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

Precious Roy wrote:

I think there are definitely some things people hold on to from their childhood that shows an unhealthy resistance to becoming a grown up. Video games are certainly on the list. I used to play a ton when I was a kid. But, I moved on to running, tennis, golf, hiking, canoe/kayaking, and now just playing with my kids is all my free time. My nephew's father (baby daddy-never married my sister in-law) is in his 40s, plays video games all the time, smokes weed and made a big career move going from being the manager of a doggie day care to driving for Uber. The issue of time spent gaming versus taking a community college class to learn a real trade has come up, but my sister in-law is a 20+ year waitress and does not have much standing to complain about career choices.

But it is not just video games. My sister has two kids in college. Her favorite thing to do is watch Disney movies. She vacations at Disney World without her kids. She also never found a career, despite two degrees from Ivy League schools. Maybe people need to hang on to something from their childhood in order to comfort them when they have trouble establishing themselves in the adult world.

nothing concerning. wrote:

I look down on people who are “gamers” for a living. These people just don’t want to contribute to society in a meaningful way. I don’t care how much money you make through twitch and I don’t care if it’s more than I make, you’re still a joke.

Imagine your child on the playground with his friends. One kids dad is a teacher, another is a surgeon, one writes software, another runs a construction company. Then your child mumbles that his 36-year old dad is a “gamer”.

Do you want your kid to get picked on and laughed at because you play hours upon hours of some lame game and post videos of it on the web?

Don’t embarrass your kids.

BTW, the last time I played a video game console was when I was in the 10th grade and even then I knew I was wasting my time playing it.

Now I can play from time to time, but on a laptop and for a limited amount of time. And usually, I play casino games because it's not that addictive to me like other games with a plots. And it's also a good source of additional income. I have some experience, so it's easy for me to have fun and get some cash too. Here is one site https://terracasino-ca.com/5-deposit-casinos/ which I found when I was looking for a new casino to play, and there I read about Best 5 Dollar Deposit Casino in Canada 2023 and found a good one, actually. It is so much easier and safer to choose one to play after reading such info because you know what is offered, how much money you can withdraw, how long it will take, and so on. Also, it allows you to play with no risk of losing a lot of money or something else.

duder of la mancha wrote:

Lots of haters. It really depends on your use case. If you're gaming to the detriment of your life overall, this is an issue. For many gamers, they use gaming as an escape or a crutch. You can be 35 years old, uneducated, overweight, and living in a trailer off government assistance yet be a Halo god or a game breaking over leveled hero in an RPG. It essentially becomes a replacement for an underwhelming real life for many.

I'd say the most apt comparison for gaming is TV. I'd be willing to bet most who trash gaming spend hours and hours watching How I Met Your Mother reruns or worse yet, The Big Bang Theory. Why do people do this? To unwind, to relax, to be comfortable... Any number of motivations. But for some reason this is socially acceptable and for someone who games, it isn't?

My bias here is I game about two hours a day. Halo, Age of Empires 2, and the occasion singer player game on a weekend. I find it fun, entertaining, and actually a way to engage socially. Halo team play is kind of like a restaurant that's always open. I also happen to own my home, make a good salary, run/lift, etc.

Shawn H wrote:

One of the best things about life is having time to do what you enjoy. If that's running, great. If it's getting really good at a video game and enjoying that challenge, great. Take running, and you can really see that trying to beat a bunch of guys running in circles is just as "pathetic" to most people as trying to beat a video game. I love running, and I have often enjoyed video games, especially when playing against other people all over the world. Competition can be fun, and look at it this way: you have a much, much bigger chance of becoming truly great at a video game than you'll ever have of becoming truly great in distance running. To each his or her own, my friend. Enjoy life however you can, and let others do the same without calling them "pathetic" without looking at yourself in the mirror.

Precious Roy wrote:

I think there are definitely some things people hold on to from their childhood that shows an unhealthy resistance to becoming a grown up. Video games are certainly on the list. I used to play a ton when I was a kid. But, I moved on to running, tennis, golf, hiking, canoe/kayaking, and now just playing with my kids is all my free time. My nephew's father (baby daddy-never married my sister in-law) is in his 40s, plays video games all the time, smokes weed and made a big career move going from being the manager of a doggie day care to driving for Uber. The issue of time spent gaming versus taking a community college class to learn a real trade has come up, but my sister in-law is a 20+ year waitress and does not have much standing to complain about career choices.

But it is not just video games. My sister has two kids in college. Her favorite thing to do is watch Disney movies. She vacations at Disney World without her kids. She also never found a career, despite two degrees from Ivy League schools. Maybe people need to hang on to something from their childhood in order to comfort them when they have trouble establishing themselves in the adult world.