Recently a friend of mine mentioned that some relatives had expressed disapproval of her love of video gaming. They seemed to believe that gaming was a child's hobby and any adult who participates needs to grow up. Hearing that really got me thinking about gaming, gamers, and our place in the pecking order of society.

In our youths, gamers take an awful lot of crap; we're called geeks and the cool kids all laugh at us. Later in life things don't really change, it's just a co-worker chiding us instead of the captain of the football team.

Why, as adults, do gamers accept and endure such criticism for their hobby?

The problem is one of perception and exposure. For many, the term "Video Game" still conjures images of hoards of children huddled around Pac Man or Pole Position at the local arcade. These folks simply haven't yet been exposed to the current state of the art and are blind to gaming's evolution as an art form.

But can you blame them for the way they feel if they've never witnessed a Sci-Fi adventure like Mass Effect? How can they comprehend the tension a video game can create if they've never had the opportunity to sneak through Metal Gear Solid 4? And if they've never strapped on Guitar Hero III can you expect them to have felt the rush of the virtual crowd? So don't let those same people tell you that gaming is just for kids and don't think for one second that you are immature because you enjoy playing video games.

My advice to you is to help them experience it first-hand.

Invite them over and let them pick up a Wii remote for a few rounds of Bowling, Tennis, or Baseball and see just how realistic and addictive it can be. Then turn off all the lights and spook them with a little Silent Hill. Give them a headset and let them hear how social Call of Duty 4 or Halo 3 can be. Of course, feel free to insert some of your favourites into the mix as well.

Sure, there will always be a couple of stubborn folks who will remain satisfied in their ignorance but then again when TV first came out there were people who called it the "Boob Tube" and claimed it wouldn't survive. And now the average household in the US owns at least two TV sets and spends more than half of their leisure time watching them!

So go out there and do your best to change people's minds but down get down when you run into the occasional silly rabbit who refuses to accept that gaming isn't just for kids. After all, you game because you enjoy it. And who on this planet has the right to tell what you should and shouldn't enjoy?