How to tell if you're too old for gaming

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TwistedAegis

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Pretty funny, IMO -

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-...o+Games&wa_user3=blog&wa_user4=feature_module

But the Truth Is...

Boredom is a young man's disease. For me, every minute I spend playing, more shit is piling up in my work inbox. No, I don't need a game that will kill time. I need a game that will give me the most possible fun in the precious few hours of spare time I get in a week. Trust me, if you ever see me reopen my World of Warcraft account, it means I probably got fired from my job.
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#1. You Miss When Games Used to be "All About Fun"


"You know what the real problem with games today is? It's all about graphics and technology and flash, rather than fun. Whatever happened to simple, joyful games that you could just pick up and play? I remember playing Donkey Kong Country until I could hit those jumps with my eyes closed, circling back through the old levels to collect red 1-Up balloons. Over and over again, never getting tired of it.

And never questioning its logic or my own sanity.
Whatever happened to games like that? And why do people buy these new games by the millions? Do they really not know what they're missing? Are they that brainwashed, that they can be fooled into thinking they're having fun when they're clearly not?
But the Truth Is...
And now that I think of it, when did they change the ingredients of Kool-Aid so that it started tasting like a fist full of sugar painted with harsh red dye? Why were the Transformers cartoons I saw as a kid so amazing, but today the huge-budget Michael Bay movies featuring the same characters and plotlines just punch IQ points out of my brain? Why are toys today so lame compared to what I had as akid? Why do McDonalds cheeseburgers taste so cheap and bland to me now, when as a kid that was the shit straight from the Five-Star restaurant where God himself works the grill?

"I said NO PICKLES, ASSHOLE!"
And why do my kids so happily consume all of this stuff? Don't they know it's bullshit?
They play Gears of War and laugh their asses off when they chainsaw an alien, and then proceed to do it over and over and over again, never getting tired of it. I swear I watch them play these modern games and it's almost like... and this can't possibly be true, but it's almost like they're having just as much fun as I had when I was their age.
It's like the poor bastards don't even know any better".


This is Beautiful. So true.
 
It is funny. I can see where he is coming from as when you get older games just matter less and less. I mean I'm like 23 and even I find most of my free time is spent doing other things and my entertainment time is split between movies, music, reading and games so I never just focus on gaming therefore I usually only play about 10 hours per week of gaming if that.

Even if I have the money to buy all the games I'd ever want I don't really have the time to play all those games. I still love getting engrossed in a few select titles once it a while, it's just not as easy nor do I really have the time for it anymore.
 
I can say older gamers get paralysis from analysis more often, since we think nothing can "fool" us into buying trash.
So we analyze all the aspects of the industry until all the fun is gone. Sometimes a person just has to step away from gaming for awhile, come back and realize all of their crying was a waste of time.
It's about winding down and getting away from the daily grind for a few hours.

I couldn't wait to play a game 10 years ago, now the games have to wait until I can get around to them.
 
Yep, there's a lot of truth in that. Occasionally I'll whack on an old game and play it again more to relive the feeling of playing it rather than because its actually a better game than modern ones.
 
I'm 30 and gaming was getting pretty hum-drum for me, just nothing new. Then my 14 year old introduced me to World of tanks, and its like being 15 again, I get off work, to rush home, and get enough XP to get that next tank.

I've also bought Deus Ex: IW, Space Marine, and Dead Island, so I guess you could say I've had a gaming renaissance thanks to a bunch of guys in Russia. :D

Now guys, the only way I get away with this, is the fact that my wife is playing City of Heroes again, don't try this if your wife/SO wants to spend "quality time" with you, unless you find her something to do first.
 
"300 hours represents every minute of gaming time I'll have available to me in the next three years."
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Man I feel that. Maybe it's me getting old, but Dead Space felt like the longest damn game I've played and yeah I've beaten final fantasy 3 like 6 times.


#3. You Miss Game Storylines That Were Actually Compelling"
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I just beat Bioshock 2 the other day and it downright had the worst story ever written. Well, everything about Bioshock 2 is the worst ever. I still dont understand how anyone could look at it as even an OK game.

Very few games these days have decent writing. It's really depressing. I disagree with the article FF3 was pretty deap. There's a scene where someone attempts suicide (on screen)you know AFTER the entire world has been destroyed. It's a depressing fucking game.
 
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Reminding me that the same obligations that let me afford to buy games also prevent me from playing them.
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Nail on the head right here.
 
