Gamer isolation • Non-Gaming • Social • Eurogamer.net

Jetset_UK 18 Jan 2005 17:10:45 3,578 posts
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I dont know if anyone here has similar problems, but I seem to be the only person in my group of friends whose really into gaming. Sure I know peeps with Xboxes PS2's etc, but they tend to be used more as dust collectors then a route to virtual reality bliss.

Sure we'll sometimes go round to someones house and play a bit of pro evo with a few beers, but be down the pub of a Friday, and mention 'that new handheld Nintendo have brought out', and I get puzzled looks. I've a chum who lives in London, whose in a flatshare, and their entire house is networked, I'm greeen with envy!

This is why I would never move to a flat without a broadband connection, I value my links to fellow geeks, here on EG and via online games.

Deleted user 18 January 2005 17:13:42

I'm in the same boat exactly.

My friends are all gamers, but none fall into the category I am in. In a way it's good, as it stops me going beyong the geek point of no return.

Juninho 18 Jan 2005 17:15:00 1,825 posts
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Me too, exactly the same.

Would love a load of mates to be all Xbox Live'd up but alas, its not to be.

"why do you have three consoles?"
"i wanted to play games on them all"
"couldnt you get that game for PS2?"

etc etc etc

StixxUK 18 Jan 2005 17:16:05 8,755 posts
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kalel wrote:
My friends are all gamers, but none fall into the category I am in. In a way it's good, as it stops me going beyong the geek point of no return.

I do find that when I'm around certain people, I can geek out with them on certain subjects (be it films, games or music) and totally isolate anyone else that might be around very easily. So it's probably a blessing in disguise

Decoded 18 Jan 2005 17:17:22 4,426 posts
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Bah, gaming is supposed to replace a social life. Or is that just me?

Spanky 18 Jan 2005 17:23:32 15,037 posts
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I'm with you decoded, i can count my tangible mates on one hand. I know far more people virtually, i actually like it that way. Even virtual people can get bored of my focused academicly geeky conversations.

Deleted user 18 January 2005 17:27:32

Spanky wrote:
I'm with you decoded, i can count my tangible mates on one hand. I know far more people virtually, i actually like it that way. Even virtual people can get bored of my focused academicly geeky conversations.

Yeah. What annoys me is the sympathy I occasionaly get. People think I'm this way through some sort of inability to socialise, and therefore I have no choice but to make friends online, as only they are as lifeless as me!

I actually prefer is this way.

Jetset_UK 18 Jan 2005 17:31:08 3,578 posts
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I don't think I'm down the road of geekiness enough to class online friends as close to real-life ones. This is probably because I havn't met any of them in real life.

Maybe I'll come to the next geek meet, take that next step in geekiness.

Dirtbox 18 Jan 2005 17:37:10 92,595 posts
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Post deleted

Deleted user 18 January 2005 17:41:37

Met girl I am now in a relationship with on a forum, we then became good friends and it blossomed from there. Do I ever tell anyone that? Yeah right.

Edited by Mr Sleep at 17:42:01 18-01-2005

Spanky 18 Jan 2005 17:46:37 15,037 posts
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Yeah well while they are talking shite about gh3y bollocks like football and stealing cars we're off saving the universe from the scourge of the Dark Ing, layabout scum, sausage factory for the lot of them.

Decoded 18 Jan 2005 18:00:24 4,426 posts
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Fruit_Salad wrote:
No, it's my life, not yours! I'll live it as I want, not the way you want or the way you consider having a exciting life.

Amen to that.

Spanky: Heh.

Jetset_UK 18 Jan 2005 18:44:42 3,578 posts
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tengu wrote:
Not an option for me. I've tried to get it and failed with Xbox Live. I don't use the PC for gaming.

I dont even use my consoles anymore, mainly coz theres only 1 decent TV in the house, and the missus obviously has to watch Big fuckin Brother, The O fuckin C, East fuckin enders, and Holly fuckin Oaks. Plus PC gaming is top notch atm at least until the next batch of consoles.

