I think I've reached an odd point in my gaming hobby.

Godmachine

[H]F Junkie
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So after being a gamer since I was 5 years old and receiving NES for Christmas my gaming passion has been explosive in its continued growth. I've never really strayed from gaming , only during my divorce and some other critical life altering experiences really , by and large however I've always kept up with everything that I could. Read the magazines then trolled the web sites , kept myself well informed of what's available and whats to come (which face it is about 50 percent of the hobby).

But lately I've hit a wall. I have over 100 games siting in my library I don't touch. They all range from "decent" to "amazing" in overall quality. Some are generational titles that simply anyone that identifies as a gamer shouldn't pass up. Yet despite this massive library of games I'm always adding to it. Always grabbing whatever peaks my interest via previews , videos , word of mouth etc. At the same time I wonder why I always do this. It's really beginning to bother me now because I feel its a waste of money if I don't actually play them enough. I've decided until I sort this I'm not buying any other games as well.

When I was a kid my gaming allowance was dictated by my mother. She was very generous despite our small income. But it still largely restricted what I played or had access to play. I feel like I cherished what I had more. I didn't just impulsively grab whatever I knew I would like and instead I took more time to appreciate the little I had and really relish my gaming experiences. Gaming held me through some of the worst times in my life and made it possible to bare it at the same time.

Now it all feels like a "field of plenty" kind of situation. I'm 34 and at the moment single plus I work from home so I have a pretty huge leg up on most gamers who work outside the home with girlfriends/boyfriends. Not having any kids also makes a big difference. Any of my friends that do have children basically have to schedule their interests around them as you would expect. So I really should be enjoying my hobby and taking part in the maximum the experience allows and instead I'm just awash with choice but deprived of interest.

Its not like I don't want to play them. I often play sometimes 8-9 hours for a day then however I won't touch a game until a week or two passes. I would hate to label this "your growing out of it" but I really want to tackle my library yet I don't even know where to start. Listing all my games would be fruitless as it really doesn't matter which I start with and why. But I feel like I'm wasting so much with what I have and on a personal level that bothers me.

Any of you experiencing what I am at the moment or have any advise? I don't really have any other interests or hobby's. I do enjoy movies quite a bit and I guess you could label me a film buff but I don't instinctively buy movies the way I do games. I'm much more selective based on my highly personal taste. Not sure what to do..
 
i use to do the same thing, mostly because i wasn't allowed to have the games i wanted as a kid so once i could afford to buy my own games i bought everything i remotely found interesting and got the same point you are now. finally i just stopped opening steam around 2006 and only started using it again about 6 months ago. but i also have the problem where if i find a game i like i'll just spam play the game til i get to the point where theres no reason to play it anymore (hit max level/unlocked everything) and then never touch the game again. luckily with the F2P craze over the last few years being able to do that has been cheap for me. but thinking back, the last game i purchased was crysis wars for 5 bucks and that was just to play free mod about 5 years ago

my personal opinion, just pick the games you think you'll actually play more than once and move on. and the next time you look at a game and think about buying it. ask your self, are you going to play this game right after you buy it? if no, pass on it, if yes buy it. that's pretty much how i had to re-train myself not to buy every game i see and my wallet is a whole heck of a lot happier about it, lol.
 
i use to do the same thing, mostly because i wasn't allowed to have the games i wanted as a kid so once i could afford to buy my own games i bought everything i remotely found interesting and got the same point you are now. finally i just stopped opening steam around 2006 and only started using it again about 6 months ago. but i also have the problem where if i find a game i like i'll just spam play the game til i get to the point where theres no reason to play it anymore (hit max level/unlocked everything) and then never touch the game again. luckily with the F2P craze over the last few years being able to do that has been cheap for me. but thinking back, the last game i purchased was crysis wars for 5 bucks and that was just to play free mod about 5 years ago

my personal opinion, just pick the games you think you'll actually play more than once and move on. and the next time you look at a game and think about buying it. ask your self, are you going to play this game right after you buy it? if no, pass on it, if yes buy it. that's pretty much how i had to re-train myself not to buy every game i see and my wallet is a whole heck of a lot happier about it, lol.

