• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Ever wonder if you would stop playing video games after a certain age?

Zeeed

Member



I started playing video games when I first went over to my "rich" friends house and he had an Atari computer system. He would load up these video games from a floppy disc(88k storage capacity) and I thought it was magic.

Growing up, I would always here adults saying I would grow out of video games, and for a time, I actually wondered when I would stop playing video games and become an "adult". Hahaha, times have indeed changed.

The newer generation will be born into video games and will know video games as a way of life and not just a childish hobby. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing yet.
280E441C00000578-3056802-A_third_of_babies_are_using_on_smartphones_and_tablets_even_befo-a-3_1430134327827.jpg


EDIT: spelling mistakes.
 
Last edited:
It's like any other kind of media. Movies, TV, whatever.. it doesn't have an age restriction. Gaming wasn't around when the boomers were coming up so they don't get it and they think of it as something for kids.

However, I do think that some games are for younger audiences. Minecraft and Fortnite? Yeah, I don't see the appeal.
 
Last edited:

Kuranghi

Member
A friend of mine recently had a baby. Merely months old and can't yet walk, yet he already knows to preemptively cry for mommy when the "Ad in 5...4..." thing pops up on Youtube to make sure she's ready to press the button for him.

I got a sad, dark feeling witnessing this last week.

That is disturbing tbh, but thankfully thats nothing to do with games that problem is caused by instilling entitlement and the removal of delayed gratification. Babies that young think the world is made to serve them, so if you put the colours and movement right in front of them and then there is an infinite supply with no delay between events then you will create this problem in the baby.

If anything games make you work for the gratification (Or they should anyway imo) so this problem won't arise. Although if they've already grown up like in the way you describe they won't have the patience for even playing games. I think in the near future of games accessibility options like "skip level" or "infinite health" will become standard in all games to facilitate this new impatient/entitled generation.

What a future! Woo-hoo!
 
It happens. I’m 32 and the desire to game wanes now and then. But there’s a sufficient level of interesting things going on that keeps me coming back.

Will I every completely walk away? Probably not, at least not permanently. Gaming is too proliferated that I’m sure I’ll hop in and back out like I always do, but the space in between may become more pronounced.
 

Cornbread78

Member
Us Gen X'ers that grew up with Atari and NES will never stop if we are still playing now. It's part of who we are, what is familiar to us and what can be used as a safe tool for escapism and R&R. There is something to be said about how powerful & positive gaming can be and it helps that the negative "gamer" stigma has dropped over the years and even more with COVID as everyone is trying to secure entertainment during quarentine times
 
Last edited:

Kuranghi

Member
I don't think I'll ever stop, going by that many of my favourite games of all time came out in the last 10 years and I've been gaming since the early 90s.

If anything I give less of a fuck what others think morally of the things I like to do for fun. I used to think people who got loads of tattooes all over their body were kinda idiots but now I'm like "ehhhh do what you want, if you're having fun and no ones getting hurt then rock on".

I've just applied to volunteer to spend time with lonely old boys & girls and I'm going to try and get them all into gaming ha.
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
I've taken long breaks. I pretty missed out of the entirety of the PS4 gen. I play videogames a shit ton but it's mostly old stuff. I don't consider myself a "gamer", more like binge watching TV or rewatching movies but with old games. I generally cycle through the same 10 or so games and occasionally try out something new or try to work on the back catalog.
 

Kuranghi

Member
Us Gen X'ers that grew up with Atari and NES will never stop if we are still playing now. It's part of who we are, what is familiar to us and what can be used as a safe tool for escapism and R&R. There is something to be said about how powerful & positive gaming can be and the negative stigma has dropped even more with COVID

I have a newish flatmate and he is going so out of his mind not being able to work (He's on furlough) that he started volunteering at a homeless shelter just to get out of the house and do stuff, he often just goes out for a walk for hours in the middle of the day because he says he is "so bored".

He likes comics and reads them sometimes but he just recently got a laptop after only having a phone (No TV/screen) for years and before on the phone and now on the laptop I hear him watching movies and TV series for hours on end in his room. If he isn't doing that he's watching complete trash youtube content like conspiracy theory shit lol.

Sometimes he watches me play games, like he watched RE3make and he was really into it, but it can only hold his attention for about an hour or so before he starts get his phone out and then I just make an excuse to stop because people doing that while we are hanging out bugs the shit out of me. He played both Spiderman games with me to completion and I'd say he has way above average natural skills with a controller/in games.

