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About time I find a new hobby?

hayguyz said:
Stop spending your time with games. Do something useful with your life. Pick a hobby that will actually improve your personal worth.

Learn a trade. Start gardening. Read science books.

Wow, lol. Best advice. When I get bored with everything I read science books. Not text books, but published books about certain subjects. The Universe, Biology, Evolution, etc... never gets old, and it always reinvigorates my life and outlook on things. But, that's just me. I don't suspect that this would work for everyone. The point is - find something inspirational. Come back to games as a pick-up hobby.

Also get a wii - Mario Galaxy series.
 
If you have so many good ideas on how to fix all these problems with games, why don't you get a job in the industry and do it?

You'd learn some skills, maybe make a difference, and get some real world experience on why they make some of the "mistakes" they make and how it isn't really as easy as you think.
 
I dunno, if you're at the point where you actually have to think "Maybe I should stop doing this," it's already a sign that you're in too deep. It smacks of you buying games because buying games is just what you do rather than getting games that you're genuinely interested in.
 
I'm playing planescape torment as a last missed gem then I'm pretty much done with games too. I'll probably play something once every couple of months or so but that's about it. I've already started replacing games with books and projects and it feels great. I'm off the mentally deficient entertainment high and can actually sit down and read a book and not get bored. I'm sleeping better too.
 
udivision said:
I skimmed through the OP game selection.

Dude, the only games in which you actually have fun are mutli-player ones, or at least gaming with other people in the room watching you.

Playing games by yourself can never be as fun as that, it's a fact.
I mostly play Fifa with friends which is a lot of fun... But every once in a while a single player game emerges that I enjoy more than any multiplayer title.

As for the OP, enjoy what these games have to offer. I share your sentiments, but there's nothing you can do. Or better yet, find other activities that you enjoy a lot besides gaming and try to focus on that... You'll naturally start to nitpick less.

And yes, only buy games that you actually want.
 
When you get too immersed in something like gaming you can lose perspective and your expectations get out of whack. GAF sometimes analyzes and dissects games down to the sub atomic level and complains if there is an electron out of place.

I just try to keep my expectations grounded and realistic. I can enjoy a surprising amount of things, not just games, that I would otherwise bitch about.
 
I'd just echo the idea that you take a break for a little while. Or at least scale back quite a bit.

A few years ago I though that I was done gaming and took a break for about a year. I enjoyed the time off, and mucked around with a few new hobbies. But after I while I realized that I'm still a gamer at heart, discovered a new love of competitive fighting games and SHMUPs and now I'm back in, though I keep my hours played pretty low. I just love the interactivity and seeing what cool stuff developers come up with to ever ditch the hobby totally.

I think having limited time for it now (portables on the bus aside I play maybe 2-3 hours a week) I actually find that I enjoy my hobby more. I don't grind for hours in RPGs anymore and then feel guilty about the time wasted. I just play what I want and the second that I don't think that I'm really enjoying what I'm doing I turn it off or move over to a new game. Steam sales helped a ton on this for me. I pay $50 for 10 fun games, play them all for maybe 5 hours and then move on to the next one. This keeps things fresh and keeps me from burning out or getting too sucked into any one game.
 
All this money-grubbing, achievements crap, DLC crap, paying to play online and get a cool, new hat for your avatar! crap, I hear ya. I started down the same path as you, although my reasons for getting there were a bit different.

Here's what I did: I buy only the games I *know* I will like, mostly PC games, and I buy all Activision and Electronic Arts games used off of Ebay or super cheap off of Steam.

In return, I enjoy the games I do play and I feel good by sticking it to the man! (not really, but I feel better)
 
So the other day, at my buddy's place, I was playing Civ V on eyefinity, 5040x1050 resolution. Long story short: Buy a PC, we've got the games you're craving.
 
Maybe quit gaf for a while. I'm sure this place is the reason for your nitpicking. Hang around elitists and you become one. Maybe after a few months you'll forget about all your complaints and start being more tolerant of good games that aren't perfect.
 
NotebookJ2 said:
To be truthful, I have plenty of problems with this generation, though not so much gaming as it is on the fan side. Perhaps it's because I'm older but I've grown sick and tired of the usual crap that gamers spew out of their mouths.

.

The only way to have enjoyable discussions about gaming is to keep them among a limited number of people. As a large group, we gamers are a sad bunch really. I mean what the hell is this:

out0v0rder said:
there is nothing wrong with you, this gen sucks.

