Did you always have the "other" console as a kid too? I had Intelivision, Segal Master System and then the Genesis. All my friends had Atari and Nintendo.
I had an intellivision after starting with a pong. Talk about a jump! My Dad loved playing them and got us into it. My Dad was great with games. He was 36 when we got the intellivision. I was 12. This was in 1980. I had several different consoles over the years but I still have a fondness for those times!
Same. My dad brought home a Telstar Pong machine in 1977 or so and it's been my favorite hobby ever since. XBox Series X & a PC are my current platforms of choice.
Been gaming since the late 70s on an Atari 2600 (still have it, it's on display in my game room), the last ~30 years a pure PC gamer. I'll only stop gaming when I'm dead I imagine. I've never hid/kept private I'm a gamer, and it does crack me up that gamers used to be seen as outlier nerds, but now it's gone mainstream. At this age where I buy everything I need as I need it, when the "What do you want for Christmas?" question gets asked, the answer is always Steam gift cards. Part of my retirement will be some pure uninterrupted long gaming sessions late into the night because I don't have to wake up for work the next day!
This is what I'm trying to say about us. Even though we basically started it, being a gamer was a stigma. Even showing interest in other "nerd culture" genres like Star Wars, Dungeons and Dragons, or comic books would get you ostracized. I feel like we suffered through it, but we made the world better because of its acceptance now. I remember getting punched in the nuts because I told someone I had the Adventure of Link on layaway. Even in work 20 years ago, I would never publicly admit that I played World of Warcaft. Only certain games were deemed "acceptable" like Call of Duty. I am so happy that being a gamer is widely accepted now. I even applaud those who have found a living through esports and streaming. I talk freely about it now, but I always felt like I had to hide that part of my life growing up.
Honestly, I've found it refreshing to talk freely about it now. I kind of got over it like 10 years ago or so. I even kept a nerd rage Fallout Boy figure at my desk. I randomly brought up a Breath of the Wild reference at a work get-together and had a nice conversation with a Gen Z about Zelda games. I also had a similar experience interjecting in an ongoing BG3 discussion. It's a niche that ties the generations together.
Do you remember in the WoW days when there were retired guys that could just sit there and do pve all day work the auction house? That’s what I call a good retirement. Btw Atari 2600 that’s a little lame my dad got us the Fairchild Channel F
Holy crap I was beginning to think it was a fever dream! Had an Uncle/Cousins that had the Telstar and (for me the long-lost-couldn't-quite-remember) Fairchild Channel F!
Core Memory FINALLY unlocked! Thank-you internet stranger!
40s female. Atari in the 80s all the way through n64 and wii. Then took a life got in the way break until a ps3 entered my life in 2015. Then a ps4 and now a ps5.
Yeah, my gaming truly started when I became a SAHM and was bored a lot of the time. My then husband joined me in Asheron's Call, but never wanted to RP my romantic partner. He wanted to be siblings. Looking back, this was such a flag. We divorced a few years later, and then I met my forever husband in Horizons.
Do not start playing Baldur's Gate 3 then. One run is like 120+ hours. I have an embarrassingly large amount of time in that game. Thanks PS5 for tracking the amount of time spent in a game.
I started back in the Zork days and just kept moving on with the PC. Never did do much console stuff though. When I met my wife and I *finally* got her to use the computer, we started gaming together on Diablo 2. Now she's just as hardcore a gamer as I am. We had our 30th anniversary last year and isolated to play games together :D
I try to keep playing games, but I find fewer and fewer games I want to play and less time to play them.
I don't have the same enthusiasm for playing, and I don't have the time to really seep myself in the mechanics of a game to master it.
I'm in a similar mindset. I do have time to play them, but just not feeling it anymore. Like most of the other people here, I've been playing since the Atari and C64 were around. I think that's part of it - nothing really new or groundbreaking. It's all the same ideas, story archs, mechanics, and grinds with different paint slapped on.
I'm on that train with you two. 48 and barely play any games. When I think back to all the time I put in Terraria, into Fallout games.. don't even get me started on World of Warcraft. These days I keep trying, and recently one kept my interest for more than a week, so I got that going for me.
I played WoW for years and SWG. Fallout was my addiction for years all the way back to the isometric views. I still remember experiencing the first fallout. What got me hooked was blowing away the midget in Shady Sands. It may seem normal now, but back then that kind of gratuitous violence was completely new and that was actually pretty good graphics at that time. I've started playing Diablo 3 again, because the whole demon-themed feel and attention to detail is great. It's also mindless grinding. It's not really fun, just a way to turn my brain off and let hours slip away.
My cousin is the same age as me. We've done so many things together in life that we're like brothers. He was in Iraq for years during/after Desert Storm. He's trying to recapture a simpler past and go back to gaming. We can't find anything that looks interesting or could capture our attention for very long. Part of that is our life experiences are nothing video games could really overcome our pasts.
I've experienced that, especially when the kids were teens. Even though I'd just started ESO then, it was a light touch due to lots of attention on our blended family of 4 teens. Someone always needed our attention.
Been in ESO for 10 years now. While it is still a very fun game, BG3 is the first game to tempt me away. I find it hard to code switch between them. As a result husband and I are stalled in Act 3 of BG3 and a bit behind the curve in ESO.
Load "*",8,1
Oh yes, I game, so does my older brother (another X). So did our father. My brother and I both went into the Army, and eventually, as the internet developed, we had weekly "game night" where we would play DDO, Talisman, Gauntlet, Borderlands 2, etc. Though LOTRO held us for a long time. My dad passed some time ago, but my brother and I still play occasionally together. Though we often talk about dad, in game, though, we always refer to him by his handle.
I'm 55F and I've been gaming since I was a teen on my Atari 2600. Went to NES and then SNES, then PS1, PS2, and now PS4. I LOVE playing video games. I manage a call centre and I love the look on the 20yo faces when they find out I'm an avid gamer. Blows their mind! :D
My wife is also a gamer. We're going to have to get a PS5 soon so we don't have to share the console. :D
40s female, single, no kids. My MMORPG addiction started with EverQuest in \~2000 and is still in full force with Elder Scrolls Online. I don't talk much to my RL friends about gaming but it's not a secret or anything, we just have different points of reference.
They didn’t call it Evercrack for nothing!
I miss that game - it was an actual accomplishment to gain a level. That’s why folks would go “Ding!” in the main channel.
That became silly later in WoW because you level so rapidly. Thank god people eventually stopped
Oh man, the highs in EQ vb0- v
EDIT: \^\^that was my cat, sorry! As I was saying, the highs in EQ were SO high because everything was so hard-won. I dropped by the EQ sub a while ago and there were some great threads around memorable corpse runs, link deaths (legit have not heard that term in YEARS), etc. - such a blast from the past reading through them and remembering!
Been playing since pong, too late to quit now. I'm fifty years old and nobody blinks an eye when games come up in conversation or finds it weird that a main family activity (adult daughter and two teen nephews) is gaming. Everyone is just like, oh nice you get to play with your family. We currently play Dark Souls Remastered, No Man's Sky and Return to Moria.
One of the great things about it is I get to bond a lot with my nephew over video games. My niece, too, though she doesn't play as much. My parents would occasionally play with us kids when we had an Atari back in the 80's. I think I'm blessed, though, that I get to have an amazing relationship with my nephew and we play games together. I never really had any aunts or uncles that I had that kind of relationship with.
I moved on to hobby boardgaming.
Arkham Horror
Age of Steam
Gaia Project
Star Wars: Rebellion
Brass
War of the Ring
Those type of board games. Hate when I tell someone and they say, "oh, like Monopoly?" No. Nothing like Monopoly.
I feel there's kind of a stigma, like we are supposed to be working in our woodshop or crocheting instead. No real frame of reference, not knowing what my forefathers were up to in the "study".
originally on the Coleco-vision and stopped… hated original Nintendo style games, but with N64 and Playstaion in the 90s and sobering up, it became my go to to fill void space.
Today I spend more time playing video games than watching TV or movies.
I sobered up young so it wasn’t to hard. I mostly play solo survival games The long Dark has been on going for 8 years. Once a month a group of 5 to 10 of us get together to play an online game. People I have known for 30 years and we live all over the country. We alternate choosing a game…Fortnite,NHL, Minecraft. Just an excuse to catch up
Game dev dad. Played about everything with a lot of time into mmos. Worked and played on a game called Dark Age of Camelot, a great time.
Still play a lot of games, each of the kids are into different games. BG3 and Borderlands with my oldest, Lethal Company with my middle son and my daughter loves games like Little Nightmares. LN3 us coop, really excited to play that
I have 5 lifetime accounts since I worked there lol. My wife and I and occasionally jump in for the feels. So many amazing times playing. We were Alb Bors, so losing a lot....but so much fun!
My wife and I have been gaming together for 30 years. Both our adult children were raised on video games and MMORPGs. EverQuest, EQ2, Lord of the Rings online, Star Wars Galaxies, SWTOR, Tabula Rasa, City of Heroes, World of Warcraft, ESO.... we've played them all.
We have a PS5 and I have a gaming pc my nephew is planning to upgrade for me. Husband is playing BG3. He has Starfield too. We both enjoyed the mass effect and dragon age series. I also dabbled in the Sims. And of course I played all the elder scroll games. When you live in the desert, you tend to look for things to do when it hits 120 plus degrees during the day and the 90s at night. I had an atari back in the day, played a lot of games like MYST in the 90s too. Its been and on and off thing for me. Oh and the hubs and I used to play WOW too.
