Gaming in your 40s

I have been a long time member here. In my late 40's and i still game but not as much as I used to. I have an issue of "letting go" when in the middle of a game.

Prime example, I am now playing No Man's sky... I have clocked in 100+ hours of play and have not advanced the story line much at all. I have been mining, expanding, upgrading, building bases and sometimes to the determent of sleep. That is why i actually relaxed on playing games as it was impacting my sleep schedule way to often.

I am of course eagerly waiting for God Of War: Ragnarok...
 
Been a member for a while. Used to be a hardcore gamer. Now at 44 years old I just rarely play. Sometimes my old pc friends do get together and play some games but my son mostly uses my gaming pc now.
 
I am 52 and I still play wow, currently playing wrath classic. kids are grown and out on their own, so it's just me and I have plenty of time
 
I'm also a Mid 40's man here. I knew many here were just like me. That's why I still visit this forum... it has always felt like home. I don't game as intensely as I once did, it's hot&cold. I mostly play nowadays as a form of escapism. The world has gone mad, not interested in talking politics, etc, here, but that's why I still play video games. I need to relieve the stress from time to time. I don't like, or watch, TV and movies, and I can't seem to concentrate on literature anymore (I was once an avid reader). So video games are where I slip off to when I need a break. I'm not really a fan of the newer games, or the direction most game companies have taken, so I mostly play older, or retro style games, with a few exceptions. I still like a challenge, but these old eyes and reflexes aren't what they once were. I don't regret, necessarily, having spent so many hours of my life playing trivial games, I've had some really great experiences, but I think if I could go back and do it all again, I would not have played any video games at all.
 
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51 here and still play video games. Although I don't sink hours upon hours at a time. At most I may spend two hours per session. Typically once or twice a week. Other times once a month. I favor games that is heavy on exploration. First person shooters with no open world feature no longer interest me.
 
Three weeks. Having gamed a single minute. This is after gaming nearly every day since Windows 3.1.

I have no idea what the hell just happened. I got tired of bouncing back and forth between World of Warcraft and Path of Exile. Warcraft is deader than dead to me, don't miss it a single ounce. It got to the point, I spend the night scrolling Steam for anything that looked like I enjoy, and I'd just go to bed.

These past three weeks, I want to say I'm thinking clearer, I'm waaaaaay more motivated to do stuff, I've been knocking out projects non-stop. Its weird. There's no "fog".
 
Three weeks. Having gamed a single minute. This is after gaming nearly every day since Windows 3.1.

I have no idea what the hell just happened. I got tired of bouncing back and forth between World of Warcraft and Path of Exile. Warcraft is deader than dead to me, don't miss it a single ounce. It got to the point, I spend the night scrolling Steam for anything that looked like I enjoy, and I'd just go to bed.

These past three weeks, I want to say I'm thinking clearer, I'm waaaaaay more motivated to do stuff, I've been knocking out projects non-stop. Its weird. There's no "fog".
This!
I game but only for a short bit of time and if a game can resume where I left off it is even better. Projects, Stuff to Learn and other things have been occupying me.
 
This!
I game but only for a short bit of time and if a game can resume where I left off it is even better. Projects, Stuff to Learn and other things have been occupying me.
yep, right now its more of a well, I've gone three weeks, I'll go four. I don't want to ruin my streak. I mean, I had a ton of fun doing it, but something just sort of switched off for me.
 
yep, right now its more of a well, I've gone three weeks, I'll go four. I don't want to ruin my streak. I mean, I had a ton of fun doing it, but something just sort of switched off for me.
I honestly have this happen to me about every 3 or 4 years. I haven't binged any games since the start of the pandemic, I like gamed myself out on Resident Evil series. Now it is like man there is a lot I'd like to do. Although I strangely enough play/idle grind in a Roblox game.. lol
 
What's interesting to me is many of us over 50 now have the disposable income to purchase any hardware or game we could ever want? Yet, at this stage in life we game much less than when we had to scrape together the funds to purchase an 8800gt back in the day. :)
I agree. I find myself upgrading things on my main PC, but in hindsight I don't use it as often. I upgrade just because I can afford to and PC's are my number one hobby, but in reality I don't really game enough to warrant the cost sometimes.
 
We are in a game drought. It isn’t our age. I’m shifting from being unproductive on my computer to being unproductive on my guitars until the industry comes up with a FPS worth my time.

Since I have been gaming, about 1985, there are always some phases where gaming takes a back seat due to lack of worthy content. I’m sure it will come roaring back, it only takes a few really good games. I’m sure Zelda: TotK will suck me back in next May.
 
