Media/older generation's perception that games are for kids and how this can be changed

By the time we are all old, gaming will be as tried and tested a hobby as reading books, watching films and TV or listening to music. To suggest that anyone here will outgrow them to me is silly.

I have been contemplating this a lot recently and think i'm definitely heading that way. I've begun aggressively deleting and hiding downloaded games from view which i've had a good hard think about and concluded i'm just not interested in playing, either one of the many genres i just don't like or they're one in many massive behemoth games like dragon age inquisition whose sheer scale are offputting and, to be honest, whose padded length doesn't justify the not great story. Or they're games which i can get a similar experience elsewhere - how many colin mcrae/dirt/wrc games does one person need or could reasonably play, for example? I would rather play The Witcher 3 than Dragon Age, for example.

I also have days where i feel like selling (almost) the lot and moving on, for two reasons. Firstly:

I understand the appeal of but have zero interest in Fortnite, PUBG, Hearthstone, Dota, League of Legends or any of these gaming juggernauts. Combined with (you guessed it) lootboxes, microtransactions, battle passes and the compression of every game into an ur-game of open world combat with rpg elements, skill trees and crafting through "live service" models that play on making you come back for your daily/weekly events.

Secondly I don't have any real outlets for creativity which has a lasting definite presence - i suspect its the same motivation which drives people taking up painting, sculpting etc., but I want to get back into model kit making, tabletop wargaming/rpgs, that sort of thing; something physical with face to face interaction that involves creativity and gives you something tangible to show for your time and effort rather than a list of arbitrary achievements/a higher gamerscore.

The combination of the two is making me take a long hard look at whether/to what extent i want to keep going - my pc could do with a new gpu, but i could get a LOT of paints, tools, materials and models for the same money.

DML wrote:By the time we are all old, gaming will be as tried and tested a hobby as reading books, watching films and TV or listening to music. To suggest that anyone here will outgrow them to me is silly.

I think you're grossly underestimating the average age on this forum.

Everyone already is old.

Sandy wrote:
DML wrote:By the time we are all old, gaming will be as tried and tested a hobby as reading books, watching films and TV or listening to music. To suggest that anyone here will outgrow them to me is silly.

I think you're grossly underestimating the average age on this forum.

Everyone already is old.

speak for yourself

I'm 28 and I still enjoy newer games and I believe I will continue to. I doubt I'll ever grow out of games. I'm gonna get older sure, but I don''t think I'll ever mature more than I have.

Gemini73

I'm 45 and still regularly game. However, I am finding myself much less in awe of new games/systems as they're announced/released. While I continue to buy video games I've bought very few new releases this generation compared to previous gens. In fact the brunt of my games buying is through going back and re-buying those that I've enjoyed in the past/missed out on whilst continuing to enjoy the games I already own. There's a handful new titles on the horizon that I do have my eye on, but that is all.

As for systems? I've no interest in X or Pro and won't be buying into the next generation. PS4 and X1 will be my last generation of consoles bought - a decision I made a while back. I'm content with what I already have for my gaming needs and no doubt will be for a long time to come.

So, outgrown? No, I've just put the breaks on when looking at the what lies ahead for gaming.

I turn 35 in a few weeks and my gaming habits don’t show much sign of changing other than I buy fewer games and trade stuff in to get games second hand more now. Since moving out I simply don’t have as much spare cash as I did living at my parents 6 or 7 years back.

Nope, in fact my retirement years are pretty much the only chance I'll ever have of completing my backlog. My tastes have probably changed over the years, I tend to seek out stuff that is less mainstream these days and things that haven't been iterated on a million times but I'll still enjoy a AAA title if it's good enough.

There is nothing to 'grow' out of - this attitude to gaming really pisses me off.

Do people grow out of watching films or reading books? Just because most people think of games as being space invaders, football games or call of duty and nothing else, means it's somehow seen as a childish pursuit. Think of all the amazing stories games can and do tell, it can be as emotional as watching a good film or series. But nope, grow up m8.

While my gaming habits have changed over the years (mainly Nintendo to exclusively Sony), my overall enjoyment of games has not.

I mean who'd have thought that when i turned on my first console (Megadrive) to play Sonic The Hedgehog in December 1992, that a little over 25 years later, i'd be playing a urinal based mini game on my PS4.

rinks wrote:Will you ever outgrow watching films? Listening to music? People don't outgrow these things, but they sometimes forget how great they are, when they let the tedious aspects of adulthood consume too much of their time.

This.

As I've got older and have more responsibilities I have less time for gaming, but that doesn't mean I have "outgrown" it. I have less time for movies, books and TV as well.

Bluesky

I thought I did around seven or so years ago. Sold all of my games before heading off to uni, though I did keep my Wii and DS because I supposed I wouldn't get much from them without their boxes, and it wasn't a total break from videogames but I thought it wouldn't be a regular hobby anymore.

I think that lasted half a year or longer when videogames started to creep back in, but it wasn't until a couple more years when I moved in with gaming friends when I started playing them a lot again.

My interest in them would fluctuate throughout the years, but I'd say over this last year or so I've started to really want to play them. And I've got some series I want to see through and a backlog to clear a bit so I hope I don't stop any time soon.

