A long time ago being a gamer used to be frowned upon, you were seen as a spotty teenager sitting in front of a big monitor playing silly games, and to some extent that was true. There was a niche market for games and the majority were either casual games, platform games or MMO games. These days there are so many game niches covering such a wide spectrum of styles that the appeal of games has increased to the extent that almost every part of society either plays or knows someone who plays games.

Because of this recent explosion in people playing games, the term gamer has also undergone a change and is now split into sub genres. Each of which has its own unique place, players and definition. So having said that I guess we should start at the beginning, and work our way down through these genres, and maybe you will see yourself as one of these different types of gamer.

Right from the top we have the Newbie Gamers, players who are new to games in general, but also still unsure of what exactly they like, and what much of the jargon and other gaming terms mean. We all have to start somewhere, and being a newbie gamer is not a bad thing, but sometimes this term can be used in an insulting way. Despite that at one point we were all newbies and these times can fade into fond recollection of old games or silly things we did.

Once you get out of the Newbie phase you move into the Casual Gamer area. Many people often skip newbie and go straight into casual gaming right off the bat. This is also the largest group of gamers by some margin. A casual gamer is someone who plays when they can, but is not someone who will go out of their way to play. Often playing games that also require less time investment they tend to be more towards the match 3, puzzle and hidden object style of game, games that you can pick up and put down without any restrictions or limitations being imposed on you.

But it is also a little more than that too, as mentioned above gamers used to be boys sitting in front of a pc, most casual gamers are women often over the age of 25. With the availability of Facebook Games, Smartphones and Tablets games have become much more accessible and appealing to players who might not have really thought about trying a game, especially if they were tied to one place.

A more recent development is that of the Core Gamer. The definition of this is a little harder to pin down as the lines are a little blurry, which is in no way a bad thing! Core gamers are willing to spend more time and effort into what they play and so tend to go for more sporty or story themed games. Though there is still a lot of crossover with casual games, but in this case they tend to be at the higher levels of a game (for example over level 500 in Candy Crush Saga) and they are also a little more competitive. Playing games where they are ranked or rated against other people, sports games or even some of the lighter MMO games.

The Core Gamer is the bridge between Casual and Hardcore gaming, and has many players of all genders and ages. This new type of gamer has also created its own unique game style, many developers are now creating mid range games that appeal to casual and core gamers both. This emerging market has been attributed to many different factors, but we think in the end it comes down to how good the games themselves are, if you enjoy it you will play it more.

And then we have the Hardcore Gamer, the players that dedicate themselves to a large range of games, or simply to one or two. A hardcore gamer will tend to go for the games with more story and depth, MMO games for the majority, but also action games, and those that fall between like the Grand Theft Auto series. Hardcore gamers will go out of their way to dedicate time to a game, play it to the end and then keep going because they enjoy them, and want to finish them.

But it is not just MMO games that attract hardcore gamers, this term can be applied to players who will buy and then finish all of a game. This can be anything from a Hidden Object Adventure to the latest Solitaire Game to be released. Many hardcore players have a variety of different games, across different styles and they also probably have more than one place to play, often with a pc, console and mobile device. All with different games that they enjoy at different times.

At the top end you have the Pro Gamer, a player who is completely dedicated to games, and can even make a really good wage playing them. The rise of E-Sports (games that are played competitively and broadcast on the internet) has led to a lot of players entering tournaments with the aim of walking away with a real cash prize. The total percentage of Pro Gamers is pretty small but in some countries they are celebrities in their own right.

On a side note we also feel it is worth the term Girl Gamer, not only does it describe girls (or women) that play games but it also comes with a small political side and can also be seen as a derogatory term. In some cases women take pride in the fact they are girl gamers, and go out of their way to show it, both online and in the real world too. On the other side of it there are women who feel the term does not serve them well, and they would rather be just a gamer. It is also worth noting that according to statistics brought out in 2012 the ratio of male to female gamers was approximately 52% to 47%, that means that 47% of gamers are female.

As much as we have just covered the types of gamer that are around, and you may feel you fit into one or none of these styles the end result is the same for all of us. From newbie to hardcore gamer even to a pro gamer we all like to play games, and we enjoy them. No matter how much you play or what games you have on your varied devices as long as you have fun with them that is what counts.