In the past, there have been plenty of pop culture phenomena nerds could get behind — the frenzies surrounding the “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings” movie franchises are two potent examples. This year, the mania has surrounded video games. Microsoft last week spent $2 billion for Mojang, the maker of Minecraft and one of the last independent gaming companies. A couple of weeks earlier, Amazon paid $1 billion to buy the website Twitch.tv, which allows people to watch friends or experts play video games. And in March, Facebook announced its $2 billion acquisition of Oculus VR, the maker of an awkward-looking headset, betting in part that virtual reality will be the next big thing in gaming.

The bidding wars to reach hard-core gamers, however, don’t seem like an artificial spike. “Go to a high school and nobody is looking down on gaming — every guy is gaming and maybe a few girls,” said Dennis Fong, 37, a professional video-game player dubbed the “Michael Jordan” of his field. His company, Raptr, allows players to share clips of their best video-game moves online.

From gadgets to social networks to video games, the decision not to embrace the newest technology is a choice to be out of the mainstream.

“If you are not a geek, you are Luddite, and that is not cool,” said Thomas Dolby, an arts professor at Johns Hopkins University and a nerd icon from the 1980s because of his hit song “She Blinded Me With Science.”

Mr. Dolby, born Thomas Robertson, took his stage name from Dolby Laboratories because of his fascination with audio technology. He said that he decided to use his nerd persona as a way of distinguishing himself from the “good-looking lads” on the 1980s pop scene — Sting, Simon Le Bon, Adam Ant.

But, he added, “I am no more comfortable in my geek skin now than in 1982.”

By contrast, a comfort with one’s geeky side appears to distinguish the so-called millennial generation. Mr. Munroe, the author of “What If?,” who turns 30 next month, said he hoped to appeal to an audience beyond techies.

“People often say, ‘I like your comics, even though I don’t know enough math to get all of them,’ as if it’s some kind of club where they don’t belong,” he said.