Charting the Cultural Ascent of the Word 'Gamer'

Most folks don't really much like the term "Gamer." It has a lot of cultural baggage, and is even a little bit like "Hipster" in some ways. We all like games these days, don't we? So what is a "Gamer" anymore, anyway?

Over at his blog The Ludologist, video game researcher (and author of A Casual Revolution) Jesper Juul has put together a chart tracking the rise of the word "Gamer" over the last 112 years, or from the year 1900 until present day. Unsurprisingly, there is a pretty significant spike from 1990 onward, but most interestingly, the trend begins to flatten out starting in 2005.

As Juul himself wonders: "Why is the curve flattening around 2005? Could it be that the rise of casual games is making the question moot?"

Why, indeed…

The Rise of the Word "Gamer" [The Ludologist]