5 ways to tell you're getting too old for gaming

[Gratch]

Cracked put up a fantastic article about how you know you're getting too old for video games.  Hits incredibly close to home for me.

[Jarrodhk]

Some truth to that I suppose, although my dad still plays online MP with a clan in his late 60's, along with other games.

[Purge]

Wait, his kids can't even be in the room with zombie survival horror, and yet they chainsaw locusts down in Gears?

[Bullwinkle]

So much truth in that.  Though I can still find the fun, and I do still like finding the indie bands of gaming.

As long as I don't have to get up from my rocker.

[KC]

I would add that you are too old when you spend more time surfing the internet to read and post about games than actually playing them.

[Space Herpes]

I would add that you are too old when you spend more time surfing the internet to read and post about games than actually playing them.

If that was true, a significant portion of WoW player are too old to play (even if they are still in their teens).

[Kagath]

I would add that you are too old when you spend more time surfing the internet to read and post about games than actually playing them.

That hurts.

[jersoc]

I'm actually surprised how well written it actually is. Working a second shift makes lots of those problems go away for me, for better or worse. Not much else to do between 1am and whenever the hell I decide to goto bed. I would say watching Starcraft destroys more of my time to play games than anything else. With winter fast approaching and temperatures dropping I'll have even more time.

I think the story stuff is pretty much spot on too. No game has ever had a story so compelling you just had to tell everyone about it. I thought Bioshock was fairly close, but most of that was on the whole twist of it too. Minerva's Den was also very excellent in that regard too.

[Sarkus]

That's not a bad piece, but I don't really agree with most of it.  I never have liked multiplayer, even when I was young.  Gaming is and always has been a solitary activity for me.  And the rest of it, well, I don't find that I feel that way.  Maybe I'm still young enough at heart (or immature), or maybe I just still manage to find enough free time.  I suspect a lot this stuff applies more to people who are older and are parents then just people who are older.

[Gratch]

I never have liked multiplayer, even when I was young.  Gaming is and always has been a solitary activity for me.

Same here.

Maybe I'm still young enough at heart (or immature), or maybe I just still manage to find enough free time.  I suspect a lot this stuff applies more to people who are older and are parents then just people who are older.

That's probably true.  I'm also finding that having a much more demanding career is also a significant factor in how much gaming one does.  My job has really taken off in the past 18 months, and  between that and my daughter, I have very little time for gaming anymore.  What time I do get typically comes in 30-45 minute chunks, and I have a hell of a time keeping interest in marathon 40-60 hour games any more.

[Purge]

I never have liked multiplayer, even when I was young.  Gaming is and always has been a solitary activity for me.

Same here.

Maybe I'm still young enough at heart (or immature), or maybe I just still manage to find enough free time.  I suspect a lot this stuff applies more to people who are older and are parents then just people who are older.

That's probably true.  I'm also finding that having a much more demanding career is also a significant factor in how much gaming one does.  My job has really taken off in the past 18 months, and  between that and my daughter, I have very little time for gaming anymore.  What time I do get typically comes in 30-45 minute chunks, and I have a hell of a time keeping interest in marathon 40-60 hour games any more.

And you used to love you some RPGs, IIRC.

[rittchard]

A lot of things I identified with in the article, but...  in the end I'm still a gamer at heart. 

[Misguided]

That article is horseshit. Games have gotten shorter, not longer.

[Gratch]

I never have liked multiplayer, even when I was young.  Gaming is and always has been a solitary activity for me.

Same here.

Maybe I'm still young enough at heart (or immature), or maybe I just still manage to find enough free time.  I suspect a lot this stuff applies more to people who are older and are parents then just people who are older.

That's probably true.  I'm also finding that having a much more demanding career is also a significant factor in how much gaming one does.  My job has really taken off in the past 18 months, and  between that and my daughter, I have very little time for gaming anymore.  What time I do get typically comes in 30-45 minute chunks, and I have a hell of a time keeping interest in marathon 40-60 hour games any more.

And you used to love you some RPGs, IIRC.

Yep, I was almost exclusively an RPG guy.  Needless to say, I'm not gaming a whole lot these days.

[jztemple2]

Hmmm... I'm 57 (I turn 58 next week), so let me take their quiz:

#5. You Think Multiplayer is Bullshit
Well, the last two CoD games I've only played in MP, and am still playing Black Ops occasionally. I don't mind most of the folks on there, and thankfully it seems in Hardcore mode you get less twits. Most games I play SP if there is a campaign, but honestly I think it's because CoD has spoiled me.

#4. You Think Games Are Suddenly Too Long
Nope, not yet. In fact I wish that the campaigns were longer in some games, Deus Ex Human Revolution would be a good example. I guess it helps that I have an understanding wife, no kids and I just retired 

#3. You Miss Game Storylines That Were Actually Compelling
I guess I never have played that many games in the past with truly compelling story lines. Anyway, I don't need much of a reason to go out shooting things/people/zombies  .

#2. You Think Originality is Dead
Not dead, but it is coughing up blood.

#1. You Miss When Games Used to be "All About Fun"
Wow, so not true. I'm having as much fun with games now as I did twenty some years ago. And that's for computer games.  I was having fun with board games (sigh) back when Eisenhower was president.

[Chaz]

That article pretty much nailed me perfectly.  I'm 30, single, no kids, and a not-terribly-time-consuming job, yet I find myself almost completely uninterested in games anymore, and the reasons in the article are some of the reasons why.  I know there are others, but yeah, when I have free time, if I do play a game, it's usually only about an hour or so before I lose interest and go do something else.  If I even bother booting the game in the first place.

[Knightshade Dragon]

I'm more into games than I ever have been, but my time constraints with the site has changed what I can play.  I still find time to pry in titles like Skyrim though...  Good games are worth the investment.  Well, that and I play Rock Band 3 every Sunday.  Thanks Chaz!