I do feel like re-training is in order I just wonder where to start. I guess Bloodborne is as good a game as any other and its got depth.

The urge not to impulsively buy new games that peak my interest will be brutally tough for me. Knowing I have the game I want when I want to play is a very satisfying feeling even though with digital downloads that's really pointless as I can get them virtually anytime.

Its a weird dichotomy I have with wanting ownership but not actually fulfilling the point of that ownership.
 
This is a sedative Hobby being you veg out on the PC. The market for gaming is flooded with stuff that says hey look at this game it's the best but in reality it's nothing to get your heart pumping more then a walk outside with a girlfriend of course.

Don't get married ever unless you can trust the women not to take 1/2.
 
Yes, I have experienced much the same in recent years. I have a hard time admitting that I enjoy the anticipation of new games to come than actually playing them after I buy them. I enjoy pouring over hardware reviews and forums in an effort to build the best bang for the buck gaming PC more than actually gaming on that hardware.

My childhood was similar to yours in that my folks didn't have much (usually zero) money to spend on cartridges or Commodore software. I was lucky that my grandfather made a good living as an engineer and got me my Atari 2600 and Colecovision. But beyond the very few games that came with those Christmas presents, I never had any other games. By the mid 80s my mom went back to work and somehow my parent managed to get me a C64, 1541, and monitor for Christmas. One of my high school teachers gave me a massive box of pirated C64 games and I was in heaven. I managed to scrounge up enough money to pick Bard's Tale and received Pool of Radiance as a birthday gift. The NES would come a year later. My point is, like you, I had access to very few games then, and I treasured the time I had playing them. I must have put 1000 hours into Defender on my Colecovision.

Now? I'm swimming in games and sort of bounce with only passing interest between them, looking for something that will hold my interest to completion. In the last few years, that's only been Tomb Raider and Might and Magic X. I'm very close to completing Wind Waker HD but I've been working on it for more than a year. My wife was out with family last night and I had a precious few hours to myself. I've got a PS4 sitting here with Bloodborne. I have a Wii U with Bayonetta 2. New 3DS with a number of games. And my PC which right now has I have temporarily fitted with a GTX 560 until the new cards drop in a few months. I ended up playing Dead Space for about an hour, shut it off, went to bed.

I think the glut of games is a problem. I'm just overwhelmed with choices. I wouldn't attribute your situation necessarily with being single. I've been married almost 15 years and I feel basically the same as you. Sometime I WISH I was single so I would have more time to game. I do think it's important to not feel like you HAVE to game. It's okay to just poke at it.
 
I'm similar starting with Atari 2600 to Colecovision to NES to Sega Genesis then eventually to PC. Always playing games but then got burned out the last couple of years. Lately there just aren't enough games for me to play so I'll take a year off. I'll build a new gaming rig, play everything that I want and then I'll part it out and wait a year or so until some new games come out. In in the middle of a gaming-less time now. I've done this multiple times, probably because I enjoy building a new PC more than I actually enjoy using it.

Since parting out my gaming PC a few months ago, I've read some books that I've put off, I've played some Wii U, whatever else I can think of. There's always something to do.
 
So after being a gamer since I was 5 years old and receiving NES for Christmas my gaming passion has been explosive in its continued growth. I've never really strayed from gaming , only during my divorce and some other critical life altering experiences really , by and large however I've always kept up with everything that I could. Read the magazines then trolled the web sites , kept myself well informed of what's available and whats to come (which face it is about 50 percent of the hobby).

But lately I've hit a wall. I have over 100 games siting in my library I don't touch. They all range from "decent" to "amazing" in overall quality. Some are generational titles that simply anyone that identifies as a gamer shouldn't pass up. Yet despite this massive library of games I'm always adding to it. Always grabbing whatever peaks my interest via previews , videos , word of mouth etc. At the same time I wonder why I always do this. It's really beginning to bother me now because I feel its a waste of money if I don't actually play them enough. I've decided until I sort this I'm not buying any other games as well.

