Discrimination in the video gaming society, problem?

[claudio]

This goes out especially to the older gamers out there.

These days, im 31, i just dont seem to like to talk about video games in public as much anymore,

there is a real problem out there, people think your lazy, dont read books, are on drugs and a low life dirt bag,


what the hell? seriously, im into freaking reading books, i workout 5-7 times a week and into natural non-competitive bodybuilding,

yeah, i love video games and im a bit of a historian but im sick of the stereo types that come with it.

ok, it doesnt really bother me that much, but i do tend to avoid the taboo topic of video gaming more than i did when i was younger, but i dont let that change who i am.

i really just wanted to try a new and different topic hear on racketboy's that we can all discuss.

but seriously, ive been made fun of in previous jobs because of my hobby, when i work harder at the job, have a above average active lifestyle, and the fact that im a historian and know alot of shit doesnt mean i sit in front of the TV 5-8 hours a day playing games, because i dont. i just like to get my half hour in a day usually, mabye 1-3 hours in on weekends. im married, i get laid, i have a life.

im sure im not the only one here, like i said i dont make a big deal out of who i am but this is really to see if anybody knows what im talking about.

[lordofduct]

Locally I get a different reaction when I explain I'm a gamer. Like they didn't expect it or something.

It'd run along the lines of, "oh yeah, you play games, a lot of guys play games."

then they'd see my love for it, "ohhh, you really like games."

then they see my collection, "ummm, k, you REALLLLLLY like games. Wasn't expecting that."

then they finally hear me talk to another gamer, like in for instance my roommates girlfriend LeeLee saw me and my roommates Sega nerd friend meet. It was the first time we meet and we delve right into this long conversation about the SMS and Shining Force and the sort.

She was just confused and laughed when she realized I was just as big a nerd as well... she is.

[IcKy99]

I do get odd reactions when i talk to people that im into video games. back when i was still active in club team hockey, id get the typcal "nerd" comments from my teammates. other than that i usually dont see any huge discrimination against gamers, theres just a lot of stereotypes about it

[Ack]

I get it from time to time. I'll walk in and say "I like video games," and I'm a pretty big geek so sometimes I'll catch flak. But then again, sometimes it works to my benefit. Yesterday in one of my classes there was a technology failure, so the professor starts asking if there were any geeks in the class. Half the room turned and looked at me immediately... So I fix the problem, the professor mentions the possibility of bonus points, and I once again prove to everybody there how useful I can be. Works all around for me.

[weasels]

i get some reactions also. me its a bit different because im actually 17 (yes its true probally the yongest person on this site). and thats the reason im miss judged not only with people who do not play games but also with the gamer comunity too. its either kids my age who say i dont know anything about video games just because im uninterested with next gen as i am retro or its oh your too young you know nothing about retro. but thats not true. i have spent most of the past 6 years studing retro and playing them due (thanks to emus). i am missjudged by age and its funny because no one truly listens to me when i try to show them who i am and what i truly know. i have tried to coloect too.

[Ack]

Hey weasels, you're not the youngest here so don't worry about it. As long as you're respectful to everybody else, willing to participate in the conversation, and genuinely enjoy playing games, you're welcome here. So feel free to jump right in.

[vejita]

yea, and what about discriminating female gamers? There are the self-proclaimed ones, the fugly uninteresting ones, and then the few cool ones... right?

[weasels]

Hey weasels, you're not the youngest here so don't worry about it. As long as you're respectful to everybody else, willing to participate in the conversation, and genuinely enjoy playing games, you're welcome here. So feel free to jump right in.

thanks. i relized this was a good forum/site and this is about the only forum i go to.

[MrPopo]

So I work at Amazon as a programmer, so the percentage of geeks is high. Most of my coworkers play video games in some capacity, but I am very clearly one of the most hardcore (from a time and money perspective). So the reactions I get depends on the era that the game I'm talking about comes in. When I talk about the great deal I got on an Odyssey 2 I get these bemused expressions from people. But when I talk about Fallout 3 with someone it ends up being a nice conversation, similar to how you might talk about the latest football game with someone. But there's no real stigma here. My boss takes photos with a thousand dollar camera, I play video games. It's all good.

[racketboy]

So a couple days ago I had a business meeting 3 hours away and a bunch of us rode together in a rental van.
I took my DS with me and I was showing Brain Age off to one of the non-gamer guys I work with. No problem there.
Well turns out I left the DS in the van that night and our travel department got a call from Enterprise Rental saying that someone left an "expensive child's gift" in the van. (they had to be vague so not just anybody could claim it was theirs). I realized it may have been my DS since I hadn't seen it since then -- turns out it was.

So anyway, I go over to pick it up. The lady (probably in her 30s) asks if it was my child's. (Yeah, I take a kid with me on my business trips in a carpool). I told her it was mine "you know, 3 hour drives....". Not a huge deal, but made me feel a bit stupid. (and not just for forgetting it)