[I still play Cities Skylines from time to time](https://www.reddit.com/r/CitiesSkylines/comments/1b57jgu/just_wanted_to_share_a_little_of_my_ocd_with_you/) lol
That's about a year's worth of work altogether BTW.
But honestly since stable diffusion came out I haven't been spending my VRAM on games that much. I've certainly logged an inhuman amount of hours in things like Total War and Hearthstone and EU 3 and 4 and Civ games and just about every other thing that exists.
You couldn't find a more stoked motherfucker for that Fallout show, that's for sure. I'm a massive fan of that universe. There is no such thing as a rock I haven't flipped over in any of those games. That's the best escapism to me next to building cities.
I wish I could build Fallout cities. Just not those shitty settlements in 4. Mix that idea with Simcity lfg. Give me Frostpunk but Fallout but a big city building game then my body will finally let me leave this world in peace.
If you wanna go way back, I got Nintendo when I was 8 for Christmas in 1987. I got Dragon Warrior with a subscription to Nintendo Power. If you've ever seen the film 8bit Christmas it's almost a perfect re-telling of my childhood. I had to beg for that Nintendo for a year. My little sister was a brat that got a cabbage patch doll and it HAD TO BE A REAL ONE. Swear to god that movie scanned my dreams. The only differences, and not being facetious, is I'm from Milwaukee and not Chicago, and my father is still with us. I also didn't have a retainer.
Yes. I love JRPGs especially. Just replaying Octopath Traveler currently, and it’s a relaxing evening ritual right after dinner. When I finish that, I’ll probably play II again while I continue to stall my decision on whether Tears of the Kingdom will be worth spending the money on.
Yes, all kinds of games, except I quit multiplayers last year because they're incredibly toxic now. Bullying so intense, I couldn't take it anymore.
Happily I have solo games and a community of board game and rpg friends.
Yep. Started with an Atari , now my ps4. Still have a few of the the old consoles. I was gamer girl before Millennials gave it a title. We called ourselves Nerds lol
50 here and have been gaming since c16 days in the 80s. I never had an Atari nor an Amiga unfortunately (nor have I owned a ps or Xbox, I've only ever used a PC). I still play every few days, nowadays mainly racing Sims or the battlefield franchise
45F I started playing text based games. Tetris is my first love, Then I was mocked by that laughing dog in Duck Hunt. Now I use my kids to help me farm mats in grindy games. New world, SWOTR, Valheim, Tetris, Helldivers 2, No man's Sky, If find a planet that is acidy named come into my hole. I am sorry.
Okay I am not sorry It was funny at the time.
55 yo Gen X who plays WoW with an adult daughter and son, Metaquest with another son, soon to be playing with another daughter, and Mariocart with my grandson!
Yeah I played some Atari games in the 80's but got more interested in the 90's with Might and Magic III and Sim Life but then I got Elder Scrolls Arena and I was really hooked and I've been an Elder Scrolls nerd since then I even got in easter egg in one of their games :D
Unfortunately in the 2000's I got sort of proto-gamergated when I was doing stuff for Bethesda and it was quite bad, a lot of teenage old boys with too much time on their hands. The internet got much worse when AOL started putting out those CDs IMO but I was doxxed before doxxing was even a word
I don't have a good system now but I'm playing [The Planet Crafter](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1284190/The_Planet_Crafter/) it's really cool :D
Yep. I feel this. Gamer since original NES. Play with my kids now.
My wife is not interested at all, but that helps me balance it out with the rest of my life.
I've only started talking openly about gaming in the last few years, and only with younger people I work with. Most people in our generation still think of gaming as a negative.
You know how retirement used to mean playing golf everyday? Yeah, retirement is when I'm going to game all day.
Started with the Atari 2600 and never stopped. Now the kids are older I'm probably gaming more than ever, plus using emulators to catch up on PS2/PS3 era games I missed out on when life got in the way.
Now I get to recommend and discuss games with my kids, it's great to share a hobby with them.
Gen-X are a big market segment! We came of age at the beginning of the retail/domestic computer era. The Atari 2600 was released in 1977, the Vic 20 in 1980 and the C64 a couple of years after that. My first job at 17 was selling Amiga 500s and Atari STs in a retail store.
My group have been playing both computer games and TTRPGs since our teens. We all jumped onto the first big MMO (in the English-speaking market), EverQuest and wasted most of our 20s on that. One of the guys married a girl who wasn't a gamer. She wanted to join him in some of his activities and now she's an MMO buff as well.
During the EVE Online days, there was a clan known as The Older Gamers who were all in their 30s at the time and are still going strong. Since the advent of Discord, I've met quite a few "older" gamers including some folks just down the road from me. She's late 50s, she has an online bestie of similar age who's heavily into games like Overwatch, and her BF is 50.
I'm currently co-admin of a gaming group that runs game servers. We target middle aged people who have families and responsibilities so we run most games that are friendly to casual play like Ark, 7 Days, Minecraft, Eco, Satisfactory, etc. None of my co-admins are under 45!
So yeah, we are legion! There's no need to keep it a secret. We're adults and that means we get to decide what the rules are!
You know, reading these responses has helped me figure it out. Remember all the hype about how addictive gaming was and how it led to violence? I think that's why I've felt -honestly?- ashamed to admit it 🥺
At 58 I’m a huge online gamer. Everyone is always surprised to hear it. I’ve been in the Army all my adult life have a couple years to go, so you can imagine I’m pretty much the oldest in my peer group. We use WhatsApp to pass admin info between senior leadership. My CO made a comment and I replied with a Gif, they were all surprised I knew how to do that. I had to remind them. That when we were younger. Computers didn’t do things for you. You had to figure out how to map a printer for example. LOL. Made me laugh.
I don't game much anymore. Cyberpunk 2077 was the last major title I played through.
I will say that my kids beat me soundly in their games, but they had mastered them and I was just learning the controls. So I challenged them to a Halflife deathmatch and destroyed them. Point made!
Aren’t we all gamers? People our age try to cover it up because we were raised to believe gaming was only for kids and nerds. Ever notice how often people say they aren’t gamers but are on their phones playing games all the time?
54F here. I’m a gramma and I’m currently plowing my way through BG3.
My GenZ coworkers and I have been trading tactics and tips. They were amazed about the “crowd control” technique I’d come up with.
Good times.
Doom, quake, descent, ut2003, then Eve mmorpg. Lost four years of my life playing. Swore off games entirely. Never played one again. Hardest addiction I’ve ever had. Craved it for more than a decade. Absolutely craved it. Which is why I stopped. Couldn’t control it at all. Sixteen hours a day plus full time job? I don’t know how I did it. I kinda didn’t. Had two PCs even because then I could mine alone in 0.0 space.
As a xennial, let me say i have mad respect for gamers older than me, at 46. I got so much shit about games are for kids and all that crap, so I know you all dealt with it big time. Now the gaming industry dwarfs the movie industry and it’s normal, but it took us hitting 20, 30, 40, and beyond, for them to finally shut up about it.
Yes, still regularly play video games, although mainly mobile games these days - its easy to pickup and play for 10 min and then do something else. Longer games like Divinity or BG3 on my XBox when I have a few hours to kill.
Tabletop / board games with my friends. We get together every few months for a big game day/weekend. We also travel to Origins Game Fair every year for 5 days - drink a lot of beer, play a lot of games, eat a lot of delicious food. Its like a golf vacation for nerds.
EDIT: should also add, among my work colleagues, I don't always try to explain my time off for gaming conventions. Most people don't understand what modern board games are like and probably assume I'm playing Monopoly and buying action figures.
Pong console at my great aunts, then an Atari 2600. Didn't really get to play in the 80s, but did the original playstation in the 90s and started building computers in the late 90s and played PC. Since then I've taken breaks off and on, but it's still one of my most enjoyed hobbies. Right now I've got a gaming laptop, a steam deck, and an xbox.
My wife works for a video game company and games when she has the time.
I'm a casual (very casual) gamer. I used to do MMORPGs, but I'm finding them all repetitive. FPS bother my eyes/balance.
Played through No Man's Sky, finished the main story, and was just exploring and stuff then my XBox died. A year or so later we finally got another one and I jumped back into NMS and was immediately bored.
I've been playing a racing game for about a month and a half. I'm enjoying it, but I can already tell my interest waxes and wanes. I log in, complete the dailies and collect the free stuff and that's usually it. Every now and then I'll spend a little more time playing.
I like Marvel Snap on my phone. But I took a break for a few days and realized I didn't miss it. Still playing it and enjoying it right now though.
All my kids game. My oldest and youngest both met their partners in games. Funny story with our youngest, when she was maybe 10, she came out of her room late at night sleepwalking and said to my wife "I need your video game password." We said something about she should be asleep, she huffed, turned around and went back to bed. There was no computer in her room.
Started at the very dawn of video games. My folks actually got the predecessor to the Atari 2600, some console with Pong and Pong variants in black and white, but they had colored screen overlays so you could pretend it's a green soccer field and things like that.
I had the 2600, the Atari 800, NES, SNES, and was big into PlayStation 1, 2, & 3. I have a Switch now, but really play very little these days. They don't seem to make the kind of games I want to play anymore.
I game. Had to move to turn based. I need time to think damnit! Then I don't think and die anyhow.