When I was a kid my gaming allowance was dictated by my mother. She was very generous despite our small income. But it still largely restricted what I played or had access to play. I feel like I cherished what I had more. I didn't just impulsively grab whatever I knew I would like and instead I took more time to appreciate the little I had and really relish my gaming experiences. Gaming held me through some of the worst times in my life and made it possible to bare it at the same time.

Now it all feels like a "field of plenty" kind of situation. I'm 34 and at the moment single plus I work from home so I have a pretty huge leg up on most gamers who work outside the home with girlfriends/boyfriends. Not having any kids also makes a big difference. Any of my friends that do have children basically have to schedule their interests around them as you would expect. So I really should be enjoying my hobby and taking part in the maximum the experience allows and instead I'm just awash with choice but deprived of interest.

Its not like I don't want to play them. I often play sometimes 8-9 hours for a day then however I won't touch a game until a week or two passes. I would hate to label this "your growing out of it" but I really want to tackle my library yet I don't even know where to start. Listing all my games would be fruitless as it really doesn't matter which I start with and why. But I feel like I'm wasting so much with what I have and on a personal level that bothers me.

Any of you experiencing what I am at the moment or have any advise? I don't really have any other interests or hobby's. I do enjoy movies quite a bit and I guess you could label me a film buff but I don't instinctively buy movies the way I do games. I'm much more selective based on my highly personal taste. Not sure what to do..

I go through it as well. I have over 100 things in my steam library as well. But I've come to realization I'm not going to play every game from start to finish, so I uninstall them. On my steam library I only show the games insalled. I've also adjusted the way I do things. Here are just a few things I've done.

1. Games that I need better hardware for. When it comes to PC games I'm picky about framerates. So If I can't get 60fps at max settings @ nearly 100% of time I'll usually not play until theres been a few hardware generations have passed. Like right now Crysis 3, Metro 2033, and Far Cry 3 probably won't be played for a while.

2. This has helped me the most, I play games on easy. I'm 32 with a family, the "challenge" in games don't mean shit to me anymore. So what this has done is shrink the amount of time it takes to me to finish a game. When I'm done the game is then uninstalled and/or traded to gamestop.

3. I do just enough research to determine if I'm going to buy it or not. Once I've decided if I'm going to buy game, I don't do anything until it comes out. I try not to watch or read anything about it. I essentially try to go in as blind as possible. This way I don't have any unrealistic expectations.

4. Sometimes I'll try to find the shortest games in my collection to try make the list less overwhelming.

5. If the game sucks, the game sucks. I've slowly gotten out of the habbit that if I buy the game I gotta play it and finish it. Now I've come to the point if the game sucks I'm not going to continue playing it, it just makes things even more unpleasant. This alone has helped me slash several games from the list.
 
I've been there as well and am currently there. However, my time is more focused on my family. Being semi-retired at 40 is nice but between my family and real estate business I don't have as much time for hobbies as one would think. I enjoy being outdoors much more than sitting inside gaming anyways, but especially more now that my son is 3. I want him outside as much as possible so that is our thing. By the time I sit down at night to relax I'm beat enough as it is but I still have to make time for the wife. When all is said and done I'm just too tired to play for an hour or more. I'm enjoying Pillars of Eternity right now but only have about 6 hours in since it was released and that has been a lot of time devoted to it haha.
 
This post really resonates with me, hell I posted a similar topic just a few days ago. I was born in '86 and have been playing games since the NES. My parents were very generous and I would get new games/rent games all the time, but regardless, as soon as I got it on my way home I was so excited and couldn't wait to play it and as soon as I would get home I would pop the game in and play and play and play. Hell, for awhile I would even sleep while holding my new game LOL!

I REALLY miss that feeling and honestly the last system I remember having that feeling for was with my PS2. Looking back it was around that time I got high speed internet and a good PC and can see it was then I started spending a LOT more time online doing everything from reading different video game forums to looking up video game news.

Kind of ironic when you think about it. Granted it could also just be what happens when you get older or maybe a mix of both. I really do miss the times when I would play a game till way late at night only to immediately hop on it as soon as I woke up. Last game I really remember feeling that way towards was Phantasy Star Online; both DC versions and the GameCube.