That was a really good article.

I'm just happy there are no kids in the house so I have at least a little time to play games (and many, many other reasons.) At 40 years old I can still get lost in a book or game (or code) for hours on end, but finding that uninterrupted block of means losing sleep or burning a vacation day.

Some recent games are totally fascinating as well even though the concept/gamplay isn't necessarily new.
 
I don't think that anyone can ever be too old for a hobby. I'll game until I can't think straight with old age. :)
 
AdamNesvick said:
Now guys, the only way I get away with this, is the fact that my wife is playing City of Heroes again, don't try this if your wife/SO wants to spend "quality time" with you, unless you find her something to do first.
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How much room is there under your computer desk?



Sorry...couldn't resist.
 
Heh, funny article.

I'm 39 and still gaming and working full-time. Wife, kids, home, bills, the whole "grown-up" thing going on. I do sacrifice sleep though, but I figure.. I'll sleep enough when I'm dead.
 
Pfah, I've had steady work since I was 14 years old. Most people seem to get a job after college now. I play just as many games as ever while working 40-50 hours a week, no problem. I think most people just never had to balance the two until they got a real job.

Some of the newer mainstream titles have left a bad taaste in my mouth, but I can still find the ruthless stat heavy RPG's I like.

I also camp, hike, go to bars, take classes (certs), read, etc.

Having kids, though, will really eat into your free time. This is why I commit onanism.
 
Nice article.

It's about us, and the fact that once you hit a certain age, you're no longer the target audience game makers have in mind. Here are some signs that, sadly, you might be outgrowing your favorite hobby.
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Here's a few more

You cannot be asked to do another quest ever again in your life.
You have written walls of text about how you feel about game design on forums of game companies.
You won't buy a new game until it goes on sale because you know it will.
You're not happy playing any game on the market except angry birds.
You no longer find playing with settings for two hours to get a game to work amusing.
You remember when zombies were one class of enemy among many.
You won't buy a title because its made by a certain publisher who has pissed you off for the last time.
You don't understand the whole LEGO thing.
You don't need a tutorial mission to play anything anymore.
You don't need keyboard overlays or quick reference sheets.
You don't need a guide to tell you what's important.
You know the difference between a guild and a corp.
You know that a chat server is a reason to talk about everything but the damn game.
You know what social engineering is.
You know that free to play means pay to win.
You know endless forum arguments will result in no one actually playing the damn game.
You've been spawncamped for the last damn time.
If you run into one more invisible wall you're going to break the monitor.
You don't need a special mouse with 50 million dpi.
You don't need a keyboard with 20 macros.
The word suspended gives you nightmares.
You miss games that required graph paper and a pen to know where the hell you are.
You know the words innovative AI means shoots through walls and has godlike hearing and sight.
You know that in RTS games the computer isn't even playing the same damn game.
You know any career in mining will end in a bad way.
The word crafting gives you uncontrollable fits of agony.
When patch day breaks all the mods there goes the neighborhood.
You're so ninja you can't be ninja'd anymore.

These days, multiplayer is like a "get out of a bad game free" card.
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This.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Pfah, I've had steady work since I was 14 years old. Most people seem to get a job after college now. I play just as many games as ever while working 40-50 hours a week, no problem. I think most people just never had to balance the two until they got a real job.

Some of the newer mainstream titles have left a bad taaste in my mouth, but I can still find the ruthless stat heavy RPG's I like.

I also camp, hike, go to bars, take classes (certs), read, etc.

Having kids, though, will really eat into your free time. This is why I commit onanism.
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For me its not simply whether or not I have the free time for gaming, I still have enough free time to game as much as I used to if I wanted to, the question becomes now that I have less time but more money do I really want to spend that time and money on gaming, and the answer is increasingly becoming "mmm, not really". I still play the odd game, but my average per-week gaming time is well under 5 hours now (this past week has been 20 hours in Space Marine :p but if you average total gaming time over the past year its no where near that amount).
 
exdriver said:
You miss games that required graph paper and a pen to know where the hell you are.
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Ahhh, I remember playing Ultimate Air Combat as a kid and doing scouting missions, drawing up a map and figuring out my plan of attack to not get killed on the harder missions :p No way in hell I'd have the patience to do that these days.
 
Great article. Agreeing with him = crap, I'm old.