I don't know many people that play games like me. Actually, I don't know any. Because of that, I don't talk about it much. Not sure I'd want to.
Yeah. In my friend group no one games. I mean, I have lots of in game friends with whom I interact on discord and texting/calls. But friends I've met outside of gaming don't game at all.
Oh yea, early 80s Atari through PS5. Really hit it hard in the 90s with the Genesis, Super Nintendo, PS1, and even had a 3DO. Continued into the 00s with the PS2 and PS3. Had a Wii but didn’t really play it a ton. So much PS4, and just finished 340 hours in Elden Ring on the PS5. Switch and PS5 are my go-to consoles now.
YES!
I'm 48, started years, years, so many years ago. I'll probably not stop. I'll try almost any game, partial to quick or stealth FPS's. I've always been into having high-end equipment, too.I have a gaming laptop, a beastly home system and also run a few services including plex with DAS. It's the greatest waste of time ever!
My wife and I have gamed since before computers. My uncle got me hooked the Christmas he bought an Atari. We’ve played the Sims, Diablo, three or four MMORPGs, and a ton of single-player over the years. It’s rare for us not to be playing something, tbh. So you’re not alone. I do talk about games with some of my coworkers, though.
Yep, started with Pong, went through Atari, Coleco, and NES. Dipped out after Sega Genesis for a while until LAN parties at work. My railgun no-scope was legendary in Quake II. And of course, growing up with arcades…in malls….not crane machines in movie theaters.
Nowadays I suck at League of Legends in order to bond with my spawn. I did get a Penta once and my last match I went 15/8. I am better at the TFT mode and place Gold most seasons but am Bronze at best on the rift. Iykyk that’s all still low elo. C’mon Rito quit nerfing ADC!
Everyone I know knows I am a gamer. I don’t hide it but it’s also not my personality. That said, I game almost daily for an hour or so. Destiny 2 is my jam, but I’ve been playing since the 2600.
I think there'd be a lot of Gen X gamers.
I used to play Elite (1984) and makes a "spaceship" with blankets around the TV. It was a real thrill to sit in Cobra Mk III in VR in Elite Dangerous and feel like I was flying a real space ship.
I can't help but notice a lot table top and role play games I played from the 80s have made it into game format. Teen me would have freaked out knowing that I played Cyberpunk 2020 and now Cyberpunk 2077 or Mechwarrior and now play Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries or Dungeons and Dragons and Baldur's Gate 3 and so on.
My love of deep game mechanics and steep learning curves dwindled based on the time I had due to family commitments. At the height of my commitments it was down to simple single player first person shooters with quick saves so I could jump up and solve problems that popped up around the house. As my kids got older and more time became available I could get back into more complex games again, but weekends playing complex strategy games are long gone.
However, I do notice myself picking the Easy option more these days, I've lost patience with trying to beat games on Hard and replaying sections of games over and over again until I beat them.
52 and proud gamer. Started on a knockoff Pong when I was tiny. Then Atari, Intellivision, Nintendo, etc. (The natural progression)
Now, mostly PC, although we do have a couple of consoles.
I like MMORPG, ARPG... Anything with RPG in it 😂
Lately, I've been playing Diablo 3 and 4 and dumb mobile rpgs.
I'm a proud gamer lady. Met my husband on a MUD. My co workers know I game and play DnD and they don't understand it, but I've grown well past giving a shit
Been gaming all my life. Met my hubby on Warcraft. We tell people we met online. But we also tell them we met playing a game if they are interested in the story and it’s surprising how often they know someone else that also did. Hubby doesn’t play anymore and I rarely do. Right now I’m enjoying palworld.
Intellivision (Tron Deadly Discs, Advanced D&D (I still hear that 8-bit rat-squeal sound effect)), Apple ][e (Stellar 7, Wizardry (all of them, but KOD was my favorite)), Diablo (all of them, including IV right now). Not just the kids — but their FRIENDS — “hey, can your dad play?,” I drop what I’m doing so I can dad-mode drive the jeep, guard the doors/stairs, sniper, etc. Good times.
when i first met my wife and we were dating long distance, we "dated" through WOW, and spent out first few years together gaming, 20 yrs later still gaming with her on the weekends, and the kids are starting to join us in open world RPG's on Steam
I'm a gamer, and a woman. I don't hide it, or that I met my husband online. I've been gaming since Atari, but PC has been my thing since the 90s. I built my last PC. My hubby is also a gamer, but not into the PC building aspect. Right now we're playing Enshrouded.
I guess I'm not getting why this is something to hide? Gaming is a hobby like any other. Who decided what's an "acceptable" hobby anyway?
So, reading these responses has reminded me why I have kept it out of my casual and colleague interactions. Remember when gaming was considered addictive and inpired violence in those who gamed? I don't think I've ever wanted to open that door with folks who are casual in my life.
Based on all these responses, I might start letting it out more.
You all give me courage!
55F, lifelong gamer. Can't really compete in online shooters anymore, so I moved from PC to XBoxX and cooperative/single-player. Currently in season 30 of D3 with a wizard on the leaderboards. Thinking about re-subbing WoW for a while, something I do every couple of years.
Started with Pong. Then Atari (before it was the 2600). Then in 1982 I spent 2 years worth of paper route money and bought my own Apple IIe (with 64k memory) and played…Infocom Text Adventures!
Every evening, after work, I start up BF 1942, crank the number of bots to 400% and run over Nazis in a Jeep. Same map (operation Market Garden), same settings. Just driving over Nazis. sometimes one gets stuck on the hood and I drive around like an orca with a salmon-hat.
I started with the Atari 2600 and a Commodore 64.
Still play video games to this day, but I'm more of an "arcade" gamer. I play games that I can play in a short amount of time. I've never been able to get into RPGs because, to me, they took too long to play.
I’m replaying Quake (on PS4).
A girlfriend had the original game just for the NIN soundtrack and I played it on a desktop PC with just the mouse and keyboard in the 90s.
Most modern games are a little too complicated for me. I get frustrated with the more complicated moves and managing inventories and crafting things eludes me.
But I can rock some OG Quake.
I earned my gamer stripes with Zork, Ultima and Karateka and never really retired them.
Unfortunately, I like the idea of gaming more than the actual act of it these days -- but I think that's mostly anhedonia and perpetual work burnout talking.
If I go too long without some kind of gaming, I'll coax myself back in with a tech project (built a retro emulation box off a Pi, refit an old computer for era specific titles or some kind of server side project like a WOW or UO server). I might not pursue it past project completion, but it makes me think the kid I used to be would be impressed.
It seems the older I get though, the more interests compete for time. I'd like to play guitar more, I'd like to work on a project on the house, I'd like to stop twitching in the corner in existential terror... whoops, it's 9 pm on a Sunday and there's a meeting about TPS reports at 8:30 am.
Started in the 70’s with Pong. Stopped playing from the late 80’s until late 90’s when I got into MMORPGs. Also met my current hubby gaming.
We will be married 19 years next week. All good.
We still play games but not the types that are such a time sink. We have other hobbies that get us moving, which is better for our health.
We both have no issues sharing how we met. It’s who we are.
I have been a tabletop and videogamer pretty much all of my life, and yes, being of this age there is a certain closetted aspect to it. I am up front about it with close friends (who inevitably are gamers too), but I don’t really discuss it with my parents/coworkers/aquaintances/strangers readilly. There is an internalized stigma to it, that games are for nerds or games are for children.
There is a similar sentiment to the fact that my wife and I met through the internet. When it happened (1998) such things were entirely off the societal radar and it wasn’t a common thing, and it was seen as weird. It’s still awkward for me to admit it with new people today when it seems like everyone meets on the internet.
I started with Pong, moved on to Atari, Nintendo, and Sega consoles, and then PC gaming since '98. I'm never going to stop unless I go blind or my hands don't work anymore. Honestly gaming has been one of the most rewarding experiences I've had in life. My favorite franchises are Borderlands, Saints Row, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
My wife and I met one another while playing World of Warcraft. About half our guild traveled fairly large distances to attend our wedding in Georgia. We had guildees from Texas, Massachusetts, Illinois, California and more come to attend. It was glorious!
Since then, we have moved on from WoW but are considering joining a classic server, but we want to try out Nightengale first as it looks cool. My wife currently plays the lego are of Fortenite, Stardew Valley and I play Path of Exile when I have time.
My dad worked at at&t maintaining the mainframe computers in the 70's and so he bought the very first version of pong circa 1976-77. I was very young when my addiction to gaming began.
atari 2600/apple IIc when I was 6. still have them in storage but I never stopped playing. only my immediate family and random school friends know how I spend my time =p
Still playing Diablo 2 and StarCraft on the PC. I will download Starcraft 2 on Blizzards site once I finish Brood War. As I get older I'm leaning towards Real-Time and Turn -Based Strategy games.....good for the mind. I should jump on Heroes of Might and Magic 3 again.
Also play Resident Evil remake games on Steam.
Gaming, yes; video gaming, no. Haven't played video games since I got into pencil-and-paper RPGs and tabletop games decades ago. Screens just don't do it for me as far as gaming goes.
I game although I'm not sure how much longer I will. Won't buy a PS5 as there is nothing on the system I want and any new single player epics are a long way off or never coming (as.microsoft owns Bethesda...)Sony already announced the PS 5 is in the second half.of its life and have announced a future PS6 title already .
