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Originally Posted by willravel
Well, after gaming through my teen years, I got a job and a beautiful wife and daughter. I have a nice car and a nice home. I study philosophy and science and history and music. I go to concerts and movies and museums and art galleries. I have tons of friends. I take martial arts and exercise regularly. I've saved a life and changed a few others. Somehow Mario just can't compete with reality. I still play games every once in a while, but somehow they don't interest me as much anymore.
Don't take this as my putting down gamers, as one of my best friends is a serious gamer. So long as you are able to balance gaming with the other facets of life - school/work, social life, family, friends - it seems like a good way to live.
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This did reek of arrogance. You imply that an adult gamer doesn't achieve a productive life (despite your blurb at the end).
Let's compare notes.
For the record I'm an active gamer. I got my degree in Physics from UC Berkeley and worked in research for the US DOE at Lawrence Berkeley Labs. Later I went to medical school and obtained my MD. I had my Internal Medicine residency at Brown University and was Chief Resident during my last year. I, too, have saved lives and changed them. I have written and published research papers in Physics AND Medicine.
I also studied martial arts (Shin Moo Hapkido, TKD, Choi Le Fut Kung Fu) heavily when I was younger, but it doesn't hold any more interest for me. For the past few years I've studied modern handgun and carbine tactics at a school in Nevada alongside SWAT friends and other LEOs.
I also happen to be a mural artist and have displayed some of my works in NY and Europe. I've travelled the world and speak 3 languages. I have friends in the UK, Spain, Belgium, Romania, Lithuania, Japan, latin America and all over the US.
I'm not married, but I was engaged last year to a lovely woman (and a lovlier person) - a flight attendant currently living in Connecticut. (Our separation was mutual but we remain good friends.)
I haven't "outgrown" gaming and neither have many friends of mine. Video games don't compete with reality any more than television does.