EDIT: One other thing I forgot to mention is I am a LOT less tolerant of games with lots of dialogue now then I used to be. As a kid I LOVED RPGs and would talk to all the NPCs and read everything, hell, I would get frustrated if one of my friends were playing and they'd just keep pressing the button to skip all of it and wouldn't bother talking to others so I would always be asked what to do. It was SO annoying! Funny thing is I find myself doing it now. Last year I bought Trinity Universe and played for maybe 20-30 minutes but got so tired of reading everything I just turned it off and traded it in.
 
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I've been going through this for years now. I still love to game, but sometimes I sit down and look through my catalog of games (which is extensive) and just can't get motivated to play any of them.

Gaming is a weird thing. It's a fun recreation. It's full of very short-term accomplishments/rewards. Whether those rewards are buying the latest game, or completing a level, or winning a match, they all make you feel pretty good. However, that good feeling just doesn't last very long. As we get older, I think we start to subconsciously realize that the good feeling we get from this short-term accomplishments is very short lived. We start to, again subconsciously, crave a more long-term fulfillment, whether we realize that's happening or not. And therefore, the games start to become less attractive.

I'm like you in that some days I can game all day long without a problem. Other days I just have no motivation to do so. I think some of that is habit. I buy the latest game even though I know that I have no bandwidth for it because it's the latest thing, and I MUST check it out. I've always done that. I can afford to do it, so why not? Then it sits and I never play it.

I don't have a solution to your problem. And maybe what you're going through is different. <shrugs>
 
Try getting into sims, I'd look into flight sims personally.

It's gaming but then it's not gaming. It's also highly rewarding and can be used in the real world.
 
This has been my experience too... I started mixing up my gaming with new genres.

Like OP, I am still into gaming, but I binge for a weekend, then don't play for 2 weeks.

Makes it very slow to get through my backlog, yet I keep adding games to my wishlist!

I started this thread yesterday:
How many games on your STEAM wishlist + CATEGORY use?
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1857752

You might want to look for games here to break out of SSDD too.
Can you name some fun, happy, feel-good, positive games?
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1854433&highlight=

:)
 
I finally decided to call it quits after many 'false starts' in trying to rekindle my interest in it. After 19 years as a self-described PC gamer, I sold my machine off piece-by-piece two weeks ago. The Mac is now my only computer, and though it's capable of gaming, it's unlikely to ever see a game installed to it.

It isn't the games. The games are fabulous. It's me &#8212; I just don't really care for them.
 
I enjoy pouring over hardware reviews and forums in an effort to build the best bang for the buck gaming PC more than actually gaming on that hardware.

^This.

Sometimes I force myself to game just to justify being a PC gamer....

I'll assume it has something to do with hitting 30.

*shrugs
 
I don't think it's growing out of it, more that it's just you're burnt out. We all go through it at some time. I mean, I own enough games that I would have to live 3 lifetimes just to be able to beat them all, and we're not talking full playthroughs. Some probably great games, but I stick to mostly quick games, and the same games. (One day I'll get around to Baldur's Gate 2, Planescape Torment, and Pillars of Eternity, but for right now, it's Battlefield Hardline and Bloodborne).

But even though I'm in a similar situation as you, and around the same age, I pursue other hobbies when burnt out. I find that I can only play about one JRPG per year now, and we're talking just beating it barebones. I spend probably the good majority of my time doing other things now than gaming. Try taking a 1-2 month break from games completely.
 
Just give up. The problem with gaming now is like most things: excess. You're inundated to the point where it's easier to just do something else. Plus most games are complete shit nowadays. Seriously, I can't remember the last game where I didn't have to sit through a 30-minute introductory sequence before I could start playing.
 
I don't think it's growing out of it, more that it's just you're burnt out. We all go through it at some time. I mean, I own enough games that I would have to live 3 lifetimes just to be able to beat them all, and we're not talking full playthroughs. Some probably great games, but I stick to mostly quick games, and the same games. (One day I'll get around to Baldur's Gate 2, Planescape Torment, and Pillars of Eternity, but for right now, it's Battlefield Hardline and Bloodborne).