Monsta 18 Jan 2005 18:45:14 1,276 posts
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I have a theory that there is a 'Geek' gene. I'm a big gamer but also quite geeky when it comes to films (used to read 4 film mags and several websites and used to go to the cinema a couple of times a week)

I sort of the same with music and books

whether its wanting to know everything about these topic or just the fact that i like the escapism i don't know

Deleted user 18 January 2005 18:59:17

I wonder what percentage of suicides are gamers?

Something to ponder over in the bath tonight, as I polish my toaster.

Deleted user 18 January 2005 18:59:54

Dirtbox wrote:
I lead a secret double life, my friends can only guess at the sheer quantity of geekery that I'm capable of.

Bingo! That's me pretty much exactly. I don't try and hide it, it just never comes up.

mugwump 18 Jan 2005 19:09:22 654 posts
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Dirtbox wrote:
I lead a secret double life, my friends can only guess at the sheer quantity of geekery that I'm capable of.

I like this idea, and tend to stick by it. The problem is when people - whether they are friends or just acquaintances - try to engage me on the topic of gaming. Sometimes I'm unsure whether to hold back or just really let rip, so to speak. On occasion I can't even control myself, and it's only when I've noticed they've taken to being fascinated by the shoes on their feet that I realise I've "gone off on one". Pity the fool who takes interest in my hobby.

Ultimately, I'm a GAMER and I'm PROUD!

*ahem*

MikeD 18 Jan 2005 19:13:20 10,063 posts
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Ooh, I have double gamer isolation. Of my 'real world' friends I am the only one who games. But I am also more isolated from my online friends because I basically stopped doing multiplayer games, getting utterly bored by it. Always the same maps, always the same tactics, whining about practice, whining when losing a clan match. I got totally depressed. Many of those guys don't play much single player anymore, so I don't have much discussions about that.

Though I'd love to play multiplayer race-games again. Damn MS and their anti-modded xbox nonsense. If that hadn't happened I would have been online with you guys playing midtown madness/burnout/pgr2/whatever!

mugwump 18 Jan 2005 19:16:47 654 posts
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MikeD wrote:

Though I'd love to play multiplayer race-games again. Damn MS and their anti-modded xbox nonsense. If that hadn't happened I would have been online with you guys playing midtown madness/burnout/pgr2/whatever!

Have you not considered getting a switch fitted to your console? I don't appear to have problems playing on Live with my modchip turned off...

/runs off to check it's still working

MikeD 18 Jan 2005 19:18:46 10,063 posts
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Hmmm, but recently a lot of people got banned who had their chips turned off. That's what is scaring me off. There were all kinds of theories of how they did it, but I don't want to spend a lot of money on live (and I maintain it is a lot of money for a frontend, but alright) only to be banned immediately after.

mugwump 18 Jan 2005 19:20:53 654 posts
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MikeD wrote:
Hmmm, but recently a lot of people got banned who had their chips turned off. That's what is scaring me off. There were all kinds of theories of how they did it, but I don't want to spend a lot of money on live (and I maintain it is a lot of money for a frontend, but alright) only to be banned immediately after.

Good point, but you could always just use the free 2-month trial that comes with you next Live enabled purchase.

From what I've read, I ascertained that the problem resided with taking xbox's with upgraded hard disks on to Live. If you're still using the original 8gb one, there shouldn't be a problem.

MikeD 18 Jan 2005 19:23:51 10,063 posts
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mugwump wrote:
From what I've read, I ascertained that the problem resided with taking xbox's with upgraded hard disks on to Live. If you're still using the original 8gb one, there shouldn't be a problem.

That was one of the theories. But other people said that only happened if you first registered on live and then changed the HD. If you have a different already installed when you register it won't lead to banning.

mugwump 18 Jan 2005 19:31:26 654 posts
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MikeD wrote:

That was one of the theories. But other people said that only happened if you first registered on live and then changed the HD. If you have a different already installed when you register it won't lead to banning.

