Two "Extreme Gamers" Who Happily Admit Playing 48.5 Hours Per Week

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Posted June 3, 2010 - By pklepek

Two

If G4tv.com's commentors are to be believed, many of the 4% of players categorized as "extreme gamers" by the NPD Group reside on this website. To be an "extreme gamer," you need to play a lot. 48.5 hours per week. A host of gamers admitted to falling under the "extreme" category after the story posted, but two individuals had personal stories that stuck out. I wanted to share them.

Two Two Meet (on the right) 28-year-old Jason Fisher and 22-year-old Chelsie Chatelain. Both were more than happy to own up to their "extreme gamer" status.

"Sadly I fall into that category, for the age and time played part specifically, not so much for the number of games purchased," said Fisher in his first e-mail to me. "[In the] past 3 months I have bought 6 games."

"Extreme gamers" were found to be in the lowest average household income but purchased in abundance, likely used. That's not the case for Fisher, a disabled combat veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and has unable to find work the past three years.

"As far as what takes up my time the most," he said, "well [it] depends on what games [are] getting my attention; usually has to do with what has the most current dlc [downloadable content], or what just came out, or I'm playing World of Warcraft or Star Wars Galaxies."

Right now, he's playing Red Dead Redemption and a game he calls "Modern Glitchfare 2."

"A lot of the guys I play multiplayer with...we were all in Iraq or Afghanistan together"

Fisher said he's only "somewhat" of a hardcore achievement guy, with some time taken up by playing games to contribute to online walkthroughs and more time when friends show up online.

"A lot of the guys I play [multiplayer with]...with we were all in Iraq and Afghanistan together," he told me. "Some of them, I was even their lieutenant. But I do find myself staying on for a few more hours if I have a group of friends or friends of friends who stayed to play more."

But remember, while "extreme gamers" only represents 4% of the total gaming populous, not all of them are male. The NPD Group told me that while 66% are male, 34% of "extreme gamers" are actually women. That number has increased over the past few years, from just 27% in 2008.

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One member of that 34% is Chelsie Chatelain. Don't believe her? Check her gamertag. So far, Chatelain has accumulated nearly 60,000 points and admits to playing over 50 hours per week.

"I just have A LOT of free time," she said. "Going to college, unemployed. And rather [than] go and spend a bunch of money I would rather just buy a game and chill at my house. Been playing games since i was like 2, so pretty much addicted, lol. Started with a NES, havent stopped since."

Even 34% of the "extreme gamer" population is fascinating. I wondered whether Chatelain had encountered any pushback from friends, family or fellow gamers for investing so much in games.

Two "Does what bother me?" she said, asked about the girl question. "People always saying that games are a "Mans" thing? Yeah, sometimes...but they usually shut up when i wax them in cod [Call of Duty], or gears [Gears of War], or pretty much anything."

Unlike Fisher, however, Chatelain is open, if mildly insecure, about her personal achievements obsession, openly spending hours upon hours chasing after just a few extra points to pad her huge gamerscore. Insecure, perhaps, because games manage to capture her attention more than anything else.

"To be completely honest, I don't really know why I love games so much," she confessed. "Like, I have a hard time finishing things, being it school work...house work...etc..but for some reason putting in dozens of hours just to get a 5g achievement doesn't seem out of the question. And, i guess i have always been very competitive, and online gaming allows me to compete on a world wide level. its just so engaging. nothing i've found can keep my interest like games can."

Like others, the competitive mentality fuels much of her desire to keep playing. She admitted to racking up roughly 50+ days of gametime in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, after a long stint where she was spending hours online with every day, often under multiple gamertags. She claims to have achieved a 182 win streak once, which means she won an unbelievable 182 games in a row.

"Does what bother me? People always saying that games are a "Mans" thing? They usually shut up when i wax them in Call of Duty"

She's been playing Modern Warfare 2, as well, but with less motivation ("[It's] popular so I play it") and is looking forward to Alpha Protocol -- though she might want to read our review first.

I wanted to share Chatelain and Fisher's reasons, motivations and situations that have landed themselves being branded "extreme gamers" in a demographic study partially because they fall outside the study's average findings. Chatelain isn't 29-years-old, she's 22. Fisher isn't buying dozens of used games, he's spending more of this time with MMOs, online shooters and open world games. Both of them are unemployed, giving them an unusually large amount of free time for games.

