Feel like you're getting too old for videogames?

This video "A Tribute To Everyone Who Is Getting Too Old For Video Games" is so true for anyone out of college getting into their mid 20s. Playing Starcraft II like we used to in highschool is out of the question so we only play it casually and when I say casually I mean an hour at least per day.

Has anyone ever taken a two year break from not gaming at all? What is it like when you play again after a long stretch of time?

Get your PC gaming fix here: http://www.youtube.com/cinicraft YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!!

ZERG_RUSSIAN August 21 2012 12:57. Posts 5083

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I've taken time off from gaming to get my life in order but I always end up coming back because I enjoy it so much. I don't think I'm ever going to get tired of playing games, be it chess, poker, league of legends or SC.

[edit] I'm 24 and I just started a doctorate program in psychology. I don't have time to mass game like I did but that doesn't change the fact that I enjoy it. [/edit]

Last edit: 2012-08-21 12:57:48

The Real 5HITCOMBO (rather jungle any day 420 noscope mlg plays yolo blaze it)

Torte de Lini Canada. August 21 2012 13:02. Posts 27005

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I never feel like I'm getting too old for videogames, just perhaps feeling as not important or a surrounding factor around my days.

The community involved with it however...

https://twitter.com/#!/TorteDeLini (@TorteDeLini)

obesechicken13 United States. August 21 2012 13:03. Posts 4200

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Even in high school I always felt I was spending too much time on video games.

I know some guy from bioware? recently wrote something online about a year without gaming. He said he did it to test himself. He had more time but he obviously missed it and made a list of games to play after the year was up.

FeUerFlieGe United States. August 21 2012 13:06. Posts 1053

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I'm still in high school and I play on and off. The thing is, my grades suffer when I play and I don't have a good computer, so I want to get into College before I start playing again.

To unpathed waters, undreamed shores. - Shakespeare

TheRabidDeer United States. August 21 2012 13:12. Posts 2321

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On August 21 2012 13:06 FeUerFlieGe wrote:
I'm still in high school and I play on and off. The thing is, my grades suffer when I play and I don't have a good computer, so I want to get into College before I start playing again.

If your grades suffer in high school, you definitely dont want to play in College when your grades REALLY matter.

I can still play at 26, but it feels like I dont play as well as I did when I was younger.

MountainDewJunkie United States. August 21 2012 13:15. Posts 9259

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I noticed an inverse relationship between time spent playing video games (and comp usage in general) and my grades. Ditto my social life. Things got much better when I stopped gaming. I wasn't a casual gamer. I'm talking 4-9 hours a day. Everyday. Worse on the weekends. Luckily I was still young enough to salvage my life

[21:07] <Shock710> whats wrong with her face [20:50] <dAPhREAk> i beat it the day after it came out | <BLinD-RawR> esports is a giant vagina

TheSwedishFan Sweden. August 21 2012 13:16. Posts 520

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Well, i'm certainly not playing as much as i use to. However, i don't think i'll ever be too old to play video games. One thing i've experienced is that i cant really enjoy gaming as i used to. Whenever i sit down and play i get some anxiety that i should really be doing something else, and usually it results in me closing the game after about half a hour. It's not that i don’t have time, it's that it feels like i have better things to do; like reading the news(like thats any better).
Nowadays, if i'm going to play a new game i have to schedule it and say to myself that "- Tomorrow, i'll be doing nothing but playing a certain game". If i do that then i can fully commit to the game without having anxiety about having better things to do.

"Suck it" - Kennigit 2012

Xiphos Canada. August 21 2012 13:19. Posts 5732

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Probably quitting games with the fast approaching ProLeague's twilight.

2012 - Remember of the Fallen Heroes and Command the way to your victory.

KobyKat United States. August 21 2012 13:19. Posts 110

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I'm only 18 but now that I'm going into college I just don't really want to play anymore. I've probably played StarCraft less than 10 times in the last 2 and a half months and honestly this is the best summer I've ever had. Instead of wanting to go home and play video games I hang out with friends way more often, got into a serious relationship, got pretty good at beach volleyball, got a job, done things I never had time to do before, started working serious on my Facebook page devoted to music, and got back to being as tan as I used to be (this one sounds like a joke but I'm serious haha. I think the huge homework load was a factor too though.) I still like video games a lot though. I'll watch Day[9] sometimes and I check out TeamLiquid every other day, I'm just not as interested in the game anymore, especially the competitive aspect of it. Maybe Halo 4 or Black Ops 2 will get me back into them a little bit though. I heard Black Ops 2 will have an 8 player Zombie mode which would be a great way to reconnect with friends once we're all gone at different colleges.

Kich United States. August 21 2012 13:19. Posts 338

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I'm approaching 23, I have played Counter Strike 1.6 competitively, I've raided at the upper echelons of WoW, I've gone hard in a -lot- of games, and I slightly feel that decline. It's sort of a realization--I used to game because it's what I did, I had virtually no responsibilities in my life. Then I had college, and I gamed most days, sometimes not, drinking and socializing were much more common in college since while all my friends gamed, it was on the back burner.

