Do non-gaming pals think you have a problem?

[mjs warlord]

I got my first grandstand games console in the mid 1970's whilst still living at home , i used it once until my dad came home from work , he banned me from using it again as he was convinced it would break the television.

I eventually left home and i got a zx spectrum in 1982 and have been a die hard gamer ever since , i had EVERY spectrum game out as i was in a piracy network , we used to take it in turn to buy one and pass it round , yes i know it was wrong but everyone did piracy way back then. As a 27 year old games player a lot of people thought that if you sat playing games as a hobby then you had a problem. If that the case then why did the pacman man machines in the watering holes have a big queue.

I got my first pc in 2023 and the same thing happened again .... none gamers just looked at me as if i had a problem.....

Gaming became a little more excepted by the none gaming community because you could plug in more than 1 controller so it became a family affair.

Through out my gaming life i have put up with a lot of stick from none gamers .... some would jump about in front of me shouting rat a tat tat , bang pop your dead i'm not , then they would say .... is that what you do.....

One guy said why dont you go to a football match like i do ... so i did a quick comparison , He spent £30 to watch a top team and went home 90 minutes later , goodbye £30 ,
i spent £30 on a pc game and 90 minutes later i still got it.

So to sum up i have been a die hard gamer of one form or another for 41 years and fast approaching 68 years old i have no plans to stop. Bury me with a keyboard please.

 

[COLGeek]

Should that keyboard have LEDs? Just in case?

 

[Zimbaly]

I was kind of lucky. While all my friends were gamers, we were also active outdoors doing other stuff. So our parents didn't bother us a ton, although my friend's dad loved to rip on us no matter what we did.
Then also for the fact of being a child of the 80's most kids played video games.

There was even an arcade place right on the river front by me we all called Fast Eddie's Arcade so it was even kind of the culture of my area. Arcade row in the mall with other arcades spread around the place, arcades in the corner stores in my town of 500 people.

I don't think I had one friend that wasn't a gamer in one way or another to be honest.

 

[ZedClampet]

"Do non-gaming pals think you have a problem?"

Pretty much everyone thinks I have a problem, but not with gaming.

 

[Frag Maniac]

The vast majority of my friends are non gamers, so I don't have many friends that I talk about games with, and pretty much NONE that I game in front of. On the rare occasion I DO talk about games with anyone, I know it better be one of the scant few friends I know whom DO game, or at least make it worth while for them to listen to via humor, real life comparisons, or both. My closest friend, a non gamer with CP whom I often help via fixing his wheelchair or a number of other things, often laughs when I talk about games. Then I realize his reaction may have been similar to the way he chuckles when once in a blue moon he's in a church listening to a sermon (he's agnostic). At that point it seems clear I've been wasting my words. He's the same way when I talk about anything to do with zombies, be it games or TV shows. He just doesn't get the fascination.

Flashing back to years prior when a couple of my neighbor gamer friends that used to live on the same floor of our apt building. One I recall would laugh his arse off when watching me play car racing games because I have a tendency to swivel and lean in my chair when cornering. He kept saying, "You're not in a car racing, it's just what you're seeing onscreen"! I'd reply "You don't drive in real life like some of us do Johnny, it's a normal reaction"!

The other friend would at times get impatient when coming over to tell me about a new TV show he'd recorded he wanted me to see, again, while I was playing a race game (DiRT 2 I think). I kept telling him, just give me five min to finish this race. Then he'd keep asking how much longer it would take if I crashed and restarted.

Both of these guys grew up on consoles using gamepads, which is pretty much the scenario for ALL my few gaming friends. Two have passed away, and one moved a fair ways away, so there's only really a couple anymore that still live here, and they aren't what I'd call close friends and I don't even talk to them at all very often.

I'm a PC only gamer who's only ever owned a PC type gaming rig, and on top of that got a very late start in life gaming at about age 42. So most of the gaming talk going around I'm out of the loop on anyway, unless it's the current state of PC gaming, which is becoming more and more a mess on the software AND hardware end. Sometimes I just feel like I'm living in no man's land in a hobby that's slowly dying via price gouging and lack of quality control.

 

[Pifanjr]

I can't remember the last time someone tried to mock me for playing video games. I think it has happened as a kid, but I don't remember any specifics. I'm young enough that most people my age play video games, at least occasionally.

 

[mainer]

I think PC gaming (and I have to include console gaming as well) has become much more mainstream these last few years, and has become popular with all age groups, so it's not viewed as a "childish hobby" anymore. Most of my friends and former co-workers play games on a PC or console, and even those few that don't, accept my gaming without being judgmental just because they don't enjoy it (or ever tried it).

 

[Slasken]

what pals?😂

 

[Shodan_]

It's only starting to get some respect as a form of artistic expression and legit media juggernaut, but gamers at large are still annoying as hell and don't help the hobby being recognized.