I don't have too many issues with modern games though because I don't have as much time as I'd like for them due to the whole "grown up" problem. That means I have to carefully select what I want to play, and I know right off the bat that I will never again be multiplayin' with asshat children on the latest console FPS re-hash. I tend to gravitate toward single-payer or single-playable games anyway.

That said, I do enjoy just about all of the games I decide play (new and old) and the first few weeks I get a new game it's pretty much an obsession, and that means I'm having fun. My backlog is also so chock-full of games that I know are great that I'm in a good position to be able to do my homework and almost always be assured that the next game I pick up will be fun.
 
Tudz said:
For me its not simply whether or not I have the free time for gaming, I still have enough free time to game as much as I used to if I wanted to, the question becomes now that I have less time but more money do I really want to spend that time and money on gaming, and the answer is increasingly becoming "mmm, not really". I still play the odd game, but my average per-week gaming time is well under 5 hours now (this past week has been 20 hours in Space Marine :p but if you average total gaming time over the past year its no where near that amount).
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I hit ~12 hours a week, unless a new game I really want to play just came out. In that case, it can go up to 25h. The difference is, I've completely stopped watching TV several years ago. I'm also pretty cheap, I paid $34 for DEHR
 
No way in hell I'd have the patience to do that these days.
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No, but it's one of the things you look back on with a certain nostalgia. Games at that time were more of a challenge really in a lot of ways. I'm not sure if it is that you get smarter as a gamer over the years, or that the games have become easier, or both.

I do know you lose patience ;)
 
Final Zone II. lol. Of course all box art looked like that when I was a kid, like someone with no art skills that went recently blind started painting.

Of course I fully stand by my stance that each one of those points is actually true, I'm not old, games are just getting worse :p
 
exdriver said:
You miss games that required graph paper and a pen to know where the hell you are.
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Tudz said:
Ahhh, I remember playing Ultimate Air Combat as a kid and doing scouting missions, drawing up a map and figuring out my plan of attack to not get killed on the harder missions :p No way in hell I'd have the patience to do that these days.
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Not the same....picture a black and white (or black and green :) ) monitor with only text on the screen. These are the adventures you need a hand drawn map for.

I used to play one on my free period in the high-school library . I think it was an Apple IIe if I remember right.
 
MUDs...lol. Used to tease the hell out of a friend who still used to play these well into the days of 3D graphics.
 
Tudz said:
Ahhh, I remember playing Ultimate Air Combat as a kid and doing scouting missions, drawing up a map and figuring out my plan of attack to not get killed on the harder missions :p No way in hell I'd have the patience to do that these days.
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I use to play these group of text base games. One was "crime.exe", that i still play from time to time on the old Tandy 1000 Tl/2.

using commands like.
loo tre = look at tree; moveing by going north and south. And if you go north or south on a north/south street you would get hit by a car for playing the street.
 
PC Gamers can be a fickle bunch. They want the best graphics as a matter of principle, but they also want the best gameplay. And while even the best graphics won't bring salvation to a tepid gameplay experience, there is a lot more flexibility on the graphical side of things if the gameplay is up to par. After all, people are still buying and playing the first game in the franchise, which is 11 years old now.
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Quote from the HAROCP Deus EX review

Thats the way I see it. Story and depth come before any graphics. A lot of old games I play don't have the benefit of shining graphics so the authors had to work harder to keep you interested.
 
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TwistedAegis said:
MUDs...lol. Used to tease the hell out of a friend who still used to play these well into the days of 3D graphics.
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I used to play MUDS, the last time I played one was probably in 2007 or 2008.

A good game is a good game.

I'll likely be 80 years old, rocking in a chair with a PS9 controller in my hand, a stogie dripping ashes on the ashtray, a 40 oz stacked next to me, and I'll be beating the shit out of Dark Demon Souls 5 and laughing at how those damn kids can't even get past the first level.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Pfah, I've had steady work since I was 14 years old. Most people seem to get a job after college now. I play just as many games as ever while working 40-50 hours a week, no problem. I think most people just never had to balance the two until they got a real job.

Some of the newer mainstream titles have left a bad taaste in my mouth, but I can still find the ruthless stat heavy RPG's I like.

I also camp, hike, go to bars, take classes (certs), read, etc.

Having kids, though, will really eat into your free time. This is why I commit onanism.
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LeninGHOLA said:
I hit ~12 hours a week, unless a new game I really want to play just came out. In that case, it can go up to 25h. The difference is, I've completely stopped watching TV several years ago. I'm also pretty cheap, I paid $34 for DEHR
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You must not have a GF or exercise with regularity or something... because there is no way you're pulling a free 1.5+ hours a day to play games and do the other stuff you've listed. I'm a full time worker and I regularly don't get 1.5 hours a week to play games.
 
