When I was introduced to computers at the age of 14 at high school under MS-DOS, we kids were made to play "Hangman" which I never liked. Then at the age of 15 we graduated to "Pac-man" which I liked somewhat, but not enough to want to continue engaging with it like the rest of the kids.
As an adult after college when I migrated to UNIX, I was introduced to "XSoldier" and kind-a liked it, but again, not enough to get hooked beyond a week of regular play.
I have never played any of the console-based games and have never even touched a gamepad.
Does all of the above make me an outlier? Or, is it normal?
I can think of worse ground to stand on btw. A similar mood takes my partner who has never read SF and neither of us have seen Game of Thrones, or the Queen, or watch skandi crime or love Island or dancing with the stars or the myriad of reality TV.
I'm not in your cohort because I was raised on zork and before that tic tac toe on a teletype in the 60s and 70s.
(Related, the sketch comedy troupe It's A Southern Thing, had a video of someone who lived in the US South and didn't like American football: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v08kE5KdpI )
Marathon runners are outliers. People who don't want smart phones are outliers. People who have eaten lutefisk are outliers. People who don't drink alcohol at all are outliers. People who attend Wednesday evening prayer service are outliers. People who don't eat meat are outliers. Readers of romance novels are outliers. If people who drive stick aren't outliers now, they will be within the next few decades.
The list of people at least three times the standard deviation from common practice goes on and on.
I'm sure everyone is an outlier somehow.
Competitive games in general feel like STEM olympiads: you have an objective ranking, you have challenges, you have competitition. You deal with hard problems related to performance: how to keep improving? Which topics are hard for me?
It was crazily important for my personal development, but as with olympiads, eventually there isn't a lot of new things to learn, at least things that you will carry with you for life.
Don't make that your identity.
See, everything's relative. Considering the world's population, the fact that you're asking in English, and not Chinese should be considered an outlier and not normal. The question is, what are the ramifications for you? Suppose we say yes, this makes you an outlier. Then What? How about if we say no, you're normal. Then what? What meaningful pronouncements upon yourself will you then decree you must adhere to?
You gain nothing by having never played a console-based game, so try one. Seek out a gamepad to touch. If you try it and don't like it, then it's not for you, but if you try it and do like it, then that's great! You can use it as a source for joy in your life.
Adopt a growth mindset.
https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/growth-mindset-vs-fixed-min...