Gaming

Late 50's here and a gamers. I don't plan on stopping. Enjoy your gaming.

I first gamed in a Commodore 64. I was a pioneer.

53 here, not playing online multiplayer anymore (frustrated with being unable to compete at the same level due to work stress, and time commitments in general), but I do have 4 digit hours of Civilization. Thinking back, almost 20 years ago I got anti-gaming vibes from my peer group. Fuck 'em, do what you want.

I don't think there's one. Still, I find it a bit funny thinking of myself and my partner sitting next to each other, each on our own gaming PC, once we're old (or should I say older, yikes the 90s really were almost 30 years ago...)

is it something to do with the progression of games into popular culture and people born after, say, 1986 will not see it as unacceptable?

I think that's exactly it. Gen X was the first generation to experienced playing video games for their entire lives. Video games, as with all new things, tended to be poo-poo'ed by the older generation and as such, many Gen Xers elected not to get in to video gaming.

I think if you were of any younger generation, you would find responses on dates to be quite different.

I'm 50. I just don't talk about it unless I secretly find out that my friends game. Acually a lot of them do. But, yeah, I don't talk to girls about it. Though sometimes you might find one that's into it.

I’m closer to 40 than 30, and I play video games basically every day. My spouse is super supportive. The only thing that’s changed is that I don’t play PC games unless it’s on my steam deck, because I already spend too much time at a desk working. But I have a PS5 that I finally bought a racing wheel for, and Ive been logging tons of hours on TOTK.

Basically, find someone who appreciates you and your hobbies. Being a gamer isn’t a bad one, despite what those of us that grew up adjacent to Gen X might think.

41 year old woman here. I was born with gaming, I will die with gaming. Do not hide your gaming from the get go. Put it in your profile. Its a huge part of my life, so finding that in a partner is a must in my book. There are women out there that share my sentiment, and some that just like games or don't care.

I think there are some people who get out of touch due to things like kids or work and it was just seen as something you grow out of. But I think people generally have more of a work/life balance now. And they also realize that you can play games with kids when they are old enough.

I know for me personally, what will most likely happen is that I will always love and cherish video games as an artform no matter what. What will change is the amount of time I have to play.

As long as you are still enjoying gaming. Keep going!

Many comments seem to be misinterpreting the question, I understood it as not a personal cutoff, but how society sees it.

It certainly is very culture dependent, I agree that as people who grew up with videogames, not necessarily playing them, are more accepting of them and the elderly didn't have those experiences, seeing as hobby their children have and is a children thing to do.

41 year old woman who games Playstation and PC. There is no age cutoff.

That said, it wasn't all that common to have a game system when I grew up. My grandmother had an Atari because of her Alzheimers and that's what made my family nerds but people from Gen X are a lot less likely to have gotten the habit young.

Maybe a younger woman will be more likelyto be into it. But you both don't have to like all the same things. Ask the women you date about their hobbies instead of talking about yours, maybe? There must be some common ground interests, or at least something on their side that could be considered a bit offbeat, geeky, or childish and you can bond over being on the receiving end of judgment. Maybe she's into Renfaire or Star Trek.

There's definitely not an age cut off. In 60 years there's going to be 80 year olds teabagging people in VR Halo Bloodgulch.

My partner and her mom both play games, way more than me. They're out there!

I'm in my fourties. I've fought clanwars in MoHAA with my now wife. We've spent an embarrasing amount of time raiding in WoW and by now we've had servers running for Ark, Valheim and Vrising with our daughter. She's more into Roblox though..

Stealing my old comment from the place that shall not be named in response to a similar question asked there by someone in a comparable situation to share here due to relevancy - A person had replied to the OP question declaring that "women didn't respect men's hobbies" so I said :

Perhaps there is a more useful way to frame things…

How about instead :

“It’s somewhat common for people with some level of disfunction within their intimate relationships to be okay living their entire lives with a partner essentially dictating what is ‘acceptable’ in their lives together in such a way that is uncompromising for said other partner - who then feels like they are not deserving of the things that make them happy. This is unhealthy as it builds resentment and encourages dishonesty and ‘going around’ set boundaries only really agreed upon by one party.”

The takeaway should not be : “Women have no respect for men’s hobbies.”

There are plenty of women who love games, and plenty of men who don’t.

The takeaway should be : “Partners in an intimate relationship should have enough love and respect for one another that they can truly find middle ground with issues they disagree on - while at the same time trying to better empathize, communicate, and enrich each others’ lives. If you and your partner disagree on where gaming should be as an aspect of your personal hobbies and interests, a reasonable compromise should be discussed.”

I am a guy at the same age. My spouse doesn’t really game much… but we have our video games in the living room, as that allows me to enjoy our home theater setup for single player type and online multiplayer gaming between my fellow parent gamers and myself, while also allowing us as a family to play certain games like Mario Kart and Castle Crashers together across seating that is comfortable and roomy.

My partner loves me and wants me to be happy. And I want them to be happy. If you aren’t happy with the arrangement currently set… talk about it. If they can’t meet you in the middle… then decide if it’s worth it to continue discussing it or not and go forward.

Really that’s a foundational aspect of healthy relationships… communication, respect, and a hope that you help make the other happy and feel supported.

A relationship without that foundation will likely eventually fail.

I'm in my 40s and have been a gamer since the original Nintendo and Oregon Trail days. I really enjoy being able to talk about games with the younger members of my family. I even keep old games and consoles around so that I can introduce new generations to some of classic games (classic as in great, not "old"). Some of the greatest stories that I've ever experienced have come from games.

There has definitely been a shift in culture around video games, but they're so new - relative to other "entertainment" activities - that I think it will take a generation or two before it goes fully from "something for the kids" to "just another thing adults do for fun". When I'm old enough that my arthritic fingers can no longer move a controller there better be a brain-scanning headset that lets me play Diablo IX with my mind or I'm gonna be pissed.

As to dating / relationships, my only advice is to find someone who respects your hobbies as part of who you are, even if it's something that they aren't interested in.

I'm a woman in my mid 30s, I play games. My partner also plays games. My closest friends all play games. All of them 30+ women. I definitely see this as a thing that becomes more common as you go into future generations, not as an age thing. Specially as more and more people grow up surrounded by video games, even if only on their phones.

I don't think there's an age cut off, I just think you got into the hobby when it was niche and your peers didn't. I'm an NES-generation video game player and I don't really know anyone my age who doesn't at least have a gamer in their household. On the other end, I don't know a single person who has a cable subscription.

what i see today is games are super accessible and everyone owns a portable gaming device, my parents are over 60 and they both play games on their phones, although they would't consider themselves gamers or anything close

i think the barrier to entry on core games gets higher with age so casual games on phones fit nicely within that demographic

My husband's grandmother played point and click games until a half a year or so before her passing at 93 or so. We suspect that it's one of the things that greatly helped keep her so sharp for so long, she was very lucid up until about two months before she passed and was actively doing yard work up until a year before.

I'm almost 40 and still game regularly, although not as much as I would like. I treat it like anything else and honestly couldn't care less what anyone else thinks about it. If you enjoy gaming then don't let anyone stop you.

Do what you want!

Assuming you aren't ignoring other obligations, gaming is completely acceptable.

Anything else is pretentious.

Even if there was a cutoff age, it would be changing every year as millennials age up and the gaming industry does a better job at targeting older players.

IMO, physical ability to do so should be the only cutoff. No one should have to stop doing something they love just because society deems them too old.

So the question, there must be some sort of cut off age at which video games are no longer an acceptable pastime.

When you no longer enjoy it