Have you lost your gaming interest?

I used to game a lot, got married 5 years ago so I played less games, had a kid 2 years ago so I played even less games. It's not only that I don't have as much time for games, but it's just that it no longer satisfies me either. Also, after some more trying days at work, I just don't care enough or have the energy to play, and I'm not one to play half assed games either since it'll make the small amount of time I play games suck even more. Lastly, other toys are better - why race on a computer when you can do it on a track?

Taste haven't changed, the world around me has.

It is interesting you mention that. I find my gaming tastes change because I want some story and I don't want to do a lot of thinking. One game that interested me was "Dear Esther", the game just told a story...no combat, no loss for dying, no puzzles, you just explore the world, enjoy the music, learn about the world and the story being told and then you get to the end. It was a really interesting and relaxing experience. It was like having a story read to you out loud, quite pleasant.

Maybe that is why older games appeal to us older gamers. We don't have to re-learn anything, you can just enjoy an experience that you are already comfortable. You don't need a large challenge because the challenge isn't what draws you in anymore...just a thought.
 
I don't game nearly as much as I used to. Growing up I played them all, starting with (from a PC as opposed to console perspective) Doom and ROTT, all through the real 3d revolution with Quake/2/3 as well as Half-Life the original Counter-Strike and Sin/Shogo and a bunch of smaller offshoots.

On consoles I started with NES and played everything up to the Gamecube era. The past two and now almost 3 generations I haven't bothered with.

I think the last game I got really engrossed in was Deus-Ex:HR, and I put a lot of hours into that game just to get points and of course have fun with stealth and the AI. These days for me it takes a pretty spectacular experience to get me to want to play something new. I don't want just a 'good' experience, I want to play probably the best .0001% of games. I just don't have time or interest in anything else. Like I say, I haven't bothered with consoles, and FPS's for the most part these days bore me. I don't need "new" graphics and "inventive weapons", I need story, the capacity to explore and do what I want in the game, and a unique experience. Otherwise I might as well spend time on other more important things (to me) like photo/video editing, or messing around with music creation.

Gaming as a past time is great, but if we're honest a big portion of them is time wasting as it's about entertainment and enjoyment. You don't really get anything out of them other than what you put in, and the percent of people that play games that make money from playing them is razor thin. As I've grown, I still appreciate games, but I see them for what they are. If something gets exceptional reviews and fits into the genres/playstyles I like, I'll take the time to play it, but for most everything else, I'll skip it. I've often told friends that if there were 48 hours in a day, maybe I'd have more time to play games, but in terms of priorities, there are just better/more awesome things I can do with my time.
 
-You require a very engaging narrative to become interested. Remember how mind blowing simple plot devices are when you were younger? I remember reading all the time and loving every cliche RPG...then I got older and realized how 2 dimensional most books and games are.

Just like you used to chug Keystone and now enjoy fewer micro-brews, your taste matures. For most people, that is.
 
At some point in life you're going to look at video games and be genuinely and utterly uninterested. It just happens.
 
30 years old here and still rocking with games! Maybe be less now but still. I'll play one. My backlog is sooooooo huge.
 
In my early 20s I pretty much stopped gaming but now in my late 20s the bug has bitten again... weird how things work.
 
I also have lost my interest in gaming but not the hardwares. My wife would ask me why I am still buying these expensive parts and I would say 'so my machine is ready when/if my old habit comes back'. I dunno why but watching Skyrim runs flawlessly after adding hundreds of mod is more satisfying than actually doing the quests.
 
I used to be a hardcore gamer, got married and still gamed quite frequently. But since reaching the 30s I find myself "trying" to buy my way back into it.

For instance I moved to a smaller apartment and got a Dell 580s just to go out and buy a LP 6570. Bought over 100 bucks in Steam sale games and never really played any of them. Moved to a larger PC SG05 with a 6970 and again bought a ton of games just to never really play anything other than a couple hours of L4D2.

Moved to a bigger house bought my current system with crossfire 7970s and again, not really doing much gaming instead just tweaking and running benchmarks.

