Why are some people "too old to play video games," but not too old to sit down and watch TV all day?

The one thing I learned as an adult that I wish I had learned as a kid is this: "f@$k what anyone else thinks, you do you."

Next time someone asks you, "Aren't you too old for games?" tell them, "Y'know, your right, they should really ban all those adults from casinos."

I hate the mentality of only way to be true adult is by hanging out at pub and get drunk on daily/weekly basis.

People who attack other people for their hobbies are insecure about their own hobbies

I’m 50 I’m spending more time than ever playing video games , kids have grown up and I have my disposable income. Happy days

My wife would say that. Meanwhile she'd be taking four days in a row off of work laying on the couch without a shower and binge watching Hawaii Five-O for half a week. Meanwhile, I'd play 3 hours of the Witcher and she'd tell me I was wasting time.

I'm 34 and I've started dealing with this lately. My girlfriend's parents are of the opinion that gaming is for children and bums. Every time they come over I feel awkward having my systems visible in the living room. Glad I saw this today. I work hard and I wanna play games, so I'm gonna play games. It makes me happy so why not.

I adore it when people no matter the age enjoy the same content it just shows that no matter how old you are you can enjoy something

I just turned 83 and I am only holding on to my life to play the new Resident Evil on PS5.

People - "grow up stop playing video games" Me - "Skibidi bap, mmm shuddup"

"A Man chooses, A Slave obeys" -Andrew Ryan

I'd rather be a gamer than a alcoholic always drunk at the bar

I never understood the concept of grow up you can’t have fun anymore

I'm in my late thirties, and gladly a lot of people start accepting video games as a hobby. But from time to time i hear this in a very demeaning manner: "Aren't you too old to play video games?" To which i answer: "Aren't you too old to judge other people's hobbies?" Works every time :)

Oldman: Video games are for little kids Oldman: Goes to down to basement and plays with his toy train collection

Lets take a moment to appreciate Rich's dad.

I’m 64 and have been playing computer and video games since Colossal Cave Adventure in 1976.

I'm 46 and a hard-core gamer and my 33 yr old girlfriend is probably bothered by it but she knows better than to say anything for fear of me clapping back at her Netflix addiction.

Woman: "Arent you too old to be playing videogames?" Also woman: Watches Netflix every night.

Born in 1979, 41 years old and I will NEVER stop gaming.

"You are too old to play video games" Meanwhile she's binge watching shows on netflix for 3-6 hours a day.

I am almost 50 now, I have been gaming since I was 10 years old and I got my first ATARI 2600 (i still have it). I went through some of those phases you described, but I am still a gamer at heart, and believe I always will be. Thanks for sharing.

Two things that made my life massively better: Never worrying about what other people think of me and staying single.

I will never stop playing video games. I'm 30 and I still play Mario and Zelda. I don't care what people think. If you find joy in something, no matter what it is, don't let anyone sway you.

A friends wife would deride gaming all the time, yet she would sit on the couch and watch movie after movie, show after show, and somehow that was ok.

"too old to play video games". yet some people are never called "too young and immature for having children". ok then

im 42 this month, i also had periods of not gaming as much when i was younger. i was still gaming but not as much, because i was going out exploring the world, having fun etc, and i find it comforting how other people have also had the same experiences in their lives also. me now, i probably spend more time gaming and doing techy stuff than i ever have done in the past, and im so much happier for it. im looking forward to my boy growing up and me showing him all the great stuff i grew up with and all the things that come out in the future. im totally going to support him every way i can to follow his dream in whatever he wants in life as i did myself

I’m an ‘81 baby as well. This hits home so hard with me. I remember EVERY adult at the time saying it was such a waste of time. We’re fucking pioneers! Cheers Rich 🍻

I'm a grown man. I work for my money. So, if I want to buy and play a game, I will buy and play a damn game.

I took my own hiatus from games a few times, but it wasn't from insecurity. I stopped for productivity. I focused on progressing in video games way more than I did with piano, physical fitness, and other responsibilities. Enjoy your gaming, but don't lose yourself in it.

When he said “don’t drink underage”, my first thought was “didn’t he just say he was 18?”. I completely forgot the minimum drinking age in the USA is 21 instead of 18.

My grandma, still today, won’t buy me a game since it’s a “waste of time!” yet watches tv plenty. Old habits die hard apparently.

