Video games - alienating or socializing?

It aches me to acknowledge but I no longer have close friends who would tolerate casual playing games as a social activity you can do during a meeting at your place, no matter if it was something Kinect-based or something hot-seat based.

I remember when I was in different circles, and playing Heroes of Might and Magic hot-seat style or casually playing Xbox even among non-gamers was a perfectly normal thing to do, actually one of the most fun, socializing experiences you could have.

I feel like I'm alienated in this, because my wife wouldn't ever want to play anything with me, either, and I don't have friends who could come over and play even for a moment, too.

Now, the only hope is my daughter (who is yet to be born) will pick up gaming, so that I will frigging change the chemistry under my roof.

Do you think casual gaming for some time when friends are around is a cool thing to do or is it a total no-life-ism?

Thanks God for Xbox Live or whatever, but it'd be nice to fool around couch-style MP.

Depends on the game. Eve Online can be alienating on a completely different league to most games, yet it can also be by far the most socialable gaming experience you will have

COD is just alienating... for obvious reasons, also it turns the most sanest of poeple into a complete bellend

LBP or Worms or COD Zombies - very socialable games

Well there is certainly no more days of walking to blockbuster with friends and renting a few games, and then playing in the same room...

Either way its Time Consuming.

Wow someone who is in the same boat as me.

My wife isn't against video games, but sees it as a waste of time and yet she'll quite happily sit down and think nothing of it while watching recordings of her favourite soaps for near 7 hours, but I stick my game in, play for an hour and she is already going on at me for turning it off.

I think alot of games now tho are alienating but at the same time socializing the gaming world, gone are the days of having a group of mates over and having a laugh with a game, because most games are complicated and require a serious sit down session with them, and there isn't many split screen or fun titles, but yet they've made it so you can play online with 100s of people, so it actually benefits you if your mates stay at home and play online with you, which is odd.

It's a real shame I used to love my mates to come round and we'll have a laugh on a game.

I'm in the same boat as you, I have 2 daughters, 1 who is coming up to 3 and another who is 3months old, my only hope is that I introduce her to games early on and the whole house dynamic will change and i'll play more games, which is a nice change.

you say ThankGod for Xbox Live but reality is, Xbox Live and PSN have actually destroyed the group couch community, due to adding more online gaming and not local gaming, there are few game exceptions but not that many like they used to be.

i've always had friends that just would come to my place or i would go to theirs to play games, we usually do campaigns and i hope to stay that way, my gf watches me play while we talk but sadly she sucks at games.

I got together with some friends two nights ago to play Mario Kart Wii. The "group couch community" is alive and well.

See this is where Nintendo Shine, Mario Kart and games like that, perfect machine for great fun Wii or Wii U well worth having to keep the Group Couch Community alive, well in I have to invest in a Wii U, I have a Wii but my god the picture quality on my 60in HdTv is awful to the point we can't play it, and that sensor bar is so annoying to get right.

I consider video games from time consuming, anti-social to socializing. All depending on the game.

It's a bit alienating for me. I don't have any Nintendo systems, which are the only consoles worth a damn for 'parties.' Although I have friends with the N64, Gamecube, and WiiU, so I get to play Mario Kart/Smash on a semi-regular basis

I play with some friends on Xbox Live, but for the most part I prefer single player games.

Where I live its alienating. :(

Back in the LAN days, it was socializing. In the past, I even joined some real-world pilots in LAN sessions of FSX at one of their homes. Same thing with BF1942/BF2/Quake2/GLQuake. The only game I played "online" via modem was Duke Nukem 3D with my supervisor and coworkers. That was fun too. But, I preferred the security of LAN. If someone was being a dick in the game, I can throw a beer can at him. He He. Fun memories.

Nowadays, I play games alone or with the kids.

The catalyst of this was my family recently visiting me with mom being 55 and dad 56, brother 31 (old-school gamer like me) and even mom joined me in Dance Central or something else on Kinect and she had fun, but then my 24-year old female friend visited me and she was no fun, even after 2 beers she would categorically say no to playing anything whatsoever, even Dance Central. She said she saw some videos of it once and it didn't look fun - guess what I had the same mental snapshot of it, yet upon playing it I realized it's super cool (the difference is I instinctively know watching is helluva different to playing). It was no-no of the sternest kind. I guess she would've said no to anything Nintendo too (and this is scary). It's a shame because I do like her. Hell, we even used to date, and we're still the best friend, but this "no fun" attitude and in such young people is what is killing me.

when friends come over if we play something it's always something old-school on Nes, Genesis or Snes like Contra, Ninja Turtles, Super Spike V'ball, etc. Modern games we play them online but we have not played anything this past year since none of us like most of the MP games that are out. Some tried Destiny but dropped it in like a week. We are just waiting for Uncharted 4 to be honest, we all loved the MP of UC2 and UC3 and played them for years because of the insane variety that they offer (at least UC3's). If Uncharted 4 doesn't offer such a robust online component too I doubt any of us would buy it though. But most of the time when we get together we rather go to a pop or something to play pool and check out some chicks.

