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[ReBurn]

I've never been bullied for playing video games. I've seen people made fun of for always talking about games and calling themselves gamers.

 

[Oemenia]

My parents to this day laugh about video games and call it a colossal way of wasted time. Playing a video game = an act of offense to them.

As for the #gamersaregood tag: I remember how just the other day evilore recommended to drop the GG label. Before going to bed last night I already saw resetera comparing #gamersaregood to GamerGate and MRA and alt-right.
That's why dropping the GG-label would be fruitless, I think.

Yet they are perfectly okay with watching trash TV all day.

Either way, telling people you play games, especially women is like walking around eggshells.

 

[bucyou]

If someone shits on them during the course of normal conversation, I usually point out most of them are pretty much a interactive movie thats more cost efficient.

 

[Sakura]

Honestly everyone my age plays video games. Even some of my grandparents play video games.
The idea that a young person doesn't play games is just bizarre to me, let alone bullying for it.

 

[Rayderism]

Not bullied no, but I do get ridiculed for admitting to playing video games and being a 50 year old guy.

 

[lachesis]

I've been nagged quite a bit - but never bullied by... (or maybe I just didn't care that much. LOL)

Now video gaming is just part of the more accepted culture, (well, I started from original Pong back in 80s - so I go quite a back) - my own child and nephews and much younger cousins who are into video games now click with me much better too - that some of their own parents just have no idea where to even begin the conversation - and even when they are grown up, I still have much better relationship with them because my impression on them is the cool father/uncle/cousin who understands their own interest and then some.

 

[Ban Puncher]

 

[drotahorror]

No, I don't think I was ever criticized at all. Even in 6th or 7th grade, I had a Resident Evil T-shirt that I got when the game launched and I wore it quite often in middle school. No one said shit.

I went through an ICP/Twiztid phase in 9th and 10th grade and I got WAY more shit for that. Even the teachers got in on that ridiculing. Calling me devil boy and shit. I actually had a talk with a teacher and told him to stop calling me that. I wasn't crazy lookin or anything, just wore band shirts. Of course some of those shirts had shit like "Serial Killaz" on the back with Michael Myers and Jason on the front holding axes. I loved that shirt.

No fuckin way you could wear the shirts I used to wear back in high school now.

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

No, but there is still an unfortunate stigma associated with playing videogames. You'd think people would have gotten over it by this point.

 

[MrMorningMan]

I wouldn't say bullied but laughed at a little and mocked a bit, absolutely. This was back in my early years of secondary school and whilst everyone enjoyed the latest Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto (not that I hadn't played those as well), I liked JRPGs and remember looking at Persona 4, Ni No Kuni and such on the school computers. In a class or during lunch, other students saw what I was looking at and somehow instantly decided that I was an individual who looked at "tentacle porn" purely because of my interest in these games.

I took no notice anyway, so it did me no harm. Just a little annoyed because I was stopped researching or reading articles from then on whilst in school to avoid a potential repeat of that odd connection they conjured.

 

[Silvawuff]

I've never witnessed/experienced bullying for gaming, but I've seen a hell a lot of it while gaming.

 

[Sosokrates]

My parents to this day laugh about video games and call it a colossal way of wasted time. Playing a video game = an act of offense to them.

As for the #gamersaregood tag: I remember how just the other day evilore recommended to drop the GG label. Before going to bed last night I already saw resetera comparing #gamersaregood to GamerGate and MRA and alt-right.
That's why dropping the GG-label would be fruitless, I think.

Do your parents think movies, books and board games are a waste of time to?

 

[ShirAhava]

Never

Everyone in my life plays video games, family, friends, classmates, girlfriends, males, females, older people, younger people

It would be like getting bullied for using a cell phone

 

['Heaven Sniper]

While they're more widely accepted nowadays, I still think that video games hold a negative stigma for older generations. One of the hot topics at the family dinner table the other day was how video game addiction was an actual medical problem. My dad thought it was urgent to inform me of this new development because "the news said so." Both he and my mom constantly look down on this hobby of mine, wishing that I would spend less time playing games. Meanwhile, I'm an RN in my mid 20's pursuing a graduate degree, have a healthy social life, and lead an active lifestyle with multiple other hobbies which don't include video games. I love my parents, but I swear I have to turn my brain off every time they try to lecture me on how video games are evil. I believe moderation is key. Too much of anything is probably not healthy if it's stopping you from focusing on your priorities. Everyone's got their thing which helps them unwind, video games or not.