But even though I'm in a similar situation as you, and around the same age, I pursue other hobbies when burnt out. I find that I can only play about one JRPG per year now, and we're talking just beating it barebones. I spend probably the good majority of my time doing other things now than gaming. Try taking a 1-2 month break from games completely.

Thanks for all the replies guys. Its interesting to see how many of us are pretty much at the same point in our age bracket.

A few years ago I took almost 6 months off from playing games and when I came back I was much more into it then I was previous to that. However I'm not sure that would work at this point. The urge still exists its just that so many games these days are quite involved experiences that require a much greater attention span then I remember as a child.

I don't really think the quality has nose dived like some suggest as there is always something out there that's worth playing. Indie developers have saturated the market with choices though and I think that's part of the problem.

It use to be you had a steady 4-5 month period per year where games were being dropped constantly but now even during what we all call the gaming "lull" Indie developers have filled that up with all kinds of different choices with 3-4 games coming out on Steam (and I'm not talking Greenlight crapware either) nearly every day. Consoles are seeing new games every week and not that all of them are worth playing but the shear amount of choice is maddening.

At this point I just want to play what I've bought so I can grind down and attempt to purpose my purchases. I don't have any interest in buying anything new .. at least I've forced myself to not buy anything else for now.

My intention is to take the quickest/fastest games and complete them over the next few months. All of the really long involved games with huge worlds and no real constant objective I'm going to place on the back burner. It seems pointless to play them. What's funny is that I was super excited for Pillars of Eternity but from what I've read and watched on Twitch that game is a MASSIVE playthrough and I just can't be bothered.

The last massive playthrough I did was last year and that was DA:I. I did about 110 hours and enjoyed it quite a bit. I didn't even bounce around and read all the lore which probably would have taken another 60 hours. Nothing like that can exist on my schedule now.

I do feel like the amount of games we are bombarded with is a sign of a possible crash as that is what lead to the crash during the early 80's with games being churned out in a matter of weeks and sold as shovelware. I think the amount of Indie developers is just way to many and since the 30-35 age bracket is the most prominent gaming buyer this seems like a real issue for the industry.

But as far as I am concerned my plan is to work through and if it just doesn't grab me uninstall it and move on. I really hate that idea but I've already bought it so its entirely on me to enjoy it or not regardless of the gushing I'll see on forums.
 
I find myself with gamer ADD these days. I'm 31, married, two kids, full time work etc... So I'm pretty sure I can blame most it on my lack of free time. So many games sit on my to-do list simply because I don't feel that I have enough time to truly enjoy them. I'll play a game for 15 minutes, stop and maybe pick it up again 6 months later.

Back in the day I could get completely engrossed in a game and play for hours and hours. Now I'm lucky if I can get an hour in of game time, and even luckier if I can get that hour without being interrupted. I'm sure once my kids are bit older and don't require so much supervision I'll start plugging through my backlog a bit faster..
 
Count me in.

I also force myself to game at times to justify what I've spent on pc hardware.
Only games I look forward to are Witcher 3 and sometime in the next decade, Star Citizen.
Other than that, bleh. I sit and stare at the [H] planning my next build so I can sit and not play games while I stare at the [H] planning my next bu...
I'm building an X99 system right now. I guess for Witcher 3. Lord knows what kind of hardware will be available by the time SC comes out.
 
I often play sometimes 8-9 hours for a day... But I feel like I'm wasting so much with what I have and on a personal level that bothers me.

I don't really have any other interests or hobby's.
Then find a new interest/hobby that takes you out of the house and lets you interact with other people, at least occasionally. I went to a music jam earlier today and it was a blast.

I think 8-9 hours a day of PC gaming can be unhealthy in that it keeps you from doing other things.
 
I'm 25. I've never identified myself as as hardcore gamer, and mostly just play the games I can get the most value out of. I played a lot of games as a kid, but who didn't? Of course, as time goes on, your needs either become more sophisticated or simplistic, depending on your budget and attention span.

I recently purchased a DS and bought what I thought was one of the best games: AC: New Leaf. I thought the DS would renew my interest in gaming...but it didn't at all. It's not fun to me grinding in a single player game that you can't experience with others.

