If you pick up your average lifestyle magazine you'll note that nobody is hauling Karl Lagerfeld over hot coals because his latest line of pantsuits shipped late. Nobody is saying that L'Oreal's new face cream "sucks rhino balls." Instead you have content that is all about getting people in the targeted lifestyle excited about upcoming products they might want to buy. Given this approach to journalism, is it any wonder that people expressed concern over Gerstmann's "tone"?
Being a gamer is not only about loving games. Instead it's about living a lifestyle. Being the kind of guy who owns a 72-inch HD plasma screen, a specialized keyboard and an armchair that rumbles discretely when you chuck a grenade at someone as though you've dropped a vibrator down the side. Of course you want all of these things; you're a hardcore gamer, and how else can you proclaim your identity than by making the right purchases? Like Edward Norton's character in Fight Club, you, too, can be complete if you can just track down that limited edition faceplate for your Elite Xbox 360.
When gamers first appeared, they were mocked and bullied for their interests. They were nerds and geeks back before those terms had been reclaimed as badges of honor. Gamers were the guys who spent their summers locked in their bedrooms trying to finish Mario 3 while their friends were out having disappointing sexual adventures with cheerleaders. Now gamers are the guys who need to have a TV capable of 1080p resolution because they need to see every detail of a character's pained expression when they shoot him in the face with a shotgun. Far be it from me to suggest that we were all better off when we were sexually stunted teenagers who could finish Golden Axe with only one quarter, but I'm not sure I remember signing up for gigantic TVs and vibrating armchairs when my father bought me a ColecoVision at the age of 7. Being a gamer might well have consumed my teenage years (and let's face it, there's only a short window during which you can legally accrue sexual experiences that began with "and then she took out her retainer") but that was a decision I made for myself and not because some marketing guru with expertise in "lifestyle brands" suggested it.
So if you don't mind I'll stay happily on my side of the fence and remain an outsider who plays games. Mr. Maxim can keep his gamer lifestyle to himself.
Jonathan McCalmont is a freelance contributor to The Escapist.
