I'm an old guy, but I try not to be too judgmental, especially on things I've never tried & know very little about. I hear these day adults talking about playing video games. Stuff like shooting zombies, playing war, etc. I feel like this is kid's stuff. I did play PacMan in the bars in my 20's but gave that up pretty quickly (unless a pretty girl needed some coaching). Am I missing something?

Only a few times when my kiddos wanted me to play with them a long time ago.

Not in 25 years.

I've put myself in a position that I don't have time.

It is a cult following among many people, though.

Nope.

Haven't played in years but if someone wants to challenge me in pong I'm ready.

My son got a Nintendo Switch back in August, he’s 5, and just like me he didn’t really take an interest in it. However, he just got a soccer game for it and for whatever reason we have both been enjoying it. This is also my first video game system and I turn 40 in 2 weeks. That being said, we reserve the games for the weekends that we aren’t running around hunting or goofing off.

I don’t and I don’t really get it as an adult. If you are playing with your kid it’s one thing. But I know adults that have multiple monitors, headsets, chairs etc. Seems like brain rot to me lol

I TRY with my FFS

Negative.

I was addicted to ZELDA over 35 years ago. I completed it once, only to find out that there was a second quest you could play next. I have no idea how many hours I spent after work trying to complete the 1st quest. It was my son's game and in his bedroom. My wife worked until 8 or 9 twice a week so I had plenty of time. Just listening to the music in the video brings back memories of the past. After I finished the 1st quest, I never turned the machine on again and haven`t played another video game either. There were a few guys at work that played Zelda, and we helped each other out.

I am an 80’s kid, I loved when they came out. I still will play a few times a month with some friends that I grew up with. It’s a fun way to BS and catch up with them living far away. I don’t go to bars or clubs or out drinking, so this is my way to “go out”, lol. We don’t take anything too serious at all.

I like military history wargames and always have, whether they are board games or computer based. Not action adventure/shooting stuff but actual set-piece wargames that requires knowledge of history, strategy and tactics. I would rather play a couple of turns at Gettysburg, Guadalcanal or the Ia Drang Valley in the evening than watch anything on TV.

I played pretty hard from mid 80s to the mid 2000s. Mainly madden with my son towards the end there.

I have a full blown golf simulator setup, that I play just about everyday. I don't know if it would be considered a video game.

No.

Back in the 80’s I was an Asteroids warrior. Nothing since then. I’d rather read a book if I’m not working on something. The last something was a new carb on the garden tiller. That thing runs great now. I wouldn’t bother you with mentioning it, but you guys know what a tiller is, whereas nobody else in my family has a clue, so bragging to them ain’t worth the effort.

When I have the time, yes, I play my fully functional Atari 2600 connected to a 65" TV whenever I can!

Defender, Asteroids, Missile Command, and Jungle Hunt are my favorites.

No. Did long time ago though.

Some of today's racing simulators make me think I might want too...then I remember, I have enough hobbys and I tend to go all in so no reason to add another one.

Is this a question to see how many LBGQ member we have?

Had the Atari 2600, 5200, and then the original Nintendo. Then Super Nintendo came out and I began to see the racket the video game industry was. Yeah, dropping another $500 every couple of years to have the latest and greatest game system ain't for me.

More importantly, junior high and high school ball and girls took over and I let that horse run.

A game of Tetris on one of those handheld single game devices can be mildly entertaining, though.

LMAO......

No

But there are some older 50+ firemen who play all the time at the station.

Why am I not surprised?

It was before your time boomer.

No. I prefer to engage in tangible activities and pursuits.

I played some as a kid and as a teenager when there was nothing else to do, but nothing even remotely serious.

IMO video games are a time thief, very little to be gained by mindless entertainment. Same goes for watching TikTok

I never really took interest as a kid, and we don’t have any in our house. There’s a big world outside full of stuff to do. My oldest son’s goal is to play baseball for UT. I tell him if he truly wants to achieve that he needs to put the work in while everyone else is playing video games. He gets it. The best part is, my boys love to go hunting and fishing with me. Doesn’t get any better than watching their excitement fighting that fish or when a deer steps out. No video game can offer that. The downside is when his teammates or friends get together and they’re talking about the latest game, he’s left out. I’ve done my best to offset that by providing ways to spend time that are way more fun. Dirtbikes, bows, hunting/fishing. It takes a lot more time, money and effort but I think it’s the right thing to do.

I played Pong once or twice in 1975 and that was it to me it's mindless dribble.

No.

When I hear a few young single men making plans for the weekend talking, and all they have going on is spending the night at one guys house so they can play video games all weekend...............SMH, I can't imagine choosing that over chasing girls or hunting.

20 years from now, his station in life will be of much higher quality than that of his current friends.