I enjoy this gen as much if not more than the ones that came before it despite not caring for most DLC, having never played any game of the Wii _____ line and not even playing shooters.
 
rvy said:
Live Journal-AGE beware, long ass rant.

So, lately I've been spending much more time bitching about games than actually playing them. And I'm starting to feel like I should give this a rest for a big while, but I'm not sure if my issues are unfounded or not. They probably are.
I'll try not to turn this into yet another IQ thread, we have enough of those, but some of my issues reside there.

As an example to start off I'll use Ninja Gaiden II. For the last couple of weeks I wander off at home/wherever and begin to imagine how cool it would be for me to buy out Tecmo's share in Tecmo Koei and patch the game. Now, I'm sure a fair amount of people who like NG II would want to do the same. I start coming up with these amazing ideas for the patch, how I would create the greatest action game in existence with 6 or so months of hard work from Team Ninja. I'm so jaded that I think it's reasonable to patch BLACK, bump the native resolution to 720p and release it over Xbox Live with added Achievements. Even worse, I plan to release an NG compilation with Ninja Gaiden 2 BLACK + NG BLACK and hire Itagaki back, while buying the rights for Devil's Third along with him and have Valhalla and Team Ninja as separate studios that share staff at Tecmo. After a while I realize the ridiculousness of it all, that it'll never happen and start to feel like crap.
Then I put that off for a while and start to bitch and moan to my friends about how this generation is complete trash. How Achievements and Trophies aren't even standardized in both the content of the picture and the way they are displayed when unlocked. How MS are dumb for not enforcing some rules so that Achievements have the same basic design for their pic that. How Sony sold me on HD, 2 1080p displays ad 120fps, made me buy a new television and then some of my most played games run at sub-HD and a lot of others have atrocious framerates.
I trash MGS 4, I trash NG II, I try and fail to trash Vanquish, you get the picture.
After I'm done with that I start trashing Capcom and tell the people around me how I could turn them into the most amazing developer out there. I have a way to fix everything if given the opportunity. I'll add Trophies to DMC 4. I'll make RE5 fun. I'll take out any Capcom logos in Bionic Commando and Dark Void and create a worthy sequel to Bionic Commando. DLC will become free regardless of content and make all previously sold DLC free. I'll cancel DmC and announce DMC 5. I'll bring back Kamiya and Mikami. You name it. Kid in a candy store, pretty much. Then, the same thing happens as with NG II, I'll realize I can't and feel like crap.
Here comes Konami, same thing, but I'll have a hard time fixing them than Capcom. Rinse and repeat the whole process.
That's 3 developers already. Eventually I'm tired of trashing the Japanese and start trashing western developers. I''ll claim they have style but no substance. No attention to detail, too much emphasis on stuff blowing up, killstreaks, perks, online. Their QA is terrible, etc. (Which is funny, because even Japanese QA is terrible these days)

Pretty tired of trashing them for that, so I feel like I should bring up something new. Now it's time for the whole IQ debate. Why did I buy an HDTV? Why do these people refuse to give me 60fps? Why do they come up stuff that will force them to scale down the resolution?

At some point in all this I begin to feel like I'm an elitist with the wrong setup. My rig is... well, not complete shit, but getting close to it as time moves on. So, in theory, a high-end PC would fix my IQ issues, right? Right. Except I don't have money for it. I'm left with my 360 and my PS3 and we're back to zero. Not to mention this doesn't solve my other problems.

I don't think I've even enjoyed a game during this generation without finding some dumb design decision (in my opinion) to bash it for it. And I clearly remember being the most ignorant gamer out there, but actually enjoying games during the 90's and the PS2/Xbox/NGC days.

tl;dr, I think there's something very wrong with me and I can't really enjoy games anymore. I should be trying to have fun and stop nitpicking on petty shit. I should have a bought a God damn Wii and play only Nintendo games.

Venting is nice.


First, have you tried taking a step away from "Confusing japanese bullshit"? Japanese Developers have been having a particular hard time this generation, both stepping up the insanity and in many cases stepping down the quality. The only really good japanese games are ones that embrace the insanity like Bayonetta. Have you tried Uncharted 2, inFAMOUS, Portal, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Red Dead Redemption, Fallout, Bioshock or Arkham Asylum?

