I think I start by practicing online. That is, I do my best not to get too worked up about conversations in web forums.

Still practicing.

Easy...I simply don't argue to people who spell "favorite" with a "u".

Most of the time if i have played the game and it sucked i just say that game sucks and explain in detail why its not good. I dont praise or take points if the grpahics are pretty or not. I'm more of a game mechanics person, over a look its pretty game.

Keep in mind that games are a tremendously young industry that is changing incredibly quickly, and lots of people don't even play a game a year. My Mom saw WoW running on my four-year-old machine and exclaimed that it had incredibly amazing graphics! And, since my Mom hasn't played a computer game seriously since the early 80s, she wasn't really wrong.

Also, the odds are pretty good that you haven't played the bad game they're liking. I had friends that were all gaga over Enter the Matrix on the XBox. My first inclination was to scoff. Then I realized that I hadn't actually played it. And, furthermore, my friends probably hadn't played the better games, had no idea that Shiny was capable of making something better, etc. So it was awesome.

What do I do? Well, I usually just ask them what they like about the game we're talking about. Then I'll frequently suggest similar modern games that they might also enjoy.

It's harder to do the

I hang out here so I can talk to you guys about these issues.
I generally don't have these discussions in person, aside from conversations with friends. If I do end up talking to an acquaintence about gaming, it tends to dissolve into awkward silence after a short while, usually after I mention that I travelled to Taiwan and Germany for videogame competitions.

"Wow, really!? What game?"
"Guild Wars."
(blank look followed by a pause)
"Well that must have been cool. Did you win any money?"

I tend not to press the issue. I find a good barometer question is whether they use or have used Teamspeak/Ventrilo. If yes, we might actually play a game together at some point. If not, they're probably casual gamers. At this point if I ask what they play I've sometimes heard of the game, sometimes not, and another silence is soon to ensue because chances are I haven't played it and I'm not likely to either.

I avoid all association with gamers IRL. I've been married a while, but it's a predatory reflex that seems to have stuck with me from the old college days. Besides, I'm fit, stunningly handsome, and cocky in an endearing, non-Comic Book Guy sort of way. No one would ever guess...

If I'm tempted to allow myself to get drug into an argument over games (or film or politics for that matter) over a few beers or whathaveyous, I simply recall an age old bit of wisdom that's never let me down:

Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.

Oh, also, idiots are people who don't agree with you.

I guess I've gotten really adept at avoiding small talk over the years, because these situations just don't come up for me. I have a few close friends that are also gamers that have known me for years and are familiar with my tastes .. but outside of that the topic just never comes up. I pretty much avoid talking to random people whenever possible.

I try not to tell people what I'm really thinking because they'd most likely run away crying and would never talk to me again.

Good advice.

I deal with my gaming elitism much the same way I deal with my general elitism.
I turn my brain off.
(notice, when drunk I have been known to become extremely elitist and combative)

The same way I deal with my parents' glowing reviews and recommendations for such fine films as "Underdog", "RV" and "Deck the Halls": Bite back your first ten responses, then weakly smile and nod. They mean well.

I usually just stay quiet while they talk on about the horrible games they like. Just yesterday as I was walking through the local Gamestop aisles, this teenage kid was raving on about how awesome Lair was. "It's so awesome! Everybody else thinks it's a bad game but who the f*ck cares? You're riding a dragon!" The first thought that came to my mind was that this kid couldn't tell a good game if it punched him in the face (/Dane_Cook), but immediately I realized that if I spoke up against his opinion, I would have absolutely no logical argument to back myself up. Since I care so little about Lair that I never even touched the game's box, I have no clue whatsoever how it plays out. If I spoke up under the influence of my elitism, I'd be a hypocrite.

One other time, I almost sighed out loud when a guy, a really nice guy, told me that he plays Madden '08 a lot in an attempt to associate with my hobby. His intention was clear and I really appreciated it, but my elitism almost got in the way. I can only assume that similar situations are going to arise in the near future. In the meantime, I just need to keep the elitism down, and hope to purge it eventually.

If you want a suggestion, kuddles, I think it might help to actually try and understand the activities that don't immediately hold your attention. Pull out the elements that are common between those and gaming. Responsibility in a given conversation goes to all parties after all, and if you're not interested in other people's topics, how do you expect them to be interested in yours? I'm not big on cars or golf either, but on some level I think I can appreciate the factors that make them fun.

When my friends kept on telling me about the racing techniques or the latest performance parts, I thought about the similarity between those and, say, Mech Warrior, a game which fuses skill with strategic tuning. Whenever I go and visit the folks, my father would enthusiastically teach me how to swing the golf club (He's a doctor, you see.), and I thought about the meticulous details required to handle a game of Counter-Strike. In conversations like these, if I felt that the people I was talking to had no particular hatred towards gaming, I'd relate the topics on hand to my personal gaming experience. This way, I'm able to introduce specific concepts and values of my hobby to other people in a way that can interest them and hold their attention. It's all about give and take.

All my conversion efforts are geared towards educating the unwashed about Linux. I really don't have time to convert people to gaming as well.

Personally, I have no issue with any type of gamer, be they Wii lovin' females (nod to the current podcast) or pro bunny hoppers like Fata1ity (or whatever he calls himself). We're all brothers in a pastime that most "normal" (repressed?) people put down.

Filthy doubler.