My the things I see the men doing now, that I grew up with.

I’m old. In my early 80’s and occasionally play solitaire but only occasionally.

Some of my grown grandkids are totally hooked.

Wife is hooked on solitaire and plays a million bucks per game. She is retired, and like me, struggles to find something to do.

Nope, played until about 7th grade, 13yo or so then no more...And back in early 80s, the arcade games were all the craze...Devoted my time to sports, girls and education...

can't imagine it either, yet thousands of young guys do it.


I have a college freshman son. Much of his time spent here at home over the break was him and buddies playing games online. Could have gone fishing for trout, hunting on a few different places, or messing with his pretty blond ex-girlfriend that was also in town on break, but nope, they like the video games.



Can't understand it

No wonder she's an "ex". The guys I was referring to were at the gym which is a very target rich environment, I don't think they even notice. It's a really anti-social behavior, even when they get together to do it. Changing times.

I was more into pinball.

On GTA3, you can pick up a hooker in your car jacked vehicle, go to a dark alley and the car rocks and squeaks back in forth. Your life bar goes up but your money goes down. When it’s over and she gets out to barf, you can crack her with a bat and get your money back.

That version has been out since 2001. I’m sure that never contributed to the crime problem here.

WTF are you talking about? This is a video game?

Never played arcades or videos in my younger years. As a senior, I do early morning on line poker tournaments. Still winning. Keeps the old man out.

My wife and all 4 of our kids, ages 14 up through 24, are all gamers. My wife is currently as addicted to Fortnight at age 44 as I was to bass fishing at age 13. Back then I fished almost 365 days per year.

I do not play them at all. Rots the brain, seen it firsthand. I have no brain cells to spare.

That game was a lot of fun

My hands play that stuff at work all the time. I can see the allure, but it gets boring to me after a few minutes.

I think it’s better than adults watching cartoons. Caught my hands the other day watching those Japanese cartoons. I gave them hell about that. They don’t seem to understand why.

I would love to know how much money I spent on pinball. Growing up in Throckmorton, Happy Balthrop owned the Greyhound Drive-in and had one pinball machine. I spent many an hour there when I was in junior high. Happy also made one of the best hamburgers and THE best onion rings ever created. But that's a different topic.

You didn’t kill the bad guys, did you? That would be wrong.

Oh wait, you were the bad guy! Now it all makes sense.

No. And thankfully my wife made all three of our girls become heavy readers. Their college cost me far less because of it and none of them are still living with us.

Born in 1973. Had a killer Atari Setup as a kid, loved Mario Bro's in the 90's, then had a PS 1 And a PS 2. Still have the PS 2 but it hasn't been touched in 10 years plus. I played Madden, golf and a couple of car racing games mostly towards the end.
Have never played any of the killing/ war games.

Same here, born in 75 had the Atari 5200, Sega master system, Sega genesis, PS1 -PS4. Mostly flying, racing, and sports games.

I do off and on. I'll go a few months without playing but if I get into a good game then I'll play frequently. Xbox and switch.

My son, and his wife watch anime, i don't get it, but to each their own.

Grand Theft Auto 3.

They broke up because they went to college in different states. Which I agree was the smart thing to do.

But still, take the freebies when you can


When I was in my early 20’s I used to go to a buddies and we would play Mike Tyson’s punch out for an hour before we would go to the bars. I think that’s the last time I played a game. And that was on antiquated consoles.

Today that is the highlight of their weekends. I guess it’s like poker night for them but I can’t relate to it. I worked with a guy (again in my early 20’s) who would plan his week around playing Halo and talking chit to 14 year old kids who were online playing it as well. He would post up in his living room and not move off the couch for 8-10 hrs at a time. Was very strange

I think the last video game I played was Pong.

Yes. I play an online game of Golf, owned by Top Golf. It's called WGT Golf, I think.

good graphics. a game is just a short diversion. it's a pretty good game.

No, life is too short to waste it like that. If I can't get out, then give me a good book.

I don't have time for all the hunting and hunting related activities I do so no way I would have time for any serious gaming. Now if I have 15-30 minutes late at night when I can't get anything else done, I might do a little mind-numbing angry birds.

No the Last game I played and enjoyed was Pinball at an arcade in Denver.

No.

In the mid 90's we bought my daughter a Nintendo 64 and had a ball playing Didy Kong Racing as a family. I bought the games 007 Goldeneye and Fire Fox. They were fun but the 007 Goldeneye was a first-person shooter game. It was fun but made me seasick.

I tried Call Of Duty but couldn't figure it out. I'd get killed in the first minute. I don't know how these young kids play this chit. I do see the allure and it is fascinating how the game creators make these games.

When you get groups of young people sitting with headphones playing against their friends all over town, this is a little too much.