I graduated college, landed a sweet job, get up at 6, don't get home until around 7 or 8 from work, and there's just very little time to play like I used to.. I still game every night, but it's very casually. I think that's the key thing, when you're younger the game feels very important. Everything you do feels very important because it's all very new to you.

When you're 15 and World of Warcraft just came out, it was very new, there was a lot to do, the grindy repetitive tasks don't feel that way because you honest to god don't even realize how grindy and tedious they are until you end up having to do them for the fourth time over. Right around 20 when I was no longer playing CS competitively (team fell apart) and WoW relegated itself to the backburner because it just kept getting more and more dumb is when I realized that I wasn't actually having fun playing games.

The games no longer feel very important and they stop being fun when you take them very seriously. So now I play CS:GO, my natural FPS skill pushes me to the top of the team and I spend most of my time playing it with friends doing fun things. The biggest thing about video games is that initial portion, the portion where everything still feels new, you still get that adrenaline rush, you still have an urge to play it. CS 1.6 eventually lost that for me, I lost any sensation when I played and you trade the adrenaline and fun for having flick headshots engrained into your muscles. So I'm trying to play it less frequently and only with other people to keep it fun.

The only game actually, that I still play with some degree of frequency is Magic the Gathering. It's easily my most invested hobby and the only game that after 13 years is still enjoyable. There's aspects I miss, like the innocence of opening a pack and finding a cool card and thinking "wow I hope I find another one of these in a pack" (harder to do that when you have a salary and can just buy the playset, but hey, now I have a salary, so maybe I'll just buy packs and get back to the trading side of it all), but over all the sheer amount of people I've met and literally unending depth to the game drives me to play it. I often spend hours browsing cards and tinkering new decks (hoping to drop a bomb on legacy soon). ((I'm aware tinker is banned, that was not intended to be a joke))

I literally just dropped $250 on various foil japanese cards and felt -super- fucking good about it. Magic is pretty set in stone as a game I'll play for the rest of my life, and it's unique in that role. Most highly regarded players are adults--the hobby is expensive and requires travel to gain notoriety, you literally need a real job or a rich ass dad to play it competitively. I could straight up play Magic for 12 hours straight and never get bored--tried and true.

The ever changing rotation of Standard cards and the changes each new set brings to Legacy makes the game an ever evolving Turn Based Real Time Strategy Game. I mean how can you fuck with that? It's a TBRTSTCG. Fuck you MMORPG's, big man in the house.

I like these threads, gives me an excuse to ramble.

Last edit: 2012-08-21 13:22:03

screamingpalm United States. August 21 2012 13:33. Posts 885

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You guys are too young for video games. :D

Video games were a huge part of my life growing up. I had Pong when it first came out, the Atari console, and eventually PC. In those days, everything was innovative, new, and exciting. I think that leaves a different sort of long lasting appreciation for my generation than what the current state of the industry does. AAA titles do seem more targeted at a younger audience though, getting older just means your tastes get more sophisticated. We usually find more satisfaction in indie titles these days.

"People who know me, know that my favorite thing are big things that destroy other things" -Jay Wilson

obesechicken13 United States. August 21 2012 13:34. Posts 4200

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Actually just last weekend I had a huge LoL marathon. It was quite fun. I tried out lots of things that I had wanted to try. I wrote out everything I learned, and if the replay system worked I'd have watched them too. But then the weekend ended and I knew I needed to uninstall the game if I wanted to not be too tired on the weekdays.

I'm 21 if it matters.

I thoroughly enjoy gaming still. I do enjoy talking to people more. Like I'd rather be talking to any friend or even texting than playing games, browsing TL, or standing awkwardly at a loud party.

There's definitely a nostalgia to gaming as a youth, but it's not like I suddenly don't have fun gaming as an adult. I just wish there was more interaction in the gaming. Many of my friends play LoL, but I don't see them online often enough. Like I'll sign in and noone else will be on. A few times I'll sign in and see someone on but still play alone

I wish I could play more with my little brother. He's into minecraft and he talks to me about it, but I'm not into minecraft and so we can't play together anymore. It's not all bad. I comment while he plays now like back when he played turret defense in starcraft.

Last edit: 2012-08-21 13:49:53

Leyra United States. August 21 2012 13:35. Posts 704

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I find that most of the people that talk about how they're "too old" for games, or they've "matured" past gaming always come off as a bit condescending, lol. I'm 23 and working full-time while finishing school, so obviously don't have the time I have in the past, but still spend most of the free time I have that's not taken up by family/friends playing games. Perhaps its true some people grow out of it, but I'm quite sure I won't. My oldest brother is 30 and is much the same, he has a wife, 2 kids, and a full time job, and still plays games probably 10-15hrs a week.

