Do you ever feel juvenile because of retro gaming?

[fcgamer]

I was out with a lady friend of mine today, as well as some of her friends (too bad she had made reference to a boyfriend towards the end of our time out though) and we had done some window shopping, looking at expensive watches, suitcase, clothes, and the like (usual woman fare).  When we were looking at the watches, I just felt so juvenile inside, thinking "Damn, for that amount of money I would rather buy a Gimmik, and have the trade-off being owning a cheap watch."  When thinking about this though, I suddenly felt very childish, like I had never moved beyond the stage of the kid that wants to go into the toy shop.

Does anyone else ever feel that way?  I usually don't feel this way (or care what people think of my games hobby, everyone needs to have a hobby) but for a few moments I just felt childish. 

[MaxXimus]

I too feel a little childish when thinking about all the money that I spent on games when I could have spent it on something "a little more useful."

my answer to that is never stop feeling childish. It's one of the only things keeping me sane right now, lol. It could be way worse. You could be blowing it all on drugs and alcohol.

Did the lady friend do anything to make you feel that way?

[tappybot]

When buying anything, I often think, how many games I could have bought instead of that.

Don't feel bad about. Just feel passionate about your hobby.

[nerdynebraskan]

We're pretty complex animals. I like to think of myself as one of those Russian dolls that's filled with smaller dolls. If one of those inner-mes is still the 8-year old sitting on the floor in front of the TV with an NES controller-in-hand, that's ok. Feed your inner child; it'll keep you young.

[senseiman]

I mainly feel like that when we have guests and they see our living room, which has a Famicom hooked up to the TV and a shelf with about 100 carts on one wall, which is very conspicuous.   Most of those folks have more `grown up` hobbies, but on some occasions people say `Oh neat, Famicom!  Lets play.` and I feel better about myself.

I always make sure to close the door to the room where 90% of my collection is housed, its more or less wall to wall games and toys in there. 

[fcgamer]

I too feel a little childish when thinking about all the money that I spent on games when I could have spent it on something "a little more useful."

my answer to that is never stop feeling childish. It's one of the only things keeping me sane right now, lol. It could be way worse. You could be blowing it all on drugs and alcohol.

Did the lady friend do anything to make you feel that way?

I don't think my friend did anything in particular to make me feel that way, but it was more about seeing a bunch of "normal" people (for lack of better term) together, checking out expensive watches and stuff like that, which made me feel a bit funny to myself when I stood there and thought about it.  I think I especially felt this way since I could care less about owning and maintaining a fancy watch, and would prefer to own and play some 20 year old game software.

[P]

Yes, I feel that too when I'm around people with no interest for games. But then I often realize that there's lots of people my age with the same hobby.

[thepandaofnom]

I feel childish a bit but then again I look at what so called mature people do and I laugh. The mature crowd always complain about everything and never have fun. I know you need to do some things you hate in life but in your free time have fun. This is the main reason I have remained single for most my life. All the girls I have been involved with leave me because I wont get rid of my video games and manga. One girlfriend gave me an ultimatum " get rid of the games or get rid of her". I looked to her and said I am gonna have to break up with you.   She was pissed.

[fredJ]

I mainly feel like that when we have guests and they see our living room, which has a Famicom hooked up to the TV and a shelf with about 100 carts on one wall, which is very conspicuous.   Most of those folks have more `grown up` hobbies, but on some occasions people say `Oh neat, Famicom!  Lets play.` and I feel better about myself.

I always make sure to close the door to the room where 90% of my collection is housed, its more or less wall to wall games and toys in there.  

That's pretty cool, I love to play famicom whenever I have a chance... Should invite me some day.

As a coincidence, today I happen to read about otaku and got into The Otaku Killer (http://www.crimelibrary.com/blog/2013/01/05/serial-killer-spotlight-tsutomu-miyazaki-otaku-killer/index.html).

Personally though, no I don't feel juvenile but I am mainly into old games for the cultural value. Some people enjoy old movies and call it culture. I enjoy old games. Don't see the difference.

Now, if you ask me about people who sit for hours with stuff like XBox, now that is a waste of time, IMO. It is something completely different. Like comparing an Orson Wells movie to some repetitive mindless Crime Detective series (like Bones ).

[security16]

I feel for all you guys. Being a woman I still don't get women either! I see retro gaming as a special sort of history that you just can't learn about unless you play them and some of it is personal history. It might seem juvenile to some but you know what who gives a fuck I see it as preserving history. Sadly my bedroom tv isn't compatible with the famicoms and superfamicoms but I have my NES and SNES hooked up to it and hurrahs the supergameboy lets me play tekkaman blade Which is also a part of my personal history

[famiac]

Collecting games has made me feel silly haha but not in a bad way. It is practically all i spend on, but that's what collecting is, it means knowing what you want. I like buying other things here and there, i also collect vinyl records. My friends have always loved that i have obscure and retro game consoles and games. They usually ask to play if we're hanging out at home.

It's a shame to hear about those girlfriend horror stories though... My girlfriend has always shown a legitimate interest in my games and what i do. She's always the first one to jump to the game room, and even when we're not near each other she likes battling me on the pokemon showdown simulator, which ends up being really fun. I wouldn't even think about dating someone who was incapable of enjoying what i enjoy, whether it be music or video games.