To what extent is Retro Gaming part of your Identity?

[T-Pac | 7,590]

Hobbies can be fundamental to who people are (both to themselves and to others), and I'm equally surprised when my friends and colleagues hardly know about my retro gaming interest as when they consider it one of my defining characteristics. 

So how much does retro gaming / collecting shape your identity?

-CasualCart

[Hammerfestus | 3,891]

I guess it’s a part of my identity but I don’t really bring it up in conversation except in situations where it would be weird not to.  If you come in my house it comes up sometimes as there’s an NES hooked up on top of the TV stand in the living room but it’s not something I’m generally comfortable bringing up.  I find it awkward.  Other than on here my collection is really only ever seen by service people working in my basement. HVAC guy is a big fan of my handiwork.  

[a3quit4s | 4,127]

I don’t really bring it up either. I work in my game room so on zoom meetings it’s all in the background. It’s a pretty good icebreaker, other than that I don’t really bring it up. No one else I know in real life has the same hobby so it makes little sense to talk about it. If people ask I’ll talk about it but that’s about it. 
 

Im way more likely to talk about my little man lol

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

Almost none. I’m definitely known as the Video Game Guy, but that’s mostly because I play Current gen and can chop it up with most people about almost any game. 
 

If the conversation about games gets deeper than usually I’ll show off on the collection, but that’s pretty few and far between. 

[Brickman | 4,020]

CasualCart always comes in with the good questions.

Video games, LEGO, books & film are my main hobbies and my friends and family definitely relate to me in that way. If a friend needs to know a good game, book or film  (old or new) they normally talk to me about it. My niece and nephew call me the gaming god (I'm really not haha) and a LEGO master (I wish).

As for myself, I think it shapes my identity a lot. I love building things with LEGO and I love relaxing with video games, a book or a film.

My collection has shifted towards Japanese versions of games, which ties in with my passion of learning the language and culture. So they all tie in together

[Gloves | 11,843]

Without this I am nothing. Please don't take it away.

[JamesRobot | 5,840]

Only my wife and you guys know what a true nerd I am.

If gaming ever comes up in conversation at work, people are always surprised when I tell em I play Nintendo.

"Oh I have a Switch.  Do you play Smash or Mario Kart?"

"No but my kids do.  I play original Nintendo."

"Like Nintendo 64 or Super Nintendo?"

"No, like 8 bit."

"Oh.  Wow.  Like, original original."

Yeeeeah. And that's usually where it ends.

[fcgamer | 4,754]

Very little. I identify first and foremost as a musician / artist, secondly as a cyclist. 

I generally don't mention games to people aside from a few close friends. It makes for some awkward moments though, when someone does come by my home, I mean the amount of games I own versus the time I actually play... people would think all I do is game, when it's not the case at all. 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,594]

Something similar to @JamesRobot

Overhear my developers talking about  some PC game

Me - "What are you guys talking about?"

Them - "Oh, this game.  Something old people like yourself haven't heard of"

Me - "THE FUCK I HAVEN'T"

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

14 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

Very little. I identify first and foremost as a musician / artist, secondly as a cyclist. 

I generally don't mention games to people aside from a few close friends. It makes for some awkward moments though, when someone does come by my home, I mean the amount of games I own versus the time I actually play... people would think all I do is game, when it's not the case at all. 

I get the same thing when people see my gameroom for the first time. 
 

“you must constantly play these”

”actually I spend far more time moving/cleaning/buying/researching then I spend playing”

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

13 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Something similar to @JamesRobot

Overhear my developers talking about  some PC game

Me - "What are you guys talking about?"

Them - "Oh, this game.  Something old people like yourself haven't heard of"

Me - "THE FUCK I HAVEN'T"

Old Man!

Its a weird feeling when you realize that the majority of years you’ve lived has occurred after high school. At least for me it was. 

[Tanooki | 4,953]

It’s a part but I never went broadcasting it around either. Even when I worked in office over a dozen years ago I had a little art of this or that I’d print off but gaming wasn’t front and center. 
 

yet for those who know me know I’ve kept stuff for decades and use it still so it just depends who I let in or not. 

[CMR | 522]

At first I wasn't sure what being a part of my identity meant, but then I remembered a story about people who tortured their kids by making every holiday and family outing about starwars.  They even named them after charcters in the film.  As much as I like old games, I'm nothing like that.  I wouldn't call it part of my identity.  It's just something I like to do.

[Tanooki | 4,953]

Furthest I ever went down that rabbit hole was naming my first cat Luna after the kitty in sailor moon.  Not that it’s a strange name for a cat though. 

[OptOut | 8,892]

This is a pretty deep question. Your identity is not something you are able to possess or control unilaterally, it is not just how you perceive yourself but how others perceive you. That means, in fact you have as many identities as there are people who know of you to conceive of you.

You can do a lot to control how others perceive you, of course, you can do many things to compose or construct the way you wish to be viewed. But the end result is very much not in your hands, it's in their heads.

So I have no idea how much of my identity is perceived to be that of a gamer or in gaming. I know it's very important to me, personally, and I consider it to be the most important secondary diversion of my life. But I certainly don't identify with myself on that basis, it's much more object oriented than self oriented for me. I care about the objects, and the experiences I have with them, not really how they reflect on me as a person.