I sleep 6-8 hours a night, I spent 9 and a half hours of my day at work (includes transport) that leaves me with roughly 6.5 hours to do whatever I want with my day.

Plus I'm off weekends, so that's about 66-68 hours of free time a week. I could easily sink that into beating any game out there, I just rarely focus on any one thing, although I am guilty of playing too much League of Legends. Lately I've been weaning myself off of it by playing Demon's Souls.

You don't have to be married, have kids, and all that to be a happy person. I'm relatively happy.
 
Team Obi Juan said:
You must not have a GF or exercise with regularity or something... because there is no way you're pulling a free 1.5+ hours a day to play games and do the other stuff you've listed. I'm a full time worker and I regularly don't get 1.5 hours a week to play games.
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I usually do two or three hours a day. I work 50 a week. I'm married but don't want any kids. It's like having a dead weight strapped to your leg that whines and slobbers on you. My wife plays video games (Mostly counter-strike facebook and TF2) and does animal fostering so as long as she gets 2 hours of attention a day I'm in the green to do whatever gaming I want. It aint too difficult as long as you don't have kids.
 
Team Obi Juan said:
You must not have a GF or exercise with regularity or something... because there is no way you're pulling a free 1.5+ hours a day to play games and do the other stuff you've listed. I'm a full time worker and I regularly don't get 1.5 hours a week to play games.
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Yep. Currently -1 GF (or fiance, rather) and exercising regularly. It goes in cycles, some days I play none at all, some days I'm up until 12am just trying to finish up "that one last quest". You probably also watch TV. For me, spending $30-40 a month on games is worth more than $80 a month on cable TV.
 
Most TV is garbage anyway, there's only a few really good shows, like Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Dexter, Boardwalk Empire, Sons of Anarchy, to name a few, the rest is just garbage and noise.

But anyway, you can discuss TV in the Entertainment Media subforum in General Mayhem, we have quite a few threads on the best TV shows in there.

But honestly I understand what you mean about trying to balance, some TV here, some games there, keeps things interesting and fresh rather than you just doing the same thing all the time.
 
Welp, I just turned 60.. and Im playing more games now then I did say 20 years ago.. More disposable cash I guess
 
Monkey34 said:
Not the same....picture a black and white (or black and green :) ) monitor with only text on the screen. These are the adventures you need a hand drawn map for.

I used to play one on my free period in the high-school library . I think it was an Apple IIe if I remember right.
Click to expand...

RocketFast321 said:
I use to play these group of text base games. One was "crime.exe", that i still play from time to time on the old Tandy 1000 Tl/2.

using commands like.
loo tre = look at tree; moveing by going north and south. And if you go north or south on a north/south street you would get hit by a car for playing the street.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I used to play text based role playing games, Legends of Cosrin was the main one, I dont think I ever bothered drawing maps for them though :p Looked at maps other people had made, yes, making my own, not so much ;)
 
You know what the real problem with games today is? It's all about graphics and technology and flash, rather than fun.
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This.png
 
I don't think its as much about graphics and technology as it was even 5 or 6 years ago. The only time that seems to play a factor is if you run an expensive Eyefinity setup or Nvidia triple monitor setup or your going for some demanding 3D setup , otherwise graphics really haven't taken massive leaps in recent years (Crysis 1 was the last time that really happened).

I would say the last 3 or 4 years have been the rise of the Indie games which focus far less on graphics and more on gameplay. Some are incredibly fun and addictive , some are quick gaming fixes that provide some fun for a cheap expense.

The only thing "wrong" with gaming is that PC gamers get the shit end of the stick most of the time and get stuck with buggy / trashy console conversions that take a bunch of patches to work correctly and even then are reduced functionality compared to a full fledged PC developed game. If I know a PC game I'm buying is just a total console port , most of the time I'll wait until its on sale to buy so I don't feel like a complete ass trying to get it to function correctly and failing to do so.

I don't think anyone is really "too" old for gaming. I think that perhaps the proper term should be "how to balance out my life and still find time to enjoy my favorite hobby" which effects anyone with a hobby to begin with. I can't ever see myself just quiting gaming altogether , I enjoy it far too much. Its my favorite time sink and has been for the last 27 years.
 
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