Well, I introduce myself as a gaming/TV shows/movies freak in a lot of ocassions so yeah, it's something that defines me. Obviously it depends on the situation, if I'm socializing with people, yes. I wouldn't say that in a formal meeting, it's not pertinent.

Wow, some really self concious people here. Are hobbies not part of you?

My upbringing and hobbies I have now are part of me as they are part of all of you, whether you like to think it or not, they define your character. I love Badminton and Squash, they are superb sports to play. I love watching football. I am happy to admit these things. I am also happy to admit I read comics and play games. They are no different to my career. Yet when we introduce ourselves we do it by saying our career, but that's just a job. Most the time it's not something we are passionate about, like gaming.

Sure, I don't blurt it out but then who does for anything in any situation.

Me: "Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Dave, I like bananas."
Other person: "Er..., okay."

Its parts of me, and i don't care about people who not accept my hobby, my friend like how i am or they can simply go to H___

This is a very good explanation!

I don't "wish it were true." It is true. I've never had a problem getting girls, and I've never been shy about my love of handhelds. Of course it doesn't "add to your appeal." Why would it? That would be like saying an ipad or a book "adds to your appeal." It's a literal non-factor. In "the real world," strangers don't care. I've met plenty of people who's first impression of me involved me playing a handheld. No one's first impression of me was "less cool" because I dress well, am in good shape, and make a good impression.

If someone thinks they're "losing appeal" because they're playing a 3DS in public, I guarantee you they never had any appeal to begin with.

I think you just hit it on the head right there. I worry that people will judge me a certain way if I said I'm a gamer, without them getting to know me first. Maybe I should stop worrying so much about what other people think of me... I've been trying to get better at that, I try to remind myself of this quote:

"You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do." -Eleanor Rosevelt.

Very true. No one cares what you're into, as long as you're cool about it.

In University I had to re-introduce myself every semester, in every new group. It was beyond annoying, especially since I only introce myself when I'm interested in some sort of casual social interaction, but in these groups, you were kind of forced into talking about nonsense.

I never once mentioned I was into gaming once though.

I'd say it's because it's not mainstream enough, at least not in the Netherlands, and it has negative stigmas attached to it. Usually, a non-gamer would think things like "don't you have something better to do?", or view it as a lazy hobby when you'd mention it. Especially when you come after the guy that mentioned he practiced four different sports. Even other gamers would think that, because you just don't advertise you gamer-hood, like you don't have something more interesting to talk about. It's an endless circle. If the topic casually comes up though, I'm not ashamed to say that I like gaming.

I usually talked about my other interests, a bit of history on what I did previous semesters, or nothing at all beyond my name if I had the opportunity.

I consider it key to my identity as one of my biggest passions, yes.

Nobody could really be that close a friend for me if they don't like games the way I do, because I would find that person uninteresting and need a close friend to be able to understand my own feelings and excitement.

Video games are the second thing I introduce about myself, after political philosophy and science.

Is this really the case anymore? People seem to think it is but it's not for me. Our generation has grown up with games, they are in our culture. My social circle including that of my family have no issues in my gaming hobby as it is my hobby. Just like my dad like's his riffles or my sister and shoes.

If we, the actual gamers, think that there is a negative stigma attached to it, it will never get rid of it. Football fans see nothing wrong with paying $1000 a year to spend 90 minutes every Saturday shouting at their favourite team for being crap. Why should we feel negative about playing games?