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06/15/2004: "'online gamer' my arse."
From the BBC:
Not your typical online gamer
Women like Margaret Nickolls, a 56-year-old financial administrator from Hertfordshire, are fuelling the growth of casual games on the net, according to a recent report. Here she explains the attraction:
Margaret likes to play bingo and card games on the net
I started playing games online about six months ago, when my son introduced me to it.
I'd tried the odd game before, but had never played for money. I normally play for about an hour and a half, twice a week, and I probably spend an average of £10 per week, or should I say I allow myself to lose up to £10 per week.
If I win a small amount, I normally put it back into the pot to play again, but if I win a significant amount, maybe £30 or more, I ask for it to be refunded to my credit card.
There are online games and there's online gaming. I play online games. I was in a Battlefield 1942 tournament for over a year, I've got an Xbox and with a LIVE account and I've just got Unreal Tournament 2004. I'm a gamer, not a gambler and I don't want the two to be confused.
Perhaps I'm being overly sensitive about this - like a record collector arguing over the difference between two ostensibly similar albums - but for me gaming is about fun. Nothing more. There's no ulterior motive to my hopping on a server and shooting the shit out of people. There aren't any fruit machines waiting to pay out, no horses to gee on.
I'm not there because I might win something - I'm there because I enjoy it. I don't have time to articulate this properly, but there's something pure about that.
BBC news story on hag wasting money on online gambling.
