"Growing out" of gaming?

I can remeber this time last year I was tremendously excited about many games; I would play them often, and ended up always buying far more games than I could actually finish. Yet, of late, I find myself less and less into gaming; I do not find them at all as enjoyable as I used to do. Issues of Edge and GamesTM appear regularly, yet I often cannot muster the effort to read more than a view pages, or even read at all.

The only game i've really played the last few months is Soul Calibur III, and while I can see it's a good game, and enjoy playing it, I generally don't find much time for it, and when I do it is in quick bursts.

Has anyone else experienced the same? Losing all real interest in gaming as other things seem far more important and enjoyable? I don't think I have a right to call myself a "gamer," anymore. It could be just a part of my own personal growing up and maturing; I somehow doubt I'll even be bothered enough to purchase any of the next generation consoles.
 
Like you, I've been less and less interested with games these days. I even stopped buying EDGE myself (which I used to read solidly every month).

I still think of myself as a gamer, it's just that in some ways I'm more interested in the idea behind games than the actual games themselves.

There's very little out there that really interests me. I'm still interested in playing the odd game, but most seem like just more of the same with enhanced graphics. Some stuff is still really good, and I'll love it while I'm playing it, but then I'll find that once I've left it for a while I'm usually no longer as interested in playing it anymore.

Right now there's just a few games that I'm interested in eventually playing through:

Half Life 2
Thief 3
Resident Evil 4

Supreme Commander (when it eventually comes out) is also something I'm looking forward to, since I still love the orginal Total Annihilation.

Then of course, like everyone else, I'm just finding myeslf with less time to play. I have less tolerance of slow games, or games that have flaws. Some games have really brilliant storylines and gameplay, but I shouldn't be forced to wade through 3 hours of dross to get to them.

That's one of my main problems with gaming. It's still far too time consuming, especially when you're looking for anything meaningful in terms of progress. You can play some games for hours and achieve very little, either in story or otherwise gameplay progress. This is a trend that's slowly changing as we're seeing shorter, more compacted, diverse and cinematic experiences entering into it, but usually it's still not there. If a game isn't entertaining you 100% of the time you're with it, then it hasn't been designed well enough, at least that's how I feel,

Now when I compare gaming to something like watching anime or TV, I can see why I don't as much gaming any more. A 1/2 hour episode of an anime usually takes you through an entire story arc of the show. It's tightly scripted and directed, and even moments where nothing much is happening are done in a deliberate fashion so that they're still entertaining. The shows flow seemlessly for that half hour. You easily go from a start to a conclusion in that time as well. When I'm gaming, I can spend ages trudging between locations, or levelling up, or trying to find some freaking switch or trigger so that I can move on to the next segment, and in the end, unless I dedicate time to it, it's difficult to make real forward progress within a short space of time. I realise it's not this way with all genres of games, but it's too often the case with the genre's I enjoy, and that's what's irritating. RPG's, FPS's, Turn Based and Real Time Strategy games. All my favourites. But apart from some FPS's, the others usually require a large time investment just to get through 1 segment.

That's also part of the reason why I'm interested in the concept of 'episodic content' games (like the upcoming SiN: Episodes) Pack a large amount of finely honed, paced and action packed gameplay into a small package, and when you've finished it you can feel that you've at least gotten somewhere until the next installment comes out. I'd like to see more of this kind of approach. Really craft your gameplay in every scripted instance that it has (if it really is a game and genre that's conducive to that kind of heavy scripting) so that the player is enjoying every moment of it.

I really felt that recently when I went to a friends house and started playing Resident Evil 4. I was hooked from the go! They really devoted themselve to making the gameply fun and varied. Instead of one long trudge, the gameply is split into frequent instances and bursts of action. This is only enhanced by the regular boss fights as well, which in themselves are mini-marvels of how careful scripting can enhance the gameplay and the atmosphere.

I could go on about this topic, but I'll leave it there before I bury some poor soul under an avalanche of words. :)
 
I would have never called myself an avid gamer...but since discovering Linux, time gaming has reduced, to almost nothing, I might on the odd day bring out Hitman, or Simpsons hit and run, but other than that I'm conteted tapping away at this keyboard, while emergeing the system once again :)
 
I haven't played games much lately mainly because I haven't had much tie to do so. There hasn't been that many 'essentual' games lately either (which normally draw me back to my console) I expect more towards christmas time I will be playing games non-stop but just lately I havn't been playing them at all.
 
yeti1983 said:
i used to be a 40 hour a day gamer last time i actually played a game was about 4 months ago and that wasnt for long :(

Wow! A gamer so awesome that you could alter the very limits of time and space. :lol:

Seriously, I wouldn't count it as a big loss. You've just moved on to other things. I'm still firmly of the opinion that games are fun, there need to be some changes made if they're to appeal more to me again. I used to be a pretty hardcore gamer myself, and now it's just that I find that there are other ways I can entertain myself without having to spend a long time each session, and without having to devote myself to a game for days / weeks in order to finish it.

Still, one thing I will say is that (with me anyway) a lot of this isn't as applicable when you're playing multiplayer. Especially if it's with people you know, or huddled around a TV screen together. Then it's a different experience, and it becomes more diverse, and a whole extra social dynamic is added which makes things so much more fun.
 
