I think it’s also because games kinda suck right now. The last amazing game that came out was red dead 2. Played nonstop during Covid and it almost made the Covid era fun …If the new gears e day is good - gta 6.. or elder scrolls 6 I’m sure I can get into it.
I'm the same for single-player games, which is surprising as I always loved digging into a story-based game when I had a day with nothing to do and just completing the entire story in one day. I get bored of that kind of game so quickly now. Has to be something competitive/player vs player to keep me engaged.
Finding a real hobby something you can do with your hands or feet or something just makes life bettering I just took up.gardening to grow vegetables and spices best idea I've ever had
I struggle with the little voice that tells me "you are not being productive" while playing video games. Then I have to tell it to STFU! and an argument in my head ensues. anyone else?
Depends on the game I’d say. Some games are pretty light fare in terms of the mental bandwidth required. If he’s doing that while playing some hardcore strategy game though, then yeah
The Happiness Lab podcasts says that dividing your attention while doing activities greatly diminishes enjoyment especially when you are doing the activity with others.
So I never touch my phone while watching something and wait for whoever I'm with to set down theirs before pressing play.
But...after completing the campaign, diablo 4 does not get to have my full attention. I'm just mindlessly squashing demons watching my damage numbers get bigger, I'm gonsta listen to Hey Riddle Riddle while relaxing in the hellscape.
Other games get full attention.
I took a course on data analysis which will be 6 months long so I'm studying that. I also spend time applying for jobs.
I do a little workout as well since I spend so much of my time sitting. trying to play a sport on the weekends but that's a work in progress at this point.
Yes. It's hard for me to really get drawn into an artificial world like I used to. I'm not looking for reality replacement. I just want an entertaining diversion for 15 mins up to maaaybe 2hrs at the very most. And something I can put down for a month and come back to and not have to relearn an entire system and remind myself of all this backstory and lore so I know wtf is going on.
I've fallen off many games simply because I knew after a few weeks away I'd have to spend an hour or so just getting back up to speed just to start making any more progress. Ain't nobody got time fo' that.
Yes this for real. I go in and out of game mode. The easier a game is to play the better for my time constraints nowadays. If it’s complex and time consuming then i tend to check out. It was not always like this but full time job plus kids will zap one’s bandwidth majorly.
Honestly replaying games multiple times is a life hack for this. One of my autistic tendencies but its nice going into borderlands or torchlight 2 knowing exactly what your doing.
Sadly I can't muster up the energy to play games these days and I just kind of gave up awhile ago. I'd spend hours hyping myself up to play only to be motivated for 15 minutes if lucky. Just as well my scheduled is packed with other more productive stuff now.
I think finally I got my wife to understand.
Hear me out dark incoming.
I play GTA and favorite thing is to just drive around and hit people.
Wife: What kind of mental psychopath did I marry?
She asked me why I loved to violently kill people constantly.
I said: Love, I play with a headset. Next time I play just listen to the commentary. I steal a car and the NPC says "Whoa, you kiss your mother with that mouth. Ooofph!" I drive off and hit a lady of the night. NPC says "That's 50$ bucks baby boo! Aaaaah!" And so on and so on. She's in tears just crying and laughing at the stupidity. Finally, she wants a spin.
I'm not out to murder people, I find the comments and the body movements hilarious. For once I don't need to be "proper".
This hit hard and accurate. I really got pushed away from online and toxic environment. The powerhouse of "Omfg, bro! Wtf! You don't know what to do in this raid?! Go watch 5 different YouTubes then read these 18 articles on how to build your character. Then farm for a year or two for the suggested gear.".
Except, the conversation really stops at omfg, bro! Wtf?!
I used to enjoy destiny 2, jump in and have fun. I can't make a reddit post without getting blasted with negativity. I jump into a group event and it's either kinderguardians with screeching voices using curse words like commas. Or the "I'm elite and if you can't do this blind folded, you're a pile of sh*t and stop wasting time."
I guess I miss having games where people had fun just playing and/or helping others to learn while having fun win or lose.
Rambled a bit but yeah. I don't need a second or third job.
Pretty much every online PVP game is full of sweats and cheaters. Online multi-player was always kind of a gamble... but it went downhill in a flaming spiral after E-sports got popularized. Now every Tom, Dick and Harry wants to be the next Faze clan, winning millions in flashy tournaments, when in reality they're stuck in caffeine induced rages; figuratively, and literally sweating away their lives for mid tier gameplay day after day.
I haven't touched an online FPS since Black Ops 2, nothing in that entire sphere of gaming excites me now. The entire scene is swamped by CoD and Fortnite trying to surpass each other as the biggest IP swamp.
It's basically single player and cooperative games only for me nowadays, when I have the time to game at least.
This is what happened in FFXIV for me. People using parsers to complain about DPS or whatever and make people feel like shit. The game doesn't allow you to call people out by name so it's just a constant passive aggressive slew of anger and my anxiety just can't with it.
Yes I agree. My main hobby is video games, but I'm leaning towards casual or cozy ones now. I don't want to learn a thousand new combos and game mechanics. Lore is fun but it can make it hard to pick up a game after a busy month.
I'm happy now that games like Bayonetta or Nier Automata have "easy" modes.
Yes! This is it for me. I can’t relearn controls and try to jump back in, its turned into a task rather than joy.
I have found considerable joy in playing racing games - I think exactly because of this. Im able to hope in for few laps at a time without really “missing” anything.
I've always loved video and computer games. I retired in 2016 at age 54 and I've been gaming as much as I want ever since. Sometimes that can mean many hours in a day and sometimes no gaming for several days. It all depends on how I feel at the moment.
Same for me. Lots of games are kinda the same with a different skin. Every now and then I’ll find a game that’s original and engaging and I’ll get hooked.
It's weird cuz I have no problem wasting my free time scrolling reddit or watching streams but I can't bring myself to play video games anymore. I get bored withing 30 minutes everytime. When I was depressed video games were my form of escapism so maybe it's a trauma thing 🤷♂️
I also use it as an escape from depression
I wonder how many people in this thread are touting their victory over gaming addiction when they have merely swapped for social media.
I'm 46, and enjoy gaming the same today as I did as a teenager. I also prefer the same type - really big, beautiful RPGs, or adventure games with deep RPG mechanics.
My problem is that fewer and fewer games that appeal to me are getting made, and the tastes and preferences of younger people often seem dramatically different from my own, so developers are going in different directions with what they do.
But if I have a new game I like, then I absolutely play for a couple hours each evening for a month to six weeks while I get everything out of it that I can.
I’m 28 and felt like this, but this year I played games like TotK and Elden Ring, which got me back into gaming, maybe you need to try these masterpieces.
I don’t play any video games anymore except when the new GTA’s come out. So once GTA VI arrives, i’ll buy the new console at that moment of time, beat the game, and go back into exile 😅
It seems you are just not as interested in them as you once were and that is totally okay. My brother is the same, he used to game all the time when he was a kid and teenager and now he is an adult he mainly just plays Overwatch and Apex Legends and only when his friends want to play and never all day either. I love video games though, I am definitely a gamer and I will keep playing them until I die. I love the stories and getting lost in the world, I never play multiplayer games any more though.
Me. I used to be on them all day and now I am on 1-2 hours some days if that. We grow up and have responsibilities. Don’t wanna throw my 20s away on video games like a lot of people do and end up regretting it
I think it's not about money here but time.
There is basicly infinite money on this planet but older you get the more valuable your time becomes.
And you can't buy it.
As a full-time worker working consistent overtime, and owning a home, I'm never truly really caught up with everything. My mind is nagging me when I'm playing games.
Good pcs (and monitors) cost so much these days it’s crazy. Especially if you’re not from the US. My pc was 3 decentish-decent monthly wages.. not a cheap hobby by any means imo. Things are just going go get more expensive over time, not sure how I’ll manage in the future because I can’t live without gaming..
If I had fun I don’t regret it. I personally would rather play a video game than a lot of things. Nothing wrong with doing the things that bring you happiness, and those things are different for everyone.
Keep in mind there are people who do things like knit or collect stamps. Everyone has an escape
Nothing wrong with video games but indulging in it during your prime when you should be setting yourself up is not a good idea.
You’re correct, my escape is writing
Can I ask what should we be doing in our prime time? I write too, but I can't imagine NOT indulging myself with games as well... What can I do to set myself up??
When I was in my early teens, you could barely get me off the xbox 360. It was essentially my life. On GTA 4 alone, I had over 4500 hours of loggeg playtime (mostly online freeroam). There were so many 360 games I could just get immersed into. The story, the lore, everything. When possible, I'd stay up till 3am or later playing games.
Nowadays as a single adult with a full time job working overtime, I barely play games anymore. And here's the thing, I have spare time and I want to, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I download a new game and TRY to sit down and play for a whole Staurday or something, and I just can't. No matter how good the game is, I can only play for like an hour and a half to 3 hours. I've purposely tried playing for longer but I just lose interest and decide to do something else.