My grandmother she passed away almost 3 years ago she played video games like snes and n64 she would play Donkey Kong, Mario and Zelda she never cared about how old anyone was gaming is about having fun god i miss her

My Dad is 61 and still plays all the latest games. His generation barely played games growing up, and I don't have any friends Dad's that age who play games. Naturally, I got into video games because of him.

Thanks for sharing your story. I'm from 1981 too and I grew up in Poland. I started gaming in 1990 on an Atari 130XE (yeah, I know, but check out where Poland was economically in 1990) and I never stopped playing. Luckily I was able to find friends who shared my passion and this kept me healthy. Now I have a RTX 3080, Switch, WiiU, PS3, PS5, Xbox Series X, Oculus Quest 2 - which I listed not to brag, but just to emphasize my love for all games, no mater what platform.

"You're too old to play video games" - Person over the age 21 who still can't manage time & money. Credit Card Debt, Car Note, No Emergency Fund, College Debt, 3 Kids etc.

A girl in high school asked if I didn't think I was too old to be playing video games, to which I replied, "Aren't you too young to be pregnant?"

i read a lot as a kid but when gaming emerged as a true bonafide artform and storytelling medium my attention toward it grew. me and my buddies growing up had a blast with various games and there was never a stigma against it or never viewed it as a nerdy hobby. i look back at those times fondly and am really glad I had those experiences

This world only gives you 1 TRUE love and once you find it NEVER let it go.

I was born in the early 80's and everything you said is 100% true. I still get crap for gaming. The same people that complain about gamers are the same people that spend hours upon hours on Instagram and frickin Facebook. Thanks Rich. I really needed to hear this video

I’m 32 and still gaming! I’m never stopping!

Me and my friends go larping in the nearby park a lot, and I can not count the amount of times parents with younger children have grabbed their child by the hand and walked toward the opposite end of the park while glaring at us.

When I grew up I got rid of childish things, especially the need to look very adult...

I was at an interview 10 years ago with the head of the IT department and they were talking about how they had a fantasy football league as a value add. I said verbatim: "It's not really my thing, fantasy football is a role-playing game for people who make fun of people who play role-playing games." He loved it and I got the job.

I just turned 57 and they'll have to pry the mouse and keyboard from my cold, dead hands before I give up gaming.

I was born in '79 and your story sounds so similar to mine. Our generation was weird like that. We always had so much pressure to fit in. I was always trying to be accepted by a bunch of a**holes that I'd wind up cutting off later on. It seems like the one thing they hated the most was for you (or anybody) to truly be themselves.

Thanks for making this. I play video games and my family often tease me for playing them and they say that it doesn't help make me money and are a bad investment. However they can watch Netflix and football. When i point this out they say its different. Its stunning how people in my family cant look at these things and think that they are more or less the same thing.

rather be an adult gamer to have fun in my free time than people who go out to bars and be drunks all the time

I don't want to stop playing games, I am 78 and I enjoy sweating call of duty and you can't stop me and my aderol addiction

Your views and story is so to the point and really is how I've felt in the past. I'm in my mid 30's and the amount of times I've been made to feel like I shouldn't be gaming because it was seen as a dorky thing to do I lost count. My passion for gaming has transferred to my children and I love the fact that they have the same passion and that in this era there is no stigma with gaming.

I would rather play video games, than drink alcohol or do drugs which seems to be what a lot of "adults" do to escape or relax. Don't tell me to "grow up" and stop playing video games, when you can't even get through the day without popping a Xanax or 3 glasses of wine.

I have never understood why people view games differently than movies, music or books

“YoU’rE tOo oLd tO pLaY vIdEo GaMeS!” Ah yes, Manhunt and Prototype are totally meant for kids.

I literally never experienced stigma for playing video games.

Hrm... as someone who's literally a decade older than you, I know full well I felt a pressure to drop gaming as a hobby, but I (for reasons I'll discuss in a video on my channel - thanks for a video idea Rich!) generally managed to successfully avoid that nonsense. I am glad you came to your senses dude. Keep fighting the good fight!

"Do something more productive with your time!" They say as they binge watch Netflix all night.

40 years old and still playing videogames till the day I die

I guess times changed by the late '90s, when I was in high school nearly everyone was gaming to some extent. The jacks and popular guys were into sports and racing games, and the nerds were in to PC games or JRPGs, and kind of every one was into action/shooter and fighting games to some degree.