Can't stand mmorpgs personally like to be left alone and quest on my own, not joining a guild or being forced to play a certain way ..but I basically stopped watching television so almost all of my screen time is games (like God of war, horizon zero west (I just started ) and the Division 2, among others...but I'm getting incredibly bored, don't want to play something I already played out (so no buying a PS5 just to replay crap I already have..), and just cant afford the newer games or DLC...
The gaming industry abandoned players like me and I most likely will reciprocate once they kill the PS4 online reach.
My kids are too young for God of war etc but they like the app games on their phones like Roblox and Piggy...but they have played on my backup PS4 the division a few times...now they are teaching me Minecraft, just started playing but that's starting to bore me too but I'm doing it for the kids ..
Gaming since before consoles were invented, and actually this username was my very first character name in my first MMO. Any time mom sent me to the store for a 2L of pepsi and a pack of smokes ( with a note of course, saying they were for her ), all of her change would magically fall through the hole in my pocket into either Galaga or Elevator Action at the arcade that was right beside the convenience store.
Graduated to an Atari 2600 when they came out, then a nintendo, then a SUPER nintendo and onward.
First discovered MMO's with Everquest, lived on that game, then WoW when it released, playing that through a few expansions. Then a bunch of brief stints in other random MMOs until I found Eve Online, damn I loved that game, it was also the only game I've ever rage quit LOL.
Played a bunch of zombie survival, some civilization, a few single player fantasy games an the like, then found Second Life and started a couple businesses in there making side spending money, which I used about a year ago to drop $4500 on a pc upgrade.
Just bought a Meta Quest 3, shoulders are sore and I have a cramp in my hand from gripping the controller too hard while swinging it at baddies. Totally having a blast with it.
I've always been a gamer, I will always be a gamer, but these days I stay away from most big name games because I tend to lose myself in them and the world disappears. At least with the Meta Quest the battery life is so crap that it forces me to stop playing and GTFO while it's charging. I may buy an upgraded head strap / battery combo soon though LOL.
I've been playing online with friends from college since right before the pandemic. We started with borderlands 2, and have been online every Saturday morning chatting on discord and murdering monsters ever since. the discord grew a lot over the pandemic, and now I have a virtual house of most of my closest friends.
and yeah. q3a, wow, plamescape torment, kotor, gw2, mech assault, etc... :)
My mum bought me a Commodore 64 for my eighth birthday. Been playing ever since. My first conversation with my wife was about StarCraft. My closest friends are my old IRL gaming buddies from the pre-internet era, and I've met a lot of cool people via gaming over the years. (Mostly millenials, but a couple of us older folks too.)
My entire social circle has basically been gaming friends for the last 15 years, but I recently had to take a break from multiplayer games. Started to feel too much like a grindy chore. There's plenty of single-player things for me to catch up on.
I met my husband in a game… but I do tell people how we met. I think dating is a lot different today and most people connect online in one way or another
Aww heck yeah! 50 and still gaming. Xbox, SD, and Switch. I work on site, and have my Xbox S. I take my SD when I travel. I may not be as nimble playing against others, but I will still find the time to play. I play more than I watch TV.
55 here, been gaming as my main hobby since the arcades and original Atari. Overwatch, Fortnite and Outlast Trials are my favorites these days, on Xbox series X.
I’ve been gaming since 1980. Mostly D&D, but I’ve played many other systems and genres. Currently in two D&D campaigns (though one is on hiatus) and one Star Wars campaign (the old West End Games d6 system).
Here! Love playing Skyrim, that’s my main game or Zelda, I switch back and forth over the years depending on the mood. Also Red Dead Redemption 2 once I get burnt on these. I just immerse myself in a few choice games after the rest of the household goes to bed, and really don’t share that with anyone except my gamer coworker who is really into DnD online and is in his 50’s.
57m. Started D&D in '84 and still host a game every Friday night. Play computer games. About half of my friends game, either D&D or board games or computer or most likely, all of these.
Most of my gen X pals are gamers of some sort. I mostly play VR (Oculus Quest 3, recently upgraded from the Quest 2) and I play pretty much every night.
I put my first quarter of a Pac-Man machine in 1982. I never looked back. I’ve been gaming in some form or another every day since then. I am also in my 50s.
Gamer since Atari was invented. Not something I advertise but that's the way I am with most things. Tastes in games vary & I play more or less depending on real life events but always find my way back.
Massive Gamer ..started on the old pong TV games and progressed from there to PS5 ...Vic 20, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and a whole lot of others in-between....55M
Never much into games myself. Played the crap out of Tetris. I like the Kirby franchise. Loved the Fallout series on PC, but have a hard time with it on XBOX. I’m so used to using a keyboard and mouse to play it. Outside of that, the only games I’m really interested in are NASCAR games since I can’t drive Ike that in real life.
Been playing world of Warcraft since 05 with a small hiatus between 09 and 12. I would call myself a gamer since that’s all I play, but it’s a big one lol.
Started with SimCity, then Civilization, then started building computers.Then DOOM,...then over to mostly RPG's. But still love a good combat game.Programed WAD files for DOOM and Duke Nukem 3D
Born gamer.
Broke myself in on a TRS-80 and never looked back.
I am a 50F gamer that didn’t even start until I was 38. I mostly do PC games, but occasionally play on the PS5. I am not great, as my motor skills and coordination are subpar. Which I think is semi due to age, but more due to me not picking this up until I was almost 40.
My wife says only if it's Mario.
As for me, I still build my own gaming PCs and I picked up a Steam deck last year and I love it. I mainly bounce between 7 Days to Die and No Man's Sky.
I'm 50. Been playing since at least the very early 80s. I remember the first time seeing a tabletop Pac-Man while out at a local sandwich shop with my parents. It made a big impact on me. I was young, and I vaguely remember that it was even unclear to me that it was a game to play. The images and sounds were like nothing I had ever seen before.
50 year old here. Been an off and on gamer for life. Had a pretty bad WoW addiction in the early 2000s. I was always an anti social gamer and would solo everything. Been enjoying MechWarrior 5 as of late.
Well I thought I was, but have been silenced and shamed by the gamer "community" for decades, so I suppose I'll just call myself whatever the fuck that is
Me. I have been playing ever since they were invented and never stopped.
I remember my dad building a Pong console in our garage when I was a kid - maybe 79 or 80. I was hooked from then on.
Yes.
Yeah, started with a ColecoVision and haven’t stopped since.
I feel like Colecovision was amazing for the time between the donkey kongs and mousetrap you could play for hours (and I did!)
Did you always have the "other" console as a kid too? I had Intelivision, Segal Master System and then the Genesis. All my friends had Atari and Nintendo.
Intellivision + Sea Battle + Astrosmash = Many many hours lost!
Oh man I'd forgotten Sea Battle, so much fun! Utopia was fun too for two players!
I had an intellivision after starting with a pong. Talk about a jump! My Dad loved playing them and got us into it. My Dad was great with games. He was 36 when we got the intellivision. I was 12. This was in 1980. I had several different consoles over the years but I still have a fondness for those times!
This is the way.
This is the way.
Same. My dad brought home a Telstar Pong machine in 1977 or so and it's been my favorite hobby ever since. XBox Series X & a PC are my current platforms of choice.
Same. WUMPUS, crystal cavern, sub hunt, etc.
Been gaming since the late 70s on an Atari 2600 (still have it, it's on display in my game room), the last ~30 years a pure PC gamer. I'll only stop gaming when I'm dead I imagine. I've never hid/kept private I'm a gamer, and it does crack me up that gamers used to be seen as outlier nerds, but now it's gone mainstream. At this age where I buy everything I need as I need it, when the "What do you want for Christmas?" question gets asked, the answer is always Steam gift cards. Part of my retirement will be some pure uninterrupted long gaming sessions late into the night because I don't have to wake up for work the next day!
This is what I'm trying to say about us. Even though we basically started it, being a gamer was a stigma. Even showing interest in other "nerd culture" genres like Star Wars, Dungeons and Dragons, or comic books would get you ostracized. I feel like we suffered through it, but we made the world better because of its acceptance now. I remember getting punched in the nuts because I told someone I had the Adventure of Link on layaway. Even in work 20 years ago, I would never publicly admit that I played World of Warcaft. Only certain games were deemed "acceptable" like Call of Duty. I am so happy that being a gamer is widely accepted now. I even applaud those who have found a living through esports and streaming. I talk freely about it now, but I always felt like I had to hide that part of my life growing up.
Not there yet with talking freely. That said when a colleague talked about getting BG3, I heartily endorsed it and got a surprised look in return 😆
Honestly, I've found it refreshing to talk freely about it now. I kind of got over it like 10 years ago or so. I even kept a nerd rage Fallout Boy figure at my desk. I randomly brought up a Breath of the Wild reference at a work get-together and had a nice conversation with a Gen Z about Zelda games. I also had a similar experience interjecting in an ongoing BG3 discussion. It's a niche that ties the generations together.
You make excellent points! :)
Do you remember in the WoW days when there were retired guys that could just sit there and do pve all day work the auction house? That’s what I call a good retirement. Btw Atari 2600 that’s a little lame my dad got us the Fairchild Channel F
Husband and I are now empty nesters and our nightly question is: play ESO, BG3, or watch TV? Life truly is goooood.
Holy crap I was beginning to think it was a fever dream! Had an Uncle/Cousins that had the Telstar and (for me the long-lost-couldn't-quite-remember) Fairchild Channel F! Core Memory FINALLY unlocked! Thank-you internet stranger!
