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[Kliptik81]

I think my old man moment triggered when I had my second kid (now have 3). My gaming time went down, so I pretty much dropped all multiplayer games except Fortnite with my brother.

I now play the majority of games on Easy too. Not enough time to fuck around with games, so I just play as many as I can on the easiest difficulty. I also drop games faster. If something doesn’t grab me in 2-5 hours, fuck it, your game sucks and you need your intros better.

I agree 100% with this. I'm 42 and have 2 kids (10 and 7 yrs old).

I used to game all the time as a kid, in my teens, in my 20s and most of my 30s. Gaming time decreased a lot when I met my wife, since she does not game at all, so if I spend time with her, its not gaming. After our first kid, gaming decreased even more, but i still found some time to play some shorter games. Once my second kid was born, gaming came to a stand-still for the most part. Even 7 years later, I bet I haven't finish 7 games in that time span. Between work, wife, kids, maintaining the house etc, my gaming time would never exceed 3 hours a week. When I do find the time, I usually am just in shutdown mode.

I have tried the game at night when everyone is asleep, just doesn't work for me. Don't get me wrong, I still love games and spend a ton of time thinking about it, or trying to keep up with the latest news.

When Final Fantasy VII Rebirth comes out I plan to take a couple days off work, just to play it.

 

[Banjo64]

not sure if it’s age, fatigue, tiredness or lack of free time however I can’t play long games now unless they are anything other then spectacular. only long games I’ve competed in the past 2 years are ER (50 hours) and TotK (120 hours).

I like playing short burst games like RL, Splatoon, Smash, EA FC, Tetris 99, Hades before bed for half an hour.

If I do play a single player game I prefer something short like Ori or Tinykin, but I’ll only complete a small handful of games a year (between 1-4 normally).

With age I’ve realised that my back log means fuck all and I should just play what I want to when I want to and that if I don’t like something after an hour or so I can just delete it and move on.

Games like Hogwarts, Spider-Man 2, Ragnorök, most Ubisoft games, most Xbox games - not worth my time in the slightest. Has to be first in class.

 

[Happosai]

I'm almost 35 and have been playing games for 30 of those straight. No breaks really (probably a mistake during college), just consistently playing for three decades. For the vast majority of that time, I've enjoyed very fast paced and/or difficult games. The last decade plus has been dominated by Souls games and fighting games.

But something changed. 2023 was a very difficult year for me and now that the dust has settled, I think I've come to the conclusion that between all my responsibilities and endeavors, I simply don't have the mental energy for these more difficult games.

I'm starting to seek more chill games. Mostly JRPGs and platformers. Still have a bunch of shmups I'm sprinkling in (I really need to do a 1CC this year), but what's great about these is they're short and you can really get your arms around them.

I'm really working on my health this year, so maybe my increased energy will affect my outlook, but that remains to be seen.

Have you ever gone through a big change in game taste?

Started PC gaming as a kid, pre-teen switched to consoles and was heavy into action games. Stayed like that up till about 7th gen (which is the last gen I started looking for new consoles regularly). Anyway, I got married 8-years ago and my wife was a gamer. Something made me feel older and more like playing chill games or things with the family. That's about where I'm at now and I'm fine with this. There are some great 6th gen games which were quite challenging I could pick up again but are just collecting dust at this point. Once you get to 'Dad age' this can happen too.

 

[Kaleinc]

Tell me how ancient you are, old man, the thread.
Instead of writing a long ass post and reading all the comments - could have played something, Mr "I don't have time"

 

[CloudShiner]

Tell me how ancient you are, old man, the thread.
Instead of writing a long ass post and reading all the comments - could have played something, Mr "I don't have time"

He doesn't say he doesn't have time, he says he doesn't have the mental energy hence looking for different styles of games compared to in the past.

Seems plenty in the thread can relate to it as well.

 

[The Fartist]

You guys play games?

I've been chipping away at TLOU2 since it came out, I was there day 1, that and Fallout 3 in between. I've sunk in over 1k hours on Fallout 3 since its release, still haven't beat it.

I gotta say, though, I've spent well over $1k on games in the past nine years, not to mention hardware, console and PC, that's easily in the $4k range alone. I have the ultimate backlog. I think I'll have the time to seriously play once my kid hits their teen years, about five years away from that.

 

[SecretAgentHam]

Fellow 35 year old gamer here,

I stopped caring about what the internet hyped up as “must play” games a few years back and started going back to what I love the most: Story driven titles. No more COD or Destiny 2 time sinks for me. Give me a journey that has a true ending any day. I also don’t hold myself to 100% a game if it doesn’t seem fun.

I don’t have time to waste on MP anymore so I just enjoy what I want on my limited free time.

 

[DanielG165]

Games are simply longer than they’ve ever been now, and with more fluff and busywork than ever before, also. I’m only 26, yet I can very much go a week or two without turning on my PC to play a game, in lieu of my other hobbies, personal relationships, and work. It’s just a wane and wax type of phenomenon for me; gaming will always be a part of my life, but it’s not the priority for me at this stage. The games and franchises that I love, I still very much do, and I will most certainly be there for the big showcase titles that excite me.

However, 26 year old me is different than 16 year old me, and it’s as simple as that. Though… I can already see and am planning for GTA 6 to take over my young life lol, and, if/when a new Ninja Gaiden game is released… It’ll be over for me, no sunshine for a week.

 

[Fredrik]

Have you ever gone through a big change in game taste?

Hmm, nearly 50, been gaming for 40 years and Super Metroid is still my all-time #1 favorite game since 30 years back. Still enjoy open worlds more than anything else.

However, I almost don’t play on console at all anymore. Can that be considered a big change?

