Has a video game ever helped you find new hobbies/passions?

[Entraboard]

A couple of months ago I downloaded Dawn of War 2 and it's expansions (Chaos Rising, Retribution) when Steam was having a sale. I had really enjoyed the first DoW, and REALLY enjoyed it's second iteration. I enjoyed it so much that I actually got into playing the table-top version of Warhammer 40K and I'm loving it.

Also, when I was but a wee lad I started playing EA's NHL franchise on my Sega Genesis and loved the games so much that it translated to a love of the sport: I signed up at my local rink for classes/games and started following the NHL.

So, my question to the forum: has a video game ever led to finding new hobbies or passions outside of the console/pc/gaming realm?

Could be that you enjoyed scanning for minerals so much in Mass Effect 2 that you took up geology or played Rome: Total War and got sucked into that time period; now you are historical battle re-enactor. Perhaps GTA taught you how much fun nicking cars could be and you are the scourge of your local police department.

 

[targren]

The Final Fantasy IV and SaGa 2 (Called Final Fantasy Legend 2 in the US) made me curious enough about this "Odin" character that was in both games, to get me to go to the library to see if it was just a coincidence, and sparked my love for Norse mythology.

 

[Richardplex]

It didn't help me find a new hobby per se, but Mass Effect made me much more interested in sci fi. I am now on book 4 of the Ender Saga.

 

[Setch Dreskar]

Eh I guess it depends on your definition of gaming but the original Dawn of War sparked my curiosity enough to checkout the Warhammer universe, now I am a die hard warhammer fan, with several armies for the tabletop and expanding into a few books and so forth.

For da emprah!

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I didn't start caring about comics (western) until I started playing Spawn: The Demon's Hand. I wasn't aware of really good comics until I started playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

That's about all I've got though.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

After playing Mafia II, I got sucked into the culture of american mobsters.

Silly, I know, but I find a lot of interesting things while researching.

 

[Xjin]

I as well got into Warhammer FB/40k due to DOW. In 5th-7th grade I got into soccer and basketball due to playing sports games with a few friends. Dwarf Fortress got me back in to scrimshaw and stone/wood craving as well as sparking more interest into smith work.

 

[krazykidd]

Does playing jrpgs make me start to like/ follow anime and mangas count? If so then yes yes it did.

 

[Mandalore the Gear]

Hmmm, playing video games made me interested in making them... especially after watching the movie Grandma's Boy. To be honest most of my hobbies revolved around games before I was into into gaming. Game series like Gears of War and Halo [yes I like both] helped me relove Star Wars again... Mandalorians remind me such much of Gears in a way. Games like Batman: Arkham Asylum make me want to fight crime in a custome [always wanted to do that since I was a little kid]. And game series like Hitman or Splinter Cell helped me become a ninja assassin.

 

[Entraboard]

Hmmm, playing video games made me interested in making them... especially after watching the movie Grandma's Boy.

Yeah, I'd love to make video games too... but I don't have the skillz.
Do you make video games (or mods)?

 

[Alssadar]

Dawn of War got me into the WH40K Table top, but I still have unpainted scoots from a year ago.
Otherwise from that, Star Wars: Republic Commando got me into reading Sci-fi and really interested in reading (AP English now...)
Age of Empires 2 makes me want to be a Renaissance fair actor; I'll be the drunken barbarian!

 

[navyjeff]

Knights of the Old Republic made me enjoy Blackjack more. On my last trip to Reno, I won $200.

 

[dcrane]

Stalker - played the games, which compelled to read the short story, which meant I had to watch the movie

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Final Fantasy VIII and Legend of Dragoon opened the world of Jrpgs to me, which lead to me discovering anime as being similar to those games and further researching them, finding out their related origins and being greatly fond of both. Yeah, due to having experienced those games I gained a passion for Japanese culture, learned the language and enjoy both to this day.

 

[IndianaJonny]

A couple of months ago I downloaded Dawn of War 2 and it's expansions (Chaos Rising, Retribution) when Steam was having a sale. I had really enjoyed the first DoW, and REALLY enjoyed it's second iteration. I enjoyed it so much that I actually got into playing the table-top version of Warhammer 40K and I'm loving it.

Keep a look-out for cheap GW figurines/boxes on eBay; that will save you a lot of money. And welcome to the hobby.

OT: I have Medieval Total War to thank for my interest in the Siege of Malta [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Malta_(1565)], World of Tanks for my interest in the genesis of tank warfare and early tactics and Farmville (seriously) for actually going out and finding how agriculture works 'IRL'.

 

[Mandalore the Gear]

Hmmm, playing video games made me interested in making them... especially after watching the movie Grandma's Boy.

Yeah, I'd love to make video games too... but I don't have the skillz.
Do you make video games (or mods)?

Neither, still going to school for video game production at IADT [International Academy of Design and Technology]. I'd like to make a third-person shooter concept I've been working on for the past two years or so. Still fleshing out things like storyboard and characters.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Huh, you mention R:TW, OP, oddly enough that's what got me into the time period quite a bit. Republican Rome, I'm a dab hand (historical events etc. re-enactment's a bit of a stretch for me...). Before, I just knew the standard drivel that most people know.

AC1 got me into the Crusades... yeah, I love my history, though AC2 only got me slightly interested in the Renaissance era, never had much affinity with it.

As a teen, though, fighter games (played on other people's PS2s) got me into martial arts...