The biggest reason to play for both, however, simply seems to be a love for games. They just have more time than the rest of us do to indulge in a favorite habit. That's a difficult one to argue against.

Have something to share? Sitting on a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.

Tags: Videogames

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Bob0

I Play A LOT too since I have free time and TV is just horrible period.

Posted: July 3, 2010 6:11 PM
zimmy91

i am one when i want to be, but not all the time some days im to busy

Posted: June 7, 2010 11:39 AM
whatwayzup

i play about 75 hours a week which is kind of pathetic, but i guess thats what happens when i have nothing to day, i would go hang out with my friends but they are the ones im playing with.

Posted: June 7, 2010 7:57 AM
ironmonkey15

I admit I have been playing games way to damn much, just helps you ignore crap temporarily.

Posted: June 7, 2010 5:40 AM
napkinshower

when she waxes them? what?

Posted: June 6, 2010 11:47 PM
KornRulez

get a job then play half as much, then i'll call u an extreme. were u work 8 hrs a day 6 days a week and then play for more than 20 hrs a week. try it, way harder to d othat than just not have ANYTHING TO DO WITHYOUR LIFE or just not having to pay the bills ( which i can understand the millitary guy more if he's getting a check every month because he is disabled) but that chick come on. if u have to work just to live, i.e. everyone else, then you physicaly don't have the time even if you want to. so all i got to say is get a job and stop beeing lazy!

Posted: June 6, 2010 10:48 PM
ilovemyjeep

I found a sentence sequencing error in the article.

"One member of that 34% is Chelsie Chatelain. Don't believe her? Check her gamertag. So far, Chatelain has accumulated nearly 60,000 points and admits to playing over 50 hours per week."

The reader isn't NOT going to believe that she is part of the 34%. We are going to 'doubt' her huge point totals.

It should be: "One member of that 34% is Chelsie Chatelain. So far, Chatelain has accumulated nearly 60,000 points and admits to playing over 50 hours per week. Don't believe her? Check her gamertag."

Posted: June 6, 2010 10:30 PM
FLIPPER!!

is it weird that i think the girl is hot? cause she is.

Posted: June 6, 2010 4:30 PM
Angelicsin87

Fisher and Chelsie are the biggest badasses in gaming and for that we thank you.

Posted: June 6, 2010 12:21 PM
ColdSilence

I'm almost 33 now, I've been a gamer since I was 5 with the Atari 2600 Pitfall :) I've had the Genesis, NES, Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, N64, PC, Dreamcast, Xbox, PlayStation, PS2, Nintendo DS, and now the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Since I've grown up around the "gaming boom" in the 80s, as you can see, I don't have any particular loyalty to PC or console games. I used to play for long stretches of time when I was in school, but even then, I split that up more with outside activity in my teens. After high school work started, and a little college, but during that whole time and even now, if I'm not working I'm playing some game on the PC or the 360, sometimes the PS3.

I get the "do something with your life" bit from family, but that's what we do, and to those that don't understand, they see it as wasted time. The thing is, games are engaging, because they tell a story in which we participate in the outcome. Mainly though its for the sheer fun of it, be it an FPS, like Modern Warfare 2 or Gears, or some sandbox game or RPG, or racing game or even MMO on the PC.

In my opinion, its a way to pass the time that is every bit as fun as anything else you do in real life, the difference being you don't have to leave the house to do it. If you wanna go so far as to say it saves money on gas and whatever else you can think of, go ahead. In particular, right now with the economic issues we are dealing with, many people don't have a lot of extra money to go around.

In any event, love it or hate it, that's my two cents...

Posted: June 6, 2010 11:45 AM
ugotownd

Man, I remember when I used to be able to fit that much gaming into a week. It seems that with every year less of my time is available to game. It went from 48.5+ hours a week on SSBM to 30 hours a week on Guitar Hero 4, 20 hours a week on Modern Warfare 2 and no I barely have time to clock more than 12+ hours a week.