With that said, video games have been sharpening my brain for decades. Problem solving, learning english, reading a map, balancing a budget, failing and trying again (and not complaining about it), list goes on.

None of my acquaintances think I have a problem, most of them enjoy games and the ones who have a problem with games or don't get it, usually have not followed the hobby or have no idea how far they have come in general.

If all you know about games is what you heard about Fortnite, you cannot have any idea that things like MS Flight Simulator, No Man's Sky, Gris, Overcooked, Journey even exist.

This problem will fade with time. It took a while for cinema to be recognized as anything other than pleb theater.

 

[Johnway]

Part of the reason why i went into PC gaming was because i feared my parents would disapprove of it, wasting time having fun? Should be studying and doing more constructive things. That said, when it comes to gaming no one else in my family played as much as i did and i still got the odd frown i generally ignored them. As long as i was getting good grades, making my own money, helped around the house they had very little to hold against me. Out of my friends i was probably someone who played the most video games (or had the greatest enthusiasm for it) and when someone mentioned video games i would be there to listen in and sometimes i get the occasional eyerolls when i started to talk about them.

Although there are times when i think to myself " if i wasn't a gamer, i could have built empires". Probably, my time could be better spent studying and training and learning a new skill etc. That said, i'm studying for AWS SAA hoping to move up in the world and so far i'm crashing and burning. more lab testing and study required, hopefully once i've finished my artwork i can do that on the weekends instead. Even if i hate studying.

 

[mjs warlord]

frog maniac said .....
One I recall would laugh his arse off when watching me play car racing games because I have a tendency to swivel and lean in my chair when cornering. He kept saying, "You're not in a car racing, it's just what you're seeing onscreen"! I'd reply "You don't drive in real life like some of us do Johnny, it's a normal reaction"!

Guess what even at my age i still do it ,..... in the construction game satisfactory i sway in my chair when i use the jet pack , when making a tall building or a conveyor up in the air i cant look down to ground level or i go dizzy and grab the side of my chair , maybe its because in real life i cant do high up stuff or i go dizzy.

I sway in the chair when using an old flying game.

I saved the funniest one till last ..... many years ago when i was playing THE THING my wife said why are you leaning out of your chair and looking down the back of the monitor ??? ........ i replied ... theirs a snipper round that corner ..... she has never let me forget that one.

 

[Brian Boru]

I saved the funniest one till last

I disagree, I think you started with it:

frog maniac said

You, my friend, are gonna croak!

 

[mjs warlord]

hi brian i had a bet with myself ... it would be you or zed who replied to the above lol

 

[Slasken]

frog maniac said .....
One I recall would laugh his arse off when watching me play car racing games because I have a tendency to swivel and lean in my chair when cornering. He kept saying, "You're not in a car racing, it's just what you're seeing onscreen"! I'd reply "You don't drive in real life like some of us do Johnny, it's a normal reaction"!

Guess what even at my age i still do it ,..... in the construction game satisfactory i sway in my chair when i use the jet pack , when making a tall building or a conveyor up in the air i cant look down to ground level or i go dizzy and grab the side of my chair , maybe its because in real life i cant do high up stuff or i go dizzy.

I sway in the chair when using an old flying game.

I saved the funniest one till last ..... many years ago when i was playing THE THING my wife said why are you leaning out of your chair and looking down the back of the monitor ??? ........ i replied ... theirs a snipper round that corner ..... she has never let me forget that one.

You are not alone to do this

Do you move around to mirror screen action?

I don't do this much, mainly jumping back from jump scares, like a munching tiger's face suddenly filling the screen. I'll also occasionally mutter an apology if I bump into a NPC unexpectedly. I'm guessing those of you into the hack n slash do it a fair bit, especially during those long boss...

forums.pcgamer.com

 

[Frag Maniac]

frog maniac said .....
One I recall would laugh his arse off when watching me play car racing games because I have a tendency to swivel and lean in my chair when cornering. He kept saying, "You're not in a car racing, it's just what you're seeing onscreen"! I'd reply "You don't drive in real life like some of us do Johnny, it's a normal reaction"!

Guess what even at my age i still do it ,..... in the construction game satisfactory i sway in my chair when i use the jet pack , when making a tall building or a conveyor up in the air i cant look down to ground level or i go dizzy and grab the side of my chair , maybe its because in real life i cant do high up stuff or i go dizzy.

I sway in the chair when using an old flying game.

I saved the funniest one till last ..... many years ago when i was playing THE THING my wife said why are you leaning out of your chair and looking down the back of the monitor ??? ........ i replied ... theirs a snipper round that corner ..... she has never let me forget that one.

Yeah I get freaked out by heights too, so games like Dying Light 2 have often left me wondering if I should attempt many of the difficult parkour moves high up on skyscrapers, or try to find an easier route.

And btw, it's FRAG Maniac, not FROG! I have never scuba dived in my entire 64 (almost 65 now) years, so I don't qualify as a frogman!