So yeah I would say not a lot really, I don't think labelling oneself is particularly useful or even healthy.

[Estil | 1,265]

Well gaming and trading card collecting are my two main hobbies...so there's that.  Oh yeah, and reference book yearbooks...and reading my local newspaper archive...and...

[YOURTURN | 1,257]

Before I get into details, I want to make two things clear...

One...

And two...

With that said...

The top two things that I can easily say define who I am are both TRPGs (Tabletop/Table Talk Roleplaying Games) and CRPGs (Computer/Console Roleplaying Games). With the former has me looking for something that has a definite console game vibe. Sadly, however, ATLUS does not seem to be willing to reprise their Shin Megami Tensei TRPG stuff.

Which leads to the other part...

Both my pre- and post-NES days helped in their own ways. But in reality my NES days had the biggest impact on who I am. So much that I find it harder to not collect Switch games than anything I have tried collecting. Mostly because the Switch gives me the fun feeling I used to get (when I was into the NES).

With more that can be said. But I'll leave that for the updates. 

[DarkTone | 988]

Not a big part of my life. My friends play newer games, and explaining older games gets tedious. That being said, they know me for wearing many hats. Trained in boxing, artist, music lover and gamer too. 

[DefaultGen | 5,436]

I hang out with you nerds online because in the real world no one cares about old Nintendo games and how cool it would be to find Stadium Events at Goodwill.

[Dr. Morbis | 2,092]

Compared to my life in the real world, hanging out here on VGS and similar sites feels like a secret identity.  In fact, if someone who didn't know me were to enter my house for the first time, they wouldn't even know that I play video games at all unless I specifically made a point to show them my game room and collection.  And since I only play old-school games on CRT's, I don't even have a single video game system or item in my main living room.  So, to answer the question: outside of my house in the real world, Retro gaming is ZERO percent of my identity; inside my house, it's one of my hobbies, so maybe 33%...

[fcgamer | 4,754]

57 minutes ago, Dr. Morbis said:

Compared to my life in the real world, hanging out here on VGS and similar sites feels like a secret identity.  In fact, if someone who didn't know me were to enter my house for the first time, they wouldn't even know that I play video games at all unless I specifically made a point to show them my game room and collection.  And since I only play old-school games on CRT's, I don't even have a single video game system or item in my main living room.  So, to answer the question: outside of my house in the real world, Retro gaming is ZERO percent of my identity; inside my house, it's one of my hobbies, so maybe 33%...

People generally feel bad for me when they see my crt tv, they figure it's because I can't afford anything else.

[T-Pac | 7,590]

@Hammerfestus @a3quit4s @MrWunderful @JamesRobot @Reed Rothchild @Dr. Morbis

It’s interesting to hear whether or not you share your hobby with people, but your identity runs a bit deeper than just what you broadcast to the world haha.

For example, I don’t talk about my games that much - not because they aren’t important to me, but because the average person usually can’t relate much. It’s not a reflection of my investment in the hobby, but of my discretion about what people can grab onto in conversation. It shapes the external element of my identity, but not my personal take. @OptOut explained that distinction nicely.

I guess the real question is: If you removed retro gaming from your life, would it feel like a big part of you is missing? Or would it be negligible?

-CasualCart
 

[T-Pac | 7,590]

12 hours ago, Brickman said:

Video games, LEGO, books & film are my main hobbies and my friends and family definitely relate to me in that way.

Now I finally understand the name change from "Shmup" to "Brickman"!

-CasualCart

12 hours ago, Gloves said:

 

How can this be so adorable and so heavy at the same time haha?

-CasualCart

[OptOut | 8,892]

5 minutes ago, CasualCart said:

I guess the real question is: If you removed retro gaming from your life, would it feel like a big part of you is missing? Or would it be negligible?

As my primary hobby I couldn't imagine another pursuit fulfilling me in a way that gaming and game collecting does. I would have practically nothing left to spend my disposable income on, or to do in my free time, as the only other thing I really like doing is watching YouTube (which I usually also do whilst gaming).

So yeah in that respect it's a huge part of my life. I still don't think that really impinges on my IDENTITY too much though, like I don't really place significant aspects of my esteem in what I do within my gaming hobby.

[a3quit4s | 4,127]

11 minutes ago, CasualCart said:

@Hammerfestus @a3quit4s @MrWunderful @JamesRobot @Reed Rothchild @Dr. Morbis

I guess the real question is: If you removed retro gaming from your life, would it feel like a big part of you is missing? Or would it be negligible?

-CasualCart
 

Removing just retro gaming wouldn’t really bother me. I mean if someone came here and stole it all or my house burnt down id be pissed at the amount of time and effort that was spent but I’d be compensated heavily by homeowners and I would decide whether or not to build it back up. Removing gaming as a whole would impact me more as I’m way more likely to play current gen stuff vs what we would consider the retro games. Like Optout said though there are a lot of other things that go along with collecting so I would definitely have to find a new hobby to keep me engaged in something. Maybe that is the answer for me collecting is just a hobby to me it isn’t my whole life. If I had to find a new hobby that’s fine. I’m not saying I would choose to just stop collecting and sell everything because I like the hobby.