I will be 43 this year and gaming is my favourite hobby. Yet I know what this feeling is, like I'm embarrassed to admit it. When my wife reads in bed every night and I stay up to play games instead, I do have this guilty feeling - like I should also be reading too, that's the more accepted way to relax, the more "grown up" hobby because you can talk about books with lots more people than about games.
But playing games is what makes me happy. They engage my brain with problem solving, they take me away to a different place where I'm more in control and more likely to succeed. I usually feel I've accomplished something by the end of the night by completing a level or checkpoint.
Having written about my love of gaming for nearly a year now, it makes me happy I'm not the only one who enjoys it. I'm glad I get to meet a lot more like minded people now, like yourself.
Glad gaming is becoming more widely accepted. I still think there is a lot stigma around women who play games AND women whose partner plays games. But progress is the only way forward.
There is definitely still stigma, and you’re right about the woman’s partner who plays too! I just published an interview with a gaming couple, which I hope does a little bit of work on breaking that one down a bit!
I do think there's still some stereotype carried over on gaming. It's begining to be uncommon, but some people still relate it with being an inferior activity related to kids and making kids sexist and/or violent. I still don't understand where this stereotype came from
I completely agree. I think a lot of it comes from the early days of video games, when they were marketed primarily to children, so many people never updated that perception as the medium matured.
It's interesting because we don't question adults who spend hours watching TV, or doing jigsaw puzzles, but gaming has somehow carried an extra layer of judgement. Thankfully that does seem to be changing as more people realise that games can be creative, social, relaxing and emotionally meaningful.
I'm hopeful that, over time, it'll simply be seen as another perfectly normal hobby 😊
Never apologize for Stardew Valley but really Barone needs to stop updating it (and making us pick it up for the how-many-ith time) and finish his new game.
I thought this mentality about games being for children/a waste of time had changed especially from when I was a kid in the 80s. That was until my son started playing video games and people around us made small not exactly but a gnats breath short of snide comments about it. These were the same people who would spend a weekend watching multiple movies or TV. I count myself lucky every day that my wife is not only accepting of my hobbies but actively encourages me to enjoy it and has never once made me feel like I am engaging in a children’s hobby. She does raise her eyebrow though when I have spent a little too long doing it and a little less time on things I know full well I should be doing but really I cannot blame her for that. Although she is not a gamer herself she has always said she doesn’t understand the negativity it receives. That is especially important to a man who in a few months will be out of your 40s zone into the 50s zone.
Gaming has been a hobby / passion of mine i guess, since school and the zx spectrum. Life evolves and changes though; kids, work etc. Could I spend 6 hours in a day playing an open world adventure game? In my head I would love to but in reality, its not realistic.
If life is busy and I cannot game, something in my brain feels frustrated/sad so sometimes I try to carve out time opportunities to play. Hand held pc gaming has been a game changer for me personally
As for other people's opinions about your/our gaming time, my view is simple: they can call me a geek/nerd etc. I dont really care; I would rather be passionate about something rather than indifferent about everything!!
My son is 16 and we were the same age we played the skylanders games (pretty much all of them!) and later we played It Tales Two and had a blast.
The legion go is a great piece of tech. I wanted XBOX to make a handheld 10yrs ago and they could have killed it with a proper paired down version on Windows but glad these devices have come out now.
Welcome my handheld PC friend. What is your gaming weapon of choice? I bought the initial Steam Deck (LCD one) and loved it played most of my Baldur’s Gate 3 play though on it. I bought the ROG XBOX Ally X when it came out and have loved playing on it. My son has just been playing on the Steam Deck while we are on holiday and he was pleasantly surprised how good it was (he is still at the age where everything I suggest that is cool is a shock to him as what would a dinosaur know about cool!)
I will be 43 this year and gaming is my favourite hobby. Yet I know what this feeling is, like I'm embarrassed to admit it. When my wife reads in bed every night and I stay up to play games instead, I do have this guilty feeling - like I should also be reading too, that's the more accepted way to relax, the more "grown up" hobby because you can talk about books with lots more people than about games.
