Veteran Gamer Status?

[RetroYoungen]

I don't know what got me thinking about this, but to you guys and gals, what makes one a "veteran gamer"? Is it a certain period of time, is it a lifestyle, is it how long you've been plaing compared to how old you are?

[davidbrit2]

I think it's usually around the point you become grizzled enough to critisize a game on a matter of principle instead of the content of the game itself.

[RetroYoungen]

Huh, I never thought of it like that, I always thought of it as an aged thing. You make a good point. :-D

[Quazick]

As the famous quote says..

"If you have to ask; You'll never know." :)

[davidbrit2]

It just came to me, so I figure I'd better seize the moment and go for it. Heh.

[Buyatari]

If you were bidding on Atari games in newsgroup auctions before Ebay came around then you are a vet.

Adam <-- vet

[Queen Of The Felines]

If your most-played PS2 game is Activision Anthology you're definitely a vet.

Kristine

[Videogamerdaryll]

If your most-played PS2 game is Activision Anthology you're definitely a vet.

Kristine
Or if you played all the games on PS2's Activision Anthology..way before that game came out then I would call you a Vet.. :)

[Buyatari]

If your happy and you like QOFs new avatar picture clap your hands !!

Won't make you a vet but I don't want to feel like I'm the only one doing it.

Adam

[buttasuperb]

QoF's avatar = :rocker:

I've barely played any old school atari, intellivision, colecovision, etc. games, and I don't collect for any pre NES system, but I'd still consider myself a vet.

But does that really matter?

Play which ever games are fun to you, as soon as you completely dominate one certain game, you are a vet.

[NE146]

I don't collect for any pre NES system But does that really matter?

Forget how long you've been collecting...if you can score at least 20k (which is just 2 extra men) right now in Defender using the default arcade control layout.. you're definitely a vet :P

[Needle]

The term "veteran" is usually a time-based title. How much time? Well I don't know, maybe we should set the standard, right here, right now! How's a decade sound? Maybe fifteen years? That at least puts us in the eighties.

I guess it could also be the amount of years relative to your own age... so some 14 year old kid could be a vetern if he's been playing for 8 of those 14 years.

Beh, why am I getting all technical over this? I'm a veteran. That's all I need to know. :D

[Quazick]

Yay I'm a veteran!

I've been playing games since I like 4 or 5 at my babysitters..

I vividly remember playing Donkey Kong for 2600...ahh memories.

[maxlords]

Funny...I thought it took years of training and experience with animals, as well as veterinary school to become a vet.....

And I guess it's mostly based on knowledge and experience. I'd say that even gamers who've been playing games a long time but don't know jack shit about them aren't vets.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Bah. Speak for yourselves. I am a veteran of the Yar-Qotile wars. I have defended the world from the attack of the Timelord. I have flown the B-17 Bomber and intercepted nukes in the night sky over your heads while you were sleeping.

But what finally got me was those persnickety tumbling rotating geometric shapes that I had to line up just so. Damnedest thing I ever saw.

[Mayhem]

QoF's avatar = :rocker:

Of course I'm the lucky guy who gets to "interact" with it now ;)

Veteran gamer... not just time but also systems... lots and lots of systems played through.

[Sylentwulf]

Gaming for more than 20 years would do it :)
At this point, I'm even tempted to say, if you've ever hung out at an actual arcade (Not any of the kiddie party places like chuck e cheese, or space center, if it has food or kiddie rides, it's not an arcade)

[dreamcaster]

Well, I've been gaming for almost 15 years so, I think I can safely say that I'm a vet. Even if my first console was a SNES. It was the PC, however, where my roots were.

[Six Switch]

I remember when I was seven going to my friends house to play NES and Sega Genesis because my mom wouldn't buy me video games.Now look how many I have mom... :-D

[Arqueologia_Digital]

I remember when I was seven going to my friends house to play NES and Sega Genesis because my mom wouldn't buy me video games.Now look how many I have mom... :-D
Well, something like that happened to me...i usually went to play Genny and NES and also, we made a "TV programme" with my friend about VG :roll: (we were kids) :P

[RetroYoungen]

QoF's avatar = :rocker:

Thanks you guys, I was pretty lost there for a while. Didn't even know if I qualified under ANY pretenses, even though I myself have been playing for about 16 years :D Now all I need is a PS2 and Activision Anthologies... but would it count if my most played Dreamcast game is Atari Anniversary Edition?

[Anonymous]

Veteran status is bestowed upon those who have sacrificed a significant portion of their life supporting their cause. So, in order to be a veteran you'd have to be a member of an organization, which would then create the rules that dictate what is considered support of a cause. So, if DP were to be such an organization as to support memberships, then it could, in theory, define what makes a veteran.

[RetroYoungen]

Veteran status is bestowed upon those who have sacrificed a significant portion of their life supporting their cause. So, in order to be a veteran you'd have to be a member of an organization, which would then create the rules that dictate what is considered support of a cause. So, if DP were to be such an organization as to support memberships, then it could, in theory, define what makes a veteran.

But would it have to be of an organization, as opposed to spending much of your time saving a princess, or fighting a war for whatever reason?

[Anonymous]

Well the thing is, anyone can say they are a veteran, because there is no standard for the rules. So, I guess if everyone here agreed on a 'standard' such as 10 years, or beating Mario3, or owning Donkey Kong Jr. Math, or something like that, then it would work, but then people get excluded, even if, in the eyes of the gaming community as a whole, they are a 'gaming veteran'.