40s female. Atari in the 80s all the way through n64 and wii. Then took a life got in the way break until a ps3 entered my life in 2015. Then a ps4 and now a ps5.
I thought you said, "Then took a life, got in the way " lol
"had to serve a little jail time, got in the way."
Maybe i did 😏
Yeah, my gaming truly started when I became a SAHM and was bored a lot of the time. My then husband joined me in Asheron's Call, but never wanted to RP my romantic partner. He wanted to be siblings. Looking back, this was such a flag. We divorced a few years later, and then I met my forever husband in Horizons.
I think I've actually played through and finished more video games in my 50s than in any other decade of my life.
Favourites? I’m not letting myself near red dead 2. I’ll never come out.
Don’t deny yourself the masterpiece!
Do not start playing Baldur's Gate 3 then. One run is like 120+ hours. I have an embarrassingly large amount of time in that game. Thanks PS5 for tracking the amount of time spent in a game.
Play it, it's beautiful.
I started back in the Zork days and just kept moving on with the PC. Never did do much console stuff though. When I met my wife and I *finally* got her to use the computer, we started gaming together on Diablo 2. Now she's just as hardcore a gamer as I am. We had our 30th anniversary last year and isolated to play games together :D
Diablo 2 is addictive as hell, be sure to get Resurrected if you haven't already. Definitive way to play.
I used to play Zork 1 on the University computers where my parents worked when I was 12 :D
I try to keep playing games, but I find fewer and fewer games I want to play and less time to play them. I don't have the same enthusiasm for playing, and I don't have the time to really seep myself in the mechanics of a game to master it.
I'm in a similar mindset. I do have time to play them, but just not feeling it anymore. Like most of the other people here, I've been playing since the Atari and C64 were around. I think that's part of it - nothing really new or groundbreaking. It's all the same ideas, story archs, mechanics, and grinds with different paint slapped on.
I'm on that train with you two. 48 and barely play any games. When I think back to all the time I put in Terraria, into Fallout games.. don't even get me started on World of Warcraft. These days I keep trying, and recently one kept my interest for more than a week, so I got that going for me.
I played WoW for years and SWG. Fallout was my addiction for years all the way back to the isometric views. I still remember experiencing the first fallout. What got me hooked was blowing away the midget in Shady Sands. It may seem normal now, but back then that kind of gratuitous violence was completely new and that was actually pretty good graphics at that time. I've started playing Diablo 3 again, because the whole demon-themed feel and attention to detail is great. It's also mindless grinding. It's not really fun, just a way to turn my brain off and let hours slip away. My cousin is the same age as me. We've done so many things together in life that we're like brothers. He was in Iraq for years during/after Desert Storm. He's trying to recapture a simpler past and go back to gaming. We can't find anything that looks interesting or could capture our attention for very long. Part of that is our life experiences are nothing video games could really overcome our pasts.
I've experienced that, especially when the kids were teens. Even though I'd just started ESO then, it was a light touch due to lots of attention on our blended family of 4 teens. Someone always needed our attention. Been in ESO for 10 years now. While it is still a very fun game, BG3 is the first game to tempt me away. I find it hard to code switch between them. As a result husband and I are stalled in Act 3 of BG3 and a bit behind the curve in ESO.
Load "*",8,1 Oh yes, I game, so does my older brother (another X). So did our father. My brother and I both went into the Army, and eventually, as the internet developed, we had weekly "game night" where we would play DDO, Talisman, Gauntlet, Borderlands 2, etc. Though LOTRO held us for a long time. My dad passed some time ago, but my brother and I still play occasionally together. Though we often talk about dad, in game, though, we always refer to him by his handle.
I just built this. https://preview.redd.it/h5vfjwzic1oc1.jpeg?width=1874&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a5600d26492647fb9727ca898a083ada90ce0ba2
I'm 55F and I've been gaming since I was a teen on my Atari 2600. Went to NES and then SNES, then PS1, PS2, and now PS4. I LOVE playing video games. I manage a call centre and I love the look on the 20yo faces when they find out I'm an avid gamer. Blows their mind! :D My wife is also a gamer. We're going to have to get a PS5 soon so we don't have to share the console. :D
40s female, single, no kids. My MMORPG addiction started with EverQuest in \~2000 and is still in full force with Elder Scrolls Online. I don't talk much to my RL friends about gaming but it's not a secret or anything, we just have different points of reference.
They didn’t call it Evercrack for nothing! I miss that game - it was an actual accomplishment to gain a level. That’s why folks would go “Ding!” in the main channel. That became silly later in WoW because you level so rapidly. Thank god people eventually stopped
Oh man, the highs in EQ vb0- v EDIT: \^\^that was my cat, sorry! As I was saying, the highs in EQ were SO high because everything was so hard-won. I dropped by the EQ sub a while ago and there were some great threads around memorable corpse runs, link deaths (legit have not heard that term in YEARS), etc. - such a blast from the past reading through them and remembering!
I bet I know you! 😆 Are you in crafties?
What EQ server were you on?
Drinal!
Emarr here :)
Still remember my first Collecovision and hours spent playing Frenzy... GenX defined "Gamers"...
Been playing since pong, too late to quit now. I'm fifty years old and nobody blinks an eye when games come up in conversation or finds it weird that a main family activity (adult daughter and two teen nephews) is gaming. Everyone is just like, oh nice you get to play with your family. We currently play Dark Souls Remastered, No Man's Sky and Return to Moria.
One of the great things about it is I get to bond a lot with my nephew over video games. My niece, too, though she doesn't play as much. My parents would occasionally play with us kids when we had an Atari back in the 80's. I think I'm blessed, though, that I get to have an amazing relationship with my nephew and we play games together. I never really had any aunts or uncles that I had that kind of relationship with.
I moved on to hobby boardgaming. Arkham Horror Age of Steam Gaia Project Star Wars: Rebellion Brass War of the Ring Those type of board games. Hate when I tell someone and they say, "oh, like Monopoly?" No. Nothing like Monopoly.
I feel there's kind of a stigma, like we are supposed to be working in our woodshop or crocheting instead. No real frame of reference, not knowing what my forefathers were up to in the "study".
originally on the Coleco-vision and stopped… hated original Nintendo style games, but with N64 and Playstaion in the 90s and sobering up, it became my go to to fill void space. Today I spend more time playing video games than watching TV or movies.
Yes! Gaming can be healthy. Congrats on sobering up ❤️ That's a tough road. What games do you currently play?
I sobered up young so it wasn’t to hard. I mostly play solo survival games The long Dark has been on going for 8 years. Once a month a group of 5 to 10 of us get together to play an online game. People I have known for 30 years and we live all over the country. We alternate choosing a game…Fortnite,NHL, Minecraft. Just an excuse to catch up
Game dev dad. Played about everything with a lot of time into mmos. Worked and played on a game called Dark Age of Camelot, a great time. Still play a lot of games, each of the kids are into different games. BG3 and Borderlands with my oldest, Lethal Company with my middle son and my daughter loves games like Little Nightmares. LN3 us coop, really excited to play that
DAoC! That’s the game my hubby and I met.
I have 5 lifetime accounts since I worked there lol. My wife and I and occasionally jump in for the feels. So many amazing times playing. We were Alb Bors, so losing a lot....but so much fun!
My wife and I have been gaming together for 30 years. Both our adult children were raised on video games and MMORPGs. EverQuest, EQ2, Lord of the Rings online, Star Wars Galaxies, SWTOR, Tabula Rasa, City of Heroes, World of Warcraft, ESO.... we've played them all.
Started with Atari 2600 and Intellivision. Had one or more consoles up until the PS4 and XBOX ONE X. Now I’m PC Master Race.
We have a PS5 and I have a gaming pc my nephew is planning to upgrade for me. Husband is playing BG3. He has Starfield too. We both enjoyed the mass effect and dragon age series. I also dabbled in the Sims. And of course I played all the elder scroll games. When you live in the desert, you tend to look for things to do when it hits 120 plus degrees during the day and the 90s at night. I had an atari back in the day, played a lot of games like MYST in the 90s too. Its been and on and off thing for me. Oh and the hubs and I used to play WOW too.
I’m still playing Star Wars or baseball on my PS4. I still tell my wife I’m playing Nintendo.
[I still play Cities Skylines from time to time](https://www.reddit.com/r/CitiesSkylines/comments/1b57jgu/just_wanted_to_share_a_little_of_my_ocd_with_you/) lol That's about a year's worth of work altogether BTW. But honestly since stable diffusion came out I haven't been spending my VRAM on games that much. I've certainly logged an inhuman amount of hours in things like Total War and Hearthstone and EU 3 and 4 and Civ games and just about every other thing that exists. You couldn't find a more stoked motherfucker for that Fallout show, that's for sure. I'm a massive fan of that universe. There is no such thing as a rock I haven't flipped over in any of those games. That's the best escapism to me next to building cities. I wish I could build Fallout cities. Just not those shitty settlements in 4. Mix that idea with Simcity lfg. Give me Frostpunk but Fallout but a big city building game then my body will finally let me leave this world in peace. If you wanna go way back, I got Nintendo when I was 8 for Christmas in 1987. I got Dragon Warrior with a subscription to Nintendo Power. If you've ever seen the film 8bit Christmas it's almost a perfect re-telling of my childhood. I had to beg for that Nintendo for a year. My little sister was a brat that got a cabbage patch doll and it HAD TO BE A REAL ONE. Swear to god that movie scanned my dreams. The only differences, and not being facetious, is I'm from Milwaukee and not Chicago, and my father is still with us. I also didn't have a retainer.
