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Has your enjoyment from gaming remained the same throughout the years?


Nayleen

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As we grow older we tend to view things in a different light, enjoy new things, find new interests, find out something we've liked before just doesn't do it for us anymore, and so on.

How has this experience been for you? How have you started out, which was your first game, genre, guilty pleasure, and what might have changed over the years that made you notice this topic in the first place? Do you still enjoy gaming as much as when you started out, or have you grown old, bitter and jaded over the years?

For me personally, gaming has faded into the background as soon as I started working. I grew up with the good old SNES, having a blast with pretty much (IMO) the best JRPGs there are, even to this day: Secret of Mama, Illusion of Gaia, Breath of Fire, FF6, the list goes on. Same for Action Adventures, in the veins of LoZ:LttP, Super Metroid, Act Raiser. I've played them (and many other games) a lot, both when I got them and when I felt there wasn't anything better to play right now.

After burning through the games that were released on the N64 I got my first computer that was able to do 3D rendering and pretty much backtracked to play a plethora of CRPGs, and even a lot of shooters like the original Call of Dutys, Soldier of Fortune, Max Payne, etc.

The thing is, all of these games innovated in some way, if only through better graphics sometimes, but also in storytelling, feeling more like actual stories than just something that's tacked on for the sake of having a (frilled, incoherent, all over the place) red thread running through. These days I just don't feel even close to the same level of excitement from playing games, especially the wonder of discovery has been lost on me in the most recent generation, with a exceptions like the Tales of, The Witcher and Souls series of games.

Apart from a few noteworthy exceptions in terms of single player games, I enjoy playing with friends or even just talking about games more than actually playing them. Whether I just grew old, life got in the way and I'm too stressed out, or "they just don't make them like they used to do", I'm not sure, but I've lost a lot of what made my childhood enjoyable because of it.

Feel free to share your own story and opinion or comment on my rant, and have fun discussing.

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Gaming will never be the same from when I was younger, it might just feel like that because of nostalgia but I can't just get into games as easy as I used too when I was younger. there's been a few games that I have played alot when I was younger, I have 1 thousand hours on mw2 and god knows how much I have on WoW from when I was younger, now I play something for 30 hours at the best before I start getting bored if I even get that far. I could also play alot more by myself before, nowadays playing w/o friends isn't really enjoyable anymore.

 

Games has always been important to me, a big part of my childhood as it helped me through some very rough times, it distracted me. And I don't need that distraction as much anymore so that might be one reason for why games just doesn't do it for me anymore.

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Gaming declined for a decade or so, but has picked up recently with the release of some quality indies. The Turn-Based-Strategy genre is one of the exceptions and has contributed much incline during those horrid days of "not-much-else."

 

Currently looking forward to Shadowrun: Hong Kong

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I'm not sure when the last time I really enjoyed a game that I wasn't playing with friends was. My cycle of gaming (until I quit cold turkey recently) went something like this:

 

1. I have too much money and am stressed because of my job so I will go out and binge-buy a ton of video games for all the random systems I have

2. Oh my gosh I spent so much money on these huge piles of games I should totally play them

3. Grr why is this game taking so long to complete, I have all these other games to play!

4. Grrrrrr why can I never finish a game? It seems I'm always switching from one to the other without finishing any!

5. Grrrrrrrrrr I'm so stressed again I'm going to go out and binge-buy a bunch more games!

6. Repeat

Games just don't appeal to me anymore now that I've sold all the ones I used to have. I don't have fun playing games by myself. All I end up thinking is 'if this was a book I would have finished the story already, why does all this gameplay get in the way of the story?' I used to love all RPGs but now I can't play them at all since I feel like random battles and crap just get in the way of me enjoying their story.

 

So, yeah, I'd say I don't really like games anymore. Back when I was in high school or college and had no money I enjoyed games because I got them very rarely, one at a time, so I took the time to enjoy the games I bought and I made the most with what I have. Now that I have a big income and emulators exist for pretty much every system I could possibly want it's impossible to just sit down and enjoy one game.

 

About all I can do is play some random games with the retro game club on Fuwa but beyond that I just really don't feel like playing anything.

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I've been gaming my whole life though it's only been in recent years that I could consider gaming a passion rather than a hobby.

