Am I the only one who thinks playing video games after age 14 is pathetic?

Every, single adult I've met who talks about playing video games fits neatly within the box of a self-centered manchild stuck in arrested development and not moving forward with a mature, responsible life contributing to society.

Why exactly are you this mad, bro? Did you get kicked out of a Fortnight gaming club or something?

I work 2 jobs, have a wife and 2 kids and I barely have enough time in my day to sleep, much less game. But, if the kids are at their grandparents on a Sunday afternoon you bet I fire up the xbox and get a good game of COD in. I have a gamertag that I go by and everything. I'd bet my left nut that I contribute more to my community than you.

This^

I have never met a grown man that spends his time playing video games that isn't very stunted. They seem stuck at age 15 in just about every aspect of their life and personality. Their attitudes towards women, work, food... all would fit in with the typical HS freshman.

I disagree.

Playing games is a coping mechanism for many men, myself included from time to time. There is nothing loser-ish about it.

Playing computer games is 100% better than watching porn, binge eating, drinking alone at a bar or sitting alone feeling very depressed. You have guns in the US and without games many men would be blowing their heads off 100% guarantee it.

Agree.

That's a ridiculous position to take. So those are the only options available to you? Either play video games or watch hours of porn, binge drink/eat, hang at a bar???

Imagine thinking it's cool to run 80 mile weeks from college until you're 40 to aim for "sub-elite" in a hyper niche sport. And then coming on an anonymous message board to try and sh1t on casual video games LOL.

You could have tried - lifting, soccer, rock climbing, sailing, yoga, kickball, swimming, paragliding, mountain biking....

But no, you thought it was worthwhile to GRIND out your 2 workout a week with a long run on Sunday - for decades. The least engaging, dynamic, stimulating sport in existence and you thought it was a good use of your time.

Here's the thing.. while yes all those activities are just hobbies.. they are REAL. They take place in the real world, you have to lift real weights, climb real rocks, hike out to real places to climb those rocks, and suffer real life injuries if you are unsuccessful. Sailing is very complicated and requires you to actually go to the real world and experience it... all those things are REAL. They require you to put yourself at risk, push yourself mentally, and physically, and put yourself at the mercy of the natural world. Video games require none of that.

You can only "accomplish" something in a video game that the programmers already programmed it to do. It is NOT real and is only slightly more productive than watching TV.

BBtw

There's an awful lot you clearly don't know and rather than acknowledge your lack of understanding and want to learn you jump to an ignorant conclusion based on an extremely outdated ideology. Do yourself a favor and do just an ounce of research. Worse thing you can do is post on topics you know nothing about.

What are the alternatives? Don't say meetup or volunteering.

I haven’t read all the other posts so this may be a rehash of someone else’s point. I’m about 40, I stopped playing video games at 13 except for small stint in college during winter break one year.

I think people can spend their time doing whatever they want as long as it’s not hurting them or others.

And quite frankly, now, gaming is a business so if you can make a decent salary doing something you enjoy, that’s about as smart of a decision as you can make in life.

We have a large portion of a whole generation and going forward of worth less than crap youth addicted to video games or social media. These addicts will be a drag on society their entire lives. Pathetic standard met.

What an odd stance. According to you, everyone must spend all of their free time doing things that are *all caps* REAL? I’d say many video games are just as mentally engrossing as a good book and certainly require more engagement than television, movies, endlessly scrolling the internet, etc.

I am in my late 30’s. I have a wife and two children. My wife and I both work very hard during the day and sometimes night (wife is an ER doc). After the kids are in bed, I will typically use whatever energy I have left to go for an evening run. When I’m done and finally settled it’s usually past nine o’clock. Occasionally we will watch a show or movie, but just as often we play games (video games usually but sometimes board games or puzzles). According to you I should be out wind surfing or something??? Get out of here with that. Who cares what people do with their recreation time.

^ Judgemental people.

The Venn diagram of habitual video game players and incels is nearly a perfect circle.

Many manbabies are incapable of facing a simple reality: being an adult means not having fun. We live in the real world, not a McDonalds PlayPlace. "Playing" and "games" are for children. If a MAN has free time, it should be spent reviewing his personal finances, memorizing his bible, surveying his property, and organizing his wardrobe. Other acceptable hobbies include reading (non-fiction only), indoor exercise (outdoor exercise is fun and, therefore, child's play), and practicing knot-tying for the day you finally work up the courage to hang yourself.

Did you copy n paste that? Pretty damn generic, never refuted anything point I made about doing things that are actually real vs computerized simulation.

Mid 40s here with a lot of grown up responsibilities. I started playing again a few years ago as a form of (nonpassively) immersing myself in foreign languages for review. I had a gap of a few decades without video games, so I'm just catching up on playing stuff like Kotor and Dragon Age Origins, and it's slow because I'm not close to fluent in the languages I'm playing in. I own most of the games you mentioned, but I probably won't get around to them for another few years.