So, hear me out.
I’m a 47 year old guy and I’m not ashamed to say that I enjoy video games. I always have, from playing Head over Heels on a Speccy +2 to ESO and Valorant on my self built PC.
Due to various life circumstances, I’m also on the dating scene and to most women I meet, around my age, video games are anathema. When I say that I like them it’s usually meet with an “oh dear” or a “my son would probably love to talk to you about them, I find them really boring”
I have two boys, both teenagers, both play all the time and sometimes we all play together (although they are better as they have more time to apply to games). Their friends are amazed that I will talk about games with them, that I know someone about games and that I play games. None of their parents want to talk with them about what is effectively their main hobby that they do all the time (big sad).
So the question, there must be some sort of cut off age at which video games are no longer an acceptable pastime. Is it absolute age based (nothing after 35) or is it something to do with the progression of games into popular culture and people born after, say, 1986 will not see it as unacceptable?
I don’t have an answer, I just think it’s an interesting question. Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!
Edit to add: I’m not planning on stopping through peer pressure, just wondering about the phenomenon!
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Look, people our age were literally there at the advent of computer gaming. Why should we stop?
I’ve got 20 years on you and I don’t see an end to my gaming days anytime soon.
I’m 62 year old woman I started playing at 38, in 1999. I play a lot and I have no intention on stopping. I have never met a potential partner that saw it as a negative, but I would never impose it on them or not be available for activities because I would prefer gaming.
What do you like to play, out of curiosity?
I think it’s generational. When I talk to folks about gaming in their early-mid 30’s, the majority of them either also game, or at least don’t think it’s weird. Video games and board games too.
I think once you hit that rough age cutoff for millennials, late 30’s-early 40’s it seems video gaming and board gaming also largely falls off. At least that’s been my experience.
My spouse and I are in our 30’s and most of our peers game. Keep it up and never stop having fun!
Gen X-er here, and video gaming was a pretty huge part of a lot of our childhoods, too! The heyday of the video game arcade, Atari, Amiga, NES, and more. Given that, I’d expect folks as old as late 50s to have grown up gaming.
I’m 45. I spent the weekend playing video games with my 43-year-old girlfriend and her nephew. When we thought she had COVID I bought a couple games that were online multiplayer so we could play together while she was isolated.
You just need to find the right people for you. Put “I love video games” in your Tinder profile, and this will weed out people who think that’s for kids. Put yourself out there as you are, and it will attract the people who like you for who you are.
Was about to say that there is no cutoff age. I distinctly remember my grandfather playing RPGs on the Super Nintendo when I was a kid. That man played most of his life and well into his older years. Do what you love to do man. Ignore those who don’t appreciate that you have a hobby you actually enjoy.
When you get bored lol
There is zero age cutoff. Absolutely none.
I think what you are experiencing is a generational cut off, from people born before certain time where video games hasn’t permeated into pop culture long enough.
It’s becoming more accepted. I have a few friends in their 40s who are the biggest gamers I know. You may be on the edge of what might be seen as an "acceptable " age, but it is very common for adults. I can see how dating might bring out the judgement in some people, but you shouldn’t have to repress that part of yourself, especially since you do it with your kids. As it becomes more and more common many people won’t stop doing something they loved doing their whole lives.
Do what you want. I’ll play until I’m dead.
As someone born after 1986 I would consider it weird that there could be an age at which I wouldn’t play games. Just do whatever you enjoy
Yeah it doesn’t seem like an age cutoff so much as a generational cutoff. People born in the 1950s obviously didn’t grow up with arcades and consoles, so few of them would pick up the hobby later in life. Someone born in the mid 1970s like OP would be coming of age right as consoles and PC gaming were hitting the scene so more of that generation would have gamed as kids but still not an overwhelming amount like kids today.
As far as OPs date’s go, they’re probably just envisioning the stereotypical guy who is addicted to gaming and ignores other responsibilities even though that doesn’t seem to be the case. Perhaps he should frame it in a different way like pointing out how he bonds with his kids over them if it’s an issue or just ignore it all together. My wife and I are late 30s and she doesn’t play games outside of a small amount Animal Crossing but she doesn’t care that I enjoy them and I have no plans on quitting as I get older.
This is exactly what I say, that I bond with my son over video games. He is 6.5 now and I am 42…I never want to stop playing games, but I do say that after having a kid I have a lot less time to actually sit down and play.
Nah. If you enjoy it, and your kids like spending time with you gaming, then who cares?
Life is too short and kids grow up too fast to care what some grumpy old people who wouldn’t know fun if it hit them in the head will say about what you enjoy.
Living within the bounds of common “social acceptability” is stifling and dull, in my personal experience. Being kind and considerate is important, but why waste precious time trying to suppress or conceal harmless parts of oneself?
I’d rather select for settings where I can be embraced as my authentic self. I was forced to live with someone who was harshly judgmental and crapped on facets of me daily when I was growing up. I’d NEVER willingly subject myself to that again.
I have a feeling that if you worded it differently you’d improve the dating thing. If instead of “yeah, I like gaming” you said “my sons love videogames and we’ve been bonding a lot this way, it’s been a nice hobby to get all of us closer” the non-gamers might be able to empathize more and keep the conversation alive.
I personally think it’s only related to birth generation. For currently past 30 years old it was still pretty rare for people to game a lot. Now everyone has a smartphone and gaming is a big business. Also people past a certain age develop a level of “old people grumpiness” and this sticks to them in whatever they do. Some lost interest in hobbies and are seriously envious of people enjoying gaming instead of watching TV all day or gossiping with neighbors. I also believe current younger generstions are much more understanding of other people’s life choices, less judging. Not long ago young marriage was the goal number one, for thousands of years. We’re live in a fast changing age at the moment.
There’s no drop off for gaming.