 

In these recent year my love of gaming has risen exponentially which is annoying considering I don't have the money to purchase new games. That being said, gaming is also fast becoming a guilty pleasure for me. I consider myself an honourable man (Hubris? never heard of it) so I hate getting excited for or purchasing any game that has such an anti-consumer business behind it, and unfortunately these games are becoming the rule, not the exception. I want to enjoy games, for their trailers to the final product but it's becoming more effort than it's worth. Heck, I can't even talk about how much I love (for the most part) the Assassin's Creed series without following it up with a justification of it's more questionable traits, I couldn't even type this sentence without that little disclaimer before.

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I've actually started to enjoy gaming more since I started speedrunning 2 years ago. I learned a ton of stuff from games I've always played casually (like Sonic and Megaman games), the competition can be fierce and fun, and some people of the community are really interesting. I also enjoy some of the challenges outside of speedgaming. For example God of War 2's Titan difficulty No Upgrade Run, and now I'm trying Megaman X 1 and 2 - 2 games/1 controller challenge. 

 

So my experience in general with games changed a lot in the last few years. Though I still enjoy older games. New games feel kinda short or lacking in something...   

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I don't game like I used to, but if I find the right game I will play it like when I was younger, the thing is I don't find a lot of games appealing anymore.

 

 

Gaming declined for a decade or so, but has picked up recently with the release of some quality indies. The Turn-Based-Strategy genre is one of the exceptions and has contributed much incline during those horrid days of "not-much-else."

 

Currently looking forward to Shadowrun: Hong Kong

I only play games like that one, but you don't see this types of game very often, just pure crap :(

We should thanks to kickstarter for this.

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As we grow older we tend to view things in a different light, enjoy new things, find new interests, find out something we've liked before just doesn't do it for us anymore, and so on.

How has this experience been for you? How have you started out, which was your first game, genre, guilty pleasure, and what might have changed over the years that made you notice this topic in the first place? Do you still enjoy gaming as much as when you started out, or have you grown old, bitter and jaded over the years?

For me personally, gaming has faded into the background as soon as I started working. I grew up with the good old SNES, having a blast with pretty much (IMO) the best JRPGs there are, even to this day: Secret of Mama, Illusion of Gaia, Breath of Fire, FF6, the list goes on. Same for Action Adventures, in the veins of LoZ:LttP, Super Metroid, Act Raiser. I've played them (and many other games) a lot, both when I got them and when I felt there wasn't anything better to play right now.

The thing is, all of these games innovated in some way, if only through better graphics sometimes, but also in storytelling, feeling more like actual stories than just something that's tacked on for the sake of having a (frilled, incoherent, all over the place) red thread running through. These days I just don't feel even close to the same level of excitement from playing games, especially the wonder of discovery has been lost on me in the most recent generation, with a exceptions like the Tales of, The Witcher and Souls series of games.

Apart from a few noteworthy exceptions in terms of single player games, I enjoy playing with friends or even just talking about games more than actually playing them. Whether I just grew old, life got in the way and I'm too stressed out, or "they just don't make them like they used to do", I'm not sure, but I've lost a lot of what made my childhood enjoyable because of it.

Feel free to share your own story and opinion or comment on my rant, and have fun discussing.

 

iv been playing games since i  was old enough to hold a atari joystick and i find that with my self i may go through periods of burn out that lasts months possibly a year or two where i don't touch games except the occasional retro game. i find that for my self i agree to a degree with some of the sentiments you have said. i do find a lot of the AAA games today are repetitive and bland. you can have all the pretty 4k graphics available, but if your story is lacking and the game play isn't there id rather watch a good anime or go back and play a retro game i didn't have a chance to play yet. 

 

the good thing about my periods of burn out is that during that time new games come and go that i may hear nothing about that leads to when i return to gaming again having that sense of discovery and wonder when i play some gem i didn't know existed. i play a lot of indie games not because its the cool thing to do but instead cuzz im constantly looking for that feeling of awe i get from a game that just surprises me and knocks me off my feet.

 

i think life, stress and commitments on your time as you grow will always lead to becoming some what jaded, we all grow up and our tastes grow with us, and for us older gamers that sense of NESstalgia of the games we grew up with will color how we see new games and how we feel about what genres we play. we just need to be careful that the love of the things from our past don't blind us to the joy we can find in new games.

