The embarrassment of playing with a handheld console in public

Is it embarrassing for you too?

  • Yes

  • No

Results are only viewable after voting.
ChoosableOne said:
I have a trip tomorrow, and as someone nearing his 40s, I feel a bit embarrassed to play on my Switch(sorry kirby) or Miyoo Mini Plus in public. For now, my only option is to play Balatro on my phone, because people will probably think it's poker — and poker is considered a cool game.

Any advice?
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Who gives a damn what anyone thinks?
 
I played Tetris on my original GameBoy on a festival last year. Guess what: Like 5 people asked me if they could play a round.
Besides that, you shoudln't give a fuck what strangers think of you.
 
BennyBlanco said:
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i mean, right now i doubt many normal people would know what a 3ds is.
 
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As someone in their early 40's... I genuinely don't give a fuck what a bunch of strangers on a train/plane etc think.
I took a 2 hour train trip for work about 3 months back and played Mario Kart and Enter the Gungeon on my Switch for most of that. It was a great way to pass the time.

Trust me, you reach an age when you care considerably less about what other people (mostly strangers) think about you.
99.8% of people passing by you on street don't know you're there. They're in their own little worlds dealing with their own shit.

If playing games brings you enjoyment then fucking do it. Life's too short to worry about the opinions of strangers.
 
A.Romero said:
I'm 41 and travel often. I carry a Switch Lite with me and play it in public sometimes but more often I play Magic Arena or read manga which I would think would be more embarassing but don't give a shit. Nobody pays attention and if they do that's their problem, not mine.

The only time I felt a little (just a little) embarassment was this one time I was reading a book in the plane. The book is called "she comes first" and is pretty much about how to give oral sex. Most of it is words so it's no problem but this one time I turned the page and there was a full page ultra detailed diagram of a vagina. It looked like an anatomy book but I still closed it really fast, mostly because I didn't want to risk offending the passenger in the next seat.
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Over It Comedy GIF by Superstore
 
The idea of someone needing to play video games outside of the home has always been cringe - it's just getting even worse because the handhelds are getting so large. You look like a boomer on their iPad.
 
powder said:
The idea of someone needing to play video games outside of the home has always been cringe - it's just getting even worse because the handhelds are getting so large. You look like a boomer on their iPad.
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Do you only use all of your gadgets at home like some kind of early 20th Century-wannabe?

"Oh it's so cringe to use the phone outside as my grandpa only had a landline. Listening to music OUTSIDE?! Oh no, my grandfather only had a grammophone so he never listened outside of his house and neither shall I."
 
Trilobit said:
Do you only use all of your gadgets at home like some kind of early 20th Century-wannabe?

"Oh it's so cringe to use the phone outside as my grandpa only had a landline. Listening to music OUTSIDE?! Oh no, my grandfather only had a grammophone so he never listened outside of his house and neither shall I."
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Of course I use my phone all the time in public - I was referring to GAMING devices. Gameboy was one thing, now it's like a whole goddamn 16:9 horizontal TV you're carrying around, it's awkward.
 
powder said:
No. I think that's an expected place to play games like on flights, etc.

Sitting in a coffee shop playing Fortnite on your laptop is cringe.
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Ok get you. Don't think you where clear in your post. You just said outside the home.

Lots of situations outside the home where I'd play a Switch/Game.
 
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ChoosableOne said:
I have a trip tomorrow, and as someone nearing his 40s, I feel a bit embarrassed to play on my Switch(sorry kirby) or Miyoo Mini Plus in public. For now, my only option is to play Balatro on my phone, because people will probably think it's poker — and poker is considered a cool game.

Any advice?
Click to expand...

Nobody and I mean nobody gives a s**t about you playing your console. Doesn't matter your age at all. In fact, it looks interested and you're having fun. If anything people would probably wish they were playing or at the very least wished they could do something like this as opposed to death scrolling TikTok. Keep going. Also if I saw someone in their 50's, 60's heck 90's playing I'd be loving seeing them enjoy it. Dont stop!!
 
I just played an hour or so of TotK at the Buick dealership the other day while waiting for them to get to my oil change/tire rotation. No one cared, least of all me. *shrug*
 
You just have to act like an alpha male. Put it in tabletop mode as visible as possible to others, put the volume on max, and blast Kirby into their ears whether they like it or not.
 
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Zannegan said:
I just played an hour or so of TotK at the Buick dealership the other day while waiting for them to get to my oil change/tire rotation. No one cared, least of all me. *shrug*
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99% of people wont care. Even if they did, it would be for that moment of time and 10 minutes later wont even remember it.

Only way anyone would care and laugh forever is if something outrageous happened like a gamer is playing a game freaking out or drops it and it shatters into a million pieces where some plastic bits fly over and hit their shoes.

For example, if anyone concerned about public image let's saying rolling around in a wheelchair. I think everyone seeing that will stare for a few seconds. But after that who cares. I bet there isn't one person on this board who can remember too many distinct times they saw a wheelchair guy and it was so unique they remember the incident and person forever. Probably 99.9% of handicap peope weve all seen in life we dont remember anymore.

I can remember two incidents in life. I was at a theme park as a kid and saw handicap twins who were both in a wheelchair beside each other. They were near our fam so we all saw them. Wasnt really funny or anything, but some reason it stuck in life probably because there were two of them. And the other was in grade 8 where a bunch of us helped out the handicap class in art class paint. We all got paired up for a couple months and I faintly remember what she looked like and her name was Nancy. Other than that, I dont remember one incident of any handicap people I've ever seen walking around or shopping.