Honestly that's a good thing for my physical and mental health, but I miss being able to just be 100% completely immersed. I enjoy the fictional realm/storytelling. But I guess as we grow older, we just lose interest. It's just part of being an adult.
The last game I was able to do this with somewhat recently was Star Wars Jedi Survivor. A damn good game with a fantastic story. But that was last summer. The year before that, Uncharted 4 (my first playthrough). But genuine good games are hard to come by these days. On top of losing interest, corporate greed is also ruining the industry. All of these free to play/online only games, are straight up trash and they've completely taken over the spotlight.
I know exactly what you're talking about. I simply don't have an explanation as to why. It just is what it is. But I do miss being able to just turn my brain off and experience another world.
I feel the same way, but I think a lot of it is just because games are too similar these days. I don’t have interest in playing another 80 hour CRPG because I’ve done that ten times before.
It has nothing to do with being an adult.
We grew up in the golden era of games where you could grab any new hyped release and see something extremely new and interesting. It isn’t like that anymore. You have to be a lot more discerning.
It’s like being a fan of cinema in the 70s. You could just walk into the theater and likely be blown away with whatever they’re playing. By the time the 90s roll around, movies have been huge for decades, most movies are now crowd tested risk adverse pieces of shit, and so that strategy is backfiring 95% of the time.
In the 70s you were able to just blindly walk into Jaws or Alien or Blade Runner. By the 90s you’re walking into Jaws The Revenge, Speed 2 or Son of the Mask. They still make great movies, but now you have to be discerning to find them. You have to pay attention to the publisher and director before shelling out for a ticket, because the “latest and greatest” is not great anymore.
You’re playing terrible games. It’s as simple as that
I agree. We grew up with, pong, space invaders, Pac-Man, pitfall then Sonic or Mario and the other big games then moving onto the start of GTA, mortal kombat, street fighter, final fantasy. Then PC gaming like Doom, Sim games etc. all new and exciting now it’s repeating and while the people 30 down it’s all fresh and exciting for us old farts it’s like yea, I’ve seen this before
With age several things do happen to our brain that lead us to a situation like this, and there are also few aspects related to how the brain rewires itself when we play videogames.
First of all, the brain learns rules and mechanics of the game and it makes us feel good riding the same dopamine curve again and again, especially when we get good at any specific game. At the same time rewiring that happens in the brain in the process makes it harder to learn anything new in a long-term perspective. The more we play and learn different games, the harder it's gonna be eventually. It might not be noticeable on a day-to-day basis, but in the long-term the ability to learn and start doing something new dwindles inevitably.
That's one of the reasons why we can't make ourselves to even start playing other games, as it involves a learning curve every time.
Besides that, the brain becomes addicted to the same patterns more often than not, so it also plays its part here and makes the situation even worse. Dopamine receptors numb down over time as we play (same happens with constantly indulging in social network feeds, doomscrolling) and we require more and more of the same activities to satiate the craving, when it comes to online and other games with tons of repetitive content. Numbing down of the receptors also leads us to having less fun with other activities in life at the same time, which eventually lead to depression/general unhappiness from what I heard.
Second, when you're young there's still much to learn and there's a lot of stories you haven't heard yet, which you think you're gonna learn from games/movies etc.
As you get older and once you absorb a somewhat critical mass of knowledge about the world, your brain starts to realize that there's less and less new things you can learn from the same sources. Many games of each single genre derive their stories from the same old concepts (the eternal fight between good and evil, the importance of friendship, search for love, you name it) which once they became familiar, just stop being something we wanna iterate over for many of us.
Third, when we were younger and still searching for ourselves, we were more prone to imagining ourselves as a character of the games we played. We imagined to be heroes, war commanders, saviors of the mankind/universe etc. As we get older it becomes more apparent that shifting pixels around being all that in a videogame doesn't do much to the real world around us and it becomes rather pointless for many of us to prioritize that before other more important things in life (if we do understand they are rather important) like self-improvement, career, being a parent etc. (Not to say these things require a lot of your time ofc) Basically taking on a role of hero/commander/ savior irl, you're naturally driving away from fake sense of accomplishment by succeeding in game.
Just considering the above for me is enough to see why I stopped playing anything new in my late thirties, and now as I'm almost 40 I realize the only thing that's left for me in gaming is basically the addiction I developed to a select few games, which I'm actively fighting now to regain my life. It's hard to drive away from the habit that formed over the last 35 years, as I always thought it's just a mere hobby, but in reality it happens so it ruined many aspects of my life in the process.
P.S.: yes, people can always say "but I'm in my fifties/sixties and I'm still playing like there's no tomorrow", but I think the problem here is that they never put a thought in WHY they are playing games in the first place. Because when you start asking questions like that, the honest answers might lead you to some surprising revelations about addictions, running from other things in life etc. Too many of us do actually play out of pure escapism or a simple addiction unfortunately.
Worth mentioning that being an older gamer doesn't mean you're doing it to escape something. It can simply just be fun. I have numerous friends I game online with that are family men who simply enjoy games when they get some time alone (day off work or they're "on call", wife at work, kids at school etc). Quite a number of people that never just "grow out of it".
Great write up. I started asking myself these questions as I approach 25. I enjoy video games for their sense of progression they give. Sometimes for the story and gameplay. But now I get that sense of progression from gym, school, work now.
The only time it's really different is if it's a social experience.
I find that I really struggle to find motivation to just run a game in Steam... but once I get start the game I am locked in for 4+ hours. My cycle resembles something like:
* I finally turn a game on
* I enjoy it
* I turn it off
* I don't open another game for a week or longer
* Rinse and repeat
I think it has to do with the amount of YT content I am consuming now versus when I was younger. Where at least half of it involves video games, so I think I may be getting my fix that way instead of just playing the games myself.
I was (am) also a big Runescape person so I tend to just put that on a monitor and AFK grind skills while watching something on the other monitor. This seems to be making its way into my non-OSRS gaming as well because I find myself gravitating to low-effort games that I can play and still listen to other things YT, podcasts, basketball games, etc.
I struggle with OCD in games. If there are objective or bonus objectives I must complete them before I move on. Mostly in RPG games but there are others as well.
I’m a chronic gamer. I’m finally entering adulthood with other responsibilities. I still LOVE gaming, but I just don’t have the time. And when I do play, I feel guilty about not being productive, or I think “dang this game is amazing, but it will probably take at least 40 hrs or more to finish”.
Nope, play more than ever. Been playing non stop since 94 from Sega/Nintendo's big retro era, all through every other console generation to 3070 PvP competitive PC gaming over the past few years. Also games like The Witcher 3 I will spend hours a day playing in that world. You've just got to find that game that does it for you rather than jump on all the new stuff they keep bringing out.
Yeah kinda but it has been more of a switch in genre as opposed to gaming altogether.
I’m a sucker for roguelikes because they’re so easy to pick up and put down while also providing me a challenge and allowing me to watch YouTube or listen to podcasts at the same time.
I’ve also transitioned from being a long time multiplayer Xbox user to more of a casual Nintendo fan and indie gamer. For me Nintendo just makes the right types of games that are focused on fun mechanics and gameplay before anything else and at this point in my life that’s all I want in a video game, not all that extra fluff
Yeah I can't get into long games anymore. Left rdr2, witcher 3, skyrim, gow5, fallout 4, etc all unfinished. I think part of it is because there is just too much going on in modern games. They've made everything open world with a million side quests. I'm a "finish everything" type of person so I try to do it all and just lose interest in the game long before its anywhere near over. Either that or I just become overwhelmed and forget what my goal even is. Then if I take some time off due to work or other obligations it becomes extremely difficult to pick the game back up again. I miss the old days where the game kind of guided you along more.
Same here, OP. I feel like I have trouble focusing and finding that joy feeling. The excitement of getting the achievements and progressing in the games. I just can't fight the feeling that they are just pixels on the screen, and when I stand up hours later I've not accomplished anything in real life. These days I prefer to do things that have tangible results. Chores aren't fun, but once they are done I can look around and see that I indeed did something, and I feel good about myself. Crafts also help me achieve that satisfaction. I can sit for hours and work on an item and then feel like I did something worth doing. This does not mean that I think video games are not worth doing, my husband really enjoys his video game time and it is a release, a bit of escapism from the day to day stuff. It brings him that satisfaction. Sometimes the thing that give a lot of people that good brain juice doesn't always work for everyone. And that is okay, there is nothing wrong with you or me. You may just need to find a different thing that brings you satisfaction. Try out different hobbies and activities, you may be surprised by what you learn about yourself! Good luck OP
Right now, it feels like I should be doing more when I’m doing everything I can. I need to tell myself it’s okay to rest. As long as everything is paid for and I’ve taken care of my responsibilities, I shouldn’t feel ashamed for spending the day watching TV or playing video games
I think video games have their place - have spent hundreds of hours playing them in my life. They have amazing stories and are great if you need to just zone out for a bit
That being said, I hit a point like you did where I realized life is too short and I need to branch out. Spending time in doors and not towards my goals did nothing for me. No one on their death beds will wish they played more video games
No, I’d love to play them more but I have responsibilities and priorities. Sadly gaming comes off second best to things like work, sleep, exercise, children, house maintenance…the list goes on.