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hmmmm, well when i was a kid i used to play old nes games, i still remember how hard batman and contra were and how rewarding it felt when i finally finished them, when i got my first pc i was a bit older so i knew what games were about more, i remember story used to be everything for me, i used to play a lot of rpgs and games like max payne, i remember how amazing it was when i was playing wow back in the wrath days, i remeber my guild and having fun with them on teamspeak

 

nowadays i am totally opposite, i play games almost always for the gameplay, i rarely play a game for the story <except vn's but those, in my opinion, are not really games> i turn down the sound, put on podcasts and youtube vids, i tried to play wow again and it just feels like shiete compared to the gameplay in other mmos <mainly dragon nest was the only mmo that i felt the combat to be silky smooth and enjoyable> so even to i am still young i guess you could say i became a lot more cynical and bitter

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 and for us older gamers that sense of NESstalgia 

Caught yeh. Nice pun  :makina:

But yeah, pretty much agree with what everyone is saying. I've bought Fable Anniversary as of late, but I just can't get my self to play it, not because it's bad, but because I'm just not as interested in games-period as I use to be... I find myself only playing games my friends play since I can talk with them about it. I must say, I find this to be a rather sad development, since I plan to develop games in the future... And making things you barely enjoy anymore is not going to be easy  :unsure:

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How I enjoy my gaming has constantly changed over the years. From simply being immersed in a simple NES game to being bored by it. To loving multiplayer FPS's to finding it boring. I think that our tastes changes over time is a good thing. It shows that we can enjoy other stuff as well. Simply not playing the same game for 1000's of hours for years.

 

I haven't really stopped gaming. But I can't honestly say I play as much as I did before. I am more interested in doing other things. And neither do I find them as fulfilling as I did before. So I tend to try different genres or simply some more niche games I tend to like.

 

I simply think we become more accustomed to the same kinds of things after a while. It's not amazing anymore. It's just good. And if you've seen "just good" enough times, it becomes boring. Simple as that.

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Ever since the PS1-PS2 era, I have never managed to get my gaming sense back and I can easily point out several reasons as to why.

 

When I started playing games back when I was 6 and got my first console, the PS1, I was pretty much an addict. I used to get new games all the time from my parents and was generally happy when playing games. This habit transitioned to the PS2 when that also came out here. Halfway into the PS2 era though, my financial situation didn't allow me to keep buying games and slowly but surely my enjoyment from playing games declined.

 

Once the PS3 came out I simply did not have the capacity to buy it and eventually I ended up putting my PS2 away and my gaming habits pretty much ceased to exist.

 

I did buy a computer later down the line, but by that time I just wasn't interested in gaming and PC games weren't really something that appealed to me at the time. Steam wasn't really big here either so I didn't know of its existence. All in all, I started focusing my attention to other things outside of gaming, namely anime and manga.

 

At this point games just weren't a major or even minor part of my life, I just did other things and enjoyed doing them so I never found the necessity to go back to games, although eventually I ended up buying a 3DS, hoping my love for console gaming would return for a bit. It didn't, and my 3DS is currently collecting dust on my shelf. Since I didn't have enough money to invest in other consoles, I gave up on games once again.

 

Nowadays that I'm more independent and know how to get games on Steam and other platforms, I have tried bringing back my gaming sense a little, but without a huge amount of success. Certainly I've been able to find some pretty fun games, but they're no triple A games which I'm unable to afford and run properly on my PC, and I don't last long playing any of these other games either. A couple hours in and I've reached my boredom threshold for most games.

 

I guess you could say due to the big period I spent not playing a single game in my childhood, I eventually just lost the will to really dedicate myself to games.

I can still enjoy certain simple games and have fun, but it's definitely not like it used to be.

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Hmm.  It's hard to me to say really. 

 

When I was growing up, I was primarily just a Nintendo fanboy (Pokemon, Mario, Kirby, etc) and only played those games.  I wan't particularly a completionist or motivated to beat the game either, just enjoyed playing games to play them. 

 

In high-school, I started enjoying more complex games and games with deeper meanings (TWEWY, JRPGs, Phoenix Wright, etc) but I still kept most of the Nintendo side.  I actually started caring about beating games too, but still no interest in 100%ing it.

 

Today, I play a lot more JRPG oriented stuff (Persona, Neptuina, Senran Kagura) stuff I wouldn't have played before but I still enjoy all the stuff I played earlier.  I blame the disinterest more on a lack of quality games though, since I still replay stuff like Mario Sunshine cause it's so good. 

 

I probably gamed more than I was little but I still do a fair amount so it's likely only declined the expected amount with growing up and having more responsibilities to deal with.  

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Gaming was better in my day! You kids with your PlayStation's and your Xboxes. Grumble grumble.

