I wants my gaming back

[atomicfox]

The guys kind of touched on this in past episodes but I thought I'd open it up to discussion.

I'm in my mid 20's now, been out of college for going on 3 years, and it just seems like as of late I've lost my lust for gaming. Don't get me wrong, I still buy and play as much as I can. But like Alex I find myself only really spending time playing games I can play online or with others. And even then I just don't find myself playing as much, or to completion as often.

I still occasionally find the nights where I'm up to 5am, but for the most part my free time is more spent dvr'd tv or movies.

The weird part is I want to be more into my games than I am now. I don't know if it's just a sense of responsibility that I've developed, that there are better things I should be spending my time on. Or if it's just something you go through when you hit a certain age.

So in short, many of you going through this? Or any advise on how to rebuild a broken gamer?

[NJShadow]

Yeah, true. I know what you mean. Although I've been trying to keep my interests high in gaming, I just miss that feeling I used to get when I would get a new Genesis game.(Wonder and awe) Yeah, I'm a Freshman in College so maybe your right. Maybe we subconsciously come to realize that there are more important things. Oh well, I guess I'll just keep tryin' to have a blast while I can. ;)

[lrsk]

yeah I have the same exact feeling. I remember when I used to get up at 5 am just so I could squeeze in some NBA Live 95 with my brother before school. Had the patience to beat adventure games like Space Quest etc without a walkthrough. If I do play a game now, I play it to beat it as fast as I can, not to enjoy it. Probably a matter of getting older yes, which is sad.

[masherscf]

Probably a matter of getting older yes, which is sad.

I'm probably older than you. I have a career, a family and an insatiable lust for video games.

Don't blame your age because you are becoming disengaged.

[NJShadow]

I'm probably older than you. I have a career, a family and an insatiable lust for video games.

Don't blame your age because you are becoming disengaged.

Well, I guess you could say that when I/we were younger it was more than just "entertainment". It was something that I CONSTANTLY looked forward to and really made an impression in my life. And it may sound funny but I have a healthy lifestyle because I absolutely loved playing Sonic The Hedgehog which, in turn, made me love getting up and moving via running, jumping, etc. Heck, I even got a $500 scholarship for being the top "Gym Performer" in my High School out of a class of thousands..........and I had only started going there my Junior year. Then, when I got into my Ecco The Dolphin "rhythm" I loved swimming etc. I guess you get the point. :D

[tokenuser]

Don't blame your age because you are becoming disengaged.I call that "Honey" or "Yes Dear".

[mikejl]

I'm probably older than you. I have a career, a family and an insatiable lust for video games.

Don't blame your age because you are becoming disengaged.

True... 38 here. Now I play WoW with my daughter.

I do recall years back playing late sessions of Doom, Warcraft or Red Alert. I think now as I have less time I demand quality vs quantity.

[HiPNoTyQ]

hmmm i can say i play games a lot less than i used to, im only 20 tho. I started gaming independantly when I was like 10 playing Duke Nukem 3D on my family computer and stuff. I literally have hundreds of old PC games in the next room, most of which I probably never played much (most of them are downloaded but still)

I can also remember the first time I played multiplayer waaay back on my first family computer that had a 14.4k modem and I was playing ORIGINAL Team Fortress (thats Quakeworld baby) on MPlayer lol it was soooo slow but at the same time I was sooo stoked that I was actually playing with other people. Sometimes it was just unplayable lol. I can remember when my buddy and I played co-operative Duke Nukem 3D which required my modem to dial his modem. But the connection was so jaggy he got dropped half the time so one afternoon it took like 20+ calls to his house (which drove his parents crazy because everytime it would make his phone ring lol) for maybe an hour or two of gameplay lol

Memories :)

[WizMaster]

I'm only 21 but I play much less then I used to. Although I have a wishlist and a backlog to go through, I'm not compelled to spend as many hours as possible to get through them. I'm focusing more on "casual" and pick up and go games and leaving the "hardcore" games for the times I feel like spending a few hours gaming.

