you're just aruging past each other without defining "normalization". Some people would say Video games are normalized, while some still think people make fun of adults who play them. We'd need a proper lens before we start arguing if something meets the criteria.
Not necessarily. Less stigmatized, sure. It's like how watching porn is normalized but no one talks about it in public. Especially in countries where it may not be fully legal to ("lewd conduct").
It doesn't need to be defined at the outset, you can infer from the context. Claiming that something has not been "normalized" to the extent depicted, and responding "yes it has! In my small niche community!" is irrelevant. Small niche community is not society at large.
Again, we have to define "niche". Are video games only popular in a "small niche community"? Is being more popular on a website more normalized than being more popular in a traditional club?
The original rebuttal asked for a source and the source was a personal experience. Thar doesn't mean it's the only area, nor does it prove/disprove it as a niche.
I saw an Onlyfans QR code at a gas station, I think it may be less niche than people give it credit for. It's just that westrn society, as usual, does a good job suppressing knowledge in the topic. so many circles are underground.
It just feels werid calling a multi billion dollar empire "a niche".