Myself, I am content with playing non-competitive CS:GO daily and the occasional iPhone game or unranked LoL. I don't see games like Bloodborne as a waste of time necessarily, it's just there are too many things now to compete with my attention nowadays that I don't want to sit through hours of playing a game that will ultimately not do anything for me. It's great entertainment, don't get me wrong, but I would just rather invest my time into something I can get infinite hours of enjoyment. I love to hate multiplayer shooters - generally bland and same thing over and over but yet the interaction with others makes the experience new and interesting at times. I actually really like WoW, but it's a total time hog. What's funny is I actually despise the competitive and sports-like mindset applied to games like WoW and CS:GO and League of Legends, yet I find playing single player games incredibly dull and linear. I compromise by just being a filthy casual I guess.

I have been playing some Cities: Skylines though and it's truly amazing. Not something I see myself playing even a month from now though.
 
Then find a new interest/hobby that takes you out of the house and lets you interact with other people, at least occasionally. I went to a music jam earlier today and it was a blast.

I think 8-9 hours a day of PC gaming can be unhealthy in that it keeps you from doing other things.

Its only 8-9 hours infrequently. I don't do that every day. But I get what you are going for.

Unfortunately transportation options are limited for me. Although I live right near NYC so I could make a trip there pretty easily.

I do enjoy other hobby's I guess I just didn't empathize that. I list to audio books frequently and I'm actually thinking of taking up photography but nothing quite interests me as much as gaming. And more than anything at the moment I want a real crack at my massive back log.
 
I do enjoy other hobby's I guess I just didn't empathize that. I list to audio books frequently and I'm actually thinking of taking up photography but nothing quite interests me as much as gaming. And more than anything at the moment I want a real crack at my massive back log.

You should also check out the tons of great podcasts out there from NPR and the likes. There's also a shitload of great TV shows, though sometimes they require tons of time as well. TV shows are usually my bridge in entertainment when I'm taking sabbaticals from gaming. They're not mutually exclusive, but that's the way I usually do it.

Also, I'm going to presume you do some type of software work at home? If so, why not take a stab at developing a simple iPhone or Android game? Even if you don't have any software experience, learning to program can be a great hobby. It has the potential to pay off, and may allow you to see games in a whole new way.
 
You should also check out the tons of great podcasts out there from NPR and the likes. There's also a shitload of great TV shows, though sometimes they require tons of time as well. TV shows are usually my bridge in entertainment when I'm taking sabbaticals from gaming. They're not mutually exclusive, but that's the way I usually do it.

Also, I'm going to presume you do some type of software work at home? If so, why not take a stab at developing a simple iPhone or Android game? Even if you don't have any software experience, learning to program can be a great hobby. It has the potential to pay off, and may allow you to see games in a whole new way.

I work at the moment in healthcare actually. I'm at home to take care of someone who is very disabled. I live with them. Makes it easier.

I've thought about programming but from what I've read up on its quite tough to get the hang of. Any good links for a total starter like myself?
 
I'm in a similar boat. Just broke 200 titles on stream alone, played maybe 12 of them. Had to do what was suggested and not purchase of i won't play it immediately. Had been buying everything just because it was on sale.

Staying away from mmos will help out to. Every time i pay one i wind up doing it exclusively
 
So after being a gamer since I was 5 years old and receiving NES for Christmas my gaming passion has been explosive in its continued growth. I've never really strayed from gaming , only during my divorce and some other critical life altering experiences really , by and large however I've always kept up with everything that I could. Read the magazines then trolled the web sites , kept myself well informed of what's available and whats to come (which face it is about 50 percent of the hobby).

But lately I've hit a wall. I have over 100 games siting in my library I don't touch. They all range from "decent" to "amazing" in overall quality. Some are generational titles that simply anyone that identifies as a gamer shouldn't pass up. Yet despite this massive library of games I'm always adding to it. Always grabbing whatever peaks my interest via previews , videos , word of mouth etc. At the same time I wonder why I always do this. It's really beginning to bother me now because I feel its a waste of money if I don't actually play them enough. I've decided until I sort this I'm not buying any other games as well.