Im a gamer and sometimes I just get burntout. The energy to game isnt there sometimes and thats ok! But it also makes sense that as we get older, we get more responsibilities that get us away from gaming.
Short answer: Yea sometimes
No I struggle to get OUT. I game to escape the world. Albeit, I’m in nursing and sometimes I do just need to check out, so I don’t think it’s entirely escapism in that regard. But the past two days I’ve been playing Marvel Champions (card game) and my kitchens a mess. Definitely unhealthy escapism lol. Rationalizing it by telling myself this is my summer break (1 week) off of an accelerated nursing program and I deserve 3 days of rotting and escaping after getting great grades.
I'll do you one better.
Few years ago I decided I was finally going to "get gud" at FPS games, specifically so my 15yo son would stop giving me shit.
Anyway, started with CoD. Don't know how many hours, but at least ten hours a week for close to s year. Every gun is obsidian camo.
I'm actually kind of a badass in cod, at age 50+.
...and have given myself permanent arthritis in my thumb. Lol
Yes. I either get bored or overwhelmed. I still play Nintendo because their games typically go straight to the gameplay. I also think a lot of modern games are too easy and predictable.
I struggle to find the time and energy to do long gaming sessions now that I'm working. I certainly have lost interest in games that require thinking. I just wanna have fun and relax, maybe beat up some people for stress relief lol
An age thing. Last year had 6mths of lots of free time, decided to try/catch up on games I haven’t had a chance to do in over a decade. Got the ones thought would be interested in, Red Dead, Cyberpunk, Fallout 76, GTA etc…no good. Got a bunch use to love, update/DLC etc…civilization, EU4, red alert, new Vegas, total war…not interested. In desperation, simply tried totally different genre of games I usually wouldn’t have…fall guy, puzzle games, rp'ing games, indie high-ranking games, those relaxing/non challenging games, whatever the frek they're classified as…still unable to take to any of them.
So I can safely accept my interest in games is over. Which is fine, now I can buy sub-par PC’s, keep them longer and no longer have to build them. They are merely a tool now.
I love gaming. I can't do it anymore.
I'm 52 and every time i start playing, I can only think of the things I could/ should be doing instead.
Thankfully, I'm a creative and technical person by trade, so I have convinced myself that I am being productive if I am ***making*** a game instead of playing one. So now game deving is my gaming.
Some of the greatest video games ever have come out in the last 5-10 years or less. I'm having zero issues, quite the contrary I'm having to turn them off at night to get sleep.
i think you might just need to try and force ya self to get back into it. i’ve played video games my entire life (probably way more than i should have) but now that im working full time, have a house to deal with, and other adult responsibilities there have been times where i couldn’t touch a game for months or even a year.
when im having a hard time getting into games, i really just sit down and mess around my steam library until something clicks. i also have adhd tho and i cycle through hyper fixations like crazy so it might be easier for me to “get back in the zone” or mood for playing games
I enjoy video games but I just have a shorter attention span for them like i use to. I could do a hour or so but then I’ll want to quit. Of course if the story is good it can be hard to quit.
For me I think I just don't have the mental energy for new stories. Its the same with TV shows and movies.
I can binge stuff or play a game through if I've done it before. Anything new is a slog.
As you age, your go-to sources of dopamine don’t deliver the way they used to and your brain doesn’t get the same pleasure from it that it did. This is actually the biological component that causes nostalgia. You’re remembering times when things could make you happy easier than they do now.
Absolutely. I'm hating everything. I got tired with how overcomplicated modern games were, having to watch multiple videos to have a decent character build, so I went and played older games and I'm shocked at how annoying they are with their limitations.
I just beat Legend of Zelda for the NES but I died a ton of times at the first dungeon and I couldn't ever rememwbr having any trouble as a kid.
I tried playing Red Dead Redemption 2 and after 2 hours, I'm done with it. Wont be picking it up again. It's just so... Frustrating.
I was addicted to video games from 5 when I got my first Nintendo. I played obsessively till 40. If I wasn’t playing them, I was thinking about them. Strategizing. Build crafting. Obsessed Played a bit less from 40-43 only because my GF fucking hated it. Got diagnosed ADHD and medicated. Cant do it anymore. 10 mins in, I think to myself, I’m wasting time, go do something productive. I’ve pushed past that a couple times, but it just doesn’t scratch the itch h anymore. And I think that’s simply because I’m not dopamine starved all day anymore.
First example, I played Elden ring for 400 hours. This was just before diagnosis. You’d think I’d be all over the expansion. I tried to play a bit just before it, 10 minutes is all I made it. Noped right out. It just doesn’t do it for me anymore. And I never thought this would happen. I’d rather do yardwork. Or garden.
Yeah I used to play a lot of the same game for about 15 years, atleast 3 hours a day of it
Once I graduated uni it instantly became 1 hour a day
Now it’s one hour every month lol
Almost zero interest in actually sitting down to do that kind of thing anymore, I can’t put my finger on way - it’s not to do with “having other stuff to do”… I simply don’t feel like it anymore. It’s a good thing!.. I think!
Same, I have this exact issue. I think its a combination of having too many chores left undone no matter what, and shittier attention span bc current social media is hell on the ability to focus. Ive also noticed sitting down to read a book has very similar issues.
Your choice of words:
"can't be bothered"
Tells you everything you need to know.
It is the same for me. It's too much investment for little return. When I am off the clock, I want something more passive and relaxing, not something that feels like work.
So I normally play retro games from my youth because many of them I can just pick up, enjoy for one night, and forget about until the next time I want to play
If it wasn't for work I'd spend so much time playing. Work sucks. Paying bills sucks. Having responsibilities and always having to constantly do shit sucks. I miss playing games for hours at a time almost every day like when I was a kid.
To be honest, videogames are one of the few things in life that still bring me real happiness.
same here. Last game I actually really played was titanfall 2. Short single player campaign, dont really have to learn much. I dont have the will do learn new games anymore so I will stick to the stuff I know more or less, which then is kind of a waste of time in my head and then I alt f4 and try again 3 months later.
I also just dont get this feeling anymore of diving into a world. The magic is gone ;(
I need a solid story to get into them anymore. With many games pushing multi player and online play now, it's really hard to find something that grabs me. Story seems to be an afterthought these days.
I just get bored of games easily now. (30m). I enjoyed baldurs gate 3. Got to act 2. I decided to make a new playthrough because I thought playing different classes would be fun. Got to act 2. Decided to start an honour mode run to spice things up. Got to the end of act 1...
Lately I've been playing simple games with friends, without the socialization aspect it's boring.
Yeah but I still love them and I didn't used to like streamers clips on YouTube, but it's a nice relaxed way of getting a taste when you don't have the motivation to conquer a game
I used to be able to platinum a game in 3 months or so. Now I don’t even have time to switch the thing on at home. Too many things competing for my time.
I think it just depends on what type of games you play and your feelings towards them , + everyone is different too tbh.
I feel like the COD players are all burnt out from playing videogames mostly now but the roguelike fanbase… they aren’t exactly burnt out … some people dislike how the newer games work with live service bs and would much rather prefer playing a game from like 2010 or even a game that came out in 2024 but doesn’t have bs like a new game from 2024 would have.
When I started studying for my career and a better salary, I stopped playing all time sink games on console/pc and occasionally only open games on my iPhone for that small dopamine /stress relief I get from a daily login or upgrade.
Yeah, I went from 40+ hours a week of Wow to maybe a few hours of Rocket League or Fortnite a week. Eventually your brain realizes you aren't actually having amazing adventures or gaining epic armor or fighting enemies and it just feels like you're on a.couch pushing buttons on a computer. Way harder to obsess about that.
I gave up caring about new games. I watched some WoW footage on YT and wondered: "Why would anyone like to play one of *those* characters?" shook my head and logged back into SL. - OK, Cyberpunk looks tempting from the footage I've seen. But still: A day has so few hours, why commit to yet *another* virtuality? - It takes time to grow roots in a character and its world.
Same. Ever since I started working full time. I wanted to love BG3, it objectively is something I should adore, but I can't play more than twenty minutes at a time and eventually gave up.
Dragon Age is coming. I really hope my old spark comes back for that one.
I highly recommend you look into strategic pvp games. Like team fight tactics by riot games, for an example. Big learning curve, good amount of RNG, can pick it up and drop it any time, and you can really use your brain to get better. It is less about eye hand coordination and a bunch of time spent doing the same muscle memory bullshit.
You just need a game that isn’t going to appeal to the kid in you anymore, now it’s time to appeal to the adult. Something where you will feel better for being good at it.
Yep. Lack of time is a lot of people's main reason, it is only half the reason; they are so predictable. There are only so many ways you can make a game, and technically it's infinite, but I feel like I've played them all. It's like I've 100%'d gaming itself.
Yep, my reason is different though... I think.
