Thankfully, Gamers Over A Certain Age Are Still “Weird”

In so many ways, it's a relief. Bear with me here.

The News:

NBC's Today Show welcomed TV personality Donny Deutsch in a segment entitled, "The Other View: Getting A Guy's Perspective On Love." If you didn't know, Deutsch is the host of the relationship show, "The Big Idea," where various advice is given on topics that relate to the social lives of men and women. At one point, Deutsch was asked the quesetion: "Is it normal for men to play games in their 40s?"

He replied- "When you're 30, there should be something more on your mind than video games, that's it." The hosts had a laugh at that and simply called any gamer over a certain age "weird."

The Opinion:

I could say the average age of a gamer in this country is 37 years of age and rising. I could say that according to those "in the know," video games are just as mainstream as any other entertainment industry. I could say that in my experience, gamers are by far the most intelligent of all fan groups based around entertainment (with the exception of readers).

But in truth, I'm happy to hear that the media hasn't caught up and in fact, hasn't grown up, either. I'm happy to hear it because as far as I can tell, none of these people are qualified to do anything but smile pretty for the cameras. They're perfectly willing to speak about any topic, regardless of their knowledge on the matter. All this being the case, why should we care what these talking heads say? Why does it even matter?

Over the years, I've found that it's vastly preferable to be in the minority; to be "weird." All the "weird" kids got As. All the "weird" people created some of the finest pieces of art the world has ever known. All the "weird" people went to MIT and Harvard. …all the "weird" people are running the world. And they know that the masses who call them "weird" are…well, not very bright.