Judd , you need the full racing set up, custom chair, gas pedal, brakes, steering wheel. I think it runs around $5,000. Would be fun to get behind the wheel of a Lambo !!!

What is anime? Looks like a Japanese cartoon. kids are wanting to move to Japan after getting hooked on it. isn't it porn?

I am an old , but I do have an X box and have played the " Ace Combat " series , the most current version came out in 2019, I have played it all the way thru
multiple times, The final mission is a challenge for sure. Crashed and burned more times than I can count.
I can not play first person shooter games , they give me vertigo. I only play single player games , Don't want to be online with a bunch of kids.

I will also admit to playing GTA , many years ago.

Good luck

MO

Lmfao! Not porn.....

We do plan on taking a trip to Japan as a family

It’s porn. Just because they are not naked, does not mean it’s not pornographic. It leaves little to the imagination.

Exactly what I said I didn't need to get into that

I don’t know much about it, but I’ve seen enough to know it’s strange, especially for adults.

There’s GT5 now and probably a 6 on the way.

No. I knew myself enough when the first Xboxs came out not to try it. All I did as a kid was play "war" after school. I did read Sgt. Rock. I'm pretty sure I have, what they call, an "addictive personality."

I feel like I’m in one of those driving games everyday traveling back and forth on 114

I used to play a lot 25 years ago.

Yes I know. I’m sure it’s full of even more crime and moral turpitude. I arrested several teenagers who were playing it in real life.

Glad I played Oregon Trail, I’m a river fording fool!!!

This place is around the corner from the casa. I took my 21 year old there to show him what it was like in 1980 when I was a mere 16 yrs old. He enjoyed the evening. We played for 3 hours or so. I love the nostalgia and fond memories of hanging out at them. Mostly on the north side of SA but New Braunfels had one as well. Always full of groups of hot chicks too.

As far as console gaming goes I’m mostly out unless it’s driving or flying. We have a PS, Xbox and Wii that are all collecting dust.

https://www.arcade92.com/flowermound

If any of y’all have guitar hero let me know I want to get it for my nephew so he can get guitaring

stop lying, you died of dysentery before you got close to a river...

I’m nearly 60 and haven’t owned a console in some time. We bought an Xbox series X about a year ago to use for some streaming, blu ray and DVDs. We also use it to play common board games.

In bad weather or if I didn’t feel like watching TV, have enjoyed working my way through the storyline of Red Dead Redemption 2. It’s like being a participant in a movie.

Might even try one of the Assassins Creed series afterwards. It’s entertainment no different than watching wheel of fortune.

Anything can be abused but some people are out of touch. A few months back I was traveling on business and stopped at a cafe for lunch. Some older fellow made the comment about people always on their phones as that’s what I was doing while eating. I was using the Kindle app reading a good history book about the WW2 Lorraine campaign. Just smiled and nodded.

I have hired a handful of young guys recently, several say they want to be a gamer. Then talk about some guy that is making $250k a year as a gamer. I tell them they have a better chance at the NBA.
I play Scrabble when the THF is boring.

250k? There’s people that make millions a year playing video games

My oldest daughter makes a little side cash streaming her game play. I don't know how as she's not by any means great at it. But hey, if she can get some extra scratch from it, why not?

My younger cousin made a couple hundred thousand playing some online computer game. He was on a “team” and traveled to events around the world with sponsors. Then one day he quit. Graduated HS 2 years early and is now an anesthesiologist and world traveler.

I’m going to take a wild stab in the dark and guess that she’s attractive. Does that remove the mystery for you?

I never got past shooting the hell out of buffalo. Buying supplies, traveling, and everything else revolved around making sure I could finish the class shooting buffalo. I’m a very competitive person, but finishing that game meant nothing to me.

Oh, you finished the game? How many buffalo did you kill? Not as many as me, so I don’t care.

Boy got a new PS5 for Christmas. I enjoy playing Football, Baseball, Golf and Basketball with him. More for time/memories together….certainly no “gamer”.

That's what I thought when she first told me about it but she doesn't video herself. So all anyone gets to see is her game screen or the little avatar (cartoon person) she uses when just chatting.

Okay, well, just goes to show that people will watch anything.

This couple became multi millionaires by traveling and YouTube.

https://youtube.com/@karaandnate?si=e0WehZnkFrY4_yPB

Hell no. I do real stuff. My son’s first college roommate referred to himself as a gamer. Big pudgy soft looking dude with the whitest skin I’ve ever seen. He flunked out the first semester. Confirmed my stereotype of gamers. My son said he was weird.

No

No

I play video games sometimes so would be considered a gamer by people on here and do "real stuff" so your stereotype could be very wrong. Like most stereotypes though, you'll believe what you want and ignore the rest to confirm what you want.

You can definitely see how generations change through the years.

