definitely interesting observation cat square.

sorry it's taken me so long to reply to this thread - been busy, busy, busy.

'with fun as the object' - i'm having trouble with this, as it seems to clash. the aim of a game is to achieve the end or to beat your opponent senseless or to complete a goal of some sort - fun is simply the off shoot of this.

so I think that the definition of a game becomes simply - an activity based around a goal where the predominant outcome is an elated emotional response. so someone who enjoys his work, may actually refer to his work more as a game then actual work. (this is definitely a point of contention and am more than happy to have it debated - in fact i encourage it)

therefore a gamer is someone who identifies with this activity and has a greater elated response allowing him to form a greater emotional bond with this activity. the problem with this is we need a control group to allow for such a term as 'greater' - great than who? - anyone got any ideas?

so I think we have two components to a gamer: the emotional response and the physical response to said activity.