NickSCFC

Trelliz wrote:I understand the appeal of but have zero interest in Fortnite, PUBG, Hearthstone, Dota, League of Legends or any of these gaming juggernauts. Combined with (you guessed it) lootboxes, microtransactions, battle passes and the compression of every game into an ur-game of open world combat with rpg elements, skill trees and crafting through "live service" models that play on making you come back for your daily/weekly events.

I feel the same now too, I used to play a lot of online games like Halo, COD and FIFA back in my uni days, but I just have no interest now.

As with my friends, I'm more time constrained and we don't get much time to play together, that urge to beat randomers just inst there either.

I prefer just playing games at my own pace now without all the angry teens, narrative driven cinematic single player games are pretty much all I play now, I can't wait for Last of Us 2, Death Stranding and Cyberpunk.

Sure I'll dabble in Last of Us online with the guys here, but other than that my multiplayer days are over I think.

No and I disagree with the presumptions of the question itself. There is no maturity or age cap on gaming.

Sandy wrote:
DML wrote:By the time we are all old, gaming will be as tried and tested a hobby as reading books, watching films and TV or listening to music. To suggest that anyone here will outgrow them to me is silly.

I think you're grossly underestimating the average age on this forum.

Everyone already is old.

I think DML means old as in retirement age old

Trelliz wrote:I understand the appeal of but have zero interest in Fortnite, PUBG, Hearthstone, Dota, League of Legends or any of these gaming juggernauts. Combined with (you guessed it) lootboxes, microtransactions, battle passes and the compression of every game into an ur-game of open world combat with rpg elements, skill trees and crafting through "live service" models that play on making you come back for your daily/weekly events.

This is far from all that is available though. Go play some indie games!

Moggy wrote:
rinks wrote:Will you ever outgrow watching films? Listening to music? People don't outgrow these things, but they sometimes forget how great they are, when they let the tedious aspects of adulthood consume too much of their time.

This.

As I've got older and have more responsibilities I have less time for gaming, but that doesn't mean I have "outgrown" it. I have less time for movies, books and TV as well.

Agree agree agree

I have other things in my life but always comeback to gaming when I can. Im sure when I have kids I’ll have to rethink the time i spend playing games but i will still play them

OrangeRKN wrote:This is far from all that is available though. Go play some indie games!

I'm afraid I have a rather jaded view of them too, apart from a small handful like Hand of Fate and Rock of Ages. The only ones that seem to get mentioned are pretentious "experiences"/walking simulators or are a sea of near-identical 2d pixel art roguelike platformers. I'm sure stuff like Celeste, Dead Cells, Hollow Knight etc. are great and people clearly love them, but I feel a complete lack of enthusiasm for any of them. I don't get a thrill out of game/combat mechanics for the sake of them and feel like roguelikes/rogue-whatevers which are built on repetition are just wasting my time because I don't envision whatever narrative or gameplay reward you get for completing them as worth the extensive time and effort it would take me, going through the same stuff over and over again.

Sounds like a problem with perception and game discovery more than anything. Currently I'm playing through The Banner Saga trilogy just as an example, which is a hand-animated tactical RPG and very narrative driven.

I first got into gaming during the early 90's playing DOS games made by the likes of Apogee and Sierra, similar to others I feel like the format has grown with me and games aimed at an older audience have become more of a thing as I've got older. I've always enjoyed games where story is at the forefront and the level of story telling in modern games can be absolutely incredible, I definitely don't think I'm outgrowing them because in many ways I enjoy them now more than ever.

My tastes have changed but that's largely due to adult life. As a kid I didn't have the money to buy lots of games so I'd usually have to make one game last a long time, it meant that I played a lot of platformers and RPGs because I had the time and patience to persist with them (and nothing else to play instead!).

Now I have the disposable income to buy more games but I rarely have the patience to persist if a game is frustrating, or if a game is a long grind. As such I'm much more at home with games that have more balanced difficulties, are relatively linear and ideally 8-10 hours long. Obviously I'll make an exception for the really spectacular titles but I just don't have the time to commit to playing one game for weeks or months on end (not if I really want to experience as many good titles as possible anyway!)

Moggy wrote:
rinks wrote:Will you ever outgrow watching films? Listening to music? People don't outgrow these things, but they sometimes forget how great they are, when they let the tedious aspects of adulthood consume too much of their time.

This.

As I've got older and have more responsibilities I have less time for gaming, but that doesn't mean I have "outgrown" it. I have less time for movies, books and TV as well.

I don’t watch tv (except Netflix and downloads) and only ‘read’ audiobooks so I can do something else at the same time. I’m incredibly selective about movies I’ll watch (just the best sci-fi), all of which allows me to spend more time gaming.

I don’t think I’ll grow out of it, but my reflexes certainly aren’t what they used to be (I get whipped at fighting games now :-(

) and this will only get worse as old age kicks in. I guess we’ll all be stuck playing strategies and rpgs, though more hopefully peripherals for the elderly/ disabled will improve over the next few decades..?

Ironhide wrote:NEVER.

This. I've been gaming since I was 10 when I was sent a bright pink game boy colour from my dad. Im 30 now and Ella now owns it, I play games all the time still and a lot of the artwork I do involves video game characters in some way.

Media/older generation's perception that games are for kids and how this can be changed

Will youever "outgrow" videogames?

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