How games are viewed socailly?

[Bradtemple87]

All of my stuff is in the open and on display for anyone to see. I have nothing to hide and screw anybody who doesn't approve. I don't see the point in hiding a hobby that has brought me joy for over 15 years!

^^^ This!

I'm proud of gaming, and love to get the chance to introduce people to it, or just talk about it with the better informed. Everyone that I know is aware that I'm into it. Anyone that disapproves of the fact that I still play games even though I'm 30, well, they've shown me how narrow-minded they are, and I know who to cull from my friend list. :p I really hate it when people say you can't do "x" when you're "y" age. Bah.

Wonderful

[Flake]

I'm proud of gaming, and love to get the chance to introduce people to it, or just talk about it with the better informed. Everyone that I know is aware that I'm into it.

I am the same way. I am a nerd, no doubt about it. But if there is one thing that bothers me about nerd culture it is the underlying self-loathing that you see in a lot of geeks. A lot of folks like us try to hide or play down their hobbies as though what we do with our free time is less legitimate than other activities.

[Dylan]

It's interesting to see how many people don't share their gaming interest with most or all of their friends. I'm in the same boat as my primary social group knows that I like games but it's never really brought up or discussed, which is understandable since it's not a common interest in the group. None of my acquaintances have an interest in it either. However, my cousin and I have nearly identical interests and tastes in games, so that's mostly where gaming is social for me.

[J T]

I'm a graduate student in psychology where you are supposed to hate video games because they are not productive and most of the psychological literature on video games is about how they model antisocial behavior and increase aggression among those that play them.

I occassionally bring up topics related to gaming, but people think I'm weird or they judge me negatively for wasting time or playing something so offensive (though they all go on to talk about their favorite television shows like The Sopranos or True Blood which are equally shown to increase aggressiveness and are every bit as much of an enjoyable "waste" of time). There are a few people that are open about playing games. One guy even studies the cognitive and attentional benefits gained from playing games, but he has largely left the university to go work for Valve. There's only a few guys I know that openly play games, but they are almost exclusively into FPS games, so I don't play with them much.

Also, my wife actively hates games, so I kind of keep a lot of that hidden from her. I used to have some buddies into games, but we all live in different cities now. We have started to talk about playing games online since they recently bought some nice PCs, but we haven't gotten to it yet. I think the reason I spend so much time here is because this is one of my favorite hobbies, but there just isn't anyone around me that really gets it.

[Bradtemple87]

I think the secret is to be proud of what you love to do. All my friends know I'm a monster game geek and they all think its cool because I stand up for it.

[MrPopo]

Since I get all my new releases delivered to work everyone already knows how big I am into games. I'm the one that people come to when they need advice on what they should get.

Also, my wife actively hates games, so I kind of keep a lot of that hidden from her.

You know, one of these days that's going to come to a head.

[Bradtemple87]

You know, one of these days that's going to come to a head.

Yes this is a big issue waiting to boil over

[Frizz.Meister]

You know, one of these days that's going to come to a head.

Yes this is a big issue waiting to boil over

Na i imagine it would be pretty easy to handle.

"I just found out you still play video games"
"Yes i do, you know i enjoy them"
"Then how come you dont have any on show then?"
"Because i know you dont enjoy them like myself so out of respect for you i keep them out of sight"
"O ok thats at least kinda thoughtful"
"Dinner"
"Sure"

Well ok maybe thats a bit farfetched but yeah its nothing compared to most problems in a relationship.

[irixith]

I think the secret is to be proud of what you love to do. All my friends know I'm a monster game geek and they all think its cool because I stand up for it.

Absolutely. Love what you do. Nobody can make you feel weird about it if they can't shake your confidence in it.

I just printed out that map that Gearbox gave us all with the Steam copy of Borderlands, framed it, and hung it by my bed. I mean come on, that's awesome, and a great conversation starter. Unfortunately it seems to be a great conversation ender too.

[csvo2000]

Everybody knows I have 920 plus games, nobody gives a crap, nobody shares my passion. My wife is not into gaming one tiny bit but she is real supportive with it as I am of her shoe/clothes fetish. I had a great friend who passed away 6 years ago. We were both were realy into gaming, but now its hard not to be able to share the fact that I finaly got my burned copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga to work.