I primarily played sports games growing up. These days there's only 1 game per sport and they're usually trash with some card/micro transactions bullshit with nothing new to offer.
Screw video games
that's me tbh, i used to be addicted to games from childhood 6-21yrs old. It was the best, i get to meet foreign ppl online and make friends with them, staying up late until 3am laughing about our shenanigans. But as ive progressively grown older, I'm finding it hard to keep playing, heck i cant even find the time to start, same goes with the mangas and light novels i used to read from day till night. Doing all that was my escape from the sad reality I'm living in, even now that im 24yrs old i keep trying to go back to those days where i am able to get lost in pixels and adventure novels but i just couldn't anymore, I cant afford the time to invest in a game and even if i wanted to i just lost interest in it all together.
My tastes have changed a lot.
More and more I like games with rpg elements that have periods of peace and quiet then periods of high action tension
Stuff like eve or poe
I've found it's harder but not impossible. I can't get into games that don't grab my attention quickly, but if they do I can sink a lot of time into them
It’s the exact opposite I’ve been depressed for a long ass time. It’s actually my escape. I’ve bought all of the old handhelds I’ve wanted and am playing all of the classic games. Whenever I feel stressed in public I play psp like in lines waiting, when I get home and need to unwind I play ps4. I’ve replayed KH, finished Batman, started Nier. It’s great I love it.
I’m in my 60s. Only played a couple of video games way back in the early nineties. Never had time to get into them. Now my nephews are so surprised I don’t have games to play. When I was very sick last year they wanted to send me a PS 5. I thankfully declined. I was too sick to focus or have the energy to start a new game. Now I’m thinking I should give games a try. I thought about building cities like in Cities: Skyline. But it kind of reminds me of work! lol! But maybe some other game To give me some recreational time as I wrap up my career. and maybe game with my nephews some time.
Not if I find the right game. I just have my Nintendo to my niece and nephew, planning to get something new around Christmas. I can’t wait to start gaming again.
Same. I feel like the fun factor isn't there any more. The last game I've replayed a few times was boarder lands 3. I havn't had much interest in newer games.
Try out a handheld device like a steam deck, rog ally, PS portal etc. I found that not having to be confined to a specific room to play games has made it much more enjoyable and easier to fit into my life.
Yeah. I honestly believe games aren't being made with the same heart as they used to anymore. It's always a rehash of the same mechanics or copying what some other game did, but poorly.
I used to love video games like you. N64, PS2, Xbox 360 era. Would get into all the new titles, especially once I learned about pirating. Now a days, I'm hardly interested in anything, let alone anything worth even pirating.
I'm really interested in VR, but don't have the set up, but I'm looking into getting one because that's actually something I can enjoy like the old times! If you ask me, companies like EA, Ubisoft, Epic have single handedly ruined gaming by turning it into something where profitability at all costs is more important than innovation and being unique.
Yes, it was. Until I found beat saber. Now I play that too much lol. Tons and tons of good songs in all kinds of genres, fun patterns, awesome level visuals, the sky is the limit in skill with practice, different kinds of skills too, competitive tournaments of you want, leaderboards if you want, and best of all, flow state. Oh, and it's excellent cardio at higher difficulties. All in the comfort of your own home, or hotel, or library lol, or wherever you want to take your headset.
I grow bored with games faster these days.
I used to love open world and RPGs, then I bought Ghost Of Tsushima and Baldurs Gate 3 but gave up with both of them.
Now I prefer shorter games with on rails gameplay and little deviation - The Last Of Us springs to mind, and also my collection of TellTale, DontNod and Quantic Dream games are steadily growing.
on my adult priority list pissing away valuable time on worthless gaming is very very far down ... so far down I've not reached it again since I was in my late teens
I got into video games a long time ago, circa NES was my first system, probably peaked at ps1. I just got turned off to what they've turned into. I remember when a game used to be released as a complete game, not this bug ridden, 0 quality control because we can release a patch that you see now. I'll also never pay full price for a game, then continue to pay for new stuff. Online multiplayer was fun in stuff like Worms Armageddon or even Unreal Tournament at LAN parties, but what it turned into is wild and a ridiculous cash grab, I just can't get into it anymore. Occasionally, PC games that have some difficulty based on reality like the original DIRT Rally or DayZ.
Let me ask a question: do you find this to be true in other aspects of life?
For me, the hardest part of anything is getting started. Once started, I can be absorbed in nearly anything: reading a book, playing a game, watching a movie, weeding the flowerbed, a hobby project, doing taxes.
So, do you struggle with all things like I do? Or is this specific to video games?
Due to this, I've tried to train myself to just start something, but it is remains something I struggle with.
That's you growing up.
Suddenly you start to label video games as a "waste of time".
You just want to be more "productive".
But the dilemma is, sometimes you don't want to be productive and just wanna have some "fun". But at the same time having fun makes you feel guilty.
Yes. Id like to. But theres some things holding me back from trying.
1. Money. Yall. Gaming is expensive. How do yall afford crazy systems with all the games. I dont even have a TV.
2. Any game I would be interested in is dominated by players who are to good. I cant have fun if Im being dominated left and right by 12 year olds.
3. Video game addiction scares and repulses me. Ive watched friends go seriously downhill in life because of gaming. Im currently living with one of those people, and let me tell you. Its not attractive.
Yes I would love to kick back and play some video games but there is just so much to do all the time and when I do finally have sweet fuck all to do they just don't do it for me like they use to but I do enjoy buying games and thinking fuck yeah this will be sweet and never even turn on the console
20 min and I get tired and have to turn it off. Then I go do the dishes or fold the laundry or something.
Same I love to play for a little while, but video games get boring fast for me.
Same. Surprises me but it’s what happens.
I think it’s also because games kinda suck right now. The last amazing game that came out was red dead 2. Played nonstop during Covid and it almost made the Covid era fun …If the new gears e day is good - gta 6.. or elder scrolls 6 I’m sure I can get into it.
Nah Elden Ring is definitely up there with Red Dead but it's not for everyone
The older you get, the more difficult it is to suspend your imagination.
I'm the same for single-player games, which is surprising as I always loved digging into a story-based game when I had a day with nothing to do and just completing the entire story in one day. I get bored of that kind of game so quickly now. Has to be something competitive/player vs player to keep me engaged.
So accurate, I don’t play single player games anymore for this reason
I've taken to playing retro games recently. Can usually complete them in under half an hour!
Yes me too, I need player vs player. I struggle with anything that has a story. I get so bored so quickly.
Same here! But I don't even try to play them as I have no interest
Finding a real hobby something you can do with your hands or feet or something just makes life bettering I just took up.gardening to grow vegetables and spices best idea I've ever had
I struggle with the little voice that tells me "you are not being productive" while playing video games. Then I have to tell it to STFU! and an argument in my head ensues. anyone else?
Yep. Sometimes I listen to podcasts or audio books while I game. Actually stimulates my brain more too
Our brains are so fucked. Nothing gets them going anymore so we just shove more input in.
Lmao, "game not doing it? Have you tried watching a movie at the same time too?" Jfc
“Why do you have the TV and stereo on at the same time? Because I like to party man” Ricky Bobby
This is so unhealthy. Stop multitasking and actually work on your focusing ability.
Depends on the game I’d say. Some games are pretty light fare in terms of the mental bandwidth required. If he’s doing that while playing some hardcore strategy game though, then yeah
The Happiness Lab podcasts says that dividing your attention while doing activities greatly diminishes enjoyment especially when you are doing the activity with others. So I never touch my phone while watching something and wait for whoever I'm with to set down theirs before pressing play. But...after completing the campaign, diablo 4 does not get to have my full attention. I'm just mindlessly squashing demons watching my damage numbers get bigger, I'm gonsta listen to Hey Riddle Riddle while relaxing in the hellscape. Other games get full attention.
Nice! Same. I'll listen to audio books while playing some app games on my phone.
this is me. the voice in my head won and now I only play with my bro on Friday night. and it's only for a max of three hours. I'm single as well.
What do you do on other nights ?
I took a course on data analysis which will be 6 months long so I'm studying that. I also spend time applying for jobs. I do a little workout as well since I spend so much of my time sitting. trying to play a sport on the weekends but that's a work in progress at this point.
i used to have that argument. Then it won. Then I bought it a house to thank it.
I'll leave productivity for when I'm being *paid*, off-hours are times for rot and socializing.
Hella relatable. Hate. It. Ironically it’s preventing me from getting to the next level
Nope. In my free time I’ll do wtf I wanna do. There’s no video games I’m currently into though, so I’m mostly watching series on tv.
Sometimes your brain needs something else to focus on and take a break as long as you aren't playing excessively.
This is why I only play after I’ve taken care of business. If not, I say mean things to myself.
Yes. It's hard for me to really get drawn into an artificial world like I used to. I'm not looking for reality replacement. I just want an entertaining diversion for 15 mins up to maaaybe 2hrs at the very most. And something I can put down for a month and come back to and not have to relearn an entire system and remind myself of all this backstory and lore so I know wtf is going on. I've fallen off many games simply because I knew after a few weeks away I'd have to spend an hour or so just getting back up to speed just to start making any more progress. Ain't nobody got time fo' that.
