How Does Your Wife/Girlfriend Feel About Your Retro Gaming?

[fastbilly1]

Ah and this is another thing I don't understand. Retro gamers who don't like pre-NES stuff. The whole "2nd gen" (Atari/Intellivision/8-bit computers/etc) is just a treasure trove of awesome.

I gave 2nd gen games plenty of tries... the only one I really enjoyed was the original Pitfall. Most of the games just felt too simple, sort of like those $10 handheld games toy stores used to have 15 years ago. I mean, if you like that sort of thing, that's fine, but I like a little more depth.

One word - Vectrex

[Hobie-wan]

I can't even imagine Twilight Zone in color. I think it would lose a lot of the creepiness factor.

Never watched any of the 80s ones then eh?

[Gamerforlife]

It still boggles my mind seeing guys with women they don't have things in common with. I'm definitely not an opposites attract kind of guy

Here's my kind of girl, she loves gaming, comic books, and obviously wrestling

http://www.uproxx.com/sports/2013/04/aj ... ke/#page/1



EDIT: She gets bonus points for having three of my faves on her list, one of which being a Batman game. I love this girl.

[soul_hacker]

My girlfriend doesn't really play games all that much. She likes Nintendo games, and plays some Final Fantasy and Shin Megami Tensei games here and there, but that's it. She does support my hobby 100% without any qualms at all. Hell, she buys me games constantly, haha.

[stickem]

It still boggles my mind seeing guys with women they don't have things in common with. I'm definitely not an opposites attract kind of guy

Here's my kind of girl, she loves gaming, comic books, and obviously wrestling

http://www.uproxx.com/sports/2013/04/aj ... ke/#page/1



EDIT: She gets bonus points for having three of my faves on her list, one of which being a Batman game. I love this girl.

i didn't know who that was, i quit watching wrestling a couple years ago. that pic must be old because the pics i saw she's pretty thick, like squatiing 3 bills thick. anyway, me and the wife like different music, movies and a bunch of others things that escape me at the moment. 16 years we're doing something right though.

[Key-Glyph]

Our shared love of birds is especially helpful since we don't find each other insane when one of us pulls the car over to check out a Killdeer guarding its nest or something.

I loved this post.

On the topic of the "wife/girlfriend thinks/thought gaming is a childish waste of time" conversation, it's an unfortunate fact that a lot of little girls are fed this idea ad infinitum before they're able to experience the medium themselves. I've had many female friends and acquaintances whose parents openly discouraged video game playing for them, but didn't necessarily do the same for brothers, male cousins, or the like. Some of the girls internalized the implicit message that boys were more likely to waste time on immature pursuits and reacted by actively turning away from these activities they might have otherwise enjoyed. Fifteen minutes after they finally get to hold a controller in their hands and are allowed to have their first "A-ha! This is fun!" moment, however, a lot of them feel like they've been buying into some bogus variation on the boogeyman for a decade or two.

I recognized this pattern when I once asked a college friend if she played and got a very dramatic, "I do not play video games" response, in the same way one might say "I do not read trashy fiction" or "I do not wear fur coats." It was a statement of character, because -- as it turns out -- her mother forbade video games in their household and supported the "my daughter is better than that" line of thinking. This woman respected her mother's opinion, and what little kid wouldn't want to play into that? (Epilogue: She eventually dated a gamer and got really into it.)

I'm not saying this happens with everyone -- just proposing one possible explanation for that line of thinking for those who are surprised by it.

[Flake]

My fiancee is a research scientist so that makes her geeky enough to match me. She's not into games, though. Her view on my video games is positive since almost all of my games are colorful platformers, kart racers, or other various Sega and Nintendo mascot fare. I spend a decent amount of time finding games that I can play with my step-daughter - something else my fiancee appreciates.

Ultimately her view is that retro gaming makes me happy, gives me and her kid something to bond over, and as she's said before, "If your guy is at home drinking beer and playing Mario, well you don't really have to worry about where he is or what he's doing."

[J T]

Do we not have better ways to justify our hobby other than blackmailing our significant others with reminders of their time consuming, expensive, and unhealthy habits?

[J T]

Our shared love of birds is especially helpful since we don't find each other insane when one of us pulls the car over to check out a Killdeer guarding its nest or something.

I loved this post.

On the topic of the "wife/girlfriend thinks/thought gaming is a childish waste of time" conversation, it's an unfortunate fact that a lot of little girls are fed this idea ad infinitum before they're able to experience the medium themselves. I've had many female friends and acquaintances whose parents openly discouraged video game playing for them, but didn't necessarily do the same for brothers, male cousins, or the like. Some of the girls internalized the implicit message that boys were more likely to waste time on immature pursuits and reacted by actively turning away from these activities they might have otherwise enjoyed. Fifteen minutes after they finally get to hold a controller in their hands and are allowed to have their first "A-ha! This is fun!" moment, however, a lot of them feel like they've been buying into some bogus variation on the boogeyman for a decade or two.

I recognized this pattern when I once asked a college friend if she played and got a very dramatic, "I do not play video games" response, in the same way one might say "I do not read trashy fiction" or "I do not wear fur coats." It was a statement of character, because -- as it turns out -- her mother forbade video games in their household and supported the "my daughter is better than that" line of thinking. This woman respected her mother's opinion, and what little kid wouldn't want to play into that? (Epilogue: She eventually dated a gamer and got really into it.)

I'm not saying this happens with everyone -- just proposing one possible explanation for that line of thinking for those who are surprised by it.

This is an excellent post.

[JohnnyCat74]

My wife is okay with it. Looked at me a little crazy when I started getting Luigi stuff for my computer room LOL. But now she's cool with it and has even ordered me a few Luigi items =)