When I talk about the Neo Geo whether they heard of it or not, they look at me like I am either crazy or like I am a complete bad-ass.
Well, not really. I do get funny reactions from gamers and non-gamers. It is too bad that a lot of people around my age that play a decent amount of games actually don't know what the Neo Geo and even the TG-16 is. I'll mention Samurai Shodown, KOF, Metal Slug, Bonk, and get a blank stare from them.
When it comes to girls in the day, I made a dumb mistake of showing my being a gamer in early high school, haha. Lets just say it was not the smartest thing to do in those days. Once I hit Junior College it was accepted. My girlfriend when I was 19 actually enjoyed hanging out and watching us friends talking smack and beating each others asses on Tekken and 2D fighters.
Nowadays, a lot of girls can't stand watching guys playing Halo multiplayer all the time. Guitar Hero and other Wii fun type games, they don't mind so much. This one hot girl I know plays Mario Kart 64 like it is the greatest game ever, and she is no fun to play as she plays it 100% perfect. It is funny how the newer generation works. It seems like video games didn't become accepted by everyone until the PS1-PS2 days. I think the more interactive and somewhat realistic 3D additions had a lot to do with it.