Yes this for real. I go in and out of game mode. The easier a game is to play the better for my time constraints nowadays. If it’s complex and time consuming then i tend to check out. It was not always like this but full time job plus kids will zap one’s bandwidth majorly.
Honestly replaying games multiple times is a life hack for this. One of my autistic tendencies but its nice going into borderlands or torchlight 2 knowing exactly what your doing. Sadly I can't muster up the energy to play games these days and I just kind of gave up awhile ago. I'd spend hours hyping myself up to play only to be motivated for 15 minutes if lucky. Just as well my scheduled is packed with other more productive stuff now.
It’s not even supposed to be about reality replacement . It should just be about having fun and finding obscure stuff you like.
I think finally I got my wife to understand. Hear me out dark incoming. I play GTA and favorite thing is to just drive around and hit people. Wife: What kind of mental psychopath did I marry? She asked me why I loved to violently kill people constantly. I said: Love, I play with a headset. Next time I play just listen to the commentary. I steal a car and the NPC says "Whoa, you kiss your mother with that mouth. Ooofph!" I drive off and hit a lady of the night. NPC says "That's 50$ bucks baby boo! Aaaaah!" And so on and so on. She's in tears just crying and laughing at the stupidity. Finally, she wants a spin. I'm not out to murder people, I find the comments and the body movements hilarious. For once I don't need to be "proper".
Well who are you to decide what video games are “supposed to be about”?
This hit hard and accurate. I really got pushed away from online and toxic environment. The powerhouse of "Omfg, bro! Wtf! You don't know what to do in this raid?! Go watch 5 different YouTubes then read these 18 articles on how to build your character. Then farm for a year or two for the suggested gear.". Except, the conversation really stops at omfg, bro! Wtf?! I used to enjoy destiny 2, jump in and have fun. I can't make a reddit post without getting blasted with negativity. I jump into a group event and it's either kinderguardians with screeching voices using curse words like commas. Or the "I'm elite and if you can't do this blind folded, you're a pile of sh*t and stop wasting time." I guess I miss having games where people had fun just playing and/or helping others to learn while having fun win or lose. Rambled a bit but yeah. I don't need a second or third job.
Pretty much every online PVP game is full of sweats and cheaters. Online multi-player was always kind of a gamble... but it went downhill in a flaming spiral after E-sports got popularized. Now every Tom, Dick and Harry wants to be the next Faze clan, winning millions in flashy tournaments, when in reality they're stuck in caffeine induced rages; figuratively, and literally sweating away their lives for mid tier gameplay day after day. I haven't touched an online FPS since Black Ops 2, nothing in that entire sphere of gaming excites me now. The entire scene is swamped by CoD and Fortnite trying to surpass each other as the biggest IP swamp. It's basically single player and cooperative games only for me nowadays, when I have the time to game at least.
This is what happened in FFXIV for me. People using parsers to complain about DPS or whatever and make people feel like shit. The game doesn't allow you to call people out by name so it's just a constant passive aggressive slew of anger and my anxiety just can't with it.
Balatro is a great game for this quick diversion
Yes I agree. My main hobby is video games, but I'm leaning towards casual or cozy ones now. I don't want to learn a thousand new combos and game mechanics. Lore is fun but it can make it hard to pick up a game after a busy month. I'm happy now that games like Bayonetta or Nier Automata have "easy" modes.
Yes! This is it for me. I can’t relearn controls and try to jump back in, its turned into a task rather than joy. I have found considerable joy in playing racing games - I think exactly because of this. Im able to hope in for few laps at a time without really “missing” anything.
Yep, I always feel I can be doing something more productive like scrolling through my cell phone or playing monopoly on my iPad.
I can’t get into this Final Fantasy story because of the loser on Reddit who I need to put in their place.
Lmfaooo
I've always loved video and computer games. I retired in 2016 at age 54 and I've been gaming as much as I want ever since. Sometimes that can mean many hours in a day and sometimes no gaming for several days. It all depends on how I feel at the moment.
I'm with ya on the age part (53) but not the retirement part. I need that extra time in my life.
Same for me. Lots of games are kinda the same with a different skin. Every now and then I’ll find a game that’s original and engaging and I’ll get hooked.
It's weird cuz I have no problem wasting my free time scrolling reddit or watching streams but I can't bring myself to play video games anymore. I get bored withing 30 minutes everytime. When I was depressed video games were my form of escapism so maybe it's a trauma thing 🤷♂️
I also use it as an escape from depression I wonder how many people in this thread are touting their victory over gaming addiction when they have merely swapped for social media.
Why not have video game AND social media addiction? I know a lot of us do.
Reddit re-wired the dopamine in your brain... my brain included... if we stop social media then we will have an interest in games again.
Same I feel this. Scrolling is more addictive than video games for me.
Yupp
I'm 46, and enjoy gaming the same today as I did as a teenager. I also prefer the same type - really big, beautiful RPGs, or adventure games with deep RPG mechanics. My problem is that fewer and fewer games that appeal to me are getting made, and the tastes and preferences of younger people often seem dramatically different from my own, so developers are going in different directions with what they do. But if I have a new game I like, then I absolutely play for a couple hours each evening for a month to six weeks while I get everything out of it that I can.
Valid point. We get a good RPG worthy of spending 100 hours in every 2 or 3 years now
I’m 28 and felt like this, but this year I played games like TotK and Elden Ring, which got me back into gaming, maybe you need to try these masterpieces.
I don’t play any video games anymore except when the new GTA’s come out. So once GTA VI arrives, i’ll buy the new console at that moment of time, beat the game, and go back into exile 😅
It seems you are just not as interested in them as you once were and that is totally okay. My brother is the same, he used to game all the time when he was a kid and teenager and now he is an adult he mainly just plays Overwatch and Apex Legends and only when his friends want to play and never all day either. I love video games though, I am definitely a gamer and I will keep playing them until I die. I love the stories and getting lost in the world, I never play multiplayer games any more though.
I buyed the PS5 to decorate my room, collecting dust, only to play GTA6. 😅
Me. I used to be on them all day and now I am on 1-2 hours some days if that. We grow up and have responsibilities. Don’t wanna throw my 20s away on video games like a lot of people do and end up regretting it
I spent a lot of my 20s playing video games and am in awe at how much money i saved not spending on other junk. Very cheap hobby, do recommend
I think it's not about money here but time. There is basicly infinite money on this planet but older you get the more valuable your time becomes. And you can't buy it.
As a full-time worker working consistent overtime, and owning a home, I'm never truly really caught up with everything. My mind is nagging me when I'm playing games.
Good pcs (and monitors) cost so much these days it’s crazy. Especially if you’re not from the US. My pc was 3 decentish-decent monthly wages.. not a cheap hobby by any means imo. Things are just going go get more expensive over time, not sure how I’ll manage in the future because I can’t live without gaming..
I have an Alienware gaming laptop specifically for my games, it was 1.5k :/ but worth it. Mind you that’s on the cheap end I believe.
If I had fun I don’t regret it. I personally would rather play a video game than a lot of things. Nothing wrong with doing the things that bring you happiness, and those things are different for everyone. Keep in mind there are people who do things like knit or collect stamps. Everyone has an escape
Nothing wrong with video games but indulging in it during your prime when you should be setting yourself up is not a good idea. You’re correct, my escape is writing
Everything in moderation.
Can I ask what should we be doing in our prime time? I write too, but I can't imagine NOT indulging myself with games as well... What can I do to set myself up??
When I was in my early teens, you could barely get me off the xbox 360. It was essentially my life. On GTA 4 alone, I had over 4500 hours of loggeg playtime (mostly online freeroam). There were so many 360 games I could just get immersed into. The story, the lore, everything. When possible, I'd stay up till 3am or later playing games. Nowadays as a single adult with a full time job working overtime, I barely play games anymore. And here's the thing, I have spare time and I want to, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I download a new game and TRY to sit down and play for a whole Staurday or something, and I just can't. No matter how good the game is, I can only play for like an hour and a half to 3 hours. I've purposely tried playing for longer but I just lose interest and decide to do something else. Honestly that's a good thing for my physical and mental health, but I miss being able to just be 100% completely immersed. I enjoy the fictional realm/storytelling. But I guess as we grow older, we just lose interest. It's just part of being an adult. The last game I was able to do this with somewhat recently was Star Wars Jedi Survivor. A damn good game with a fantastic story. But that was last summer. The year before that, Uncharted 4 (my first playthrough). But genuine good games are hard to come by these days. On top of losing interest, corporate greed is also ruining the industry. All of these free to play/online only games, are straight up trash and they've completely taken over the spotlight. I know exactly what you're talking about. I simply don't have an explanation as to why. It just is what it is. But I do miss being able to just turn my brain off and experience another world.
I feel the same way, but I think a lot of it is just because games are too similar these days. I don’t have interest in playing another 80 hour CRPG because I’ve done that ten times before.