Strangely, I'm not upset. I think it's important to balance real life experiences with gaming. I'll always be a true gamer and it's an easy fallback point when I'm bored. But I've found a passion for a lot more than just games in the past two years. Things like running, my girlfriend (who plays video games so we play together a lot) school etc. have filled my life. But it ain't a bad thing.

But with all that being said, it's amazing to see how passionate people can be about video games. It's something I've loved since I was 5 :)

Posted: June 6, 2010 9:37 AM
nhhs18

I work 40+ hours a week and the only thing that keeps me sane is knowing that I can play games when I get home. Sure, I have a gf and friends, but I always make sure to put some time aside for gaming. When I was in college, I was broke and great game could go long way, so I understand 50 hours of weekly gaming. Gaming can fill a void and achieve emotional highs that no other medium is capable of doing. Some people just have a bigger void to fill.

Posted: June 6, 2010 7:49 AM
keyonte0

Publishing a Female's gamertag anywhere that gets high traffic is usually a bad idea.

Posted: June 4, 2010 10:55 PM
ramsay356

Wow, my job closed down but is reopening soon so i just game all day, easily 80 hours a week without a doubt.
I am 19 years old.
CSS and SSF4 kill a day like you could never imagine. I still go out at night so i'm not a "game loser" but i can easily double these people on a good week.

Posted: June 4, 2010 7:52 PM
fabgeekling

I used to play WoW just about when it first came out about 5 hours a week during the week, and probably double that each day on weekends for two years straight. I also had a full time job and absolutely NO personal life. It was all about the game. Looking up strategies for raids or possible gear upgrades at work. Heck I even dedicated my personal time to building a website for one Guild. I quit at the "peek" of my "career" as a raider. That's just not a healthy balance in life.

Now I work as a freelancer, have a ton more free time, and play mostly solo on the xbox to get the gaming fix. Although I still admit to sometimes having 12+ hour marathons trying to "finish" the game.

Do I still want to play WoW, heck yes, but I had to quit it. I wouldn't be able to get anything done if I still played.

I love video games, ever since I was 8 and got a C64 BUT you only get ONE life to live, and do you really want to spend the majority of it in front of a TV or computer?

Posted: June 4, 2010 7:51 PM
YongToo

Oh wow, no way dude that is just WAY too cool!

Lou
www.Anonymous-VPN.de.tc

Posted: June 4, 2010 4:05 PM
Sage_Sakyia

There will always be people who disagree, or who try to act like they are better, just take it with a grain of salt. Can't please everyone, and can't expect everyone to agree, I was waiting for some comments that go against this article and make fun of us, surprised I didn't see any sooner actually. :-)

Some like to go out on the town and get wasted, then maybe have a meaningless casual sexual encounter, then risk hitting something when they drive home still somewhat drunk.

Others like to plop in a game, and that is THEIR way to relax and unwind, or "chill".

The problem with some people, is they act like their way is the only way, or their way is the right way. They're taking what is common to them and comparing it to how someone else acts, and that in their mind justifies making fun of the person then. Here's a better example: A guy makes fun of some other guy because he thinks that there's no way a woman like his woman would ever like that other guy. Well, even if that's true, it's irrelevant, and maybe that woman isn't his type anyway. Just because she is guy A's type doesn't mean she'll be guy B's type.

We like and go after what has best reference to us and what we like and want, not what everyone else likes and wants, some need to learn this and understand this.

To each his or her own..

Posted: June 4, 2010 3:32 PM
ScottMichael33

As much as I love to see girl gamers, Problem is her first achievement was in 06 and has 57000 on 128 games. She says its hard to believe she will do something for 5 points. she is only getting 15,000 points a year based on 50 hours a week? Weaksauce.

Posted: June 4, 2010 3:20 PM
S IE V IE N

Okay...no one said we were better than anyone...or played more than anyone. They posted an article saying that you were considered "extreme" to play more than 48 hrs a week. Sent him an e-mail saying that I did. Honestly why are people hellbent on saying that they are better?

Posted: June 4, 2010 2:55 PM
HAMCHUNKS

HAHAHA, this is ridiculous!

almost anyone on my friends list, including i can top this #! LOL most are not even in college this is just absurd! "ELLITE GAMERS!" lol and yes we have lives LOL in fact watching a movie and going to hang out with friends later today :)

Posted: June 4, 2010 1:06 PM