I'm sure there are tons of other games out there that he'd love and it would partially solve this restlessness he feels I'm sure. I'd be going out of my fucking mind if I didn't have games the last 12 months.
 

e&e

Banned
I feel it’s only like this for me because I am married with 2 children. I have hobbies besides video games and a lot of times decide to further the hobby instead of playing games. But my children destroy me so much that I’m just exhausted by the time they are ready to sleep. Once a game hooks me though, I would definitely try to get as much time in before I can’t and lose interest. The Switch gets the most play because of this reason! I envy the people who cry about not having enough games to play though while I’m swimming in a giant backlog across all platforms. I don’t think I’ll ever give it up though!
 

Orenji Neko

Member
I see playing games as one of my life hobbies。Even my grandparents still play in their 80s and both now have Switch and grandfather is also Switch and PC combination like me。I can see other hobbies of mine of physical exertion that pass off when I become too old to do but I do not see that for things like playing games at home。

Even if all new games become boring I have so many classics I like to return to like good movies aンd books。
 

EDMIX

Member
I don't see me stopping.

I'd say I slowed down based on going back to school and working on some personal projects for my business, but its a thing I do with my personal time no different then some might watch a show or read a book, do people question when they will stop watching tv or reading? I think older gamers need to set that example to show nothing is wrong with gaming as we get older. The medium has moved forward a great deal and I hope to see it continue to move and age with us allowing for me complex and unique situations instead of feeling like they need to only focus on teen and middle age junk.

I like that in MGS4 Snake aging cause fox die caused him to have lower back pain and if you hunched over too long he would make sounds or if you laid down for a long time, he would fall asleep lol
 
I did when I was younger. Ironically as I got older I saw how silly that notion kinda is. If I naturally fall off from life events I naturally fall off but reaching an age and thinking I'm too mature or I should shed this hobby now is completely laughable to me now. I'll be gaming till I'm an old man. In the same way I'll still be watching TV, watching movies, reading books, and listening to movies.

Oh and I'm beyond the video games are toys meant for kids takes. Those kinda cynical holier-than-thou hyper reductionist takes funnily enough only serve to make those who make them seem childish.
 
Last edited:

EDMIX

Member
I did when I was younger. Ironically as I got older I saw how silly that notion kinda is. If I naturally fall off from life events I naturally fall off but reaching an age and thinking I'm too mature or I should shed this hobby now is completely laughable to me now. I'll be gaming till I'm an old man. In the same way I'll still be watching TV, watching movies, reading books, and listening to movies.

Oh and I'm beyond the video games are toys meant for kids takes. Those kinda cynical holier-than-thou hyper reductionist takes funnily enough only serve to make those who make them seem childish.

Agreed completely. Its why I feel the medium needs to move with our age. A lot of us still game and will likely still game in the future and I hope the market reflects that and makes more mature subject matter. I want to be able to tell my kid "You see, that pixel shit was the first mature drama of its time, had gay sex, mofos getting killed, BAD WORDS and everything" lol

If I had to teach a course on it, FEAR EFFECT, Metal Gear Solid 1 and The Last Of Us series would be my opening chapter. Ideas once thought to wild to be in a video game, became normal and accepted and decades later we would laugh at the idea of a game not having those ideas to some degree.

Fear Effect with sexual content in general.

Metal Gear Solid with a fuck ton of concepts, the idea that you didn't need to kill ever enemy, a story with a scripted, voice overs, musical score by a Hollywood composer etc I remember as a kid hearing others debate if it was needed in a game as a lot that talk on "its suppose to be a game not a movie" was out and about, yet now it would be weird as shit to have massive AAA game release with no story, no voice overs, no big musical score etc.

The Last Of Us series, amazing writing. Nothing was left on the table, they spoke and acted like how real Americans would very much act. The level of violence, they didn't hold back on the subject matter and if I never seen a Mature rated game, I'd assume that is what they are (or should be) with that rating. The Last Of Us level of violence is brutally honest with how humans behave and what gun does to ones body.

We don't watching Breaking Bad and pretend its the only show that people die in violent ways, thats any show with that rating about that subject matter. That should be the same way with games. Looking at the industry now, we have a long way to go, but I can't wait until there is a whole ass genre of violent mature rated games for us to go HAM on. lol
 
Agreed completely. Its why I feel the medium needs to move with our age. A lot of us still game and will likely still game in the future and I hope the market reflects that and makes more mature subject matter. I want to be able to tell my kid "You see, that pixel shit was the first mature drama of its time, had gay sex, mofos getting killed, BAD WORDS and everything" lol

If I had to teach a course on it, FEAR EFFECT, Metal Gear Solid 1 and The Last Of Us series would be my opening chapter. Ideas once thought to wild to be in a video game, became normal and accepted and decades later we would laugh at the idea of a game not having those ideas to some degree.

