You've nicely summed up a feeling I've had for a while that has been bothering me -- why are video games looked down upon so much? Why are they "childish" or "only for kids"? OK, yes, the majority of them might be aimed towards a younger age demographic than the one I'm in (god I'm old), but I don't necessarily see why playing a video game makes me more immature than - well, let's say watching a baseball game on TV.

In fact, why the heck do sports rank so highly, anyway? I often wonder why that particular portion of the entertainment industry is so "revered" as an "American pasttime", and people are OBVIOUSLY allowed to be rabid sports fans and go to games covered in makeup and costumes, but GOD FORBID you want to go to a gamer convention and cosplay. One makes you cool and awesome, one makes you a nerd. Go figure?

Video games, to me, are almost definitely more thought-provoking and self-involving than videos, movies, TV in general (and, potentially, books/magazines). Your brain is involved, whether it's a Final Fantasy-type strategy game with a story, or a simple shooter like Halo. I'm not saying that video games are like, I don't know, doing math or something, but when you compare it to vegetating on the couch in front of the TV - well, one makes you think, one doesn't, really.

I... might have gone off-topic here. Basically, though: Word.