 

Western gaming is bleak. It has to be a sequel or a duplicate of something successful. Japanese gaming well

lets be honest how many new RPG franchises are there coming out this year and next versus how many sequels, remakes, and reboots?

 

A console generation peaks in the middle when developers have the hardware down perfectly and the install base is big enough for risks

to be taken. If it doesn't get better in 2 years or so when we hit that middle we are well and truly fucked for at least the rest of the generation.

Ponder that whilst you await Hyperdimension Neptunia VII to get a port ;)

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Gaming was better in my day! You kids with your PlayStation's and your Xboxes. Grumble grumble.

 

Western gaming is bleak. It has to be a sequel or a duplicate of something successful. Japanese gaming well

lets be honest how many new RPG franchises are there coming out this year and next versus how many sequels, remakes, and reboots?

 

A console generation peaks in the middle when developers have the hardware down perfectly and the install base is big enough for risks

to be taken. If it doesn't get better in 2 years or so when we hit that middle we are well and truly fucked for at least the rest of the generation.

Ponder that whilst you await Hyperdimension Neptunia VII to get a port ;)

do you not see the irony in remarking that western games are bleak because they are all sequels then hype up a sequel at the end, though im not up on neptunia so maybe that was a joke that went over my head and its not the actual next sequel in line.  

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Mine is slowly withering. I'm slowly drifting into the 3D reality marble. But the girls in the 2D reality marble interest me way more than those in the 3D. It's probably why I haven't found myself a companion yet... sad really...

NOt. I love my 2D waifus...

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You just stick to the mainstream games, but if you search well, the truth is here : we have a LOT of modern era great games, both western and Japanese, but of course, if you stick to Call of nostalgia, you will hate modern gaming. 

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Well, I used to play video games, but these days I mostly just play Dota 2. :amane:

I do sometimes find a game that'll take up a couple of dozen hours, but in the end I always just come back to Dota. Interestingly enough those that do manage to get me to play something else are similar to the kinds of games I used to play way back in the day. RPGs, RTS or TBS, games where you can make something, be it a rocket, a city, or just a custom level, that's the kind of stuff that can hold my interest for a while. Sadly I've never been very good at games, I love strategy games but I usually can't beat anything past a medium AI, and the few games I am good at, I'm good at because I've spent an inordinate amount of time playing them.

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Not only the enjoyment, but also my passion for games(well, and everything) have been depleted.

 

As many here I've started my gaming age with SNES titles, renting mostly action games. Only with PlayStation I would know about RPGs.

 

While playing, I was always searching for something new: another ideals, characters, objects, illusions, realities and mainly, a path to happiness. A kid that dreamed, hoped and lived; just like any proper child must be; That was me.

 

Sadly ages past, and now here I am, looking with nostalgic feeling these things I have long abandoned. Looking for that time when I could use all time to chase a ephemeral dream and afterwards bring satisfying living memories.

 

Now I see, I was not entertaining myself. I was, even now, running from my life, seaching for a excuse to not live in my reality.

 

For not end as a depressing post, I will give my thanks to some games that gived thoughtful lessons:

  • Final Fantasy 8: I started loving RPGs with him.
  • Super Mario RPG: Fun text is a need.
  • Pokemon: Think before pressing a button, don't use the Master Ball on some wild thing appeared. And cheating is boring.
  • Bomberman: Always look your surroundings, someone is plotting and you may be the next.
  • Rockman: One wrong step = Fated to do it wrong again.
  • Subarashiki Kono Sekai: Treasure your friends, even if they are the middle of a plot twist.
  • Clannad: Alone or not, you must endure for the sake of what remained.

I'm somehow tired, please close my stage.

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Dunno about everyone else, but I've never been able to recapture the magic of playing games on my SP and PS2.  Pokémon Emerald, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Sonic Advance 2, Spyro: Year of the Dragon, CTR...I had so much fun playing games as a kid.  If anything, I'm more of a hardcore gamer now, but I've yet to experience that same enjoyment that I did as a naive little kid.

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do you not see the irony in remarking that western games are bleak because they are all sequels then hype up a sequel at the end, though im not up on neptunia so maybe that was a joke that went over my head and its not the actual next sequel in line.  

You're a very black and white kind of guy ey. Neptunia games are all identical aside from the spin offs.

Japan is even worse than the West. But I guess you haven't played any HD:N's. I'd recommend either

waiting for Re;Birth 3 or getting Re;Birth 2 they are pretty fun.

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