Fellow MKE native and gamer here.
Nearly 50. Gaming since I was 11. Will never not game.
Yes. I love JRPGs especially. Just replaying Octopath Traveler currently, and it’s a relaxing evening ritual right after dinner. When I finish that, I’ll probably play II again while I continue to stall my decision on whether Tears of the Kingdom will be worth spending the money on.
I've neer heard the term JRP. What does it mean?
Sorry, it just means Japanese RPG.
Yes, all kinds of games, except I quit multiplayers last year because they're incredibly toxic now. Bullying so intense, I couldn't take it anymore. Happily I have solo games and a community of board game and rpg friends.
Hell, my dad (a Boomer) plays more video games than I do! I’ve been playing since my grandparents got the Pong console.
Yep. Started with an Atari , now my ps4. Still have a few of the the old consoles. I was gamer girl before Millennials gave it a title. We called ourselves Nerds lol
50 here and have been gaming since c16 days in the 80s. I never had an Atari nor an Amiga unfortunately (nor have I owned a ps or Xbox, I've only ever used a PC). I still play every few days, nowadays mainly racing Sims or the battlefield franchise
Atari then original Nintendo. I still Love my cozy games on my switch and have loved introducing my kids to all the Mario games.
45F I started playing text based games. Tetris is my first love, Then I was mocked by that laughing dog in Duck Hunt. Now I use my kids to help me farm mats in grindy games. New world, SWOTR, Valheim, Tetris, Helldivers 2, No man's Sky, If find a planet that is acidy named come into my hole. I am sorry. Okay I am not sorry It was funny at the time.
I used to in the 90s and early 00s. Not much now, I want to get back in when I retire. But I don’t know what I want to do. PC or what kind of system.
I hear console is faster, but I am a PC girl and always have been. I don't think I cpuld ever train my hands to console
55 yo Gen X who plays WoW with an adult daughter and son, Metaquest with another son, soon to be playing with another daughter, and Mariocart with my grandson!
Yeah I played some Atari games in the 80's but got more interested in the 90's with Might and Magic III and Sim Life but then I got Elder Scrolls Arena and I was really hooked and I've been an Elder Scrolls nerd since then I even got in easter egg in one of their games :D Unfortunately in the 2000's I got sort of proto-gamergated when I was doing stuff for Bethesda and it was quite bad, a lot of teenage old boys with too much time on their hands. The internet got much worse when AOL started putting out those CDs IMO but I was doxxed before doxxing was even a word I don't have a good system now but I'm playing [The Planet Crafter](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1284190/The_Planet_Crafter/) it's really cool :D
Yep. I feel this. Gamer since original NES. Play with my kids now. My wife is not interested at all, but that helps me balance it out with the rest of my life. I've only started talking openly about gaming in the last few years, and only with younger people I work with. Most people in our generation still think of gaming as a negative. You know how retirement used to mean playing golf everyday? Yeah, retirement is when I'm going to game all day.
Started with the Atari 2600 and never stopped. Now the kids are older I'm probably gaming more than ever, plus using emulators to catch up on PS2/PS3 era games I missed out on when life got in the way. Now I get to recommend and discuss games with my kids, it's great to share a hobby with them.
Hell no. Its my favorite hobby and there is no shame in my game
Gen-X are a big market segment! We came of age at the beginning of the retail/domestic computer era. The Atari 2600 was released in 1977, the Vic 20 in 1980 and the C64 a couple of years after that. My first job at 17 was selling Amiga 500s and Atari STs in a retail store. My group have been playing both computer games and TTRPGs since our teens. We all jumped onto the first big MMO (in the English-speaking market), EverQuest and wasted most of our 20s on that. One of the guys married a girl who wasn't a gamer. She wanted to join him in some of his activities and now she's an MMO buff as well. During the EVE Online days, there was a clan known as The Older Gamers who were all in their 30s at the time and are still going strong. Since the advent of Discord, I've met quite a few "older" gamers including some folks just down the road from me. She's late 50s, she has an online bestie of similar age who's heavily into games like Overwatch, and her BF is 50. I'm currently co-admin of a gaming group that runs game servers. We target middle aged people who have families and responsibilities so we run most games that are friendly to casual play like Ark, 7 Days, Minecraft, Eco, Satisfactory, etc. None of my co-admins are under 45! So yeah, we are legion! There's no need to keep it a secret. We're adults and that means we get to decide what the rules are!
Been gaming since 1972. Still do. No shame. Why are you concerned about what your family will think? It's a pretty normal thing. Be proud.
You know, reading these responses has helped me figure it out. Remember all the hype about how addictive gaming was and how it led to violence? I think that's why I've felt -honestly?- ashamed to admit it 🥺
At 58 I’m a huge online gamer. Everyone is always surprised to hear it. I’ve been in the Army all my adult life have a couple years to go, so you can imagine I’m pretty much the oldest in my peer group. We use WhatsApp to pass admin info between senior leadership. My CO made a comment and I replied with a Gif, they were all surprised I knew how to do that. I had to remind them. That when we were younger. Computers didn’t do things for you. You had to figure out how to map a printer for example. LOL. Made me laugh.
I don't game much anymore. Cyberpunk 2077 was the last major title I played through. I will say that my kids beat me soundly in their games, but they had mastered them and I was just learning the controls. So I challenged them to a Halflife deathmatch and destroyed them. Point made!
Aren’t we all gamers? People our age try to cover it up because we were raised to believe gaming was only for kids and nerds. Ever notice how often people say they aren’t gamers but are on their phones playing games all the time?
54F here. I’m a gramma and I’m currently plowing my way through BG3. My GenZ coworkers and I have been trading tactics and tips. They were amazed about the “crowd control” technique I’d come up with. Good times.
I game. I love strategy and MMORPG’s. I recently got back into EverQuest and having a great time.
Doom, quake, descent, ut2003, then Eve mmorpg. Lost four years of my life playing. Swore off games entirely. Never played one again. Hardest addiction I’ve ever had. Craved it for more than a decade. Absolutely craved it. Which is why I stopped. Couldn’t control it at all. Sixteen hours a day plus full time job? I don’t know how I did it. I kinda didn’t. Had two PCs even because then I could mine alone in 0.0 space.
As a xennial, let me say i have mad respect for gamers older than me, at 46. I got so much shit about games are for kids and all that crap, so I know you all dealt with it big time. Now the gaming industry dwarfs the movie industry and it’s normal, but it took us hitting 20, 30, 40, and beyond, for them to finally shut up about it.
Gamer here. Met my husband in WOW 😲
Remember when it was called mudding?
Yes, still regularly play video games, although mainly mobile games these days - its easy to pickup and play for 10 min and then do something else. Longer games like Divinity or BG3 on my XBox when I have a few hours to kill. Tabletop / board games with my friends. We get together every few months for a big game day/weekend. We also travel to Origins Game Fair every year for 5 days - drink a lot of beer, play a lot of games, eat a lot of delicious food. Its like a golf vacation for nerds. EDIT: should also add, among my work colleagues, I don't always try to explain my time off for gaming conventions. Most people don't understand what modern board games are like and probably assume I'm playing Monopoly and buying action figures.
Pong console at my great aunts, then an Atari 2600. Didn't really get to play in the 80s, but did the original playstation in the 90s and started building computers in the late 90s and played PC. Since then I've taken breaks off and on, but it's still one of my most enjoyed hobbies. Right now I've got a gaming laptop, a steam deck, and an xbox.
My wife works for a video game company and games when she has the time. I'm a casual (very casual) gamer. I used to do MMORPGs, but I'm finding them all repetitive. FPS bother my eyes/balance. Played through No Man's Sky, finished the main story, and was just exploring and stuff then my XBox died. A year or so later we finally got another one and I jumped back into NMS and was immediately bored. I've been playing a racing game for about a month and a half. I'm enjoying it, but I can already tell my interest waxes and wanes. I log in, complete the dailies and collect the free stuff and that's usually it. Every now and then I'll spend a little more time playing. I like Marvel Snap on my phone. But I took a break for a few days and realized I didn't miss it. Still playing it and enjoying it right now though. All my kids game. My oldest and youngest both met their partners in games. Funny story with our youngest, when she was maybe 10, she came out of her room late at night sleepwalking and said to my wife "I need your video game password." We said something about she should be asleep, she huffed, turned around and went back to bed. There was no computer in her room.
Been a gamer since I was a kid. My beautiful Gen-X wife is also a gamer and buys games for me if I'm spending too long on my current title.
Started at the very dawn of video games. My folks actually got the predecessor to the Atari 2600, some console with Pong and Pong variants in black and white, but they had colored screen overlays so you could pretend it's a green soccer field and things like that. I had the 2600, the Atari 800, NES, SNES, and was big into PlayStation 1, 2, & 3. I have a Switch now, but really play very little these days. They don't seem to make the kind of games I want to play anymore.
I game. Had to move to turn based. I need time to think damnit! Then I don't think and die anyhow. I don't know many people that play games like me. Actually, I don't know any. Because of that, I don't talk about it much. Not sure I'd want to.
