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Video games are a legitimate hobby, DAMN IT!

Metalhead

Metalhead

Video game and movie addict.
V.I.P Member
I am tired of nongamers telling me otherwise.

Then they turn around and watch the Kardashians like that is better, which it is not, because it is much worse.

Video gaming is a legitimate hobby, and I am proud to be a gamer with the skills to stay afloat in most game situations.

Remember, centuries ago people were thinking that reading books was not a legitimate pasttime and that it would destroy the youth of the nation.
 
There does remain a lot of prejudice and stereotypes towards the industry and all its customers.

I still recall when I worked in the industry in the late 90s and how everyone was roiled by this "Online Decency Act" when it looked like Tipper Gore wanted to single-handedly bring down the entire video gaming industry. She failed.

Now if your hand/eye coordination with a joystick is good, the DOD may have a job for you.

Things change...but those prejudices are still around.
 
Judge said:
There does remain a lot of prejudice and stereotypes towards the industry and all its customers.

I still recall when I worked in the industry in the late 90s and how everyone was roiled by this "Online Decency Act" when it looked like Tipper Gore wanted to single-handedly bring down the entire video gaming industry. She failed.

Now if your hand/eye coordination with a joystick is good, the DOD may have a job for you.

Things change...but those prejudices are still around.
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While it is not a traditional video games by any means, playing Dance Dance Revolution and becoming good at it has vastly improved my sense of physical coordination. It really sucked before I bought the home version of that game and talked myself into not giving up until I become great at it.
 
E-sport players make BAENK

I don't see why it can't be a hobby, when people are paid millions to be the best
 
Voltaic said:
E-sport players make BAENK

I don't see why it can't be a hobby, when people are paid millions to be the best
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I am not skilled enough at any game to make that kind of bank on it.

I am an amateur. I do it because I love it.

Of course, I do like to make my Xbox gamerscore grow, although I am about 3 million points behind the guy who is on the top of that leaderboard.
 
I don't work, so I spend a rather large amount of time playing games. I never play online though, I don't like other people interfering with my game.

Video games are my hobby.

I play on a computer because I like modding games as well. Pimping my ride. It's a very inexpensive hobby.
 
Metalhead said:
I am not skilled enough at any game to make that kind of bank on it.

I am an amateur. I do it because I love it.

Of course, I do like to make my Xbox gamerscore grow, although I am about 3 million points behind the guy who is on the top of that leaderboard.
Click to expand...
It isn't up to skill.
buuuuuuut
even if you are the best, if you play only mobile...
they might be right

At the end of the day, I don't think our ability to be better is what determines a hobby. I am a brick compared to Micheal Phelps, but a Micheal Phelps compared to a brick. Comparing to others isn't a standard metric, despite what statisticians may want you to believe. (don't trust statisticians)

If you enjoy spending your time doing what you do....
that is a hobby.

when in doubt, just figure out what 'hobby' they have, and throw the same logic as to why video games are not hobbies, back at them.
 
Metalhead said:
Lucky you, I am surrounded by nongamers who tell me that all of the time. Most of them are recovering alcoholics, though.
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Nongamers also say nonsense like anime and cartoons are only things kids watch. One notorious nongamer here once asked if Marilyn Manson was power metal. Seriously, Marilyn Manson being power metal?!? His music sounds nothing like Blind Guardian and HammerFall.
 
I think I’m lucky to not have been told that video games aren’t a hobby but maybe it’s because most don’t know what I do in my free time. I always thought it was weird that some don’t consider video games a hobby though. For example, speedrunning is fun to watch but I don’t have the patience to do that (plus I don’t 100% games I have)
 
Let's be real here: even with 'nerd' hobbies like video games, anime and manga, comic book movies, etc. all becoming more and more popular and mainstream, there's always going to be people who inherently dismiss them as being 'childish' or 'wastes of time' or anything else because IDK I guess some people still view these things as just being the realm of maladjusted geeks and nerds and not something a 'self-respecting' person would be into.
 
Weirdly enough, if I spend all weekend taking apart an old console, soldering wires, installing LEDs, upgrading fans, replacing PSUs or any other kind of hardware mod, that's fine, people think it's great.

