I won't lie. I've probably played more hours of video games than anyone alive. My skill level in video games is so incredible, I've ranked #1 in the world on multiple ladders of several different game. I'm even programming my own video game:
www.roamingdragon.com
When Starcraft 2 comes out, I'll game it intensively(50+ hours a week), and then game any tournament that I can get to. The ultimate goal for me is to go to South Korea in a year or two where they have television stations dedicated to video games, and one that plays only Starcraft 24/7.
The nice thing is that while most girls don't understand gamers, there are girls that do. Some girls even think a game player that dominates everyone he plays against is sexy.