I'm going to confess that I still pick up a copy of Electronic Gaming Monthly every other month or so. As video game press goes, the print magazines are kind of fun, and they're great for finding release dates and game reviews.

...and that seems to be it. I still wonder why they're afraid to delve into deeper content, or at least shove some political reality onto their readers.

Maybe their readers aren't ready for it; I can't count the number of reader letters I've seen printed in which some purchase-frenzied gamer rants righteously about what HE defines as a 'hardcore gamer,' and usually conclude that they are in fact the hardest of cored gamers.

"Hardcore." Generally, the word carries a somewhat childish connotation, an implication of some rockin' hand-gesture-thing and some sweet-ass guitar licks to accompany its hormonal and distinctly male enunciation. This image, as totally radical as it is, still isn't really the kind of notion we associate with the best and brightest in this industry. I think the genuinely 'hardcore,' if they exist, are much more elusive.

Maybe it's time I wrote my very own whining piece about the mysterious 'hardcore gamer.'

To begin, I have always been grateful for resources like GamerAndy and Gamepolitics; sites that provide palatable meat to the gaming table. The harsher points of this industry, its ups and its downs, and the exciting / disturbing new developments it provides, all are given forth to readers that have the right taste.

More than the substance provided, I appreciate the sorts of people that these sites can bring together.

I have always defined a 'hardcore' gamer not as a person who devotes their days and energy to gaming, but as a person who makes it their business to see where this hobby, this medium, is going, out in the world beyond their homes. The former definition is entirely self-involved... and probably unhygienic. Real dedication to the hobby and the craft demands valid attentive interest in the course it is taking.

Or, as some have described mine, a 'militant' interest.

Yes, that's the meat, and it brings the best of the pack out to feast. Mainstream news, print magazines, and retail stores themselves always pander directly to the self-interested consumer zombies that want their Madden clones and Halo t-shirts.

Their idea of front-page, critical news is rarely more than "OMG Alert: God of War 2 Announced - Mysterious Industry Trend of Making Sequels to Successful Franchises Inexplicably Continues." Inciting furious discussion and uniting revolutionary thinkers, this kind of 'news' has brought forth such reality-shattering epiphanies as "zelda lol more like celda."

Furthermore, game stores themselves have never been impressive sources of relevant philosophizing -or even relevant comprehension- to me. Game store employees, to my constant disappointment, rarely have coherent thoughts on the state of the industry.

Before I begin this, please understand; I won't expect the tired, middle-aged woman in the electronics department at Target to converse with me about video games, or just about anything prefixed by 'video.' Its a department store, and she is not presenting any illusions of interest in the subject. You, on the other hand, Mr. EB man, are rambling fervently with some chum of yours about the exciting release of Oblivion, and your place behind the counter DOES imply that you intentionally filled out an application to WORK here, selling these products in particular.

I am generalizing, and I admit my experience is limited to Michigan in this case. Nevertheless, nearly every EB counter I have approached has been attended by a grinning ape, gazing happily upon his patrons, ever-so-proud that he works at a video game store.

Mention business practices and they will immediately recite the headline news that EA purchased NFL exclusivity rights. With this knowledge exposed, they will beam proudly, with an air of confidence not unlike an inbred show poodle that just jumped through its first hoop.

Try to spark up a conversation about legislation and they'll just stare. Not stare at you, per se, but simply stare: blankly and silently, the spark of human life suddenly absent from their eyes. Their horrible, horrible eyes.

Bring up the Video Software Dealers Association, the retailer coalition that they are practically employed by... well, I guess that's just a bit too much to handle. They're challenged enough to understand what they're SELLING, so it's unfair to expect them to understand where they WORK.

...and yes, mister EB man, I know you and Gamestop are the same company. No, its not a merger, Gamestop bought you. No, that isn't news. It was news a year ago. News from a year ago isn't called "news," its called "you have no idea what the hell you're talking about."

I digress, and move this back into the realm of pseudo-professionalism. All of this, to contrast my meat metaphor, is the fluffy green-jello marshmallow-fruit thing that some relative always seems to bring to family gatherings. Sure, its okay, maybe it's pretty good, but will you EVER make it at home? Will it enrich you in any way? Do you even want the recipe? Are you sure there even is one? Hell, did you even try it, or did you run to the OTHER table, where that one aunt that you don't even really know always puts an assortment of vodka jello shots every year? God, I love Christmas.

Still, there's clearly a market of gamers out there that actually care about video games, instead of caring about their favorite sequel and when they can buy it. If video games are an entertainment medium, if they ARE an art form and a means of expression, we need to treat them like it. Maybe I'm not crazy and we ALL should be a little more 'militant.'

Gamers need to stop taking games so seriously and start taking gaming seriously. This IS an art. This IS a medium of communication. Its supporters need to start supporting it.

Any football fan can be expected to know the rules of the pastime. I expect any 'hardcore' football fan to know the coach of his favorite team and its best players. I expect him to keep track of its ownership, its competition, and follow who they're trading out or taking in. That isn't just being a fan, that is following the business. That is hardcore. That is what I expect out of gamers.

Sadly (or not,) being on GA here means this is speaking almost entirely to the kind of people I DO like; the gamers that appreciate this industry, respect the people involved, and want to see it triumph over censorship, xenophobia, and barren canyon we know as the generation gap.

If that's you, then I'm probably saying plenty of things you already know.

Maybe, at least, I've gotten you to appreciate it all a little bit more. Chin up, gamers, and be proud.