We are in a game drought. It isn’t our age. I’m shifting from being unproductive on my computer to being unproductive on my guitars until the industry comes up with a FPS worth my time.

Since I have been gaming, about 1985, there are always some phases where gaming takes a back seat due to lack of worthy content. I’m sure it will come roaring back, it only takes a few really good games. I’m sure Zelda: TotK will suck me back in next May.
Just waiting for Stalker 2 to get immersed back into the zone......
 
I agree. I find myself upgrading things on my main PC, but in hindsight I don't use it as often. I upgrade just because I can afford to and PC's are my number one hobby, but in reality I don't really game enough to warrant the cost sometimes.
This... The money is nice, it is cool to say I have such a PC but it does not get utilized unless my kid uses it, even then it is not pushed to its limits unless I tweak and benchmark.
 
This... The money is nice, it is cool to say I have such a PC but it does not get utilized unless my kid uses it, even then it is not pushed to its limits unless I tweak and benchmark
Another factor coming into play is the increased wisdom of the first generation of video game kids; i/e those of us born in the late 60's and early 70's. We have been the first generation that has gamed from Kindergarten and ever since. Yet, unlike in our 20's and 30's when the Intels and Nvidia's and Amd's of the world could easily separate us from our money, that is no longer the case with us. It seems the most progressive and compelling period of gaming is now past as far as our generation is concerned. That combined with increased life experience, and other pursuits has made it increasingly difficult to justify buying the latest and greatest.
 
Another factor coming into play is the increased wisdom of the first generation of video game kids; i/e those of us born in the late 60's and early 70's. We have been the first generation that has gamed from Kindergarten and ever since. Yet, unlike in our 20's and 30's when the Intels and Nvidia's and Amd's of the world could easily separate us from our money, that is no longer the case with us. It seems the most progressive and compelling period of gaming is now past as far as our generation is concerned. That combined with increased life experience, and other pursuits has made it increasingly difficult to justify buying the latest and greatest.
This is very true! When I was younger and single it was easy to purchase and update my rig often. Now it is all neat and stuff although I did get a latest and greatest but a bit late in the generation. I leveraged the savings had with discounts seen. I do wish I had more time for quality gaming sometimes.
 
I'm 45. Been playing PC games since they exist and never felt guilty about spending sometime on it, wife plays too. My parents are not into computers, because they're both now over 70 years old and their generation never had acess to any of computer related stuff, so, all I got from gaming was my own initiative. I never felt interest for my parents businesses, like sales and/or teaching.
If you think twice, you're gonna realize that modern family members do mostly whatever they want to and they do not care that much about what dad could be doing with his spare time as long as he gets them involved. That's what I've been doing.
My two sons, now 21 and 19 years old, have been raised around me and my computers and nerdy stuff so now they've become full time nerds, just like their father. :)
I think that when you love gaming and computers and it shows, your children tend to stick to you as the model parent you're supposed to be and that will bring them along into it. Kids learn from their parents almost everything they will carry for life, gaming could be one of those things.
Honestly, I'd feel much more guilty should I have raised my children sat in front of a TV, simply changing channels and not thinking.
 
I'm 45. Been playing PC games since they exist and never felt guilty about spending sometime on it, wife plays too. My parents are not into computers, because they're both now over 70 years old and their generation never had acess to any of computer related stuff, so, all I got from gaming was my own initiative. I never felt interest for my parents businesses, like sales and/or teaching.
If you think twice, you're gonna realize that modern family members do mostly whatever they want to and they do not care that much about what dad could be doing with his spare time as long as he gets them involved. That's what I've been doing.
My two sons, now 21 and 19 years old, have been raised around me and my computers and nerdy stuff so now they've become full time nerds, just like their father. :)
I think that when you love gaming and computers and it shows, your children tend to stick to you as the model parent you're supposed to be and that will bring them along into it. Kids learn from their parents almost everything they will carry for life, gaming could be one of those things.
Honestly, I'd feel much more guilty should I have raised my children sat in front of a TV, simply changing channels and not thinking.
Played my first video game on a $15,000,000.00 (1967 dollars) at M.I.T., only as a visitor. A very early and crude pin ball game. I still game, and will let you guess my age.
 
Played my first video game on a $15,000,000.00 (1967 dollars) at M.I.T., only as a visitor. A very early and crude pin ball game. I still game, and will let you guess my age.
Wow! I'm sure you have a perspective on video gaming and it's history that would be very interesting?
 
43 here. I have an XBOX One X and a PC with a 10900 and a 3090ti. Both attached to the 70" 4K screen in my office.

I play The Division 2 and Minecraft. On the XBOX. For about 2 hours total on the weekends.

I watch an embarrassing amount of YouTube instead.
 
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