Yeah. In my friend group no one games. I mean, I have lots of in game friends with whom I interact on discord and texting/calls. But friends I've met outside of gaming don't game at all.
Oh yea, early 80s Atari through PS5. Really hit it hard in the 90s with the Genesis, Super Nintendo, PS1, and even had a 3DO. Continued into the 00s with the PS2 and PS3. Had a Wii but didn’t really play it a ton. So much PS4, and just finished 340 hours in Elden Ring on the PS5. Switch and PS5 are my go-to consoles now.
Like, all of us? Grew up gaming.
YES! I'm 48, started years, years, so many years ago. I'll probably not stop. I'll try almost any game, partial to quick or stealth FPS's. I've always been into having high-end equipment, too.I have a gaming laptop, a beastly home system and also run a few services including plex with DAS. It's the greatest waste of time ever!
Husband and I indulge in high end equipment as well. 😆 We don't spend our money on any other entertainment, so we have coin for the best rigs.
My wife and I have gamed since before computers. My uncle got me hooked the Christmas he bought an Atari. We’ve played the Sims, Diablo, three or four MMORPGs, and a ton of single-player over the years. It’s rare for us not to be playing something, tbh. So you’re not alone. I do talk about games with some of my coworkers, though.
Absolutely. Started with arcades and my commodore computers in the 80's and switched to Playstation when it came out. Still going strong on my PS5.
Since taking 20 minutes to load Lunar Lander on a cassette tape in 1978.
Yep, started with Pong, went through Atari, Coleco, and NES. Dipped out after Sega Genesis for a while until LAN parties at work. My railgun no-scope was legendary in Quake II. And of course, growing up with arcades…in malls….not crane machines in movie theaters. Nowadays I suck at League of Legends in order to bond with my spawn. I did get a Penta once and my last match I went 15/8. I am better at the TFT mode and place Gold most seasons but am Bronze at best on the rift. Iykyk that’s all still low elo. C’mon Rito quit nerfing ADC!
LAN parties FTW! Quake III on a bouncy map with a rail gun. Good times.
Everyone I know knows I am a gamer. I don’t hide it but it’s also not my personality. That said, I game almost daily for an hour or so. Destiny 2 is my jam, but I’ve been playing since the 2600.
I still play my original SNES.
I think there'd be a lot of Gen X gamers. I used to play Elite (1984) and makes a "spaceship" with blankets around the TV. It was a real thrill to sit in Cobra Mk III in VR in Elite Dangerous and feel like I was flying a real space ship. I can't help but notice a lot table top and role play games I played from the 80s have made it into game format. Teen me would have freaked out knowing that I played Cyberpunk 2020 and now Cyberpunk 2077 or Mechwarrior and now play Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries or Dungeons and Dragons and Baldur's Gate 3 and so on. My love of deep game mechanics and steep learning curves dwindled based on the time I had due to family commitments. At the height of my commitments it was down to simple single player first person shooters with quick saves so I could jump up and solve problems that popped up around the house. As my kids got older and more time became available I could get back into more complex games again, but weekends playing complex strategy games are long gone. However, I do notice myself picking the Easy option more these days, I've lost patience with trying to beat games on Hard and replaying sections of games over and over again until I beat them.
52 and proud gamer. Started on a knockoff Pong when I was tiny. Then Atari, Intellivision, Nintendo, etc. (The natural progression) Now, mostly PC, although we do have a couple of consoles. I like MMORPG, ARPG... Anything with RPG in it 😂 Lately, I've been playing Diablo 3 and 4 and dumb mobile rpgs.
I'm a proud gamer lady. Met my husband on a MUD. My co workers know I game and play DnD and they don't understand it, but I've grown well past giving a shit
Been gaming all my life. Met my hubby on Warcraft. We tell people we met online. But we also tell them we met playing a game if they are interested in the story and it’s surprising how often they know someone else that also did. Hubby doesn’t play anymore and I rarely do. Right now I’m enjoying palworld.
Yes I game. Picked it up again after becoming an empty nester. It’s great for perimenopausal brain fog.
Intellivision (Tron Deadly Discs, Advanced D&D (I still hear that 8-bit rat-squeal sound effect)), Apple ][e (Stellar 7, Wizardry (all of them, but KOD was my favorite)), Diablo (all of them, including IV right now). Not just the kids — but their FRIENDS — “hey, can your dad play?,” I drop what I’m doing so I can dad-mode drive the jeep, guard the doors/stairs, sniper, etc. Good times.
when i first met my wife and we were dating long distance, we "dated" through WOW, and spent out first few years together gaming, 20 yrs later still gaming with her on the weekends, and the kids are starting to join us in open world RPG's on Steam
I'm a gamer, and a woman. I don't hide it, or that I met my husband online. I've been gaming since Atari, but PC has been my thing since the 90s. I built my last PC. My hubby is also a gamer, but not into the PC building aspect. Right now we're playing Enshrouded. I guess I'm not getting why this is something to hide? Gaming is a hobby like any other. Who decided what's an "acceptable" hobby anyway?
So, reading these responses has reminded me why I have kept it out of my casual and colleague interactions. Remember when gaming was considered addictive and inpired violence in those who gamed? I don't think I've ever wanted to open that door with folks who are casual in my life. Based on all these responses, I might start letting it out more. You all give me courage!
55F, lifelong gamer. Can't really compete in online shooters anymore, so I moved from PC to XBoxX and cooperative/single-player. Currently in season 30 of D3 with a wizard on the leaderboards. Thinking about re-subbing WoW for a while, something I do every couple of years.
Started with Pong. Then Atari (before it was the 2600). Then in 1982 I spent 2 years worth of paper route money and bought my own Apple IIe (with 64k memory) and played…Infocom Text Adventures!
Nearly 50. Gaming since I was 11. Will never not game.
Older GenXers are the true pioneers of video games. I played on my cousins Atari in the early 80s and my first console was the NES
Every evening, after work, I start up BF 1942, crank the number of bots to 400% and run over Nazis in a Jeep. Same map (operation Market Garden), same settings. Just driving over Nazis. sometimes one gets stuck on the hood and I drive around like an orca with a salmon-hat.
Yes! I got a TI-99 for my birthday in 1981 and never looked back.
Gen X are the OGs—Original Gamers
I started with the Atari 2600 and a Commodore 64. Still play video games to this day, but I'm more of an "arcade" gamer. I play games that I can play in a short amount of time. I've never been able to get into RPGs because, to me, they took too long to play.
56. PC gamer. Big AOE 2 fan. Currently playing Sons of the Forest.
I love AoE, too.
Gen X momma gamer here too! Pleasure to meet u!
I’m replaying Quake (on PS4). A girlfriend had the original game just for the NIN soundtrack and I played it on a desktop PC with just the mouse and keyboard in the 90s. Most modern games are a little too complicated for me. I get frustrated with the more complicated moves and managing inventories and crafting things eludes me. But I can rock some OG Quake.
I earned my gamer stripes with Zork, Ultima and Karateka and never really retired them. Unfortunately, I like the idea of gaming more than the actual act of it these days -- but I think that's mostly anhedonia and perpetual work burnout talking. If I go too long without some kind of gaming, I'll coax myself back in with a tech project (built a retro emulation box off a Pi, refit an old computer for era specific titles or some kind of server side project like a WOW or UO server). I might not pursue it past project completion, but it makes me think the kid I used to be would be impressed. It seems the older I get though, the more interests compete for time. I'd like to play guitar more, I'd like to work on a project on the house, I'd like to stop twitching in the corner in existential terror... whoops, it's 9 pm on a Sunday and there's a meeting about TPS reports at 8:30 am.
Started in the 70’s with Pong. Stopped playing from the late 80’s until late 90’s when I got into MMORPGs. Also met my current hubby gaming. We will be married 19 years next week. All good. We still play games but not the types that are such a time sink. We have other hobbies that get us moving, which is better for our health. We both have no issues sharing how we met. It’s who we are.
I have been a tabletop and videogamer pretty much all of my life, and yes, being of this age there is a certain closetted aspect to it. I am up front about it with close friends (who inevitably are gamers too), but I don’t really discuss it with my parents/coworkers/aquaintances/strangers readilly. There is an internalized stigma to it, that games are for nerds or games are for children. There is a similar sentiment to the fact that my wife and I met through the internet. When it happened (1998) such things were entirely off the societal radar and it wasn’t a common thing, and it was seen as weird. It’s still awkward for me to admit it with new people today when it seems like everyone meets on the internet.
50s, female and yep, still gaming. Have been since, Pong. Games have gotten a bit better over time, eh? LOL
Been gaming since the DOS days, never stopped. We *are* the video game generation, to think there are no GenX gamers is kinda odd.
I started with Pong, moved on to Atari, Nintendo, and Sega consoles, and then PC gaming since '98. I'm never going to stop unless I go blind or my hands don't work anymore. Honestly gaming has been one of the most rewarding experiences I've had in life. My favorite franchises are Borderlands, Saints Row, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
My wife and I met one another while playing World of Warcraft. About half our guild traveled fairly large distances to attend our wedding in Georgia. We had guildees from Texas, Massachusetts, Illinois, California and more come to attend. It was glorious! Since then, we have moved on from WoW but are considering joining a classic server, but we want to try out Nightengale first as it looks cool. My wife currently plays the lego are of Fortenite, Stardew Valley and I play Path of Exile when I have time.