But if I then spend an hour enjoying the benefits of my mods by actually playing a game I'm "wasting my time" or they ask "don't you think you're a bit old for playing games?" and all that stuff.

So now I just tell people I like fixing, refurbishing and upgrading old hardware as part of my electronics hobby rather than my gaming hobby.
 
@Metalhead

Of course it's a legit hobby.

IIRC the video games industry is larger than Movies and TV together. Even if you remove mobile gaming, there are a huge number of players (certainly hundreds of millions, probably over a billion). Add in mobile and it's 3 billion players.

And unlike TV, where you don't need to think, and physically you don't have to even move your eyes, video games exercise your mind.

Players are more likely to become compulsive of course, but that's because they're deliberately trapped by the game designers, That's not good, because some people are much more easily "trapped" than others, but this is a natural human weakness. Society only ignores it because it only hurts 50% of the population :)
 
I've personally not been told that video games aren't a real hobby but I have had my father tell me that they're a waste of time and that "there's more to life than video games".

Which I don't quite understand his stance on video games when he plays them himself.. granted though he doesn't play them as often as he used to, I mean he was essentially the one that got me into them in the first place.

Then again based on things he's said I do think he thinks that video games should be a "fun treat" that you engage in only after you've done all your other responsibilities, which fair enough I suppose.

That is how I operate with them though, I work a full time job and when I come home I relax and unwind by playing some video games either alone or with my partner/online friends.

I guess he had more of a case for that back when I was still in schooling but my instincts were to do something relaxing first after school, which I now realize is because I need to in order to help regulate myself. I just didn't have the best sense of time when partaking in games or my other pastime.. reading, so I'd lose to much time and wouldn't have enough for schoolwork. I suppose I could've used some help with doing that.. preferably help that wasn't being yelled at and called lazy but more like a simple "okay time for you to work on your schoolwork now." Well that plus I could've used some help with my schoolwork instead of just being told to "figure it out on your own!", cuz the other issue I used to have was that I'd try my hand at my schoolwork and then hit a snag and shrug my shoulders and be like "eh I guess I've done what I could, back to my games.". Which yeah is not how I should've handled it but it's not like I had the support I needed, and on top of that I was discouraged from asking for help so what did they expect?

Past aside it seems that now when my father criticizes me for playing too many video games it's because I'm doing that instead of looking for in person friends/doing stuff with in person friends, or doing it instead of actively working to "move up in the world" but the thing is I'm fine with just the online friends I have.. less maintenance than in person friends as you don't have to go meet them somewhere to hang out, you can hang out from the comfort of home. And as for "moving up in the world", I'm also content with where I am right now, I don't see a need/reason to work to get a better job, or a house/better apartment.
 
Hypnalis said:
Players are more likely to become compulsive of course, but that's because they're deliberately trapped by the game designers,
Click to expand...

This might be a big part of it for some.

The sorts of games that do that trapping, many of them I would refer to as "games", with sarcastic quotes, designed only to create addiction, often having minimal gameplay and ads that outright lie to get you sucked in. Get you opening those sweet lootboxes and whatnot, and then it can turn into a dangerous habit.

Someone who doesnt know much about the hobby, seeing someone just sort of poking away at one of those, and worse, opening their wallet to them... could definitely make for a bad impression of it all. And with mobile gaming being so huge, well... yeah. I mean, even a lot of longtime gamers laugh at people who specifically play mobile games.
 
Truthfully. I've personally always considered gaming a hobby, even if others do not. It's just something that became a cancer in my life due to my personal mental health, more than anything.

But gaming, as a medium, is dead. At least, as far as the AA and AAA game scenes. Indi content flourishes. It's kinda funny really. It feels like we are falling into another gaming crash.

I remember actually enjoying games before it turned into this loot box, pay to win crap.

Misery said:
I mean, even a lot of longtime gamers laugh at people who specifically play mobile games.
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I don't laugh at mobile gamers. But I sure as hell do not consider them true gamers. It's an insidious market anyway. Just another reason to be addicted to the phone.
 
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