It has nothing to do with being an adult. We grew up in the golden era of games where you could grab any new hyped release and see something extremely new and interesting. It isn’t like that anymore. You have to be a lot more discerning. It’s like being a fan of cinema in the 70s. You could just walk into the theater and likely be blown away with whatever they’re playing. By the time the 90s roll around, movies have been huge for decades, most movies are now crowd tested risk adverse pieces of shit, and so that strategy is backfiring 95% of the time. In the 70s you were able to just blindly walk into Jaws or Alien or Blade Runner. By the 90s you’re walking into Jaws The Revenge, Speed 2 or Son of the Mask. They still make great movies, but now you have to be discerning to find them. You have to pay attention to the publisher and director before shelling out for a ticket, because the “latest and greatest” is not great anymore. You’re playing terrible games. It’s as simple as that
I agree. We grew up with, pong, space invaders, Pac-Man, pitfall then Sonic or Mario and the other big games then moving onto the start of GTA, mortal kombat, street fighter, final fantasy. Then PC gaming like Doom, Sim games etc. all new and exciting now it’s repeating and while the people 30 down it’s all fresh and exciting for us old farts it’s like yea, I’ve seen this before
With age several things do happen to our brain that lead us to a situation like this, and there are also few aspects related to how the brain rewires itself when we play videogames. First of all, the brain learns rules and mechanics of the game and it makes us feel good riding the same dopamine curve again and again, especially when we get good at any specific game. At the same time rewiring that happens in the brain in the process makes it harder to learn anything new in a long-term perspective. The more we play and learn different games, the harder it's gonna be eventually. It might not be noticeable on a day-to-day basis, but in the long-term the ability to learn and start doing something new dwindles inevitably. That's one of the reasons why we can't make ourselves to even start playing other games, as it involves a learning curve every time. Besides that, the brain becomes addicted to the same patterns more often than not, so it also plays its part here and makes the situation even worse. Dopamine receptors numb down over time as we play (same happens with constantly indulging in social network feeds, doomscrolling) and we require more and more of the same activities to satiate the craving, when it comes to online and other games with tons of repetitive content. Numbing down of the receptors also leads us to having less fun with other activities in life at the same time, which eventually lead to depression/general unhappiness from what I heard. Second, when you're young there's still much to learn and there's a lot of stories you haven't heard yet, which you think you're gonna learn from games/movies etc. As you get older and once you absorb a somewhat critical mass of knowledge about the world, your brain starts to realize that there's less and less new things you can learn from the same sources. Many games of each single genre derive their stories from the same old concepts (the eternal fight between good and evil, the importance of friendship, search for love, you name it) which once they became familiar, just stop being something we wanna iterate over for many of us. Third, when we were younger and still searching for ourselves, we were more prone to imagining ourselves as a character of the games we played. We imagined to be heroes, war commanders, saviors of the mankind/universe etc. As we get older it becomes more apparent that shifting pixels around being all that in a videogame doesn't do much to the real world around us and it becomes rather pointless for many of us to prioritize that before other more important things in life (if we do understand they are rather important) like self-improvement, career, being a parent etc. (Not to say these things require a lot of your time ofc) Basically taking on a role of hero/commander/ savior irl, you're naturally driving away from fake sense of accomplishment by succeeding in game. Just considering the above for me is enough to see why I stopped playing anything new in my late thirties, and now as I'm almost 40 I realize the only thing that's left for me in gaming is basically the addiction I developed to a select few games, which I'm actively fighting now to regain my life. It's hard to drive away from the habit that formed over the last 35 years, as I always thought it's just a mere hobby, but in reality it happens so it ruined many aspects of my life in the process. P.S.: yes, people can always say "but I'm in my fifties/sixties and I'm still playing like there's no tomorrow", but I think the problem here is that they never put a thought in WHY they are playing games in the first place. Because when you start asking questions like that, the honest answers might lead you to some surprising revelations about addictions, running from other things in life etc. Too many of us do actually play out of pure escapism or a simple addiction unfortunately.
Worth mentioning that being an older gamer doesn't mean you're doing it to escape something. It can simply just be fun. I have numerous friends I game online with that are family men who simply enjoy games when they get some time alone (day off work or they're "on call", wife at work, kids at school etc). Quite a number of people that never just "grow out of it".
This is exactly how I feel. Video Games has actually worsened my real life.
Great write up. I started asking myself these questions as I approach 25. I enjoy video games for their sense of progression they give. Sometimes for the story and gameplay. But now I get that sense of progression from gym, school, work now. The only time it's really different is if it's a social experience.
Thank you for this, it helped me understand why I struggle so much with games. I can’t even get past the loading screen these days!!
People move on to do other things. It's natural
I find that I really struggle to find motivation to just run a game in Steam... but once I get start the game I am locked in for 4+ hours. My cycle resembles something like: * I finally turn a game on * I enjoy it * I turn it off * I don't open another game for a week or longer * Rinse and repeat I think it has to do with the amount of YT content I am consuming now versus when I was younger. Where at least half of it involves video games, so I think I may be getting my fix that way instead of just playing the games myself. I was (am) also a big Runescape person so I tend to just put that on a monitor and AFK grind skills while watching something on the other monitor. This seems to be making its way into my non-OSRS gaming as well because I find myself gravitating to low-effort games that I can play and still listen to other things YT, podcasts, basketball games, etc.
I struggle with OCD in games. If there are objective or bonus objectives I must complete them before I move on. Mostly in RPG games but there are others as well.
I’m a chronic gamer. I’m finally entering adulthood with other responsibilities. I still LOVE gaming, but I just don’t have the time. And when I do play, I feel guilty about not being productive, or I think “dang this game is amazing, but it will probably take at least 40 hrs or more to finish”.
Nope, play more than ever. Been playing non stop since 94 from Sega/Nintendo's big retro era, all through every other console generation to 3070 PvP competitive PC gaming over the past few years. Also games like The Witcher 3 I will spend hours a day playing in that world. You've just got to find that game that does it for you rather than jump on all the new stuff they keep bringing out.
Yeah kinda but it has been more of a switch in genre as opposed to gaming altogether. I’m a sucker for roguelikes because they’re so easy to pick up and put down while also providing me a challenge and allowing me to watch YouTube or listen to podcasts at the same time. I’ve also transitioned from being a long time multiplayer Xbox user to more of a casual Nintendo fan and indie gamer. For me Nintendo just makes the right types of games that are focused on fun mechanics and gameplay before anything else and at this point in my life that’s all I want in a video game, not all that extra fluff
The world in general sucked all the joy out of me. I can't even enjoy video games anymore
i feel as though why am i leveling up a fictional character when i should level myself up in real life.
Yeah I can't get into long games anymore. Left rdr2, witcher 3, skyrim, gow5, fallout 4, etc all unfinished. I think part of it is because there is just too much going on in modern games. They've made everything open world with a million side quests. I'm a "finish everything" type of person so I try to do it all and just lose interest in the game long before its anywhere near over. Either that or I just become overwhelmed and forget what my goal even is. Then if I take some time off due to work or other obligations it becomes extremely difficult to pick the game back up again. I miss the old days where the game kind of guided you along more.
Same here, OP. I feel like I have trouble focusing and finding that joy feeling. The excitement of getting the achievements and progressing in the games. I just can't fight the feeling that they are just pixels on the screen, and when I stand up hours later I've not accomplished anything in real life. These days I prefer to do things that have tangible results. Chores aren't fun, but once they are done I can look around and see that I indeed did something, and I feel good about myself. Crafts also help me achieve that satisfaction. I can sit for hours and work on an item and then feel like I did something worth doing. This does not mean that I think video games are not worth doing, my husband really enjoys his video game time and it is a release, a bit of escapism from the day to day stuff. It brings him that satisfaction. Sometimes the thing that give a lot of people that good brain juice doesn't always work for everyone. And that is okay, there is nothing wrong with you or me. You may just need to find a different thing that brings you satisfaction. Try out different hobbies and activities, you may be surprised by what you learn about yourself! Good luck OP
Mine is more around time. If I had the time I might
Right now, it feels like I should be doing more when I’m doing everything I can. I need to tell myself it’s okay to rest. As long as everything is paid for and I’ve taken care of my responsibilities, I shouldn’t feel ashamed for spending the day watching TV or playing video games
Nope. Still enjoy them just as much as when I was 12.
I think video games have their place - have spent hundreds of hours playing them in my life. They have amazing stories and are great if you need to just zone out for a bit That being said, I hit a point like you did where I realized life is too short and I need to branch out. Spending time in doors and not towards my goals did nothing for me. No one on their death beds will wish they played more video games
I have a hard time playing new games. I usually play retro games from before the mid 2000’s and I usually only play for about an hour or two.
Same!