[Grazz]

You can blame it on age, spouses or whatever you choose but I think you're misplacing the blame. How many original games have you played recently? I can go back to the arcades I grew up in and while there were trends in games most of the games were very different. But now? On the PC front I don't believe I've played an original game in years. On the console it's been better but it's still nothing NEW.

Evolutionary gaming is a sure way to burn people out on gaming... to a degree at least =) I'll never quit playing but I doubt I'll dump the same amount of time into gaming ever again.

[DarthEnder]

I can tell ya, being a shut-in is a surefire cure for this problem.

[az0madman]

I hope I don't lose my gaming passion a year!

Unfortunately, I'm playing a lot less then I used to, yet I have more systems then when I was in high school (only has PS2 back then, all three systems now). But, it's not that I've lost passion for gaming, just lost time. I still constantly look at gaming news and get excited for the next big thing. Hopefully I'll have time to finish up most of my games during winter break, whenever that comes along.

[atomicfox]

Maybe it's just the fact that there's little risk in gaming anymore. Back in the day so much of my late night sessions were spent because you couldn't save. Sure you had passwords on some games but that only took you to a certain point. Also there were plenty of nights where friends came over for some tag team sessions at game mastery.

But now with the save anywhere games there's not as much need to "play just a bit further. I also never rent games anymore which definately imposed a greater sense of ugency to beat the game.

I find a lot of my gaming now (with the exception of Portal) is spent in quick bursts. I gravitate more towards games (not really casual games) but games I can play for 20 minutes or so and then do something else. College I was playing a lot of GTA, I could take a mission or two, or just run around and destroy a bunch of crap.

And I sense the rambling now so I'm going to cut myself off.

[WizMaster]

Maybe it's just the fact that there's little risk in gaming anymore. Back in the day so much of my late night sessions were spent because you couldn't save. Sure you had passwords on some games but that only took you to a certain point. Also there were plenty of nights where friends came over for some tag team sessions at game mastery.

But now with the save anywhere games there's not as much need to "play just a bit further. I also never rent games anymore which definately imposed a greater sense of ugency to beat the game.

I find a lot of my gaming now (with the exception of Portal) is spent in quick bursts. I gravitate more towards games (not really casual games) but games I can play for 20 minutes or so and then do something else. College I was playing a lot of GTA, I could take a mission or two, or just run around and destroy a bunch of crap.

And I sense the rambling now so I'm going to cut myself off.

I have to agree with you. I feeel the same but I hate that so saving BS. Before my time (well, not really but most of my game playing had saves) and thank god for that. I should want to play the game all night because it's compelling and good not because I'll have to start from the beginning when I stop (thank you auto save on the VC).

[atomicfox]

I have to agree with you, I much prefer saving to passwords or nothing at all. But the lack of anywhere saving I think just added a greater sense of urgency and kept you more engrossed. It's much easier to get distracted or start playing another game and never get back to what you were playing.

[WizMaster]

I have to agree with you, I much prefer saving to passwords or nothing at all. But the lack of anywhere saving I think just added a greater sense of urgency and kept you more engrossed. It's much easier to get distracted or start playing another game and never get back to what you were playing.

Eh, guess it's different for different people. I would just move on to another game after several restarts.

[MrZ]

I'm an old man gamer, well err nearly 40 :) Been gaming since the Atari 2600 days, owned most systems..some more than once (weird eh?).

Its still my mainline hobby, which has been enhanced playing games with my daughter. That said, Ive had periods in my life where gaming doesn't hit the same excitement spot anymore. It happens, and passes :) Take a break for a bit, watch more movies. Your gaming mojo will come back...

[atomicfox]

Excellent to hear MrZ. I too have been gaming since the 2600, and while I keep buying and playing the newer games I think a lot of the most fun I've had lately is rediscovering some NES and SNES games with my girlfriend as we have merged our collections.