite the many different types of gamers in the world, I will be discussing the video gamer, the person who plays games on the computer or consoles such as the Xbox and Nintendo. The reason for this is that they are the more widely known of this subculture and I belong to it. Also, they come under the most fire by the media and special interest groups for the so called links between video games and violence. It is a shame that there is so much ungrounded information out there that people subscribe to.
There have been many tragedies in this country and around the world that people have blamed on video games. Just because of the fact that the perpetrator of these acts played video games does not mean that that is the reason they did it. Such activists as Jack Thompson would have you believe that games are the main reason why people commit violent crimes. He is a lawyer in Florida that has filed numerous lawsuits against software manufacturers over the violent nature of games.(www.jackthompson.org) However, much like movies, video games have a rating system so that minors do not play without a parent first consenting to it.(ESRB) Because of this, it is not the responsibility of the developer of the games to make it suitable for minors, but for the parents to be parents and supervise what their children are doing. Perfect examples of this are parents who are active in their children’s interests. There are also the parents who take it a step forward...