The free time naturally goes away as you age, as you gain more responsibilities and obligations, but I think filling that free time with games is still okay

shindigs United States. August 21 2012 13:39. Posts 4273

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I can't marathon like I used to. Always feels like something needs to be done when I'm playing games D:

Twitter: @shindags || Collegiate Starleague www.cstarleague.com || Sponsored by #ESPORTSPROBLEMS || twitch.tv/shindigs

dUTtrOACh Canada. August 21 2012 13:40. Posts 1636

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I'd say for a long time I've felt like I don't get any enjoyment out of playing shooters. Haven't played anything FPS or TPS in an eternity. MMOs and most grindy RPGs even moreso. They just feel like a waste of time and effort. As someone who never felt particularly skilled at games I've always played them at a fairly casual level. SC has always been a game I can sit down and play for however long I want, until recently. Diablo 3 killed BNet for me. My friends who used to play SC2 all switched to Diablo 3 and they seemed to have died off one by one (figure of speech - they're alive but seem to have given up on SC2 and D3 as something of a package deal). This has put a damper on my team-league experience which I've always enjoyed more than 1v1 as it's play random, or form PA teams with random people I don't know. It's just not the same anymore, and I don't think it's because I'm too old. Maybe I'm just in denial, or maybe I'm giving myself the benefit of the doubt, wanting to work in the gaming industry while not wanting to lose my passion for what I believe are truly good games.

twitch.tv/duttroach

Euronyme Sweden. August 21 2012 13:41. Posts 3780

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On August 21 2012 13:35 Leyra wrote:
I find that most of the people that talk about how they're "too old" for games, or they've "matured" past gaming always come off as a bit condescending, lol. I'm 23 and working full-time while finishing school, so obviously don't have the time I have in the past, but still spend most of the free time I have that's not taken up by family/friends playing games. Perhaps its true some people grow out of it, but I'm quite sure I won't. My oldest brother is 30 and is much the same, he has a wife, 2 kids, and a full time job, and still plays games probably 10-15hrs a week.

The free time naturally goes away as you age, as you gain more responsibilities and obligations, but I think filling that free time with games is still okay

Imagine our generation when we reach retirement. Epic lans with what friends you have left that stretches for years. Awesome.

I bet i can maı̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̨̨̨̨̨̨ke you wipe your screen.

MountainDewJunkie United States. August 21 2012 13:58. Posts 9259

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Well it's different for each person, we all acknowledge that. I was a, tongue-in-cheek here, compulsive gamer. I had no balance. But I didn't quit gaming like quitting cigarettes, it just sort of happened, I found other stuff to occupy my time.

Also, I essentially grew up through the near-complete evolution of video games. Even though I wasn't born when it was first created, we played Atari as little kids. One year later we're all playing Super Mario Bros. on NES. Three years later we're shuffling though Genesis, SNES, and GameBoy Color. When I was 9, the N64 came out.

Then came the big PC game boom. PC games were strange in retrospect. At first they were great. But they became more time consuming, less satisfying, and rigorous than many console games. Then the console games began to mimic the increasing path of PC games. Now today's generation is lost in a sea of FPSs, MMORPGS, and whatever the hell LoL qualifies as. Games that are designed to keep you in. Raids, PvPs, character purchases, paying real money for fake game money, endless patches and modifications, new maps.

So I grew up on games that had an objective, a long struggle of increasing difficulties, and a finality, a victory. So it's probably just my conditioning that pushed me away from today's type of gaming.

Is beating Metal Sonic on a goddamn Zeppelin (or plane-o-copter?) cooler than going online with friends and shooting complete strangers, or leveling up, or upgrading equipment? Objectively, of course not. But since taste is subjective, allow me to say, hell yes it is!

[21:07] <Shock710> whats wrong with her face [20:50] <dAPhREAk> i beat it the day after it came out | <BLinD-RawR> esports is a giant vagina

Grimmyman123 Canada. August 21 2012 14:04. Posts 876

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Too old? Yes and No.

My gaming prime was 15 years ago. So, I guess I am old enough to be the father to a great majority of TL's patrons.

But, I still love video games, and I enjoy playing them. It's frustrating for me, due to my age, that my hands don't work as fast as they used to, and because I have to work a day job as well as have a life outside of a video game, I don't practice/play as much either to be as good as I possibly could be.

But, I am not a highschool student, still attached to mom's teet, living for free, where I can just seclude myself in an office and play day and night. I have other things that need to be done, and other activities I enjoy more than playing video games. So, I do that.

As you get older, you just have to find the balance between the additional tasks that need to be done, and gaming loses priority in life.

Win. That's all that matters. Win. Nobody likes to lose.

GnarlyArbitrage August 21 2012 14:06. Posts 575

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I started to feel that if I'm going to be investing so much of my time into something, it should pay me back tenfold. That's why I play forex. Anytime I do play a game, I quit within five minutes and go right back to the forex. Gives me a constant challenge, so it's replay value is literally infinite.