 

[Makariel]

I sometimes get bewildered looks from those of the older generation, but I can't remember ever being bullied for playing video games. What did happen on occasion was being ridiculed by girlfriends for it, but at some point I just took it as easy test to see if someone is worth hanging out with. If they're judgemental about video games, then we probably won't be good friends

 

[Achelexus]

Don't think so, almost everyone in the schools I grew up in played video games.

 

[Mike555]

Nah, it's all digital. Just turn it off if you feel offended or pressured.

 

[ph33rknot]

yup back in the day any girl you told lol very few guys did most played games, made fun of is more appropriate term than bullying

 

[Nny7229]

No, I don't think I was ever criticized at all. Even in 6th or 7th grade, I had a Resident Evil T-shirt that I got when the game launched and I wore it quite often in middle school. No one said shit.

I went through an ICP/Twiztid phase in 9th and 10th grade and I got WAY more shit for that. Even the teachers got in on that ridiculing. Calling me devil boy and shit. I actually had a talk with a teacher and told him to stop calling me that. I wasn't crazy lookin or anything, just wore band shirts. Of course some of those shirts had shit like "Serial Killaz" on the back with Michael Myers and Jason on the front holding axes. I loved that shirt.

No fuckin way you could wear the shirts I used to wear back in high school now.

Do you still have that RE shirt? Sounds sick.

For me there wasn't much bullying. We had a gaming club and I guess I could say that there was a bit of antisocial behavior in small groups.

 

[dreamcastluvr]

I've never seen anyone get bullied for playing video games (ridiculed by prominent media figures and politicians, yes). Even back in the mid-late 90's when I was in Jr High/ High School, most kids had consoles. There were at times the cliché insults based on different game genres, i.e.; "Nintendo/ Mario is for babies," "Japanese RPGs are for geeks/ dweebs," etc...

 

[Shift!]

Sometimes, but it never really went TOO far.

One time I had a problem with this guy who wouldn't leave me alone, and he kept ruining my matches for cheap thrills. But outside of basic extortion, I don't think anyone has ever gamed me for confidence or something like that.

 

[JordanN]

I was in a religion that while not completely opposed to video games, they did try to shun you for spending time playing games vs reading the bible. Fortunately, the other church goers I knew weren't that brainwashed by it and we all stilled played games. Although, if I had told them I played Starcraft or other games that were considered "ungodly" they would have freaked out.

 

[ehead]

I haven't really encountered this outside of normal misconceptions from "older people". Back in primary school, it was quite the opposite; if you had a Gameboy, you were one of the cool kids. Same in high school, if you were into video games you weren't really singled out as the typical nerd in movies - other cliques don't care. The only bullying I witnessed was in my early 20s online, playing Dota 2. It's not even targeted at me but it happened a lot, hence I kinda stopped playing it - just felt bad playing with douches.

 

[Starhowl]

I was growing up in those times when video gamers still were counting as psychopaths. German state released a script filled with 100-200 pages about the psychological and social consequences of playing games and even my own dad called me names ("frog-legger") when I was sitting in front of my NES.

 

[Bogroll]

I suppose by today's standards yes eg called a name or put down but back in the 80's no as bulling then was being punched or a screwdriver pressed against your back and being told "Give me your dinner money" People have thin skin today.

 

[drotahorror]

Do you still have that RE shirt? Sounds sick.

For me there wasn't much bullying. We had a gaming club and I guess I could say that there was a bit of antisocial behavior in small groups.

It might be at my mom's house I'm not sure. I doubt I or she would get rid of it.

It had this logo on it

But I think that logo was on the back and on the front it just had "Resident Evil" on it.