I am 29 years old and have been gaming since I was 6. I've played so many games over the years, it's hard to keep count. I rarely run into someone who has spent a lifetime like me playing a diverse library(except for you Gamespotter). One thing I will admit is that the older you get the harder it is to make close friends. And if gaming is your hobby, it might become increasingly difficult to find people your age who enjoy the same form of entertainment. But unlike 20 years ago, it's much easier to find people who love it. I would definitely check out a website like meetup.com. You might find a group in your area that enjoys playing videogames.

I also think that the platform effects how you play together. One advantage PC gamers have is strong online communities that translate into real life friendships. Surprisingly there are still a lot of LAN parties that happen. And if you're into gaming on the couch a Wii U is definitely the console to have in the home. What I learned is that once you meet a couple of people who like to game, you learn that they have friends who do as well, and so on. A lot of it has to do with getting out there and meeting new people. I've been to a few parties where I might have been the only "hardcore" gamer but if you throw Smash Bros, Dance Central, or Mario Kart on screen people will sit in front of it for hours. We gamers are stimulated by audio and video too. It's so easy to run into them at music venues, records stores, art galleries, film festivals, comic book stores, etc.

I'm actually in the process of buying a home. I have three reasons for this. I'm not paying rent, I have a place to call my own, and GAME NIGHTS!

Depends on what group of friends I hang with. Some like games, some hate them.

It's good only when your friends have similar tastes. All my gaming friends only play sports game and little else. So I feel alienated too.

It's still very social for me, but for the most part it's all moved online now.

I did play 7 player Super Smash Bros on New Years and Christmas though. That was really fun.

I honestly could not give a shit. I enjoy a good single player without some dickweed yapping next to me.

I enjoy the hobby because I can be happy playing a game by myself in peace and quiet, but I can also grab a group of friends or family around the couch and play some games, whether they are experienced gamers or complete novices.

At Christmas, I had my father-in-law hop into a few races in Mario Kart 8 and Smash Bros. My wife, her sisters, and I were laughing pretty hard how he was doing. A ton of fun. And NintendoLand has been some amazing times with friends doing Mario Chase and the Luigi's Mansion game.

With friends, I'd prefer going to the arcade or a LAN cafe. online, eh, how much can u bond over voice chat and home is too restrcitive (have to take turns to play).

Pretty much depends on the game, and the console. Im lucky to have a close-knit group friends who enjoy video games i suppose. Probably not as much as me, but they all still enjoy couch co-op. Which works out well since we all enjoy games like Smash Bros., and Mario Kart. Hell we even started a couple Dokapon Sessions A Couple Months Back.

I'd love to get a group of them together so we could start a Diablo 3 couch co-op group maybe, but xbox one controllers are so damn expensive.

Couch Co-Op is still be a big thing to some people, but thats up to developers, and console manufacturers to embrace it again. And not put up so many barriers like price of accessories, or a general lack of the feature.

I think games should be a social experience. And this can even refer to games that are strictly single-player as well. Games like Skyrim, animal crossing, Deus Ex, or even something like GTA. These singe player games that let you craft your own experiences, I find are some of the best social interactions involving video games.

Used to play games with brother, friends and other family members a long time ago. Now only I play games and almost never touch multiplayer. I prefer Single Player games but I'd love to play with someone again. Luckily my fiance is interested in gaming as well, so one day,,, for sure.

The only time my wife was interested about games is when I played LA Noire, on 360 so she played it and enjoyed too and then she had a stint with Alan Wake on PC, she found it harder to control and ultimately I thought she's become less interested so later on I've simply uninstalled the game but the following night she was like "let's play" and I was like, "dude, I've uninstalled it". She hasn't touched anything since. Rhythm Paradise on Nintendo DS has positively amused her, though.

I remember my friends and I would get together on weekends and go down to the store with our allowance and buy a bunch of various junk food. We would then rent a game from Hollywood video, walk back home, then have long night gaming sessions.

I sometimes miss those days but even after over 15 years we still play games together and chat on skype while being hundreds to thousands of miles apart.

Gaming can be either alienating or socializing depending on the person.

Some people have a limit view of video games

Sometimes they will change their mind once shown how much variety is out there and that there can be a video game that suits their taste.

I had some friends who said they hated anime because they thought all anime was part of a single genre. I then asked what kind of stuff they like to read and watch and was able to find an anime that they enjoyed.

This seems like more a blog about your life than a topic of discussion.

Xbox is not that good for local gaming partys. Get a Wii/WiiU with Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Mario Party, NintendoLand etc

If me and my friends are going to hang out, we're not gaming.