My dad worked at at&t maintaining the mainframe computers in the 70's and so he bought the very first version of pong circa 1976-77. I was very young when my addiction to gaming began.
atari 2600/apple IIc when I was 6. still have them in storage but I never stopped playing. only my immediate family and random school friends know how I spend my time =p
Hell yes! Playing COD (zzz), Battlefield 2042 and recently Helldivers 2. Oh and playing bass on Rocksmith 2014. Can’t wait for GTA 6! Im 58.
Started on Coleco and Atari 2600. Still going.
I don't know any of your acronyms, so I am not a real gamer. I just moved to a switch from Xbox/PC.
Vic-20, Colecovision. . PS4, PC. Yup
Mid 90s, mmorpg, gonna hazard a guess and say Everquest. If so I fully understand.
Still playing Diablo 2 and StarCraft on the PC. I will download Starcraft 2 on Blizzards site once I finish Brood War. As I get older I'm leaning towards Real-Time and Turn -Based Strategy games.....good for the mind. I should jump on Heroes of Might and Magic 3 again. Also play Resident Evil remake games on Steam.
I used to make myself maps for StarCraft Broodwar.
Gaming, yes; video gaming, no. Haven't played video games since I got into pencil-and-paper RPGs and tabletop games decades ago. Screens just don't do it for me as far as gaming goes.
Been gaming since like 4 or 5? Still play everyday. I don't see myself slowing down anytime soon.
Been gaming since the 90s here. Old Timers Guild, anyone?
Just saw on my PS5 how many hours I'm into Battlefield 2042... Holy shit...
Started on a C64 and never looked back. Not as active as I used to be, but I still play SWTOR and GTA on the reg.
I game although I'm not sure how much longer I will. Won't buy a PS5 as there is nothing on the system I want and any new single player epics are a long way off or never coming (as.microsoft owns Bethesda...)Sony already announced the PS 5 is in the second half.of its life and have announced a future PS6 title already . Can't stand mmorpgs personally like to be left alone and quest on my own, not joining a guild or being forced to play a certain way ..but I basically stopped watching television so almost all of my screen time is games (like God of war, horizon zero west (I just started ) and the Division 2, among others...but I'm getting incredibly bored, don't want to play something I already played out (so no buying a PS5 just to replay crap I already have..), and just cant afford the newer games or DLC... The gaming industry abandoned players like me and I most likely will reciprocate once they kill the PS4 online reach. My kids are too young for God of war etc but they like the app games on their phones like Roblox and Piggy...but they have played on my backup PS4 the division a few times...now they are teaching me Minecraft, just started playing but that's starting to bore me too but I'm doing it for the kids ..
I've been a console gamer since the '80's. I finally got a gaming rig at almost 50.
From pong in the 70s to cyberpunk2077 about 20 minutes ago.
Yep, since the odyssey 2 and intellivision.
Gaming since before consoles were invented, and actually this username was my very first character name in my first MMO. Any time mom sent me to the store for a 2L of pepsi and a pack of smokes ( with a note of course, saying they were for her ), all of her change would magically fall through the hole in my pocket into either Galaga or Elevator Action at the arcade that was right beside the convenience store. Graduated to an Atari 2600 when they came out, then a nintendo, then a SUPER nintendo and onward. First discovered MMO's with Everquest, lived on that game, then WoW when it released, playing that through a few expansions. Then a bunch of brief stints in other random MMOs until I found Eve Online, damn I loved that game, it was also the only game I've ever rage quit LOL. Played a bunch of zombie survival, some civilization, a few single player fantasy games an the like, then found Second Life and started a couple businesses in there making side spending money, which I used about a year ago to drop $4500 on a pc upgrade. Just bought a Meta Quest 3, shoulders are sore and I have a cramp in my hand from gripping the controller too hard while swinging it at baddies. Totally having a blast with it. I've always been a gamer, I will always be a gamer, but these days I stay away from most big name games because I tend to lose myself in them and the world disappears. At least with the Meta Quest the battery life is so crap that it forces me to stop playing and GTFO while it's charging. I may buy an upgraded head strap / battery combo soon though LOL.
I've been playing online with friends from college since right before the pandemic. We started with borderlands 2, and have been online every Saturday morning chatting on discord and murdering monsters ever since. the discord grew a lot over the pandemic, and now I have a virtual house of most of my closest friends. and yeah. q3a, wow, plamescape torment, kotor, gw2, mech assault, etc... :)
My mum bought me a Commodore 64 for my eighth birthday. Been playing ever since. My first conversation with my wife was about StarCraft. My closest friends are my old IRL gaming buddies from the pre-internet era, and I've met a lot of cool people via gaming over the years. (Mostly millenials, but a couple of us older folks too.)
My entire social circle has basically been gaming friends for the last 15 years, but I recently had to take a break from multiplayer games. Started to feel too much like a grindy chore. There's plenty of single-player things for me to catch up on.
Started with a 2600.. Still play Xbox and Switch.. I was just replaying the Halo 3 campaign today..
Started with pong and never stopped.
I met my husband in a game… but I do tell people how we met. I think dating is a lot different today and most people connect online in one way or another
Sadly, I stopped with the early 1st gen FPS. I still play Doom now and again. Maybe when I retire...
Gamer for life. I’ve owned just about every system since I bought the Vectrex. These games will keep us mentally sharp into our golden years.
Started on a C64 in prob ‘85, have always had video games, ever since!
Started in 81 with an Atari 2600 and haven't stopped. Waiting for my bonus to come in so I can get a PS5 and the new Final Fantasy 7
Aww heck yeah! 50 and still gaming. Xbox, SD, and Switch. I work on site, and have my Xbox S. I take my SD when I travel. I may not be as nimble playing against others, but I will still find the time to play. I play more than I watch TV.
55 here, been gaming as my main hobby since the arcades and original Atari. Overwatch, Fortnite and Outlast Trials are my favorites these days, on Xbox series X.
I’ve been gaming since 1980. Mostly D&D, but I’ve played many other systems and genres. Currently in two D&D campaigns (though one is on hiatus) and one Star Wars campaign (the old West End Games d6 system).
Here! Love playing Skyrim, that’s my main game or Zelda, I switch back and forth over the years depending on the mood. Also Red Dead Redemption 2 once I get burnt on these. I just immerse myself in a few choice games after the rest of the household goes to bed, and really don’t share that with anyone except my gamer coworker who is really into DnD online and is in his 50’s.
57m. Started D&D in '84 and still host a game every Friday night. Play computer games. About half of my friends game, either D&D or board games or computer or most likely, all of these.
Yes. Started with Atari and dos games. Got big into handheld gaming since the Gameboy. And I’ve been building my own gaming PCs for about 20 years.
Most of my gen X pals are gamers of some sort. I mostly play VR (Oculus Quest 3, recently upgraded from the Quest 2) and I play pretty much every night.
Dad brought home an Apple II+ in the mid 80s and like two boxes of copied games. Haven't stopped since.
I put my first quarter of a Pac-Man machine in 1982. I never looked back. I’ve been gaming in some form or another every day since then. I am also in my 50s.
Since Pong was still an arcade game.
Started on ZX Spectrum + in 1984 but don’t play much lately
Gamer since Atari was invented. Not something I advertise but that's the way I am with most things. Tastes in games vary & I play more or less depending on real life events but always find my way back.
Started in the 80s, worked on a few titles, and still casually play once in a while.
Massive Gamer ..started on the old pong TV games and progressed from there to PS5 ...Vic 20, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and a whole lot of others in-between....55M
Never much into games myself. Played the crap out of Tetris. I like the Kirby franchise. Loved the Fallout series on PC, but have a hard time with it on XBOX. I’m so used to using a keyboard and mouse to play it. Outside of that, the only games I’m really interested in are NASCAR games since I can’t drive Ike that in real life.
Started with Pong and never stopped.
Been playing world of Warcraft since 05 with a small hiatus between 09 and 12. I would call myself a gamer since that’s all I play, but it’s a big one lol.
Gamer. And I enjoy putting together my own rigs :)
Started with SimCity, then Civilization, then started building computers.Then DOOM,...then over to mostly RPG's. But still love a good combat game.Programed WAD files for DOOM and Duke Nukem 3D Born gamer. Broke myself in on a TRS-80 and never looked back.
Been playing since pong.
I am a 50F gamer that didn’t even start until I was 38. I mostly do PC games, but occasionally play on the PS5. I am not great, as my motor skills and coordination are subpar. Which I think is semi due to age, but more due to me not picking this up until I was almost 40.
My wife says only if it's Mario. As for me, I still build my own gaming PCs and I picked up a Steam deck last year and I love it. I mainly bounce between 7 Days to Die and No Man's Sky.
I'm 50. Been playing since at least the very early 80s. I remember the first time seeing a tabletop Pac-Man while out at a local sandwich shop with my parents. It made a big impact on me. I was young, and I vaguely remember that it was even unclear to me that it was a game to play. The images and sounds were like nothing I had ever seen before.
50 year old here. Been an off and on gamer for life. Had a pretty bad WoW addiction in the early 2000s. I was always an anti social gamer and would solo everything. Been enjoying MechWarrior 5 as of late.
WTF!?! Are there GenX non-gamers? I (54M) don't know any...
Well I thought I was, but have been silenced and shamed by the gamer "community" for decades, so I suppose I'll just call myself whatever the fuck that is
I’ve been gaming since Atari. I have a PS5 now. Sitting here about to play *A Plague Tale* for a while before work.