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In studies on contemporary Japanese culture, they use "Gemu Otaku" in the sense of "video game nerd", "game freak".

  1. Is this an academic term only or do people actually use this term in Japanese everyday speak?
  2. I was wondering, how is it spelled correctly? Or at least commonly? Many sources read "Gemu Otaku", Google Translate spits out "Gēmuotaku" or Gēmu no otaku".
  3. How is it written in actual Japanese, i.e., not romanized?
Earthliŋ
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Werner Dübelnann
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1 Answers1

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  1. It's not an academic term but a slangy word, at least to the ears of ordinary Japanese people. You can use it in everyday slangy speech, but real hardcore gamers often abbreviate it as ゲーオタ ("gēota") in a net forum or such. If some foreign researchers are using it as an academic word, well, that's not my concern. See: Types of Otaku

  2. There are several ways of romanizing Japanese. Both "Gemu Otaku" and "Gēmuotaku" are correct, but you should be using the same system throughout your work. If you're not sure, my recommendation is Hepburn system.

  3. In katakana, ゲームオタク. (There is another nonstandard spelling, ゲームヲタク, which looks even more slangy.)

naruto
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  • Thank you so much. Regarding the romanized version, your link introduces yet another version ("Geemu..."). Tell me, please, of all the versions, which would you say is the "the most common", i.e., the one most people would agree upon? – Werner Dübelnann Aug 20 '18 at 18:59
  • @WernerDübelnann Hepburn is the most natural-looking system to English speakers. But if previous researchers in your field are using another system, you may want to follow it. – naruto Aug 20 '18 at 19:08
  • Hepburn would be "Gemu Otaku" I suppose? Is this the most used form? – Werner Dübelnann Aug 20 '18 at 19:10
  • @WernerDübelnann Yes, "gemu otaku" seems fine to me. (You don't have to capitalize since it's just a common noun) – naruto Aug 20 '18 at 19:11
  • Okay, last question, I promise. Would you capitalize if it were used as a brand name? Maybe "Gemu otaku" or even "Gemu Otaku". And what romanization technique did Google use when they came up with "Gēmuotaku"? – Werner Dübelnann Aug 20 '18 at 19:36
  • Also, @naruto, come to Germany, I'll buy you a beer. – Werner Dübelnann Aug 20 '18 at 19:48
  • @WernerDübelnann Yes it's capitalized if it's a proper noun, but that's part of English grammar :) "Gēmuotaku" is a variant of [kunrei-shiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunrei-shiki_romanization); the bar above 'e' indicates a long vowel. Google Translate is based on neural network and their capitalizing strategy is pretty inconsistent and unpredictable. – naruto Aug 20 '18 at 19:54
  • Let me just ask this: Would regular Japanese people be offended if they heard this term or is it just not formal? – Werner Dübelnann Aug 20 '18 at 21:18
  • @WernerDübelnann Please read [this question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/25672/5010). Many people take pride in being an otaku. FWIW, I will never be offended if someone called me a game otaku :) – naruto Aug 21 '18 at 03:17
  • Actually, "Gemu Otaku" and "Gēmuotaku" are different in that one is two words, the other is one word. According to English grammar, the former would be correct, according to German grammar, it would have to be the latter. How is it in Japan? Is it one new word, or just two separate ones following each other? – Werner Dübelnann Aug 27 '18 at 08:52