 

[ZQQLANDER]

My family always thought I'd amount to nothing because I liked playing games more than say, watching TV...as if that's better. There's always a sideways question like "So how does playing games help you in the real world?"

Fast forward a couple of decades and I have my college degree, working a full time job with my own house, car and recently girlfriendless (this is an achievment in my book, we were together 8 years).

I'd argue I do alot better than alot of people who didn't play games. I'm originally from Chicago. I'm from the Southside of Chicago. If you hadn't guessed yet, I'm also African American. Anybody who knows anything about Chicago, knows that it's very dangerous out here, especially for a black male. So while I like playing games, at least I'm not out here doing drugs, shooting people or getting shot myself. I have no kids because I want to be married first. I managed to choose this lifestyle and survive within it not despite me playing games, but BECAUSE I PLAY GAMES.

Good for you man. Southside is rough. Hear a lot about kids using sports to stay off the streets. Why not video games?

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Some of the stories here are much worse than mine. I'm sorry you had to go through that.

My mom would threaten to take my games away in order to make me do stuff, but then she'd gloat about sitting down to play Super Mario World while I was at school. One time she pretended to be on the phone with Babbages because she was mad at me and she said "I'd like to cancel a Dreamcast preorder". It was my dad she was talking to, but she liked to threaten me. She was supportive for a while, especially when I worked at GameStop. The boiling point was when I failed clinical in nursing school and I was taking her to work one day. She said, "you've done the game thing your entire life, its time to move on". I didn't understand her logic because I had turned my life around after failing to work in health care. The last time I spoke to her she asked me about Assassin's Creed Origins and how to use an Xbox 360 I left at her house. She's supportive of me, but her and my wife don't get along.

My step father just wanted me to get a good job. He would make remarks like "You're reclusive" or he'd ask me in a real jerk kind of way, "Don't only 20 year olds play video games?". It felt like he was trying to get under my skin. This was when I turned 30 and he knew about my hobby and all the games I owned. It was depressing. It didn't make me look at my life in a positive way. In fact, I was even more depressed that he was putting me down about it.

I took my nephews to the arcade and I got them into Mega-Man. They'd pretend like they were Sigma, Zero, and X. They'd ask me all the time about the lore. I even showed them my Street Fighter encyclopedia. They'd ask who was more powerful and etc. Well my sister and her husband didn't like it. My brother-in-law would say things like, "Gamers are drones" or he'd make a comment about my life and say that I'm stuck in the basement playing video games wasting my time. My nephews got into Marvel and DC characters after that. I'm not shocked because my brother-in-law use to read comics a lot and he watches all the super hero movies/tv shows. I think he just wanted to get them off of video games.

There were times when a parent would ask me about GTA especially when Vice City was out and all my classmates wanted a copy. I brought my PS2 to church once and they gave me a lecture about the games I brought in because they were violent. Another thing I remember was talking about violent video games in nursing school. There's a mod called American School Shooter and I watched this video where a cop was bad mouthing GTA and he showed clips of that mod to this high school. I sent the cop an email because I found this video online. I basically told him that he shouldn't be showcasing a mod and presenting it as the actual video game industry. I also told my nursing instructor that GTA is satire crime life. Most of what they see comes from fears and YouTube videos.

Otherwise I don't really get bullied. There are some stories about couples who got a divorce and one of the reasons they got divorced was because the husband would play video games instead of parenting the child or being a caring spouse.

My wife got me these items: (you'd think someone would bully me, right?)

I enjoy owning and wearing them and I'm happy to discuss video games with other people too. I don't consider it being eccentric either.

This are precious , where they find them?

 

[MacP]

I had few friends and we all had that in common (computer games) while lot's of other friends were more into snorting shit up their nose

 

[PodcastHostBryan]

Nope.

Excelled in multiple sports... yet never watched them.

So I then, like today would just push back. Ok... I might be a dork for playing Mario, but at least I'm not cosplaying and wearing some other dudes jersey.

 

[Alter_Fridge]

Some of the stories here are much worse than mine. I'm sorry you had to go through that.

