I made the mistake of having my hobbies listed on my social channels before. The moment I commented on any article at all, especially when it was outside the theme of gaming, trolls liked to poke fun at the fact that I was a guy in my 40’s still playing games.

Two facts hurt in regards to those comments – one, I’m still in my 30’s (thank you very much) and two, video games are supposedly only acceptable to play up to a certain age in life.

I can categorically and wholeheartedly tell you that it’s one of the worst opinions I’ve ever heard in regards to anything – and I’ve had people tell me they didn’t like Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.

When I think of video games as a hobby I can think right back to the my childhood where it all started. From racing through Sonic the Hedgehog levels on the Sega Mega Drive, to later wandering through Shadow Moses in Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation One, to casually playing Call of Duty online with friends in the Covid-19 era, just to stay in touch while the world seemed to be ending outside.

When I think about my relationship with games up to now I don’t ever feel like it became broken or strained just because of my age. If anything, my love of video games has grown to be an important part of my life and one of the areas I can find some peace in a busy life.

Video games are more than just cartoons or fake characters on a screen. While trolls will try to make fun of people of a certain age for enjoying video games I could guarantee the same would not be said for people who like comic book movies or series.

I always found this on its own to be quite hypocritical and something that ignored games for what they really are. Video games have become one of the best storytelling devices on the planet. I’ve lost count at the number of video games with a far better storyline than some movies or series I’ve watched.

Fallout, The Last of Us, Uncharted, and even Super Mario have made it to the screen in TV and movie adaptations respectively, and they wouldn’t have got there without stories to back them up. I was thrilled when I heard that one of my favourite games of the last few years Ghost of Tsushima is getting its own movie adaptation.

While I hope that the director does the game the justice it deserves, nothing pleases me more than seeing something I’ve enjoyed in the gaming world make it to the general audience.

While being one of the best means to consuming a story, games are also a way for us to switch off. It seems to be part of the stigma that if you play games you must not have any friends, you must not be in a relationship, you must play games all day, and you mustn’t have any job or social life.

The stigma on gaming in your adult years couldn’t be more wrong. As someone with a steady 9-5 job, a toddler at home, and bills to pay, gaming brings me that peace at the end of the day when I have that little bit of time to myself.

I could never understand why a hobby that genuinely doesn’t hurt anyone could be portrayed as something that affects my day to day life, whether it’s their business or not. Why isn’t the same said to someone who binges a Netflix series in the evening after work, or to someone who spends even more time on their laptop?

It’s been proven that video games can help to reduce stress, anxiety and depression, while also boosting cognitive thinking and problem solving. Just like a movie or book we also often feel ourselves becoming attached to a character, empathising with their struggle and even maybe seeing part of our own lives in the story.

I could go on, but I know that video games have had such a positive affect on my life. Growing up they were a means of escape, a way to dive into a world for an hour or two while I forgot my troubles in the real world.

Of course, there are far more important things in my life like my family, which I cherish every day. But that doesn’t mean I can’t find peace in a video game at the end of the day when I find myself on my own and in need of a breather from the slog.

The stigma attached to gaming as an adult needs to stop. I read about people like Shirley Curry and feel nothing but admiration, and I hope that I too can reach an age where I can decide to retire from gaming. Although I hope I never have to.

Don’t be a begrudging p***k all your life and let people play.

Noob Republic