Aisha Tyler: ‘I’ve Been A Gamer Since Before You Could Read’


For people who care, the consensus seems to be that Ubisoft won E3 this year. Part of that was owed to a NSFW Far Cry 3 trailer, the surprise spectacle of Watch Dogs, and the hosting of Aisha Tyler. But the comedian and co-star of best-thing-ever Archer didn’t win over everybody. Need some proof?

How about these comments from NeoGAF, YouTube and Twitter:

“Don’t know who she is, but I don’t like her already”

“Goddamn what an annoying f**king bitch. Ubisoft actually_ announced some good games and her and that f**ktard backstage ruined every single goddamn presentation.”

this is what happens when you let the jews and liberals infect your industry_ to inject “diversity” and “progress”
dont let them kill our games people

“Are people actually commending Aisha Tyler’s job hosting theUbisoft conference? She’s just a step below Mr. Caffeine”

This stream of internet invective didn’t escape Tyler’s attention. Late last night, she fired back at the haters with a post on her Facebook page. Some of the choicest cuts from her rant include the following:

I go to E3 each year because I love video games.
Because new titles still get me high.
Because I still love getting swag.
Love wearing my gamer pride on my sleeve.
People ask me what console I play.
Motherf**ker, ALL of them.

I don’t give out my gamertag because I don’t want a mess of noob jackholes lining up
to assassinate me on XBL.
I don’t give a shit what you think about my gamerscore.
I don’t play to prove a point.
I don’t play to be the best.
I play because I love it.

You know, it does suck when celebrities and media types who know nothing about the creation and culture of video games pop their heads into something like E3 for a grasp at profit or relevance. Four E3s ago, I sat filing a story in the upper levels of the Los Angeles Convention Center and watched as a whole camera crew followed Spencer & Heidi from MTV reality drama The Hills. Now, it’s entirely possible that they love video games and wanted to see the announcements. But you don’t need to bring a whole camera crew to do that. To me, that was the worst kind of carpet-bagging that sometimes happens in the video games business. And yeah, let’s call them out for that. But Aisha Tyler isn’t that kind of person.

The trollery directed at her exemplifies a troubling problem at the core of nerd culture. A hardcore base wants respect and recognition for the merits of whatever they love, be it comics, games or something else. But when someone they perceive as an outsider professes to share this love, the pitchforks come out.

The standards of what makes a true or real gamer are arbitrary, anyway. Twenty years ago, first-person shooters weren’t the nucleus of what was considered hardcore. But tastes change and people who passionately play games change too. The person taking you out in a Battlefield 3 match might be a soccer mum or a retiree. Or it might be Nathan Fillion or Aisha Tyler.


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