I was a very serious WoW player, previously to that CS, UT, etc.

These days I am just watching media on my HTPC.

I think it's safe to say I am no longer a gamer. I just don't care enough about them. I beat TR in a rush over 2 days but other than that haven't touched anything really since. I can't even care to finish Bioshock.

Yet I still have an urge to buy more videocards, more Steam games, more console games, even though I know damn well they will go unused.

Is it time for me to sell everything off and get a Mac lol?

I just think it's time for me to admit I'm not a gamer anymore.

hey bro. Sometimes you need to take a step back and ask you self if you are where you want to be in life right now. Ask your self how gaming fits that picture. Only you can tell your self that. That being said, I have also found that having a local bud to discuss games, computers, etc can help ;by getting you pumped up about games.

My self, I love the tech. I love the community. But most of all, I love getting lost in the experience. Losing focus of reality, to me, is the pull. The Rush of a FPS, or the Depth of a RPG is what really locks me into gaming as whole.

Most of all man, do what you enjoy! Don't do what you think you should enjoy, do what yo DO enjoy! If you need time to find it out, technology and gaming is not going anyplace.

My random thoughts.... :0-) , as always.
 
Personally I just think my taste in games changed over time.
 
get friends! lol seriously though I was starting to burn out on games, then started playing with a couple guy I know irl and it has been so much better. Even games that were alright to me before like starcraft 2 become 100x more fun with friends over Skype.

Definitely true, i got burned out a lot on some of the newer games. Its only when i got a few friends to play together that we had a lot more fun. Its always funner playing with people you know or are friends with ;)
 
I don't play as much as I used to when I was younger, but I'm still able to fit in a few hours on weekends. I prefer to play against people I know (whether it's online or in real life).
 
I need to play the newest and the best but I'm finding out the Newest stuff isn't all that good. Kickstater projects look more promissing then the new stuff.
 
get friends! lol seriously though I was starting to burn out on games, then started playing with a couple guy I know irl and it has been so much better. Even games that were alright to me before like starcraft 2 become 100x more fun with friends over Skype.

/\ this

I have been gaming since 91 or 92 and I would be totaly burned out by now if I didnt play with friends. If they arent on I just watch media, for the most part. but we usualy manage to play a few hours a night.

I used to play wow a LOT! and now mmo's are kinda dead to me. unless some one comes out with a mmo thats 100% different that wow. so dont feel burned out because your no longer interested in mmos, I think its fairly comon for people that dumped a ton of hours into wow to be done with mmo's of that style.
 
I've been gaming off & on since 93. No burnout here but I'm finding as I get older that I have less tolerance for BS in games. Hasn't stopped me from wanting to game a lot more (even with being married & kid on the way). Rotating through different genres helps me keep it fresh.
 
I also have lost my interest in gaming but not the hardwares. My wife would ask me why I am still buying these expensive parts and I would say 'so my machine is ready when/if my old habit comes back'. I dunno why but watching Skyrim runs flawlessly after adding hundreds of mod is more satisfying than actually doing the quests.

You're building something and it's cheaper than a car, boat, motorcycle, or lawnmower :D hobby.

If it's fun you could always build and then donate a stable, working PC to people or organizations who need one and they're relying on an old Pentium 4 with 512MB of RAM and a terrible power supply. The cheapest Celeron with an H61 and 4GB DDR3 would handle all office tasks. That would be tax deductible in some cases.

(this can lead to a tech support trap, but just remind them that if John Doe sells a working TV or iPad he doesn't have to be the expert repair tech)
 
Any time I feel like I'm getting a case of gaming burnout, I'll take a break and find a project or something to work on for a while. After a couple of weeks, I'm like Tyrone Biggums jonesing for a game fix.
 
I've been gaming since the Atart 2600 days and now at 35 I've been reevaluating my life and am finding that games are starting to feel like a distraction. I still enjoy gaming but no matter how much I enjoy one I can't shake the feeling that I'm wasting time that would be better spent nurturing a "non-digital and real-life" skill. I want to have skills that I can both enjoy now and pass down to my children and grandchildren. Because of that I've been focusing much of my attention on more artistic endeavors: I'm learning guitar, getting started in woodworking, and wouldn't mind trying oil painting.