When I was a kid my gaming allowance was dictated by my mother. She was very generous despite our small income. But it still largely restricted what I played or had access to play. I feel like I cherished what I had more. I didn't just impulsively grab whatever I knew I would like and instead I took more time to appreciate the little I had and really relish my gaming experiences. Gaming held me through some of the worst times in my life and made it possible to bare it at the same time.

Now it all feels like a "field of plenty" kind of situation. I'm 34 and at the moment single plus I work from home so I have a pretty huge leg up on most gamers who work outside the home with girlfriends/boyfriends. Not having any kids also makes a big difference. Any of my friends that do have children basically have to schedule their interests around them as you would expect. So I really should be enjoying my hobby and taking part in the maximum the experience allows and instead I'm just awash with choice but deprived of interest.

Its not like I don't want to play them. I often play sometimes 8-9 hours for a day then however I won't touch a game until a week or two passes. I would hate to label this "your growing out of it" but I really want to tackle my library yet I don't even know where to start. Listing all my games would be fruitless as it really doesn't matter which I start with and why. But I feel like I'm wasting so much with what I have and on a personal level that bothers me.

Any of you experiencing what I am at the moment or have any advise? I don't really have any other interests or hobby's. I do enjoy movies quite a bit and I guess you could label me a film buff but I don't instinctively buy movies the way I do games. I'm much more selective based on my highly personal taste. Not sure what to do..

I am experience the exact same issue right now. I am 36 years old, no kids HUGE game library....and sometimes I just have a hard time mustering up to play a game....Like is a chore....

I am hoping me switching from 15 years of night shift in 2 weeks to swings that I can be more active and actually step away from the PC more often.

Anyway yea..I know exactly how you feel, and I am trying to find a new hobby so I don't sit around the PC and troll (LOL kidding) these forums. Sometimes all I do is just watch netflix or primewire.

I just sold my 1994 honda Civic that was over 200hp because I just don't drive it like I use too. Been thinking about buying a boat for more fishing.

Anyway good luck....I know I am going to need it
 
I work at the moment in healthcare actually. I'm at home to take care of someone who is very disabled. I live with them. Makes it easier.

I've thought about programming but from what I've read up on its quite tough to get the hang of. Any good links for a total starter like myself?

Many ways in...take a look at these links for a start.

http://lifehacker.com/top-10-ways-to-teach-yourself-to-code-1684250889

http://lifehacker.com/how-i-taught-myself-to-code-in-eight-weeks-511615189
 
I dont know its hit and miss for me I'm always busy doing other stuff as well. I've played around 15-20 hours of counter-strike this week, about 5-8 hours of bloodborne. Gonna play some more tonight. I work about 50-60 hours a week and I play MTG so I'm busy doing that too.
 
The overall quality of most games these days is just shit. There hasn't been anything I've actually been excited about on the PC for months. Witcher 3 may change that.
 
Interesting thread. I'm in a similar boat as the other dads in this thread, it's refreshing to see I'm not the only one. I grew up playing video games starting with the Intellivision, and in the past would spend hours and hours at night playing RPG's and online FPS's, modding FPS levels, yada yada, going all the way back to the original Wolfenstein and Doom 1 online gaming ladders on Compuserve through to now, playing COD for hours and hours and hours. A good two decades plus of gaming. It was extremely rare for me to own a game I did not play completely.

Now I maybe play for a half hour every 3rd night after the kid is asleep, if I can even muster the motivation to turn on the gaming PC and if my wife is not bogarting the TV. I have about 10 games I have played for maybe around 1 hour total. (not near the level of some here, but for me that's a lot. I just never owned a lot of games, I'd always buy them as I completed them.) Maybe it's the games? I don't know. I was into Borderlands TPS recently and got in a good 100+ hours, (in tiny tiny increments!) but am playing AC Unity now and it just can't hold my interest. Even seemingly good games like Deus Ex I just have no patience to really get into. I kind of just want to pick up a controller/mouse and shoot things, or do something immediately fun and rewarding...
 
Damn, talk about over thinking things....

Although intelligent dissection of ones intermost workings, feelings, and behavior can be incredibly valuable and beneficial it can also waste a lot of your time when you over think things.

