jawa asks... do you think you'll reach an age where you stop playing videogames?

Buffalo wrote:...In a couple of respects I think that games are getting better than ever, so why not keep rolling with it.

I like that thought, Buff!

hamm sandwich wrote:...I would love for a game to make me feel how I felt when I first played Super Mario Galaxy 2 or Tomb Raider or Burnout 2 or GoldenEye but that was a different time in my life and probably isn’t going to happen as often..

I hope that some games will surprise and grab you in the future, dude. I've played games a long time but I've been wowed plenty of times in recent years; I loved the PS4 generation :-).

hamm sandwich wrote:...So yeah, the gaming and the alcohol dependency are here to stay.

Uhm... [GR_safety_mode]Please enjoy these in moderation, hamm![/GR_safety_mode]

I still enjoy gaming, but the draw isn't nearly as strong as it was in the past. Weeks can pass, even months, where I'll not play anything at all. That said this last month has seen me gaming a lot more.

Is it an age thing? Probably.

Also as I get older I'm finding that can only play for 30 mins to an hour with a control pad before numbness and cramp enters my hands. I'm constantly having to take breaks so sitting down for a lengthy gaming session on console is something I tend to avoid these days. I tend to predominantly game on my PC with M&K as the problem doesn't arise very often and only through extended play

site23 wrote:...I can't see myself reaching a point where I'm not interested in video games at all.

I'm looking forward to fifty-year-old site23 streaming Dark Souls runs .

Gemini73 wrote:...Also as I get older I'm finding that can only play for 30 mins to an hour with a control pad before numbness and cramp enters my hands. I'm constantly having to take breaks so sitting down for a lengthy gaming session on console is something I tend to avoid these days...

Gem, are you about 85, dude? . Nah, I feel you, man; I tend to have short gaming sessions nowdays (bar F76, obvs) as often my attention just gives up before I've learnt the myriad controls and faced the super-tough baddies. A good thing about gaming in more recent years is that difficulty levels are becoming more common. Tbh I often want to wander through a game rather than face mega-hard challenges. The only games I want to face tough enemies in are Dark Souls ones.

I’m a jaded gamer; I come back for tentpole Nintendo Games and Games with a gorgeous art style but the more consoles iterate like phones the more I’m less interested. Law of diminishing returns, I prefer retro games these days.

None of us living to 80, I see.

jawa_ wrote:

Gemini73 wrote:...Also as I get older I'm finding that can only play for 30 mins to an hour with a control pad before numbness and cramp enters my hands. I'm constantly having to take breaks so sitting down for a lengthy gaming session on console is something I tend to avoid these days...

Gem, are you about 85, dude? .

Unfortunately it's a real problem with my hands becoming numb/cramped while gaming with a controller and even playing my guitar.

Some days it's fine, but more often than not it reaches a point where I can't feel the end of my fingers so have to stop for 20 mins.

If jawa can still be playing games well into his seventh decade I don't see why we all can't when we get there

No plans on stopping unless I am physically unable to play anything

Definitely no plans on stopping unless something out of my control stops me, but I do find my motivation comes and goes a little nowadays, probably happened over the past couple of years. I just feel I have to be in a certain headspace to be able to sit down and enjoy some kind of games now.

Zilnad wrote:None of us living to 80, I see.

that a prophecy or a promise?

I will game until I physically can't and trust me if pads hurt my hands I'll go to the Wii for one handed remote etc

Miguel007 wrote:I’m a jaded gamer...

It can help to take a little break and then return afresh, Miguel. Perhaps your enthusiasm for gaming could be boosted in this way, and you'll return in super powered-up form!

Zilnad wrote:None of us living to 80, I see.

I kinda figured that if we don't stop gaming by around 70... we're gonna continue forever, Zilnad .

Hypes wrote:If jawa can still be playing games well into his seventh decade I don't see why we all can't when we get there

Only the sixth . To be fair, Hypes, you're not exactly too fair behind .

ITSMILNER wrote:No plans on stopping unless I am physically unable to play anything

IM, you're all set for Xbox mind-controlled holographic gaming in 2052 .

Robbo-92 wrote:...I do find my motivation comes and goes a little nowadays...

Yeah, I get that feeling too, Robbo. Just gotta roll with it and game when you feel like it.

kerr9000 wrote:I will game until I physically can't and trust me if pads hurt my hands I'll go to the Wii for one handed remote etc

Admirable determination, kerr - nothing is gonna stop you playing!

Gaming competes with a lot of other things - family, playing music etc. but it's still something I love to do.

But it's not quite the 'urgent priority' that it used to be - buying consoles on day 1, heading down shops on release day of new titles etc.

Overall I'm happy to play stuff that's more out of date - sure, you miss out on the 'live' discussion about it, but I've never been one to rush through a game. I think it took me a couple of years on and off to get to the end of OOT the first time through. 'Proper' gamers are often through the latest title within a day or two of it being out. I don't have the skill, let alone the determination to do that.