I haven't really found much time for games for a few years now. When I do play games, the majority of them I only play for about 30 minutes at a time, and only ever a few times in a week. :| This has now became even worse since I've just started my A-levels and I get a fair bit of homework. The only games I really played for ages at a time - that I recall - were GTA: Vice City and ES III: Morrowind.

Maybe I'll find some time to play some games over christmas, though I do have two exams as soon as I get back to school. :p
 
I think over these last few months (other than the odd games) there haven't been that many must have releases, which in some ways means I wont spend as much time on my games consoles cuz if there aren't any games that keep me coming back to my console to play them then I won't. Hopefully there seems to be alot of incredible looking games on the horizon and with recent releases like SCIII among others there is deffinately more 'good' games coming out. Just before christmas too...
 
What's with all the negativity?
Simply - You don't enjoy gaming as much merely because you are not picking up the right games. Even myself included, has less time for games than what I used to (fond memories of Shenmue and Resident Evil 2 come flooding back). But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy them anyless. It depends on the game!
Much like anime, there are some better than others. Some will not interest you and force you to play - while others will get you hooked from the moment you play.
As a gamer foremost, I have been through the ups and downs. But games today are better than ever (perhaps except Suikoden IV) and will continue to improve. All we want is some fresh ideas injected into some of the genres (especially RPGs - I'm sick of playing a lead male character under the age of 20 who saves a girl and then saves the world).

I like anime. I like games. But games will come first, as 90% of anime doesn't interest me - I'm afraid to say. There are too many FPS and Sports Games in consoles and then there's too many Harem and Fanservice types. It's all up to taste at the end of the day!

Moral of Story= Play good games! Enjoy them!
________
ZX14 VS HAYABUSA
 
i play games pretty often due to the nature of my job leaving me sitting around the house with a lot of free time on my hands. i don't buy "new" games very often (although i've bought a lot of ds and psp games recently) but i've gone back to older consoles and have been filling in gaps in my collections and buying back things that i've sold in the past and missed. i suppose the sega saturn (japanese only, natch) and playstation are my main consoles to buy for at the moment, and it's a lot of fun, because i'm getting some really good games to play for fairly low prices. i've found going back to older games is a great way to get yourself back into playing more regularly after becoming a little bored or disillusioned with gaming.

i agree with neptune2venus in the respect that people who say they're getting bored with gaming just aren't finding the right games to play. sure, i've had dips in the amount of time i spend playing games - but i wouldn't call myself any less of a gamer, just because i had less time to devote to it. i've been gaming for as long as i can remember - i'm 22 now, and it's been too long and too much time has been spent playing them for me to just "walk away" XD

neptune2venus said:
there's too many Harem and Fanservice types
i know it's off topic, but i couldn't agree more with you there ^_^;
 
i am still a solid gamer....have been for years...its not changed...but i have had a couple other things to deal with at the same time so it has dropped the chances of me getting on them and getting new games...i have to say at the moment..i have 17 games i plan to get, and of which i have already got one on the way...i can't really say i will ever go out of gaming, just may get occupied elsewhere for some of the time.
 
I'm afraid I have to disagree there. I know there are good games out there, but to a large extent I feel that my time constraints and my own feelings about gaming have changed. It's less about 'not choosing the good games' and instead more a case of 'not having access to the kinds of games that I can play'. By that, I don't mean genres. What I'm looking for is something with a bit of depth to it, but yet I can easily pick up and make serious progress with in a short amount of time, during which there aren't any slow or dragged out bits.

It's a pretty tall order, so it's not something to find too often, at least in the genres I like.

But despite the fact that I do't play as much as I used to, I still count myself as a gamer. I still love games, and when I find a game that suits me, I love it and can easily latch on to it for ages.
 
I still love gameing! But the only problem is finding time to do it, I have to revise and to Homework most of the time. Maybe thats why you don't find yourselves as into gameing as before, cause you have alot more to do now, there is always a distraction...and plus not many good games are being released at the mo...and Kingdom Hearts 2 wont be out for ages.
 
i used to play games all the time like 2 years ago but after i got a job i found it hard to play them as much and after a abit of time i enjoyed doing things with my spare time more, like watching anime.
so you can sort of say i grow out of it tho i still play them and enjoy them now just not as much.
 
I haven't played all that much since I finished Xenosaga in the summer- I went through and had a go at a number of unplayed/unfinished games from my collection but couldn't really get into any of them- RPGs just feel like tedious levelling up and even my interest in "pick up and play" games has waned. In fact right now none of my consoles are even plugged in, and haven't been for the last few weeks- I look at my collection and can't see anything I really want to get out and play, and with all my funds going on anime I don't have the money to buy anything new.

In short, I don't really have the motivation to set aside time for playing, so I'm not going to force myself to find "the one game" that can reawaken the old spark. I'm sure one day in the future I'll feel like breaking out an old favourite or picking up something new, but for now I'm just going to give it a rest.
 
I used to play a lot of games, a great deal of the time up until a few years ago. Now I will occasionally play stuff and usually give up before the end (I can't bare to finish a game for some bizarre reason). I do still like games and I don't think I enjoy them less because im now older. Rather because I merely prefer anime and manga for entertainment now.
 
I took the bold step into the layer of the programmer lol so gaming is and will be my life for well the rest of my working life lol.
 
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