Fear Effect with sexual content in general.

Metal Gear Solid with a fuck ton of concepts, the idea that you didn't need to kill ever enemy, a story with a scripted, voice overs, musical score by a Hollywood composer etc I remember as a kid hearing others debate if it was needed in a game as a lot that talk on "its suppose to be a game not a movie" was out and about, yet now it would be weird as shit to have massive AAA game release with no story, no voice overs, no big musical score etc.

The Last Of Us series, amazing writing. Nothing was left on the table, they spoke and acted like how real Americans would very much act. The level of violence, they didn't hold back on the subject matter and if I never seen a Mature rated game, I'd assume that is what they are (or should be) with that rating. The Last Of Us level of violence is brutally honest with how humans behave and what gun does to ones body.

We don't watching Breaking Bad and pretend its the only show that people die in violent ways, thats any show with that rating about that subject matter. That should be the same way with games. Looking at the industry now, we have a long way to go, but I can't wait until there is a whole ass genre of violent mature rated games for us to go HAM on. lol
Well said! Whats your favorite video game of all time man?
 

G-Bus

Banned
Quite the opposite actually.

I like thinking about retirement and being able to just game on what ever people are gaming on. I think partially what gets me excited is dreaming about what gaming will be like 30 years from now.
 

nush

Member
Let me say this, what made binging Netfilx series all night long more "mature" than playing game all night? There are zero engagement watching tv but when gaming you are engaged.

"They" never have an answer for that. Real world you can use it, being just watching TV, working through a boxset or binging Netflix. I've used it many times, and it always shuts them down. You might get a "Games are for kids" weak-ass comeback, just show the the M or 18 rating on the box (Not easy to do if you're all digital).
 
"They" never have an answer for that. Real world you can use it, being just watching TV, working through a boxset or binging Netflix. I've used it many times, and it always shuts them down. You might get a "Games are for kids" weak-ass comeback, just show the the M or 18 rating on the box (Not easy to do if you're all digital).
Ah yes the full frontal nudity of the Witcher 3. That time I blew someones arm off in the last of us 2 and they screamed in pain before succumbing to death. Arthur Morgans 10-15 hour redemption character arc as he regrets his entire adult life and sees the futility finally now that he's terminally ill. All that kiddie shit. Just toys. Sarahs death in the last of us 1 was just like the toys I played with as a kid. Or playing through telltale batman and seeing people die horribly and/or get tortured to the point of severe blood loss or mutilation. EXACTLY as I envisioned my batman toys as a kid.
 
Last edited:

DansDans

Member
I'm 40 - and I think I am close to reaching that age, with one caveat

New Games

Over the last month I have tried about 6-7 new games: God Of War, Final Fantasy (whatever was free on PS5), Control, Concrete Genie, Darksiders 3, Death Stranding and Doom Eternal

I didnt spend more than an hour (except DS - i was TRYING SO HARD to like it) on any of those titles. There was just something about them that put me off. It was either they were overly complex for no reason, far too fast and twitchy, or boring and unlikeable characters

Only Like A Dragon is the only new game I have put more than 2 hours into (currently 8 and loving it)

But I can fire up my Classic SNES and spend hours on it.

It's maybe not age, maybe taste?
 

MrMephistoX

Member
As long as it’s sitting on the couch with a controller I’ll still play. If all games move to neural link or something maybe I’ll just only play old stuff.
 
Thanks. I'd say right now its a toss up of Metal Gear Solid 3 and The Last Of Us 2.
Interesting. Yeah I appreciated the hell out of the craft of TLOU 2 and and bold risk taking but ultimately just thought Neil steered the boat too off course. I gotta try MGS3 I've heard great things.
 
Last edited:

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
It shouldn’t be a stigma anymore. I’d rather play a game than scroll Facebook or Instagram. After I put the kids to bed, cleaned, dishes, and the spouse is doing something on their own. I’d rather fire up a game and play it. Some parents can only relate to games because that’s what their kids do. I want to keep going.

I think that’s what makes it hard for some people to relate to video games as they get older. A lot of it is how you perceive yourself and if you’re enjoying the hobby despite the world evolving. Kids are born every day, there’s a new gamer to add to the list, and sometimes kids play the same games we did.

I do get tired of hearing people say they’re giving up. Did you give up watching TV because a lot of that is pretty bad. What about music or movies? Did you quit listening to music? There’s obviously a lot of different genres out there for books, movies, music, and video games. You quit the one that apparently has an expiration date to it. Gaming can go bad just as it can knock your socks off. If people held onto gaming since the 70’s then they’ve obviously seen it come back from the dead. I think a big part of it is that some gamers enjoy keeping their finger on the pulse. If there’s literally nothing in the mainstream spotlight or it’s a slow month- they base their entire view of the medium on that. They could play a bad game and that could be their entire outlook on gaming.
 