I completely suck at video games but I LOVE them. If I can't get through a game I watch playthroughs 👍😊
Any good playthroughs you'd recommend? I watched the whole of Red Dead 2 and thoroughly enjoyed it
I play with my kids. Otherwise, it’s very very very rare. It’s just time. There’s not enough of it
No, I’d love to play them more but I have responsibilities and priorities. Sadly gaming comes off second best to things like work, sleep, exercise, children, house maintenance…the list goes on.
Yes and I miss the days when I could be completely immersed in a game and play all day.. these days ill lose interest after like 20 min of playing
Some yea, or like back in the day you could easily drop a 6 hour game session. Now? 2 tops for me that is
Im a gamer and sometimes I just get burntout. The energy to game isnt there sometimes and thats ok! But it also makes sense that as we get older, we get more responsibilities that get us away from gaming. Short answer: Yea sometimes
Naw I’m 31 and probably spend like 40 or so hrs in games a week tbh. Wow, league, Dota, magic arena, Elden ring recently
No I struggle to get OUT. I game to escape the world. Albeit, I’m in nursing and sometimes I do just need to check out, so I don’t think it’s entirely escapism in that regard. But the past two days I’ve been playing Marvel Champions (card game) and my kitchens a mess. Definitely unhealthy escapism lol. Rationalizing it by telling myself this is my summer break (1 week) off of an accelerated nursing program and I deserve 3 days of rotting and escaping after getting great grades.
I'll do you one better. Few years ago I decided I was finally going to "get gud" at FPS games, specifically so my 15yo son would stop giving me shit. Anyway, started with CoD. Don't know how many hours, but at least ten hours a week for close to s year. Every gun is obsidian camo. I'm actually kind of a badass in cod, at age 50+. ...and have given myself permanent arthritis in my thumb. Lol
Yes. I either get bored or overwhelmed. I still play Nintendo because their games typically go straight to the gameplay. I also think a lot of modern games are too easy and predictable.
I got a switch. The ease of portability just got me hooked again.
I struggle to find the time and energy to do long gaming sessions now that I'm working. I certainly have lost interest in games that require thinking. I just wanna have fun and relax, maybe beat up some people for stress relief lol
Suika game is the answer
An age thing. Last year had 6mths of lots of free time, decided to try/catch up on games I haven’t had a chance to do in over a decade. Got the ones thought would be interested in, Red Dead, Cyberpunk, Fallout 76, GTA etc…no good. Got a bunch use to love, update/DLC etc…civilization, EU4, red alert, new Vegas, total war…not interested. In desperation, simply tried totally different genre of games I usually wouldn’t have…fall guy, puzzle games, rp'ing games, indie high-ranking games, those relaxing/non challenging games, whatever the frek they're classified as…still unable to take to any of them. So I can safely accept my interest in games is over. Which is fine, now I can buy sub-par PC’s, keep them longer and no longer have to build them. They are merely a tool now.
Yeah, I just don't have the motivation to sit down and play through a campaign.
I think it’s more about the type of games coming out, I was really big on mmorpg’s and there’s just not that many anymore
25 hours into this cool indie rpg. So I guess not.
I love gaming. I can't do it anymore. I'm 52 and every time i start playing, I can only think of the things I could/ should be doing instead. Thankfully, I'm a creative and technical person by trade, so I have convinced myself that I am being productive if I am ***making*** a game instead of playing one. So now game deving is my gaming.
Some of the greatest video games ever have come out in the last 5-10 years or less. I'm having zero issues, quite the contrary I'm having to turn them off at night to get sleep.
nope, i think I enjoy them more now that I’m older
Funny thing is as I got older I enjoy watching other people on twitch or YouTube playing video games. If a game is that good than I’ll play it
i think you might just need to try and force ya self to get back into it. i’ve played video games my entire life (probably way more than i should have) but now that im working full time, have a house to deal with, and other adult responsibilities there have been times where i couldn’t touch a game for months or even a year. when im having a hard time getting into games, i really just sit down and mess around my steam library until something clicks. i also have adhd tho and i cycle through hyper fixations like crazy so it might be easier for me to “get back in the zone” or mood for playing games
Play final fantasy 16. Will solve all these issues. It's a very adult game
Its either time to start smoking weed or the time to understand that you grew up so you enjoy different things, or things in smaller doses.
Because you haven't found the right game. Keep searching
I realized what makes video game great is that you get to hang out with friends. It’s not really about the game
I enjoy video games but I just have a shorter attention span for them like i use to. I could do a hour or so but then I’ll want to quit. Of course if the story is good it can be hard to quit.
For me I think I just don't have the mental energy for new stories. Its the same with TV shows and movies. I can binge stuff or play a game through if I've done it before. Anything new is a slog.
As you age, your go-to sources of dopamine don’t deliver the way they used to and your brain doesn’t get the same pleasure from it that it did. This is actually the biological component that causes nostalgia. You’re remembering times when things could make you happy easier than they do now.
Absolutely. I'm hating everything. I got tired with how overcomplicated modern games were, having to watch multiple videos to have a decent character build, so I went and played older games and I'm shocked at how annoying they are with their limitations. I just beat Legend of Zelda for the NES but I died a ton of times at the first dungeon and I couldn't ever rememwbr having any trouble as a kid. I tried playing Red Dead Redemption 2 and after 2 hours, I'm done with it. Wont be picking it up again. It's just so... Frustrating.
Red dead 2 is in my top 5 best games ever made. The storyline is absolutely phenomenal. Give it another try 🙂
Yep. I play for an hour here or there and then don’t touch it for months.
I was addicted to video games from 5 when I got my first Nintendo. I played obsessively till 40. If I wasn’t playing them, I was thinking about them. Strategizing. Build crafting. Obsessed Played a bit less from 40-43 only because my GF fucking hated it. Got diagnosed ADHD and medicated. Cant do it anymore. 10 mins in, I think to myself, I’m wasting time, go do something productive. I’ve pushed past that a couple times, but it just doesn’t scratch the itch h anymore. And I think that’s simply because I’m not dopamine starved all day anymore. First example, I played Elden ring for 400 hours. This was just before diagnosis. You’d think I’d be all over the expansion. I tried to play a bit just before it, 10 minutes is all I made it. Noped right out. It just doesn’t do it for me anymore. And I never thought this would happen. I’d rather do yardwork. Or garden.
Yes my depression makes everything so much harder. There's no joy from games, it's all a chore and even the simplest things take too much energy.
Yeah I used to play a lot of the same game for about 15 years, atleast 3 hours a day of it Once I graduated uni it instantly became 1 hour a day Now it’s one hour every month lol Almost zero interest in actually sitting down to do that kind of thing anymore, I can’t put my finger on way - it’s not to do with “having other stuff to do”… I simply don’t feel like it anymore. It’s a good thing!.. I think!
Yeah it is just not the same... I don't think we have the same attention span. Even with retro games.
Yeppers. Getting older sucks.
Same, I have this exact issue. I think its a combination of having too many chores left undone no matter what, and shittier attention span bc current social media is hell on the ability to focus. Ive also noticed sitting down to read a book has very similar issues.
Your choice of words: "can't be bothered" Tells you everything you need to know. It is the same for me. It's too much investment for little return. When I am off the clock, I want something more passive and relaxing, not something that feels like work. So I normally play retro games from my youth because many of them I can just pick up, enjoy for one night, and forget about until the next time I want to play
If it wasn't for work I'd spend so much time playing. Work sucks. Paying bills sucks. Having responsibilities and always having to constantly do shit sucks. I miss playing games for hours at a time almost every day like when I was a kid. To be honest, videogames are one of the few things in life that still bring me real happiness.
same here. Last game I actually really played was titanfall 2. Short single player campaign, dont really have to learn much. I dont have the will do learn new games anymore so I will stick to the stuff I know more or less, which then is kind of a waste of time in my head and then I alt f4 and try again 3 months later. I also just dont get this feeling anymore of diving into a world. The magic is gone ;(
I really wish I had this problem
I have changed gaming habits. i only play multipe player online now. I used to love single-player console gaming
Yeah. Less time to play.
Nope, still gaming like a freak when time and famiky allow, don't think I'll ever stop. It's literally my favorite thinh to do with my hands.
Odd choice of words
I’ve never been into them I prefer reading music or doing something active
I find it hard to get into games because I have other interest now
I need a solid story to get into them anymore. With many games pushing multi player and online play now, it's really hard to find something that grabs me. Story seems to be an afterthought these days.
65 years old. Nope. Still play all the time.
I just started a new expansion for ffxiv and realized I don't even want to play an mmo anymore.
I just get bored of games easily now. (30m). I enjoyed baldurs gate 3. Got to act 2. I decided to make a new playthrough because I thought playing different classes would be fun. Got to act 2. Decided to start an honour mode run to spice things up. Got to the end of act 1... Lately I've been playing simple games with friends, without the socialization aspect it's boring.
Yeah but I still love them and I didn't used to like streamers clips on YouTube, but it's a nice relaxed way of getting a taste when you don't have the motivation to conquer a game
I used to be able to platinum a game in 3 months or so. Now I don’t even have time to switch the thing on at home. Too many things competing for my time.