So for anyone that concerned about self image, unless you do something really out there making a scene so people pull out their cam the vast majority of people wont care and will walk on by. They got other things to think about in life. It's like all the people who make a big stink about politics or LBTQ etc... People dont focus on it like you may do. It's not they dont care. It's just that it's not their fight and they got other issues they are dealing with instead of spending all day thinking abut gender issues 24/7.
 
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Living in a country that is very judgmental (Italy...) where gaming is sometime considered a social stigma at my age (49) I honestly do not give a f* to it and whenever anyone (and this happens sadly....) asks me "but are you gaming at your age ???" I always have to remind them that at my age (high level position, family with child nearly in university etc) I can do whatever.. But that is seen anyway as a sort of Peter Pan syndrome (but I never stopped playing from when I first touched a commodore64...)... or a "strange" thing that I do probably because of my work (do not work in gaming but anyway in sw industry)... Luckily my work environment is filled with like-minded people so I can talk about VG and being myself. But there have been times when I had to hide that from society (mostly during high school.. at university was way easier as I did Microelectronics Engineering... :)).. Hell I was also part of the demo-scene (coder), participating to demo parties around Europe (and winning sometimes...) and I had to hide that from all of my non-sceners friends otherwise I would have been considered not cool and "strange" (in a bad way)... Nowadays anyway it seems easier.. other people care less about your social image... but yes, depending on culture it could be bad.
 
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50 something here and playing MKW on S2 on the train.

I remember one time I was playing some awesome Atlus RPG on my 3DS, and there were two gossipy old women sitting near me.
I had headphones on but I still heard them disrespecting me as an older guy playing video games.
Later, I also heard them say that they'd rather their own children commit violence against others (knifing people) than smoke weed. Says it all really.
 
Update: I didn't bring my Switch with me, but took the miyoo minii. First flight; no go. I'm waiting for the second flight. I think I'm gonna go for it. Kirby still looks cool in 2d anyway.
 
Play your games and forget about what people think.

These same people that will judge you are social media/tiktok doom scrollers who have a breakdown if they can't look at social media every couple of minutes.
 
the amount of shit "influencers" and "tiktokkers" do today in public is 1000x more embarrassing then just minding your own business jamming tetris or whatever.

just play and who cares what others think.
 
I have a similar problem, but it's not that I feel embarrassed, it's just that I don't want to attract attention from others.
And the biggest fear is someone stealing/destroying my Switch 2 :/
 
I play only on long flights. The other time I have more interesting things to do like read, do work or just chat.

But when I play, I don't give a fuck what others think, even though in general it's a bit embarrassing.
 
I think that pulling out your vidya when you have 15 minutes of dead time is kind of cringe yea.

But on a long flight or subway ride or waiting in the airport for hours then yea that's what it is there for. Although when I commuted via subway every day I read.
 
Boss Man said:
I voted yes, but only because I've been there.

I think if you're a single man with any motivation to attract women, you should not play Nintendo at the airport.

Now that I'm married with kids, I'll play pokemon with shorts, socks and sandals.
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I mean no one's going to the airport to attract chicks. We go there to get to places. And to drink $15 beers at 4AM because the airport is a lawless place.
 
On the way home, I entered the bus and immediatly pulled my handheld PC to play Clair Obscur
The cute young lady sitting on the next spot just looked at me with a disgusted face
I gently asked:
-'Any problem, mam?'
-'Y-yes. What the hell is this?'
-'It's a ROG Ally.'
-'This is horrible. I can't stand it.'
-'What is the problem?'
Then, she started crying and said:
'This... this is unacceptable. You are running Windows on your ROG Ally, but the SteamOS is already out. Go home and install it'.
 
You will be judged negatively on average. Will the only people around you be strangers you'll never see again?

The games being played can affect it for those who can see the screen. Sports games or racing games will have the least negative effect on average. Call of Duty, or anything that would pass as Call of Duty would work too. One thing to stay away from is anything anime or child-like cartoony. Even as a gamer, if I see a guy playing a switch in public with anthropomorphic animals on the screen, I'm going to keep the door open that he could be some type of deviant predator.
 
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I dont feel embarrassed per se.

Am just not able to be absorbed in games properly while on the go. So cannot enjoy them.

I do prefer music or netflix while on the go.
 
this attitude has definitely affected the handheld market, particularly when dumb kids think it's more "adult" looking to hold a phone than a Switch or 3DS or whatever

The sad reality is that I always pop a glance at what people are playing, and 99% of phone game time is spent on games that are have the mental engagement of a rock, while anyone playing a Switch or Retro system will be engaging in something with genuine challenges and systems requiring more than 1% of your brain.

It's sad. Phone games simply make people stupider. Don't post exceptions, because no one plays anything but idiot games on phones in reality, the outliers are like 1/1,000,000 players.
 
simpatico said:
You will be judged negatively only average. Will the only people around you be strangers you'll never see again?

The games being played can effect it by those who can see the screen. Sports games or racing games will have the best effect on average. One thing to stay away from is anything anime or child-like cartoony. Even as a gamer, if I see a guy playing a switch in public with anthropomorphic animals on the screen, I'm going to keep the door open that he could be some type of deviant predator.
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Unless you actually decided to call the cops on the guy, your opinion doesn't matter. He is happy, playing his game, while you live in fear of shadows. If you are so sure that he is a bad person why don't you call the cops? Or you know you are just being unreasonable and making shit up to fill superior.
 
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