Last edited:

Iced Arcade

Member
Naw.

most people have this thing in their head "well my parents don't play video games".... Yeah they never had video games when they were kids so they won't quit something they never had. Gaming literally grew with me and got older, more mature, higher end etc

Things definitely change and adjust though. Married, full time job, house, 18 month old daughter... I definitely don't have time to sink hours into multiplayer games or the time to fuck around with a PC / build a gaming rig BUT I still game on consoles. Daughter goes for a nap "game" wife goes to bed "game" etc. Winter months I'll play more and summer months it's very limited. I watch very little tv/movie so my relaxing me time is usually games.
 

EDMIX

Member
As long as it’s sitting on the couch with a controller I’ll still play. If all games move to neural link or something maybe I’ll just only play old stuff.

Facts. Dumbass kids would be like "wow, cut the umbilical cord grandpa"

i'd fucking fight a kid, they talking too much shit out here lol
 

Burnttips

Member
I was really good 15 years ago. Now I have trouble getting by world 4 in Mario World 3D. Everyone’s skills will fade. It’s like being an aging/retired professional basketball player. Sure you can keep playing but it’s not going to be the same.
 

Derktron

Banned
No, honestly, but I am starting to lose somewhat interest in playing videogames. I guess that's because I started college and don't have enough time anymore to play videogames and actually enjoy them.
 

Zeeed

Member
I was really good 15 years ago. Now I have trouble getting by world 4 in Mario World 3D. Everyone’s skills will fade. It’s like being an aging/retired professional basketball player. Sure you can keep playing but it’s not going to be the same.
I'm pretty sure I will be more into turn-base RPG later in life, LOL!
 

Stuart360

Member
It depends what your life is like from what i can tell. I'm 40, and broke up with my girlfiend last year, and now i'm single, living alone, and have all the time in the world to game.
A lof of adults have more responsibilities, whihc effects the time you have to game, and the less you do it, the more you lose interest.

I have to thank Sony though for changing the viewpoint of gaming, from something kids and nerds did in the 8bit/16bit days, to something much cooler, and something adults were drawn to with the PS1. In fact gaming today is much more of an adult medium, if you look at the average age of a 'gamer' today, and the amount of adult rated games.

My Uncle in his 70's still games daily, and has for decades. My Dad still has retro consoles that he plays (Dreamcast his favorite).
I cant see myself stopping gaming any time soon. I think if i was going to 'grow out of it', i would of done it already.
 

Merkades

Member
Nope, not even close. I have only wondered if gaming will ever go far enough left and mtx to make me a retro gamer.
 

turtlepowa

Banned
It'll be a sad day when I find myself no longer able to beat Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
I know what you mean......Could beat the game as a kid, but when i tried it the last time i couldn't even beat Supermacho Man. Stupid 360 punch..........
 

DelireMan7

Member
No one can predict with certainty his future but I think I will never quit gaming.
I've been gaming for years and I have really strong gaming memories (purely game related or IRL moment related to games) that I'll cherish as long as I can.

There is tons of old games I want to play. There is tons of modern games I want to play. I'd need more than one life to play everything I want.

I am a dreamer and I love visiting these imaginary worlds, discovering its inhabitants, their story...
There are games I will never forget because they had a huge impact on me and are part of who I am (Half-Life, Final Fantasy X, Warcraft 3, Dark Souls,...).
I love the feeling of discovering an awesome new game and being absorbed by its world, gameplay, music, atmosphere...

So yes, I can't know for sure, but I'll never quit gaming.
 

magnumpy

Member
I will eventually become the ultimate undead gamer at age 500 and by that time ps19 or something should be out which will be cool ._.
 

MaulerX

Member
It's just a form of entertainment.

I'll still be playing just as I'll still be watching my favorite shows and movies.
 
I've been playing since my mom got me the NES with Mario and duck hunt. I am almost 40 and don't see myself stopping anytime soon. It's a hobby and stress relief. My father is 63 and has hundreds of hours into gta5 online under his belt. Guess it runs in the family
 

FourEyesGod

Neo Member
Well, im 31 and never stop games, i put pc games on hold for sometime and play on mobile, but now that i bought a new asus laptop, i restart playing games a lot since im working from home xD, and whats better? my new girlfriend love to watch me play games as like she said, i look happy when i do, and she even starting to play some too!!! so, like i always say, i will play video games until i die or cant use my hands
 
Top Bottom