Did we a kid. Haven’t in years till my son got a switch. Played original Mario again for about a week and then he got a hunting game for Christmas this year played it a few times was fun, but had to tell him in real life we don’t shoot deer like that lol.

Absolutely. No addictions in the 80s. When you ran out of quarters you were basically done. Ha! And you had to be home at the prescribed parental curfew time. In my driving years, mine was typically midnight. If I called collect and hung up, that meant I was running late but still alive.

I cannot imagine staying up all night and sleeping all day gaming today. It’s a thing and destructive IMHO.

It occurred to me that no one has mentioned that highschools and colleges have embraced gaming as a sport. Yes, you read that right, a "sport." They have teams and competitions and some get scholarships. At a college my other daughter visited they were told that the gamers were to be referred to as athletes. This was hard to swallow for a young lady who spends so much time conditioning and who puts her body through so much to play the sport she loves. I told her I'd have gotten in trouble for "accidentally" calling them mathletes.

Could be. What is your level of fitness? I attribute my stereotype of “gamer” to the generation gap. From what I’ve seen, it’s accurate more than it’s not.

Fitness? It’s decent, ran a half marathon in 1:47 on Saturday.

As much as gamers try to justify their activity, it’s not real. It’s a make believe place they go to. Why they need their escape reality I don’t know but there’s nothing really productive about it. The real world is where actual accomplishments are made.

Occasional video games are no different than watching TV, televised sports, series, movies, board games, reading etc. People can take all of those to excess couch potato levels. Just about anything done to excess can create negative outcomes.

What about reading a novel? Would the same apply?

No. Not even remotely close to the same.

If you are referring to people who play video games to excess then I agree. The same could apply to watching too much TV, televised sports, series, movies, etc.

Older, serious gamers are just sad. And they usually need a bath.

Entertainment and hobbies will be different for everyone.

Most all couch taters are sad.

Your typical adult gamer..........

spot on Dustnsand

BOOM, in yo face

Lol, nobody tell these guys that today's top athletes play video games. Also nobody tell them that some of the smartest people play them too.

Are you speaking in the second person?

Of which, you're neither.

BOOM, in yo face

Was that picture Jgraider posted you Buzz?

A person of any age that games or like watches TV in excess probably has issues.

Max Verstappen, the current F1 champ and probably best racecar driver in the world, is a huge sim racing fan. He even famously got a talking to from him team for staying up late sim racing during a race week. I would say the percentage of professionals who use sim racing, video games, is pretty high.

Bet yeah, video games aren’t real and are worthless.

I’m sure most idiots that chase a ball around like a dog probably are gamers, but how is it possible to quantify intelligence levels of gamers? I’m pretty sure there’s not an intelligence quotient test requirement to buy or play them.

How so? Did you know that reading, particularly fiction, is an acknowledged form of escapism? An escape from reality? But even reading can be taken to excess.

Oh my.

Yes,on occasion.

So the moral to the story is Max Verstappen is the current F1 champ, a talented driver, and a major league dork.

If that's what you get out of it then sure. Believe in the story that makes you feel the best

What shows have you seen? Anime is definitely not porn, but there is probably 1 good show for every 50 terrible ones. Land Man is more pornographic than most of the shows I've seen.

I watch anime and play video games, but not as much as I used to, as the time just isn't there. My son enjoys video games as well, but he probably spends an equal amount of time playing guitar/drums when he's home. Why is he not outside? He is, we go to the range every weekend and he loves going to the park and cruising around in the car. I don't think doing one thing means you can't do another, never has for me. I've got a warehouse full of taxidermy, trophies from horse racing and show animals, degrees, etc. The only thing I gave up to be able to do what I like was a few years to the Navy out of high school and I don't believe in vacations.

6'3, 220lbs, 670ng/dl, 9:47 1.5M time, sub-21 minute 5k, 305 bench/395 squat/475 deadlift, and peaked Diamond on League of Legends at 36 for all the stat lovers.

Video games are at least something to do. Those Japanese cartoons are just weird. I just don’t understand how any adult can watch that stuff.

It's like watching a sci-fi or fantasy show to me. I enjoyed movies like Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and the Hobbit books, etc.

It's the animated version of Japanese comic books.

No, they have never interested me, and it’s a counterproductive waste of time for me.

Yeah, all of that stuff is weird, to me.

There's only so many episodes of Narcos on Netflix, I gotta watch something.

Same for me. Never understood the draw. But as long as it didn’t break the law, hurt anyone, or was morally corrupt. I didn’t care if people liked that sort of entertainment. They were exercising their freedom.

My young man found a farming game he liked. He started with a little money and I did have a few drinks and put 5mil in his account over a night or two. He bought the tractors he wanted and has fun with it so it was a win