Highschool is definatley like that, FF isn't really as "cool" to let other people know you play as GTA or Madden.
In college though, most of the guys and some girls i know are familiar with Final Fantasy and their attitudes are completely opposite. I had a pretty good conversation about which was the best over pizza at the end of a night of heavy drinking.
When VII came out, though, I was in 4th grade and everyone was talking about it, and the discs were circulating through the various networks of friends. My little brother used to watch me play just so he would be able to join in when his friends talked about it. It was a pretty powerful game at the time.