Is it me or has Gaming gotten old?

[Mak Manto]

Welcome to becoming old...

Unfortunately, it's just a way of life and I feel how you are. I've tried to get into the new games and I feel no excitement. Whether that changes or not, I'll see, but now that I'm saddled with a job, bills, and the regular things, my view on many things has changed.

It's with all things in life and this means you're getting older and wiser. I'll tell you from my own experience when I finally figured out I was an adult.

Back when I was a kid, I idolized my father. He was bigger than life, stronger than anyone, cooler than the most hip person. As I grew older and became a teenager, my dad and I began to have fights nearly everyday until finally he and my mom divorced and I stopped talking to him.

Finally, one day, in my early 20s, I get up one Sunday morning extremely early, I make myself breakfast and coffee and I open the windows and allow the Spring weather to come in. I'm sitting there eating, reading the newspaper, listening to sports radio when I look up and realize this is what my dad does every morning.

So, I go to see him and I tell him all this and he looks at me and tells me he did the same exact thing my with my grandfather.

Everyone has a way of getting older, be it learning the things we once loved no longer interest us or through another way. Does this mean that you'll never play video games again? Of course not, but it does mean as you get older, your perspective changes on things.

Honestly, I think the video game market should crash and burn and rebuild itself...

Why, you may ask?

After the video game industry crashed in 83-85, where revenues had dropped 97%, everybody had thought it was over. The next four years for gaming in the US was pretty much non-existent and when Nintendo came around, many were unsure of what would happen.

The point is, Nintendo came and revitalized the industry and brought back gaming with competition with Sega and eventually amazing games.

Maybe this is what's needed, for the industry to crash again and for companies to burn out and see new ideas coming in,

 

[Sinya'olan]

Gaming hasn't gotten old for me...but with a baby (currently 6 months old), a wedding coming up in a year, going back to school, working....it has a different place in my life.

In high school and college I use to play for hours each day because I could, nothing else for me to worry about other than school work or activities I was in. I would play tons of single player stuff and probably beat 2 or 3 games a month while playing online most nights with my friends.

Now it is all about playing what I can when I can...I may get 5 hours a week to play if that. I have basically removed single player games from my line up...I have been playing Last of Us for about 5 months because I just don't have time to sit and play it. Because of that I play mostly multiplayer things...a lot of Heroes of the Storm and Battlefield (when my friends want and I can) and a little D3 and Hearthstone. I just find I can play these and not have that feeling of commitment to it.

I still love gaming though...watch Twitch all the time to keep up on new titles I know I'll never be able to play...and I do plan on introducing my son to it when he is older to see what he thinks of it. But time it more my problem.

I do see a lot of MMOs on your list there, I would say just try new genres and you'll probably get refreshed.

 

[Malia Afredane]

I agree with some thoughts here. I'm on the other side of 30 and I think as we age, what draws us into a game changes. When I was a kid, it was about having fun and trying to get that plumber to the next castle. Now, what really gets me going is a great story. Something with lots of side missions, and in depth lore that is engaging. There's been a few games I throw in and and I play for a little bit, but there are some go-tos that I keep in my library forever because the game captured my imagination.

As we are all writers here, I would think that appeal of a good story would at least ignite a little spark to find out where it's all going. Maybe what I find to be a great story is boring to someone else but in the name of good writing, I will sometimes over look issues of game play.

Great story isn't contained by genre, it can be a FPS or RPG, action adventure or fighting. It could be a matter of finding what speaks to you now.

As for gaming getting old? At least in my house, it shows no signs of slowing down, but that might be because we are collectors. I will still burn a whole Saturday (when I'm not in grad school) playing SimCity on the SNES and or playing Ocarina of Time. There is nostalgia, yes, but there is still great enjoyment in the story I am told or help create through game play.

 

[Layla Tyr]

Mn I get what you mean, definitely. The quality and story lines (as it is) are certainly getting a bit stale and frustrating. [member="Krafurk Maris"]
And I also agree that some times you just need to change up the genre.