Some things are more simple then we make them out to be

Like what you like, do what you like, do what you want, do what makes you happy, etc. I feel that you're over complicating things.
 
Staying away from mmos will help out to. Every time i pay one i wind up doing it exclusively


Haha, that is the truth. When I can't decide on what game to play I usually fall back on FFXIV which doesn't help the backlog...
 
Damn, talk about over thinking things....

Although intelligent dissection of ones intermost workings, feelings, and behavior can be incredibly valuable and beneficial it can also waste a lot of your time when you over think things.

Some things are more simple then we make them out to be

Like what you like, do what you like, do what you want, do what makes you happy, etc. I feel that you're over complicating things.

I suppose you could make the argument that I'm over thinking it but really after dumping thousands of dollars on games I think its entirely justifiable in this case. Seems its a growing issue with men/women in our age bracket.

The more I think about it the more realize that I'm in need of a new interest that can either foster renewed interest in completion of my library or as a contrast into something else entirely that can stimulate a the continuing new factor in becoming older.

Most of the point of this thread was to seek advice/thoughts/experiences on the matter and see if anyone or all of us had valuable input on the matter. In general it actually makes me feel better that I'm not alone in experiencing this. It seems to be a multiplying factor as you get older too and have either more time or less to spend on a hobby that is still in its infancy.

I'm going to take up the idea of programming to gain a greater knowledge of the inner workings of my hobby and see if that stimulates my interest. I'm also going to take up a photography class and see if my low level interest can be fostered into something more meaningful.

Either way I think this thread has been quite successful in linking my behavior and really the behavior of gamers my age at least and our general thoughts on current gaming and our back logs.
 
I often times go weeks without playing. I sometimes have to force myself to actually start a game, once I'm playing, then I'll play for a few hours which is good so I don't feel it's a waste.

So OP, have you tried doing just that? To just pick one of your untouched games and force yourself to play it for a bit to see if you can get yourself involved or immersed? If not then I recommend you do that first. If forcing doesn't help then you should only buy if you are really psyched for playing a specific one.

*edit: One thing I notice about myself is that I tend to default to whatever hobby I find the most relaxing or quicker gratification..that for me being my laptop usually. I can just pick it up after a hard day's work, get comfy and find infinite entertainment...including reading threads on forums like this. Just thinking about a game isn't enough as if it's too much trouble so that's when I sometimes just force myself to play something. All week long I've been wanting to get back into and finish Shadow Fall but never get motivated enough. I have quite a few I need to play and others I want to replay but apparently it's not gonna happen like it used to when I was younger. I used to get excited to play, now I need motivation.
 
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I'm in the same boat. I have a backlog way to big to go through in my spare time.

I tried console gaming and it's fun for about five hours but gets stagnant.
 
Gaming is fun, but yeah, there is more meaning to life than gaming. Can't always get distracted from that innate search.
 
Im going to echo everyone else in this tread...being 31, full time job, 2 young kids, and a wife who is essentially a stay at home mom...

I love gaming. For some reason I keep buying high-end hardware but get less and less use out of it. Right now im typing this on a GT72 with a 980m and Im thinking about selling it because I shouldn't have bought it...I needed a laptop and my though was 'might as well get one I can game on'.

And here I have the new Samsung 4k monitor thread open in another tab. Think I'm addicted to the hardware.
 
I'll second the "get another hobby" sentiment, only I'd call it more, "get an additional hobby." I was feeling more or less like this a while back. However, I also design analog circuits (for audio synthesis) on the side, and that actually helps more than it hurts the gaming hobby. I play games less, but when I do play them, the experience is a little more fresh as it's a break from the other things in my life. I enjoy the time more. It is a little more difficult to get into them now for me, but when I get into one that grabs me, whether it's an old favorite or something new, I'm a lot more likely to get hooked for a while. I also find that I'm gaming a lot more on the New3DS right before I go to sleep when winding down. I don't always feel like sitting at my gaming PC, and unless I've got some friends over, I don't really like sitting on the couch in front of the TV either. The portable device fills the gap nicely. Don't know if any of that suits you, but just having something else to co-occupy that time, and having different ways to play when I do play seems to help.
 
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