Plus I'm getting more stingy with age, I can't recall the last game I paid full price for!

Great thread. I don’t plan to stop. But I suspect my habits will change quite a bit. I’m 38 with a couple of kids. In my 20s I played a lot of MP games, CoD, Halo and Battlefiled with my uni mates and graduates once starting work. I loved that. Now, all older, can’t do that.

So my tastes now have changed again to be more single player/strategy and racing focussed. Gone back to PC. My old mates don’t play consistently every evening and I am now terribly out of practice. Starting playing BF4 again lately and I’m awful, annoyingly so. I’m not sure if I can be bothered with the learning/skill curve to get good again, or just go back to casual gaming on a pad and SP games.

In future. I want to play games with my kids. I’ll build them PCs and I’d like to see how the graphics improve over the next 30 years.

Lime wrote:Gaming competes with a lot of other things... it's not quite the 'urgent priority' that it used to be...

Lime, it sounds like you are at a point in life where you are juggling responsibilities and gaming sometimes has to take a back seat. It is still heartening to hear that you plan on fitting in gaming here and there... a great way to chill whilst you are weary from the day-to-day struggles and joys!

Bertie wrote:...I don’t plan to stop. But I suspect my habits will change quite a bit... I’m not sure if I can be bothered with the learning/skill curve to get good again, or just go back to casual gaming on a pad and SP games...

Like Lime, it seems that age is catching up with you, Bertie! Maybe a "relaxed" view could help; you're older and wiser (or, maybe, tired-er) and you can chill if you're no longer top of the charts on Battlefield; as well as tinker with some less-blusterous titles.

Bertie wrote:...I’d like to see how the graphics improve over the next 30 years.

GTA V will be a launch game for the PS9 Cloud and looks incredible .

It's harder to find the time now. My partner and I are getting a place together and I work compressed hours that give me every second Friday off; on the days she works, that will probably be my gaming time once we finally move in. I had a lull in my 20s then came back to it, am 48 now. Ironically, where most people bemoan PS+, it has just become a cheap way for me to play. I buy games only rarely and mostly play the stuff from there, and still have loads of good stuff and a huge backlog.

I suspect what has changed for a lot of people isn't just getting older; it's that before the days where most games let you save your progress, it was largely "pick up and go" stuff. Now many are 20+ hours, which leads to far more interesting stuff, but an inability to get through too much of it!

jawa_ wrote:

Outrunner wrote:I'm reaching that point now if I'm being honest... For some reason (and it's not anything I can explain or put my finger on) gaming just doesn't excite me much any more...

I feel that this does happen to many of us at points, Outrunner. Over the years I've had breaks from gaming; in my early 20s I recall a time of not gaming at all for about six months - I just lost a bit of interest for a while. Gradually the will returned and this situation (albeit fir shorter periods) has happened since, too. Maybe take a break!

Unfortunately my breaks are getting longer and longer I spent ages in Ghost of Tsushima last year, before that it was Shenmue and before that Shadow of the Colossus. Samurai Warriors gets a look in every now and then but of course it's an easy game to dip in and out of. I bought all the Yakuza games and the remastered Sleeping Dogs (seems a bit of an Asian setting theme with my games this generation) but they all remain unplayed. I know some of it is circumstantial, I'm three years into a four/five year degree, so that takes a lot of time, but there's definitely just a lack of enthusiasm in general and regardless of how much time I take away it doesn't seem to be coming back aside from in brief flashes for key games. I've practically sat out the whole of the PS4/Xbox One generation. I am looking forward to getting into the Ghost of Ikishima when I break up for Christmas though so I'm not a lost cause yet!

Damian wrote:..am 48 now...

Welcome to the "older" sector of the GR community, Damian! Plot twist: the sector covers 98% of GRcadians .

Damian wrote:It's harder to find the time now... I suspect what has changed for a lot of people isn't just getting older; it's that before the days where most games let you save your progress, it was largely "pick up and go" stuff...

Yeah, games have generally gotten way more complicated than we we first started playing, dude. In the 80s you could pick up and play a game for a few minutes and now you can play hundred-hour epics! I am a fan of larger, openworld games but it can make "completing" games more challenging time-wise.

Outrunner wrote:Unfortunately my breaks are getting longer and longer... there's definitely just a lack of enthusiasm in general... I've practically sat out the whole of the PS4/Xbox One generation...

Oh! It does kinda sound like gaming is retreating into the backwaters of your life, Outrunner. But - hark! - what's this? I hear a feint heartbeat...

Outrunner wrote:...I am looking forward to getting into the Ghost of Ikishima when I break up for Christmas though so I'm not a lost cause yet!

...yes! Gaming is still there for you, man! .

jawa_ wrote:

Damian wrote:..am 48 now...

Welcome to the "older" sector of the GR community, Damian! Plot twist: the sector covers 98% of GRcadians .

that explains a lot