Gaming as a life-long hobby - Thoughts from the 25+ crowd

[final fight cd]

On the other hand, my family view gaming as a childish pursuit, constantly making comments like “grow up”. When they see my gaming collection, some are surprised, while most tell me to stop wasting my money on what they view as a worthless hobby

a while back my two sister-in-laws stayed the weekend with my family and i. i moved back home when i started the pursuit of my second degree so much of my gaming stuff is boxed away. but, i still have a handful of shit out, such as several consoles and of course games. being the nice guy, i gave my room up for them. and of course i get the stereotypical responses from them: "why do you have all these games? do you ever leave your room? do you have a life outside of playing video games? is this all you do all day? is this why you still live a home?" and that was only a small portion of what i own.

one of them is a bit overweight and i wish i could have said, "Do you eat all day? is that why you aren't married yet? do you ever exercise? when was the last time broke a sweat? have you ever seen your feet before?"

[CodeWhite29]

What pinball table do you own? That's my biggest passion right now - but retro gaming led me to it.

I bought an Addams Family about a month ago. Pretty good shape, tore down the playfield gave it a good cleaning, installed LEDs and fixed a flipper problem. Had a good time learning the ins and outs. IMHO they are easier to work on than arcade cabs, monitors can be a bitch to work on.

I'm slowly building interest in a getting a pin. The permanent footprint is the concern, taking up the space of 2 cabs.

What (3) cabs do you have, Cody?

I own an Operation Wolf, Revolution X, and Guerilla War. I also have a MAME cab. To tell you the truth, the width of the pin is smaller than the arcade cabs, its just a little longer. The thing that I like about pinball is that every game you play is different. With arcade games especially the late 80s early 90s, once you beat them you've seen it all. Pin prices are very inflated right now but they seem to be holding their value. I would like to get more, but space is a a premium right now until I move.

[Onyxthecat]

I'm 27 and with a big enough income and modern medicine I don't see why I can't play games till Im 250-300.

[c0wb0y]

I'm 27 and with a big enough income and modern medicine I don't see why I can't play games till Im 250-300.

Great plan!!!

[Forlorn Drifter]

I'm 27 and with a big enough income and modern medicine I don't see why I can't play games till Im 250-300.

Great plan!!!

With technological advances in the world of medicine, including new organs being printable using a 3D Printer, I don't see the problem with that.

[flojocabron]

Bumping this for the new old people out there.

Ummm.... Was that an oxymoron?

[Zodd]

On the other hand, my family view gaming as a childish pursuit, constantly making comments like “grow up”. When they see my gaming collection, some are surprised, while most tell me to stop wasting my money on what they view as a worthless hobby

Personally, I think it all depends on how you showcase your gaming collection. Too many older video game players (I hate the term gamer) turn their rooms or designated area into a walk-in video game store and that is a very abrupt introduction to it.

When your room or your living room look like this



It becomes a big social problem when your a grown adult.......it just screams teenage mentality to anyone that walks in.

And that goes to the sport junkies as well with their jerseys, painting themselves, etc.....

[Key-Glyph]

When your room or your living room look like this



It becomes a big social problem when your a grown adult.......it just screams teenage mentality to anyone that walks in.

Possibly true, but to take a slight tangent, I'd argue that the core issue in this hypothetical example lies more in having rendered a key social or functional room in a house (living room, kitchen, etcetera) into something unlivable than in the nature of the objects filling the space. If you're willing to let your stuff interfere with your ability to pursue the basics of living, it will be a huge red flag whether that stuff is video games or newspapers or animals or knitting supplies.

That's my hypothesis, anyway, because I realized I considered that picture totally legit for a basement/spare bedroom/garage setup, but not for a living room, and had to think about what the difference was.

[SpoonyBard]

The biggest problem I have with the picture of that room is the fact that it's cluttered. I think that most of the "teenage mentality" can be attributed to that. Not to the fact that it's a living room.

Looking at the (extremely) opposite end of that spectrum...



...Granted, it's not a living room. But does that scream "teenage mentality" any longer?

The cluttered picture carries that stigma because it's a messy room, not necessarily the contents of it (although they don't help) or even the room its in. It doesn't matter if it were books, movies, or music scattered and stacked all over. It looks bad. It makes you look like you don't care about cleaning up or presenting it. I'm not saying you need to drop a few thousand dollars to install giant oak bookcases in your gaming room. But keep your stuff somewhat together and organized.


As for the main topic, i'm 25 and have no intention on quitting any time soon. I have less and less time to play these days, but I find myself enjoying the time I do get to play a lot more. It's nice to see others that feel the same way.

[mjmjr25]

Is that your collection, Spoony?