I wonder if the author would have the same condemnation of Hollywood movie culture? Being tainted by misogyny and embracing consumption as a way of life is hardly unique to gaming.

Gamer identity is tainted, root and branch, by its embrace of consumption as a way of life. If gamers suddenly became completely inclusive, if all of the threats and stamping of feet went away and the doors were flung open, conspicuous consumption would still be the essential core of their identity.

This is not a symptom of "gaming," this is contemporary capitalism. Everyone is encouraged to consume products as the most socially acceptable way of forming your own unique identity. I think conspicuous consumption is the essential core of almost everyone's identity. Movie lovers are encouraged to consume movies, conservative gun-nuts encouraged to consume guns, skaters consume skateboards, etc. and so on. I certainly see the problem with this, but I fail to see how the toxic aspects of it applies only to gaming specifically.

I would venture a guess and say this whole article wouldn't have been written if it weren't for the Zoe Quinn debacle. I don't really have any comment on her considering what a mess-and-a-half she is. She's received massive amounts of publicity (and paid for it with a little harassment on the side) from all of this. It was clear to me long before Quinn that gaming journalism was a bit of an oxymoron; the press and the PR industry are often two heads of the same beast, but the same can be said for all kinds of media, not just for gaming.

I agree with his refutations of consumerism and capitalism that thrives off of marketing identities, but I just don't understand why the vitriol towards video games specifically. The corporate music industry has been busy marketing and selling identities (some tinged with misogyny too) for decades. I can only hope the author is someone who understands video games. He claims to have been formerly employed by the industry, which perhaps explains his tirade against the industry's working conditions, and he does offer these caveats:

It’s all right to enjoy video games. I love a lot of video games. I suspect that I’ll love new ones in the years to come. But to define oneself by media consumption is not just unhealthy, it’s vacuous. To do so is to go beyond the necessary distractions from the real world’s tedium and travails. It’s a demand for a Huxley-esque perpetual childhood.

Video games are media, but they are also cultural and artistic expressions, like music, TV, movies, paintings, sculptures, etc. Why is it so horrible to define one's culture by the culture that the person consumes? Is a hip-hop head to be condemned because they define their identity by rap music? Everyone enjoys consuming culture. I don't think the younger generation's obsession with video games is necessarily any worse the baby boomer's generation whose culture was defined by passively sitting in front of the boob tube for hours on end. We may live in a Huxley-esque world, but video games aren't to blame for that.

Basing your particular label around consumption/consumerism is bad? I guess the guys getting 1 more horsepower out of their rx7's better knock it off. Gun nuts too. Don't even get me started on those guys collecting baseball cards... Those consumerist pigs.

A shitbag commented here and I was going to point and laugh but their turd seems to have disappeared.

Check it out, they follow no one, post no links, share nothing, just drop misogynistic junk everywhere. Cool sock, someone: bavanai