It's all speculation in the end isn't it? I'd put money on Bill Gates and his MS croonies logging in under different pseudonyms and spreading a few of his own nasty little rumours too

I'd recommend fitting a switch and grabbing yourself a trial disc. If you do end up being so unfortunate as to get banned, it's no great loss - bar the cost of a switch - as at this moment you've given up on Live anyway

MikeD 18 Jan 2005 19:33:33 10,063 posts
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Good plan, I reckon I might give it a try :-)

Sid-Nice 18 Jan 2005 20:15:16 15,848 posts
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None of my friends play videogames any more, I think the last time I was in the local pub, I bored them with my enthusiasm towards gaming. I'd get the usual patter of " The kids have a PS2 in their bedroom, but I don't bother playing on it. " Questions like " What games do they have? " Were greeted with a blank look. When I mentioned the Gamecube one of my mates said " Wor Lass was going to get one from Argos. " But Wor David said " Those are for kids. " Wor David is 10 by the way. Theoretically there's 120 million this generation console owners world wide, I've had 4 PS2s, 2 Xboxes, 2 Cubes and 3 DCs. I bet the majority of the people on here are in the same boat as me. Analysts take the total sales figures but forget to allow for people having one or more of the same console, also they forget that many gamers own all 3 of the major consoles. Put these figures against the SNES and Mega Drive in their heyday and you'd be lead to believe that there's 40 million more gamers in this current era of consoles. Which isn't true.

Dilemma, you have all three consoles and a spare 40 quid, Halo 2, GTA San Andreas and Metroid Prime Echoes have all just been released, what do you buy? I came across some interesting info on Metroid Prime in the US, the original sold 1.2 million units with only a 4 million user base. Echoes only sold 470,000 with over an 8 million user base. My conclusion to this is..... If there hadn't been this crazy price war between Sony and Microsoft, which made owning all 3 consoles accessible to most people, then the Cube owner may of only had one choice.

terminalterror 18 Jan 2005 20:33:39 18,932 posts
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I haven't found any gamers at Oxford yet. I'm sure they must exist, but I haven't found them yet. To be fair, most of my friends here have no idea I am a gamer as it hasn't come up and I haven't brought it up. I suppose if I get a bigger room next time and buy a cheap TV so I can bring my gamecube, seeing the little purple box of joy proudly displayed might give them a clue.

Sid-Nice 18 Jan 2005 20:52:26 15,848 posts
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So what do you do? What do you and your friends and associates talk about other than rowing? They all might love gaming, but may look upon it as a past time for the working class layabout.

terminalterror 18 Jan 2005 23:11:31 18,932 posts
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Sid Nice wrote:
So what do you do? What do you and your friends and associates talk about other than rowing? They all might love gaming, but may look upon it as a past time for the working class layabout.

We don't talk about rowing either. Mostly we drink. That and watch children's TV on mondays at the Children's TV society. And whine that we have too much work, but then never do it until the last minute.

StixxUK 19 Jan 2005 00:34:33 8,755 posts
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Most of my friends are geeky to some degree - that's one of the main reasons I get on with them. It's actually quite funny how afraid some of them are of becoming too geeky, though. A lot of them seem to care far too much about being as mainstream as possible so nobody thinks they're weird.

I say do what the fuck you want and if people have a problem with it - it's THEIR problem. Unless they punch you or something.

pjmaybe 19 Jan 2005 08:49:24 70,666 posts
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Aside from you excellent chaps and chapesses, I'm the only "freak" in a gang of mates whose hobbies I'd say are far worse than mine, including stuff like stamp collecting (no, really!), a bloke who makes models of late 19th / early 20th century steamer tugs, another bloke who is into wargaming on little mini papier mache landscapes with napoleonic troops and a girl who is RILLY obsessive about the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" board / RPG game to the point where she plays it at least 4 times a week...

"But gaming, oh no, that's for nerds...!"

Peej