But playing games is what makes me happy. They engage my brain with problem solving, they take me away to a different place where I'm more in control and more likely to succeed. I usually feel I've accomplished something by the end of the night by completing a level or checkpoint.
Having written about my love of gaming for nearly a year now, it makes me happy I'm not the only one who enjoys it. I'm glad I get to meet a lot more like minded people now, like yourself.
Glad gaming is becoming more widely accepted. I still think there is a lot stigma around women who play games AND women whose partner plays games. But progress is the only way forward.
There is definitely still stigma, and you’re right about the woman’s partner who plays too! I just published an interview with a gaming couple, which I hope does a little bit of work on breaking that one down a bit!
I do think there's still some stereotype carried over on gaming. It's begining to be uncommon, but some people still relate it with being an inferior activity related to kids and making kids sexist and/or violent. I still don't understand where this stereotype came from
I completely agree. I think a lot of it comes from the early days of video games, when they were marketed primarily to children, so many people never updated that perception as the medium matured.
It's interesting because we don't question adults who spend hours watching TV, or doing jigsaw puzzles, but gaming has somehow carried an extra layer of judgement. Thankfully that does seem to be changing as more people realise that games can be creative, social, relaxing and emotionally meaningful.
I'm hopeful that, over time, it'll simply be seen as another perfectly normal hobby 😊
Never apologize for Stardew Valley but really Barone needs to stop updating it (and making us pick it up for the how-many-ith time) and finish his new game.
I thought this mentality about games being for children/a waste of time had changed especially from when I was a kid in the 80s. That was until my son started playing video games and people around us made small not exactly but a gnats breath short of snide comments about it. These were the same people who would spend a weekend watching multiple movies or TV. I count myself lucky every day that my wife is not only accepting of my hobbies but actively encourages me to enjoy it and has never once made me feel like I am engaging in a children’s hobby. She does raise her eyebrow though when I have spent a little too long doing it and a little less time on things I know full well I should be doing but really I cannot blame her for that. Although she is not a gamer herself she has always said she doesn’t understand the negativity it receives. That is especially important to a man who in a few months will be out of your 40s zone into the 50s zone.
Gaming has been a hobby / passion of mine i guess, since school and the zx spectrum. Life evolves and changes though; kids, work etc. Could I spend 6 hours in a day playing an open world adventure game? In my head I would love to but in reality, its not realistic.
If life is busy and I cannot game, something in my brain feels frustrated/sad so sometimes I try to carve out time opportunities to play. Hand held pc gaming has been a game changer for me personally
As for other people's opinions about your/our gaming time, my view is simple: they can call me a geek/nerd etc. I dont really care; I would rather be passionate about something rather than indifferent about everything!!
My son is 16 and we were the same age we played the skylanders games (pretty much all of them!) and later we played It Tales Two and had a blast.
The legion go is a great piece of tech. I wanted XBOX to make a handheld 10yrs ago and they could have killed it with a proper paired down version on Windows but glad these devices have come out now.
Welcome my handheld PC friend. What is your gaming weapon of choice? I bought the initial Steam Deck (LCD one) and loved it played most of my Baldur’s Gate 3 play though on it. I bought the ROG XBOX Ally X when it came out and have loved playing on it. My son has just been playing on the Steam Deck while we are on holiday and he was pleasantly surprised how good it was (he is still at the age where everything I suggest that is cool is a shock to him as what would a dinosaur know about cool!)
My weapon of choice is a lenovo legion go. Its kind of like a SD 1.5, perfect for my needs and BD3 with LSVK is a good experience.
Good to hear your son is having a good steam deck experience.
Made me smile about the cool factor.
My son is only 7, so every game so far that ive got him into on the switch/2 has been successful and he still thinks I am a gaming guru...
What do us dinosaurs know though haha.
Thanks for reply, look forward to your future articles!!
till im 100