Why Do People Hate A Hobby?

@mattyftm: Thanks, that was an interesting read. As someone who's getting married this year and the the possibility of kids coming soon, I've been thinking about this more and more lately.

The truth is being the better parent isn’t always the same as being the cool parent.

The hard truth that I'm going to have to learn.

@giantlennonx_x When people brag about their kids they are trying to say that their child is healthy and valuable to society. It's just less impressive to the average Ellen viewer that your kid is a Dota 2 champ then your kid is a good actor. I don't think he hates video games even though saying what he did seems pretty negative to kids who do spend a lot of time playing them. (PS. I enjoy Ellen).

@dfl017: yeah, that makes sense. Its just odd hearing someone like hugh jackman say something like that as if most people who play video games aren't goal oriented. I mean his job is basically to pretend to be other people who often times accomplished much more than most people (his upcoming movie as an example). Being goal oriented is important for sure, its just odd that sometimes actors and fans of said actors put what they are doing on a pedestal. Im not saying thats what he was doing, im sure it was just an off handed remark, but he must know that what he does for a living is not really THAT beneficial to the human race as say, a doctor or something.

Video games are a neat distraction at times, but they come with a lot of drawbacks. A lot of them are poorly written and stay within conventionally acceptable subject matter, so you're not being intellectually or culturally stimulated. You're generally pretty stationary, so you're not being physically stimulated. Many games intentionally add time-wasting padding and little instant gratification "rewards" and crap that tickle the part of your brain that leads to addiction. That's not even getting into all the "Gamergate" trash that frequently piles up around it.

I think video games have a lot of potential as a storytelling medium, but for the most part it's still in its infant stage despite enjoying unprecedented success in recent years.

On one of the very first Penny Arcade DLC podcasts Mike (Gabe) discusses the veracity of gaming as a hobby. His argument is very similar to the OP's, If he weren't playing video games, what would he be doing? Watching Survivor (a timely reference) or some other reality TV show. It should be, at the very least, comparable to that sort of activity.

Kids should probably go outside. I like going outside. Outside is fun. But holding the fact that your children don't play video games as a point of pride is stupid. The man stars in movies. I know people who spend all their free time watching movies, and it's definitely comparable to spending all your time playing video games.

I feel that whenever I become a parent that I definitely don't want my kids spending all day watching tv, on the computer, or playing video games. Any obsession like that just isn't healthy mentally or physically. Unfortunately though, video games are always a scape goat for obsessive consumption of entertainment in the business for some reason, probably because it's so new to the industry and how it's seen as childish by society, so it's an easy target.

On a quite honest note though, video games are kind of bad. For every great game with a well thought out story with good themes and innovative gameplay, there are more games that are purposely designed to be addictive to consumers to prolong game time to justify for the price tag or subscription fee. If you think about how MMOs are designed, Diablo esque games,multiplayer shooters or really any game with a reward/loot system, the whole point is that there is a reward system running in the background that visually shows the player that they are constantly progressing their characters to be "stronger" (I.E. "cool/sexy" armor and weapons). It's kind of screwed up when you think about it, because it's something that is literally designed to keep you hooked in just to make a bit more profit. Of course, it's still up to people to limit themselves and their kids on how much time they are playing.

@giantlennonx_x: Clearly they're just bitter about video games because they suck at them. :)

In all seriousness, like others have said, it's just being close-minded. A hobby being ''wasteful'' is a strange excuse, because really every and any hobby can be considered pointless. Why do you bother knitting sweaters? They're itchy. Why do you collect stamps if you're not using them for mailing anything? Dennis the menace is just gonna mess them up anyway...oh wait a minute...

There's still a Stigma around videogames that there for nerds and whatnot I guess, otherwise I really don't know. Honestly though you should like what you like and not let others dictate over what should of should not be enjoyed