Less than 20 hours total on PS5 in 2023, less than 50 on Xbox Series X with my kids 8 hours of LEGO Ninjago being the most played game.

Meanwhile, 250 hours of Starfield on Steam, 150 hours of Elden Ring after already playing 350 the year before.

And linear story-focused games put me to sleep. I just don’t have time for the slow talk walks and long cutscenes. I’ll rather watch a movie or read a book.
Maybe that’s a bit of a change based on age?

Likewise I used to like turn-based RPG, expected to love Baldur’s Gate 3, but now the slow speed of it all literally put me to sleep. Has to be a change from not having the time needed to really get invested anymore. I should check out FFXVI that I originally was negative on just based on videos, maybe it actually fit me perfectly these days.

 

[Knightime_X]

I'm closer towards 50.
I retired from fighting games.
To stay very sharp, you have to commit a majority of your time continually playing them.
If you let muscle memory fade, your skills will diminish rather quickly, especially the older you get.

Don't have time for Elden Ring, so I just stick to more relaxed games and if I want a challenge I still love playing 8-bit - 32-bit games.
I get bodied in fighting games but I still play them. I regret nothing, because i enabled myself more freedom to play\do other things.

 

[manzo]

41 here. Stopped pretty much anything multiplayer 2 years ago and couldn’t be happier. Now only games that actually interest me and one, max two games at a time. I finish maybe 2 games per year.

What I just can’t be arsed around are timewaster games; anything open world ala AssCreed, GaaS are out of the window.

Also I have 0 interest in most contemporary western game anymore. Playing mostly JRPGs again as they are nice chipping away little by little.

 

[{insert code here}]

Seriously.

If you're in your 30's get the fuck out. You're still young.

Oh fuck off mate, 35+ in today's world is old man status and you know it, we all know it.

 

[gaming_again]

Tell me how ancient you are, old man, the thread.
Instead of writing a long ass post and reading all the comments - could have played something, Mr "I don't have time"

I've found the thread really interesting to read.

 

[Edmund]

Topher and HeisenbergFX4 are grandpas and they are still kicking ass in call of duty and other games.

When I grow old, I'm gonna be the cool grandpa like them and I'll be kicking everyone's ass in street fighter, tekken and call of duty just like them. I'll be steamrolling all the souls games as well.

Fuck off with this I'm so old and I can only play baby games shit.

If you don't have the skill just admit it. I teach 6.5 days and practice the piano 2-3 hours 5 times a week I hit the gym twice a week and still have an active social life. I still kick ass in street fighter 6 and will be kicking ass in tekken 8.


Im fucking ass at call of duty though lmao. On good days my kd ratio is 0.4. But I just have fun and try to improve.

Rare footage of HeisenbergFX4 kicking ass in battlefield.

 

[systemr123]

Oh fuck off mate, 35+ in today's world is old man status and you know it, we all know it.

Yes and imagine being 41 like me, you’re technically a grandpa or near dead. Seriously though, if I buy a redbull in the supermarket they still ask for my id sometimes. I guess I’m lucky in my young looks

 

[Bojanglez]

Yes, one thing I've sacrificed is obnoxiously 'hard' games, or games that require a lot of investment to 'get good'. Life is too short, I only have limited time, so I pick mostly games that are beatable in a reasonable time and if it is obnoxious I either pop it on easy (if the story is worthwhile) or move on, to be fair due to good selection of what I play that happens very infrequently. There are still games I love that I get obsessed with and play through multiple times on the hardest level or even grind out online to get those trophies, but only if it is fun doing so.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

As someone with kids, family, hobbies it’s infuriating to see the drive to make the games longer. Nobody that has anything going in their lives besides videogames have time for 50hr+ slogfests. Cut your game in half, cut development time by 1-2 years and nothing of value will be lost.

 

[DragonNCM]

I'm almost 35 and have been playing games for 30 of those straight. No breaks really (probably a mistake during college), just consistently playing for three decades. For the vast majority of that time, I've enjoyed very fast paced and/or difficult games. The last decade plus has been dominated by Souls games and fighting games.

But something changed. 2023 was a very difficult year for me and now that the dust has settled, I think I've come to the conclusion that between all my responsibilities and endeavors, I simply don't have the mental energy for these more difficult games.

I'm starting to seek more chill games. Mostly JRPGs and platformers. Still have a bunch of shmups I'm sprinkling in (I really need to do a 1CC this year), but what's great about these is they're short and you can really get your arms around them.

I'm really working on my health this year, so maybe my increased energy will affect my outlook, but that remains to be seen.

Have you ever gone through a big change in game taste?

Opposite of you as I grow older I'm looking more in challenging games. All started with Elden Ring.......now I'm playing only soulslike games, atm have fun in Remenant 1& 2.

 

[sigmaZ]

Yes, one thing I've sacrificed is obnoxiously 'hard' games, or games that require a lot of investment to 'get good'. Life is too short, I only have limited time, so I pick mostly games that are beatable in a reasonable time and if it is obnoxious I either pop it on easy (if the story is worthwhile) or move on, to be fair due to good selection of what I play that happens very infrequently. There are still games I love that I get obsessed with and play through multiple times on the hardest level or even grind out online to get those trophies, but only if it is fun doing so.

For me, if enemies have excessively large health pools, I find it less appealing. In such cases, if I still appreciate the game's mechanics, I often will just cheese the game to overcome the monotony.

 

[dalyr95]

Even in my teens, I stopping playing FF8 for like 2 months, went back to it, forgotten what I'd done and what I needed to do so was totally stuck so gave up

 

[sigmaZ]

Even in my teens, I stopping playing FF8 for like 2 months, went back to it, forgotten what I'd done and what I needed to do so was totally stuck so gave up

LOL I totally misread the last two words on that guys post.