CN: You're getting old. Try out a few new hobbies.
 
I recently started playing Super Mario World on a SNES emulator and a USB SNES games pad. Even though when I was a kid I totally did 100% of this game it still feels fresh and new after all these years! Really enjoying it.
 
It's not just you man. I've lost interest big time. I credit that to the fact that the industry is gone to shit since the rise of the consoles and games simply are not as good as they used to be.
 
Not as hardcore as I used to be, especially on the PC side. I was a pretty accomplished Q3/UT/Wolf ET player but the last MP FPS I played a lot was QW.

I'm looking forward to the next Rome Total War, and Demons & Dark Souls got a lot of attention on my PS3, but I can't get into most of the recent "popular" PC RPGs. I never played Skyrim (burnt out on Bethesda's formula), and don't like Dragon Age, or The Witcher series.


But I do plan to get a PS4. And I always get hyped for a new GTA game. So I'm still a gamer, just not as dedicated as I was 10-15 years ago.
 
I attribute my loss of interest mostly to age. Free time is hard to come by and when it does it's hard to justify not spending that time on enhancing skills for your profession or spending time with family.

Much of mainstream gaming has become stale as well. Growing up many of us have gone through major transitions technology-wise that added significantly new core gameplay dynamics (3D, networking, etc...). That has not happened in quite some time. Depth and complexity also have been eroding from mainstream gaming. There just isn't as much skill required for games. Some gamers want a simple easy experience to just unwind and others want a challenge with some mental stimulation.

At this point I mostly stick to playing older games on gog.com or take out my SNES for a taste of console gaming. These kickstarters are offering me some hope to hark back on the "days of old", but I don't exactly expect them to recapture original experiences.
 
I'm 31 and my gaming interest is DEFINITELY decreased since my mid-20's. That said, I'm still gaming many hours a week.... just not all the time anymore. I've definitely shifted away from FPS's towards action adventure/action RPG. TR, Bioshock Infinite, Arkham City, etc, as well as playing TERA and GW2 from time to time to get my MMO fix for free :D

That said, GOG gets most of my money.... (boots up Baldur's Gate II >_>) :D
 
I just went to lunch with a group of guys from work. We talked about old games quite a bit. I think part of it is that your friends and colleagues are no longer interested in gaming. Half the fun of playing a game was talking about it with friends and other people. With that gone from your life, I can see how the desire to play may drop accordingly.
 
No. I've lost time available to game, but not interest. I also am more picky about the games I play, but no I think I will always be a gamer.
 
I felt the same way after my WoW burnout, and then realized I don't like extremely long single player RPGs anymore

between work, college, and the commute, a 200 hour slog doesn't appeal (probably why I can't get into MMOs).

I really liked leveling to 80 in GW2 with a friend though and playing wuvwuv, that scratched an itch for about 2 months
 
It's cyclical for me. I lose my gaming interest every summer. I play all winter because it's so effing cold and one can only afford to snowboard so much. Once it starts warming up there is much more to do outside so I game less and less.
 
Interesting thread. I'm 40, married, work full-time and still have plenty of time for gaming. But after six intense years of WoW, I feel kinda broken.

I have trouble maintaining interest in anything else. I own a PS3 and a Wii. I have bought and sold five XBOX 360s since its release and I'm considering buying another one. I bought Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch on Saturday and still haven't played it yet. It look amazing but I'm afraid it's going to bore me. I picked up Red Dead Redemption right after Christmas and have spent about 30 minutes playing it.

When I look back at the amount of time I wasted on WoW and what I think it did to me as a gamer, I wish I had never played it at all.

