I think most people here are missing the point a little.

The feeling of being ashamed of something depends to a large extent of what other people think of you no matter how righteous you feel about it to yourself.

People are multi-dimensional (unless you are a retard). I believe most gamers would feel at least a little stupid, and at least for a little moment, as they would hand over a video game to the clerks desk if they knew the cool guys from school or a hot woman could see them. It's hard to control that feeling of shame no matter how "right" you think it is with video games as a hobby and passion.

And if you see a gang of cool gamers purchase GTA or Call of Duty at your local store, you'd feel at least a little inferior to hand over that copy of Mario or Pokemon.

The majority of you would not admit to their co-workers that you're hardcore gamers or admit that you love Mario.

I know the feeling, but I don't share it. Peer pressure can be overwhelming sometimes, if everyone its telling you that something is wrong, or you should not do it, you will feel that its true, sometimes it works others don't, that's the reason why different companies expend a lot of money in advertisement, to record in your mind that something it wrong or right (like buying their products).

You've totally misunderstood me rol.

**Beyond that he would offer no explination**

I get what you're saying, but I think there's a lot fewer people who feel 'ashamed' by liking Mario or Zelda now adays, seeing as how the odds of people owning a Wii are pretty good.  Not to mention, there's something like 1 in 4 people in America have played a Mario game in their life (and probably liked it).

As for me, my priorities are not in trying to worry about what someone behind the counter or some random people looking over my shoulder thinks of my purchase.  If I'm going to buy Pokemon, Dragon Quest, Harvest Moon or Mario, I really don't care what they think.  The only people who's opinions I worry about are my family, my girlfriend and a couple of my close friends.

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I don't have too much of that problem.  I just don't like a lot of games Nintendo offers.  I feel like many are over-rated (In terms of quality) due to nostalgia.

The majority of us?  Really?  Nintendo is not a guilty pleasure!  Nintendo is the most successful gaming company of all time, and it's not a secret.  We don't just play Nintendo games in the shadows.  And I've already told my co-workers that I like Mario and Wii Fit, and they said the Wii "only has cartoon games for kids."  I just told them they were wrong, and that was the end of it.  But I don't care what they think, because they don't know anything about games.  For the past year all they've played are Call of Duty, Need for Speed, and some boring iPhone games.  One of them thinks all games are for kids and we're all too old, but then he tries to tell me the Sex and The City sequel was amazing.  I don't care what these haters think.  Haters gotta hate.

Nintendo games get more girls, I've got bigger problems to worry about than hot women watching me shopping in the Nintendo aisle, and I've definitely never seen a "gang of cool gamers" in a store.

AND... retarded people are definitely multi-dimensional!

Saying "I am ashamed for delving down to the level of a little kid and playing a Nintendo game" is equivalent to saying, "I won't play a game that is fun and makes me happy because it is from so and so." Compeletly inane. The point of gaming is fun, not some high school experience where you are trying to keep up with the popular crowd by buying the latest hardcore games they play, not matter if you like them or not.

Seriously, if you feel ashamed for playing a Nintendo game that you find fun, then you need to re-evaluate why you are playing games now and rediscover why you started playing games in the first place.

No. The closest to feeling ashamed is when my girlfriend or family or friends are watching while the silly "story" bits of Mario Galaxy 1/2 are running. 

No. If anything, I (and other people I know - all adults over 30) consider blood and gore games as more kiddie and Nintendo games as more mature. Really.

Why is that, some may ask? Probably because the way we see it (subconsciously), blood and gore games somewhat cater (among othert hings) to the rather immature need to "prove yourself as a man", while Nintendo games cater more to the "I just want to have fun" need, which imo is a more mature personality trait. This is all opinion of course, and I am fully aware that lots of mature adults enjoy blood and gore games and for them this has nothing to do with any need to prove themselves.

Also, to give another perspective on all this, my wife (and many people I know) have considered all video games, regardless of their content, to be "kiddie". If anything, it is Nintendo that has changed that perspective, and a lot more adults now acknowledge video games as a legit activity, where before the Wii they didn't.