27, never had a girlfriend or never dated. You're never too old for anything. Hobbies for video games and anime is what I do for fun when i get off work or on the weekends. Back then, it was like video games are for nerds. Until I turn 18, my dad literally comes up to me and say, you're getting too old for video games, go find something to do like, lift weights, go find a girlfriend, or go to a mall with friends. He trying to convince me to quit by saying are you gonna keep playing video games like this till you're 65? I literally ignored him. It took a guy in his early 30's that he worked with at his job that he told my dad that he play games with his wife after work. So my dad came back and talked to me saying it's okay what I do as long as I have job to make money that supports myself. I literally dont understand people sometimes. You're living your life but why cant I live mines? Live the life whatever make you guys happy. Isnt that life supposed to be? Live happy, die happy.

I’m gonna be 85 and still gaming, haven’t they said that gaming has helped elderly slow down the mental decline as you get older because your making split second decisions and working out your brain?

I was always self conscious about putting video games on my Amazon Christmas wishlist, but finally added 2 or 3 this past year, knowing my family would see it. They were buried at the bottom of the list that included a dozen other boring “Grown Up” items that I’d always ask for because I was embarrassed to ask for what I really wanted. To my surprise, Christmas morning I got all of the games I asked for! Even my 75 year old mom said “That game looked like more fun than another shirt”, haha. Don’t be afraid to embrace what you love!

i remember ATARI console. but I started playing NES games and SNES. from playstation 1 to PC. Now I'm staying on PC gaming.

It reminds me of the weebo otaku life where you were picked from the society & just get bullied for loving a blue haired virtual girl & being called gay now litterly most of my friends if not weebs they appreciate the concept so i should thank life for being amazing with good friends who appreciate me for who i am

Rich puts his videogames in his closet because of societal pressure, brings 'em back out later. Gamers: 1 Society: 0

I'm about to turn 42. I never fell off the gaming train. In high school I played video games, dungeons and dragons, and football. Once I realized that I didn't care what people thought, it let me enjoy what I loved.

I just want to say thank you for this video. I supressed my gaming hobby among my friends and collegues for years because I was seen as childish and nerdy. I was frequently told by my mom that computers and videogames was only for losers and children too. Everytime I'm asked what I did last weekend I feel I have to lie because saying that I was playing a videogame is met with weird looks or changing the topic immediately. Clearly my weekend wasn't as interesting as working on your garden, renovating your house or watching The Queen's Gambit on Netflix. I'm not knocking any of those things but I feel pushed aside because of my interest so I stopped talking about it entirely. It has gone on so long I can't even talk comfortably about games at video game conventions or in gaming discord groups. It feels unnatural to share my dearest hobby with anyone else. I never did grow out of video games but I never did grow into a confident gamer either. I know this is more of a me problem but I still wanted to share. And yes, I am trying to feel more confident about my past time activities. Please support your kid's hobbies and interests so they can grow up confidently.

Dude I’m 15 and I appreciate all eras of gaming and technology so don’t worry we’re not all ignorant

I'm a 81 baby played video games all my life never cared what people think always did what makes me happy.

Video games have been an important part of my life since I was eight years old. You can pry my controller out of my cold dead hand.

I’m only a few years younger the you. ‘89, but people tried to make fun of me and my friends for playing games but there was so many of us at the time. We didn’t care. Plus we even got a teacher into video games to the where we created a gaming club in school.

I totally feel the same way, ever since I was a kid I always got criticized and judged because I play video games, nobody would talk to me or want to be my friend because they will assume that I'm some type of weirdo,but really I was just depressed and I was going through a lot of family issues when I was a kid so playing games was a big distraction from that.

26 years old rn, and gaming since the age of 3 and never stopping

I can't stand people who worry so much about what other people do with their lives

Time you enjoy wasting is not time wasted.

In my 40's and been gaming since forever...Gaming is a hobby for those who love the growth of gaming which is so exciting the games and tech keeps getting better and better. Look @ VR, how it blows you away making one feel as if they are inside the game.

I had a girl I was with for 2 years leave me because "gaming and comic books are for children and i need to grow up". Those 2 years I was with her she tried so hard to get me to stop them both until one day she realized that I'm never gonna change. She was an import car model and she always thought she was better than everyone anyways..so looking back at it now, her leaving me is probably one of the best things that ever happened to me.