My mom would threaten to take my games away in order to make me do stuff, but then she'd gloat about sitting down to play Super Mario World while I was at school. One time she pretended to be on the phone with Babbages because she was mad at me and she said "I'd like to cancel a Dreamcast preorder". It was my dad she was talking to, but she liked to threaten me. She was supportive for a while, especially when I worked at GameStop. The boiling point was when I failed clinical in nursing school and I was taking her to work one day. She said, "you've done the game thing your entire life, its time to move on". I didn't understand her logic because I had turned my life around after failing to work in health care. The last time I spoke to her she asked me about Assassin's Creed Origins and how to use an Xbox 360 I left at her house. She's supportive of me, but her and my wife don't get along.

My step father just wanted me to get a good job. He would make remarks like "You're reclusive" or he'd ask me in a real jerk kind of way, "Don't only 20 year olds play video games?". It felt like he was trying to get under my skin. This was when I turned 30 and he knew about my hobby and all the games I owned. It was depressing. It didn't make me look at my life in a positive way. In fact, I was even more depressed that he was putting me down about it.

I took my nephews to the arcade and I got them into Mega-Man. They'd pretend like they were Sigma, Zero, and X. They'd ask me all the time about the lore. I even showed them my Street Fighter encyclopedia. They'd ask who was more powerful and etc. Well my sister and her husband didn't like it. My brother-in-law would say things like, "Gamers are drones" or he'd make a comment about my life and say that I'm stuck in the basement playing video games wasting my time. My nephews got into Marvel and DC characters after that. I'm not shocked because my brother-in-law use to read comics a lot and he watches all the super hero movies/tv shows. I think he just wanted to get them off of video games.

There were times when a parent would ask me about GTA especially when Vice City was out and all my classmates wanted a copy. I brought my PS2 to church once and they gave me a lecture about the games I brought in because they were violent. Another thing I remember was talking about violent video games in nursing school. There's a mod called American School Shooter and I watched this video where a cop was bad mouthing GTA and he showed clips of that mod to this high school. I sent the cop an email because I found this video online. I basically told him that he shouldn't be showcasing a mod and presenting it as the actual video game industry. I also told my nursing instructor that GTA is satire crime life. Most of what they see comes from fears and YouTube videos.

Otherwise I don't really get bullied. There are some stories about couples who got a divorce and one of the reasons they got divorced was because the husband would play video games instead of parenting the child or being a caring spouse.

My wife got me these items: (you'd think someone would bully me, right?)

I enjoy owning and wearing them and I'm happy to discuss video games with other people too. I don't consider it being eccentric either.

Classy, very classy. Very smooth

 

[PooBone]

I'm a 33 year old man and just yesterday someone told me to quit playing Call of Duty (haven't played a match since MW1) and join the real world where veterans save lives..... pretty incoherent babble from someone who actually agreed with the points I had made, it's always been a source of derision for people who are less intellectual boneheads.

 

[Starzonedge]

The way I see it, hobbies either help you improve at a skill or help you become less conscious of your problems. I get triggered whenever people who just watch tv/movies/shop/go out drinking (all unconscious activities) criticize my unconscious activity. People who do stuff like yoga/hiking/martial arts etc are too busy being productive to criticize others IMO. The only purpose judging others has is to justify your own flaws.

 

[yukimeans_snow]

I was bullied for being Asian. Everyone played games in some way, so that wasn't grounds for getting made fun of, unless you were like REALLY into games. There's a difference between liking video games, and being a "gamer."

 

[Yagami_Sama]

Not exactly bulling, but be the only one which had a N64, while people had a PS1 or a Game Cube while most of people had a PS2, or a Wii when most people had a PS3 or 360 and having a Wii U while people have PS4 / XONE, there were always a few that mock the console, even never playing anything on the console they were mocking.

 

[akuda]

As a kid, mainly relatives, and the times when I was bullied was mostly for just raw nerdiness and social awkwardness rather than gaming itself.
that being said I get plenty of shit lately for being into gaming so it's clearly still an issue