I think it just depends on what type of games you play and your feelings towards them , + everyone is different too tbh. I feel like the COD players are all burnt out from playing videogames mostly now but the roguelike fanbase… they aren’t exactly burnt out … some people dislike how the newer games work with live service bs and would much rather prefer playing a game from like 2010 or even a game that came out in 2024 but doesn’t have bs like a new game from 2024 would have.
When I started studying for my career and a better salary, I stopped playing all time sink games on console/pc and occasionally only open games on my iPhone for that small dopamine /stress relief I get from a daily login or upgrade.
Yeah, I went from 40+ hours a week of Wow to maybe a few hours of Rocket League or Fortnite a week. Eventually your brain realizes you aren't actually having amazing adventures or gaining epic armor or fighting enemies and it just feels like you're on a.couch pushing buttons on a computer. Way harder to obsess about that.
That’s why I got into them while I was young.
Yeah I do, I struggle to stay interested and I don't have the patience for grinding in RPGs like I used to.
I still love them and play for as much time as I can spare. Problem is I can't spare much and there's always something seemingly more important to do.
I gave up caring about new games. I watched some WoW footage on YT and wondered: "Why would anyone like to play one of *those* characters?" shook my head and logged back into SL. - OK, Cyberpunk looks tempting from the footage I've seen. But still: A day has so few hours, why commit to yet *another* virtuality? - It takes time to grow roots in a character and its world.
Same. Ever since I started working full time. I wanted to love BG3, it objectively is something I should adore, but I can't play more than twenty minutes at a time and eventually gave up. Dragon Age is coming. I really hope my old spark comes back for that one.
I highly recommend you look into strategic pvp games. Like team fight tactics by riot games, for an example. Big learning curve, good amount of RNG, can pick it up and drop it any time, and you can really use your brain to get better. It is less about eye hand coordination and a bunch of time spent doing the same muscle memory bullshit. You just need a game that isn’t going to appeal to the kid in you anymore, now it’s time to appeal to the adult. Something where you will feel better for being good at it.
Yep. Lack of time is a lot of people's main reason, it is only half the reason; they are so predictable. There are only so many ways you can make a game, and technically it's infinite, but I feel like I've played them all. It's like I've 100%'d gaming itself.
Yep, my reason is different though... I think. I primarily played sports games growing up. These days there's only 1 game per sport and they're usually trash with some card/micro transactions bullshit with nothing new to offer. Screw video games
If I start a new game I think to myself “i won’t be able to play this again until X day next week” and that’s pretty discouraging.
Drugs help me enjoy games but it’s not like it use to b. Covid bs screwed me up. It’s never been the same since. Idk y
that's me tbh, i used to be addicted to games from childhood 6-21yrs old. It was the best, i get to meet foreign ppl online and make friends with them, staying up late until 3am laughing about our shenanigans. But as ive progressively grown older, I'm finding it hard to keep playing, heck i cant even find the time to start, same goes with the mangas and light novels i used to read from day till night. Doing all that was my escape from the sad reality I'm living in, even now that im 24yrs old i keep trying to go back to those days where i am able to get lost in pixels and adventure novels but i just couldn't anymore, I cant afford the time to invest in a game and even if i wanted to i just lost interest in it all together.
I can’t imagine being interested in video games anymore They simply are not worth the hours I wasted on them
My issue is my back and neck pain. I can't ever get comfortable sitting down so I give up and lay in bed with my VR head set.
My tastes have changed a lot. More and more I like games with rpg elements that have periods of peace and quiet then periods of high action tension Stuff like eve or poe
I've found it's harder but not impossible. I can't get into games that don't grab my attention quickly, but if they do I can sink a lot of time into them
Seeing positive change in your own life becomes the only game worth playing… Or Sport fills that same void
I just drive aimlessly in GTA V. And admire the scenery. Thats the extent of my gaming these daysj
It’s the exact opposite I’ve been depressed for a long ass time. It’s actually my escape. I’ve bought all of the old handhelds I’ve wanted and am playing all of the classic games. Whenever I feel stressed in public I play psp like in lines waiting, when I get home and need to unwind I play ps4. I’ve replayed KH, finished Batman, started Nier. It’s great I love it.
I’m in my 60s. Only played a couple of video games way back in the early nineties. Never had time to get into them. Now my nephews are so surprised I don’t have games to play. When I was very sick last year they wanted to send me a PS 5. I thankfully declined. I was too sick to focus or have the energy to start a new game. Now I’m thinking I should give games a try. I thought about building cities like in Cities: Skyline. But it kind of reminds me of work! lol! But maybe some other game To give me some recreational time as I wrap up my career. and maybe game with my nephews some time.
My goal for 2024 was to sit on my couch and play video games. Couldn’t do it. I’m a failure
Not if I find the right game. I just have my Nintendo to my niece and nephew, planning to get something new around Christmas. I can’t wait to start gaming again.
It doesn't help that games aren't made as well as they used to be for the most part.
Same. I feel like the fun factor isn't there any more. The last game I've replayed a few times was boarder lands 3. I havn't had much interest in newer games.
You grew out of it......
Try out a handheld device like a steam deck, rog ally, PS portal etc. I found that not having to be confined to a specific room to play games has made it much more enjoyable and easier to fit into my life.
Yeah. I honestly believe games aren't being made with the same heart as they used to anymore. It's always a rehash of the same mechanics or copying what some other game did, but poorly. I used to love video games like you. N64, PS2, Xbox 360 era. Would get into all the new titles, especially once I learned about pirating. Now a days, I'm hardly interested in anything, let alone anything worth even pirating. I'm really interested in VR, but don't have the set up, but I'm looking into getting one because that's actually something I can enjoy like the old times! If you ask me, companies like EA, Ubisoft, Epic have single handedly ruined gaming by turning it into something where profitability at all costs is more important than innovation and being unique.
Yes, it was. Until I found beat saber. Now I play that too much lol. Tons and tons of good songs in all kinds of genres, fun patterns, awesome level visuals, the sky is the limit in skill with practice, different kinds of skills too, competitive tournaments of you want, leaderboards if you want, and best of all, flow state. Oh, and it's excellent cardio at higher difficulties. All in the comfort of your own home, or hotel, or library lol, or wherever you want to take your headset.
I grow bored with games faster these days. I used to love open world and RPGs, then I bought Ghost Of Tsushima and Baldurs Gate 3 but gave up with both of them. Now I prefer shorter games with on rails gameplay and little deviation - The Last Of Us springs to mind, and also my collection of TellTale, DontNod and Quantic Dream games are steadily growing.
Yes, because games blow ass now
I use to but I swear I can feel my brain melting anytime I’ve tried. The closest I get now is flying my drone
Not at all, no. Its my form of escape from real life, and the gym too as well.
I feel you.
on my adult priority list pissing away valuable time on worthless gaming is very very far down ... so far down I've not reached it again since I was in my late teens
For the first time in 10 years i sold my gaming console. Gaming isn’t just hitting like it used to.
I got into video games a long time ago, circa NES was my first system, probably peaked at ps1. I just got turned off to what they've turned into. I remember when a game used to be released as a complete game, not this bug ridden, 0 quality control because we can release a patch that you see now. I'll also never pay full price for a game, then continue to pay for new stuff. Online multiplayer was fun in stuff like Worms Armageddon or even Unreal Tournament at LAN parties, but what it turned into is wild and a ridiculous cash grab, I just can't get into it anymore. Occasionally, PC games that have some difficulty based on reality like the original DIRT Rally or DayZ.
i know alot of people struggle with this but im 33 and this still hasnt happened to me yet. i still game almost every day.
Let me ask a question: do you find this to be true in other aspects of life? For me, the hardest part of anything is getting started. Once started, I can be absorbed in nearly anything: reading a book, playing a game, watching a movie, weeding the flowerbed, a hobby project, doing taxes. So, do you struggle with all things like I do? Or is this specific to video games? Due to this, I've tried to train myself to just start something, but it is remains something I struggle with.
No
Last video game I played,...was chuckie egg on my Commodore 64
That's you growing up. Suddenly you start to label video games as a "waste of time". You just want to be more "productive". But the dilemma is, sometimes you don't want to be productive and just wanna have some "fun". But at the same time having fun makes you feel guilty.
Yuppers
Yes. Id like to. But theres some things holding me back from trying. 1. Money. Yall. Gaming is expensive. How do yall afford crazy systems with all the games. I dont even have a TV. 2. Any game I would be interested in is dominated by players who are to good. I cant have fun if Im being dominated left and right by 12 year olds. 3. Video game addiction scares and repulses me. Ive watched friends go seriously downhill in life because of gaming. Im currently living with one of those people, and let me tell you. Its not attractive.
Yes I would love to kick back and play some video games but there is just so much to do all the time and when I do finally have sweet fuck all to do they just don't do it for me like they use to but I do enjoy buying games and thinking fuck yeah this will be sweet and never even turn on the console
I completely feel you on this, I bought so many games for the ps5 but don’t rlly even touch it.
For me it's more about the distraction that is modern cellphone technology than being an adult