In other words, creating status symbols creates problems. Unless, of course, it is a simple thing to join, and then you can achieve higher status by completing challenges/quests/badges/etc.

[RetroYoungen]

I get what you're saying now, making a set of rules would exclude so many people that maybe never completed the specific game, or save a certain princess, or collected for a certain system. I understand.

[swlovinist]

a veteran gamer to me not only plays video game systems of the past but remembers when those video games were the hot item......It doesnt matter if you remember either Atari, Nes, or even(how scary) Genesis was THE best system around. I consider myself a veteran gamer because I grew up with the NES and have observed how systems have evolved over time. That doesnt mean that someone that grew up with the 3DO isnt a veteran gamer......that system is now way way gone!! :-D

[slapdash]

If you were bidding on Atari games in newsgroup auctions before Ebay came around then you are a vet.

How about buying stuff off of newsgroups before there was an RGVC around to have auctions in?


If your happy and you like QOFs new avatar picture clap your hands !!

Won't make you a vet but I don't want to feel like I'm the only one doing it.


Is that the sound of one hand clapping, Adam? ;-)

Ah, t.A.T.u....

[portnoyd]

Veterans are:

1. Skeptical of any movie based game, simply by hearing that the game is going based on a movie. #1 response to hearing this is a groan.

2. Skepitcal of any game based movie, simply hearing that a movie is being based on a game. #1 response to hearing this is a groan.

3. People who knew that Atari once made games, GOOD games, before becoming a empty label.

4. People who instinctively prepurchase or order a direct sequel from Nintendo or Sega, because odds on, it'll be worth the money.

5. Slow down their purchasing of new games, solely because they have a base of older games they really enjoy, and would rather play.

6. People who know not to implicitly agree or follow magazine reviews or previews.

7. People who audibly groan when a retro-updated game sucks shit.

8. Skeptical of games made by reputed bad companies, and open-minded to good companies by default.

9. Those who know to hold onto their games, and not trade them in.

Not absolutes, and you don't need all of them to be a veteran to say.

dave

[AB Positive]

I'll be the second Adam to do this:

*claps hands*

having gotten that out of the way, I'd dare say at this point at least a decade of gaming should qualify you. Arcade wise, if you were there for the Street Fighter 2 boom that could count. If you were there for when Mrs. Pac Man became the #1 US arcade game, you can get "Elder" status.

-AG

[Quazick]

Veterans are:

1. Skeptical of any movie based game, simply by hearing that the game is going based on a movie. #1 response to hearing this is a groan.

2. Skepitcal of any game based movie, simply hearing that a movie is being based on a game. #1 response to hearing this is a groan.

3. People who knew that Atari once made games, GOOD games, before becoming a empty label.

4. People who instinctively prepurchase or order a direct sequel from Nintendo or Sega, because odds on, it'll be worth the money.

5. Slow down their purchasing of new games, solely because they have a base of older games they really enjoy, and would rather play.

6. People who know not to implicitly agree or follow magazine reviews or previews.

7. People who audibly groan when a retro-updated game sucks shit.

8. Skeptical of games made by reputed bad companies, and open-minded to good companies by default.

9. Those who know to hold onto their games, and not trade them in.

Not absolutes, and you don't need all of them to be a veteran to say.

dave

Wow I guess I'm more of a vet than I thought.

Good work on the list port.

Did sqwirl help you put it together? hehe.. ;)

[Six Switch]

Nice list,and that makes me a vet. 8-)

[Queen Of The Felines]

Ah, t.A.T.u....

Bzzzz, wrong answer. It ain't them. ;)

Back on topic...

You know you're a gaming veteran when...

- Your earliest memory involves a joystick or game pad
- You can start playing just about any game without reading the manual first because you've pretty much played everything before
- You get REALLY excited when something innovative comes along
- You can tell what system a game belongs to just by looking at the case

Kristine

[RetroYoungen]

Veterans are:

1. Skeptical of any movie based game, simply by hearing that the game is going based on a movie. #1 response to hearing this is a groan.

2. Skepitcal of any game based movie, simply hearing that a movie is being based on a game. #1 response to hearing this is a groan.

3. People who knew that Atari once made games, GOOD games, before becoming a empty label.

4. People who instinctively prepurchase or order a direct sequel from Nintendo or Sega, because odds on, it'll be worth the money.

5. Slow down their purchasing of new games, solely because they have a base of older games they really enjoy, and would rather play.

6. People who know not to implicitly agree or follow magazine reviews or previews.

7. People who audibly groan when a retro-updated game sucks shit.

8. Skeptical of games made by reputed bad companies, and open-minded to good companies by default.

9. Those who know to hold onto their games, and not trade them in.

Not absolutes, and you don't need all of them to be a veteran to say.

dave

I'd agree with those as a possible standard, if we are to make a simple standard. But how many of those traits would one have to have in order to be considered a veteran? 2? 3? More?

[Dire 51]

Wow, I can safely say that I meet the criteria that portnoyd's list established. It also helps that the first game system I can recall playing was a generic Pong standalone in the late '70s, followed shortly thereafter by the incredible Atari VCS.

[AB Positive]

That's not T.a.T.u (thank god) but in fact is a poster, with "Kiss" on the bottom. I want to say it's also from a Calvin Klein ad but it's probably simply a poster. It's been a while since I've had that in my bedroom. You know, having a non-bisexual fiancee.

*snaps* darn.

-AG

[slapdash]

Oops! Sorry, I assumed it was t.A.T.u.... I would have looked closer, but you know, too small a pic, at work, all that.

*cough*