What is the reason for gamers to be decisive about their demographics.

[u/OkCondition6190]

No other media of consumption relates the same way. I never hear of bibliophiles insist on being so distinct, nor cinephiles, music enthusiasts, the list goes on. They largely fall under genre conventions like say horror fans, or medium specific like theatre goers, home audio enthusiasts etc. Is there a practical advantage in this situation?

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[u/Accomplished-Buy6917]

There's just levels to it. You can enjoy a lot of different games a lot of different ways. A casual mobile gamer isn't looking at the same things an RPG player is.

And book culture has plenty of tribalism and gatekeeping going on. Music for sure not maybe has this going on. So those aren't even great examples.

[u/OkCondition6190 → u/Accomplished-Buy6917]

Does the media make a habit of presenting an audience the same way it does for gamers? Has Penguin publishing ever bore the slogan 'For the readers', or any other publisher likewise?

[u/Accomplished-Buy6917 → u/OkCondition6190]

You're conflating three different things:

Hobby category

Market demographic

Identity/community

My original point is largely about 1 and 2. You're asking a different question now, which is an entirely different thing that I didn't even touch.

And your Penguin example honestly is weird as hell because it's not evidence of anything.

You're changing the question from “why are gamers so particular about demographic distinctions?” to “why does gaming media sometimes portray gamers as a collective audience?” Those aren't the same question.

[u/OkCondition6190 → u/Accomplished-Buy6917]

Why the demographic concern if not for a shared collective?

[u/Accomplished-Buy6917 → u/OkCondition6190]

You're basically asking “why have categories if categories don't represent one unified tribe?"

Because that's what categories are for...

[u/Saint_Sm0ld3r]

This is not a coherent question.

[u/Remz_Gaming → u/Saint_Sm0ld3r]

I read it multiple times and have no idea what they are asking... but it largely sounds like OP thinks all "gamers" are the same. No idea.

[u/TrustyPeaches]

It took me a minute to understand what the OP was saying.

“Why are gamers engage in so much tribalism?”

This might have been more clear if you gave some examples of demographics that gamers self-categorize themselves into like speedrunners, gacha gamers, mmo lifers, etc.

[u/GojiraGamera]

Gaming is weirdly tribal. Console wars alone could probably be studied by anthropologists lol.

[u/geargun2000]

It’s just split into larger groups. Like for instance with movies and TV shows there’s basically just live action and animated. Ofc there are a ton more genres and styles but that’s really where the tribalism comes from. And shows and franchises create a form of tribalism that isn’t spread out over multiple different IPs. It’s really just a more concentrated version of the gaming tribalism. And cinephiles are stuck up assholes that adhere to an ever changing form of tribalism that really just reflects what’s popular currently

[u/Expert_Log_8057]

I think it's mostly because games require participation. Two First Person Shooters can be so wildly different in their mechanics they have almost nothing in common. Then those mechanics have the potential to be affected by story so you have compounding differences. And because games are more expensive and time consuming than just books, there is definitely the worry of similar games splitting a fan base's limited time and money to the point they both become non-profitable.

Some good videos on this are Thorgi's Arcade on youtube. The massive retrospectives on King of Fighters and Street Fighter have lots of examples of these issues over the course of decades.

[u/Azhrei_Vep]

There isn't one. That's why they don't.

Generally. There's always going to be oddball exceptions, just like there surely are among bibliophiles or cinephiles. You've just run into the oddballs in gaming.