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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?
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2018-08-20T18:05:39.397
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2019-09-01T16:17:16.527
2019-09-01T16:17:16.527
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culture rōmaji video-games
Correct spelling of "Gemu Otaku"
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](https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/01/otaku-types.html)

  2. There are [several ways of romanizing Japanese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization_of_Japanese#Modern_systems). 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepburn_romanization).

  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.)
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2018-08-20T18:18:58.423
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2018-08-20T18:29:02.940
2018-08-20T18:29:02.940
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