I also think being able to buy a console and/or any number of games anytime I want sort of takes the magic out of it. I remember when it was such a huge deal to be able to afford a console. I had to save up to buy games. When I did finally get my hands on a coveted title, I devoured it. Now I have a whole shelf of unopened and un-played games. I think I might be crazy. :D
 
Yeah, I've been pretty disenchanted with gaming for well over a decade now. I've mostly been playing Blizzard games and get tons of hours out of them, but the last time where I felt genuinely excited and enamored with games was like 13 years ago when I was in junior high school (aka middle school nowadays). At that time I discovered emulation and enjoyed all of the best SNES games that I missed during their prime. It was also a time where I played some amazing PSX games like FF7 (had it for the PC, actually) and FFT.

My most recent game now is SC2: HotS, but now I can't even be bothered to finish the campaign on Brutal difficulty. I occasionally hop on to do stomp comps with friends though.

Every time I hope that there will be a renaissance in gaming, I get kinda depressed knowing it won't happen lol. I feel like developers, especially the ones who want to prey on our nostalgia, don't really understand what made the old classics great and something we yearn for. If I could put my money where my mouth is, I'd like to sit down and think about it hardcore. Was it merely nostalgia, serendipitous design due to technical limitations, better creativity or what? If I could actually have a serious discussion with the intent on making something out of it, I'd love that.
 
I'm exactly like you. I just go on my HTPC all day to browse the web and watch movies. I'm never on my main rig, but I love to fiddle around with hardware. Things like overclocking, making my cables neat, and etc.
 
I play less than when I was younger since I have two young kids, but I still enjoy pc gaming. I actually enjoy it more than console gaming even though computers can have some pain in the ass issues. I do find myself fallling in and out of interest in certain genres of games. Just a month and a half ago I was contemplating on getting a wheel that supported a clutch a shifter like the g27 or a fanatec setup, but then I asked myslelf how often do I now play with my driving force gt wheel. I like it and enjoy it, but sometimes don't care for setting my stuff up to play a racing game. As of recent I've just gone back to shooters on my PC. My father who is 68 has played games for a while now mostly computer games, I think I kinda got into since my highschool days, nowadays he's been spending hours on minecraft lol, he's retired so he's got a lot of time.
 
Just found this thread and it really touched a nerve with me. I'm 44 and have been a hardcore gamer from the age of 20 with my C-64.

Over the past few years, the passion has just ... died. Like you, I do play World of Warcraft. We are 5/13 Heroic ToT 10 man. I have amazing gear and we are doing rather well. But that's only about 12 hours a week with a few additional odd hours just dicking around here and there.

I have an amazing rig. Check out my sig. Just purchased 3 x LG 39LN5300 monitors that are absolutely fantastic. But when I think about it, I could have put the $5,000 I have into everything toward the 426 Hemi I still need for my 70' Superbee. I still have other PC's that will play WoW nicely.

I have 100+ games on my steam account. I picked up Bioshock a few weeks ago, still new in the box. In fact, I still have dishonored new and unplayed.

So who knows what the hell is going on with me.

I seriously have thought about getting off my sleep meds and pumping myself up with testosterone like a lot of guys are doing these days between 35 and 50. And before anyone laughs at that comment I can still pop all of your heads like the teenage and college pimples that you are. :)
 
Some how drinking beer with friends and going to shows pulled me away from my gaming past but I haven't had something show up like the original counter strike that pulled you in with scrims and league play and wasn't based one leveling up. I just wish half life 3 would come out
 
My gaming interest goes up and down.

Over a year I usually cycle between some phases. movies for 1-2 months, gaming for 1-2 months, tv-shows for 1-2 months, learning something random (programming, some software etc...) for 1-2 months

Then I start over.
 
Age 40. Married. 2 kids. I play rarely but who cares? My kiddo's are infinitely more fun than the combined joy experienced by all the video gaming that has ever been done in the history of the world. End of story.
 
Age 40. Married. 2 kids. I play rarely but who cares? My kiddo's are infinitely more fun than the combined joy experienced by all the video gaming that has ever been done in the history of the world. End of story.

This. Gaming is a hobby, a fun one, but real life and other interests take over.
 
Back
Top