Im going to be old, in a wheel chair and in my death bed at over 90 and they would have to pry the controller from my cold dead hands before I ever stop playing video games!

Great video Richard I also had some similar issues for years I was ashamed of playing video games because it wasn't the most social thing to do..

Being born at that time having a commadore and atari 2600 then nes etc to now...i feel blessed to be a small handful of people who got to experience it real time. Big thanks to my dad who was an early gamer and my mom who who never made any fuss about them cost or time. Super lucky.

"You're too old to be causing drama on social media."

Technically we are all wasting time doing anything, cause nobody even knows why we are here, alive in this reality at all.

My dad used to say that to me growing up. Now he's finished the Arkham series and uncharted series twice over. I'm 34.

As someone born in 1980 I completely relate to what you're saying. Being a "gamer" as a kid was not cool at all. Fortunately I never cared what anyone (except, ummm, my high school girlfriends) thought, so 1995 was all about FF3 and Chrono Trigger, 1996 was Earthbound, 1997 was Final Fantasy 7, etc. I always loved the Game Boy but would never be caught dead playing it in public. Funny how now, at almost 42, I have no problem using the Switch or Anbernic in public. I am glad that it doesn't carry the stigma that it once did.

The gaming industry is larger than movies and music combined. $177 billion annual sales. Yeah that's not just kids. I feel like it's really mainstream now no matter our age.

My Dad made fun of my brother so much for gaming he stopped. That was the only thing me and my brother had in common and got along doing . After that we really grew apart and I haven't seen my brother in 6 years . I'm 40 years old now and really miss him. Iv never needed anyone to tell me who I was and still a Gamer !

This video is amazing, thank you man. I played this in the background while I was doing some work

1978 here, Born in Jamaica but didn't start gaming until 1991 when I moved to Canada. Gaming is amazing and I WONT STOP.

the day i'm too old to play video games is the day i can't hold anything anymore

Henry Cavil is a gamer. That's the only statement you will ever need to win the argument.

I love your show, and this episode reminds me so much of my childhood. First off, not that much younger than you. Born in 85. I dealt with the same stigma: video games were something you did as a kid. My parents were tolerant (they never denied me games when I earned them), but there was always that eye roll, like "Oh my God, he wants a game". In school, gaming was looked at like something you did on the sly. Granted, I was in a group of friends that were gamers (we all did Pokémon battles on the bus to and from school), and one class during my senior year was all about playing Unreal Tournament every class (not officially, but for reasons...). But it still felt like it wasn't something you advertised. When I got married, I brought all my games with me. When we needed money, I always sold my games first. Figured they're not doing anything but taking up space, so why bother? Biggest regrets of my life, as later on, I caught AVGN on KZfaq and it reignited my love of video games. Since then, I've been collecting games, playing them...even started my own channel on YT. And it amazes me that, as legit as gaming has become as far as a medium for storytelling, my parents especially STILL sound disgusted when they mention video games, like it's some kind of disease. Anyway, just wanted to share my experience with you and your viewers. Keep up the amazing work you do!

Thanks for that message, I was beginning to think I was the only one who was apprehensive about people knowing that I love gaming. Kudos😉😊

I’m 50 still playing on my PS4 and Nintendo switch lite 😂

I'll never stop gaming, the industry will continue to grow and dominant other forms of media even more so why would I ever stop

40 years old, love gaming... literally just went to finish a few old games I hadn't before from the Resident Evil series (as well as the newer ones). Have a 10 year old and a 13 year old who both love video games too and we have a blast playing together :)

Appreciate this video and you sharing 💯💯💯 u definitely helped me to start my own channel

I'm so glad gaming has not only become socially acceptable, but honestly encouraged. That's my kind of world

Some of my university teachers are literally playing video games in their free time. My friends are playing video games as well. Times sure have changed 😅

The one thing I was thinking about listing to this. Besides also stoping, starting, stopping and with covid starting to play video games again. Was something an uncle tolled me when I started working, no one can ever tell you how to live your life. And I probably doesn't sink in until later in life, when you decide to do what you like and give the middle finger to what society think or other people might say. At the end we have to do what makes us happy. And that varies from person to person. And no one should really judge anyone else.

I enjoyed this very much. I just found your channel, what a great first video to see. Thanks for sharing. Keep gaming bro!