Second, trophy positioning is always upper right, i thought? The reason Xbox lets the devs pick is in case they need the default middle-bottomish part of the screen clear (such as when you unlock a "finish this level" and it pops up during the cutscene, it might appear on top of an important detail or the subtitles).

As for a consistent visual style for the achievements... why would you care and how is that better? The games themselves don't have a consistent style, why would their achievements? You don't see the achievement icon on the achievement popup anyway.
 
I'd say about time you realized that, a) there are things you'll never have any control over, b) you probably do not know better than professionals, even though you really really really feel you do.
 
Extollere said:
Wow, lol. Best advice. When I get bored with everything I read science books. Not text books, but published books about certain subjects. The Universe, Biology, Evolution, etc... never gets old, and it always reinvigorates my life and outlook on things. But, that's just me. I don't suspect that this would work for everyone. The point is - find something inspirational. Come back to games as a pick-up hobby.

Also get a wii - Mario Galaxy series.

I've been saying this. Just go buy a Pokedex and wait for Amazon to drop off your Pokemon Black. Black is better.
 
coldvein said:
forever-alone gaf doesn't have the luxury of tabletop games :(
I have never been to a game store whose patrons weren't more than happy to let strangers join in on whatever they're playing, especially on dedicated game night events.

Holy Order Sol said:
.

The only way to have enjoyable discussions about gaming is to keep them among a limited number of people. As a large group, we gamers are a sad bunch really. I mean what the hell is this:
No different than any other niche group, really. Average Joe Gamer doesn't really give a crap about standardized achievement/trophy display.
 
Whenever I read about games on GAF, I will learn a ton. However, I also end up getting bitter over all the weirdness in between the good posts.

My Advice™
Play games, form your own opinions, then read the Internet.
 
Nils said:
I hate how often screen tearing happens in those though.

The Deluxe screen that comes separately is thicker (it's like it's been buffered three times!) cardboard then the flimsy one that comes with the DM Kit. Much less likely to tear!
 
You know it odd that your posting this, my brother and I have has this same conversation a few times this gen. For me I don't have any issue I have liked a lot of games this gen, some will remain on my personal all time favorites. My brother however thinks this gen is disjointed or some kind of odd growth period, his main reason seem to stem from all of the bugs and glitches that games this gen suffer from. Now on that note I can agree that the games this time around are just not as stable and crashes are more and more common as are other bugs. Its just that I work around them (unless they are so terrible the game could potentially corrupt my HDD) and I think thats what bothers people is that with the ramp up in hardware and online and all the other features and functions that need to work together, it leaved devs less time to test games. From strictly a console gamers perspective most of these issues were primarily found only in PC games (at least on the scale we deal with bugs/problems today).
 
Buy super meat boy, castlevania adventure: rebirth and 8-bit trip runner.
Some of the games I had most fun with, this generation, because of their retro nature.
Indy games are where it's at.
 
My way of enjoying gaming more:
- Put the backlog on ebay and only keep collectors items and stuff I will always play. (E.g. I still play GTAIV from time to time)
- Spend less time on GAF

It works!
 
dygiT said:
Board games and table top games are better than video games anyways.
Yeah, first post right on the mark!

Don't even have to leave GAF. You can get started here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=406418

Honestly there are several things that really have made me fall in love with board games as I got tired of video games over the past few years:
-Broad appeal. You can actually teach and play eurogames with almost anyone.

-Social element. Way underrated, but people sitting around a board and talking is so much more conducive to discussion than a group of people staring at a screen and occasionally whooping or talking shit.

-Creativity. As strategy and turn-based games have become way less popular, especially in consoleland, some amazing board games have come out that are both simple and incredibly clever. I consider board-game design to be light years ahead of video-game design in terms of creative new mechanics.
 
Maybe I am wrong but have you have worked on the development of anything? It sound's like you think adding some of these things is as easy as "tightening the graphics on level 3". I would really like to know how you have answers to theses problems. How would you up the graphics without taking hits to fps? How would you make DLC free when you currently can't on Live for instance. Did you really "solve" any of these issues or did you solve them by just stating it should be free?
 
This is actually quite interesting to me. The game industry is one that keeps growing by leaps and bounds, continually getting more and more fascinated with itself, seriously rolling around like this giant behemoth demolishing anything in it's path (the amount of general media attention that it gets regularly boggles my mind, although I do understand that it is business)

But the issue is that it is heading for some serious burnout among a certain type of people, and this cross-section might be larger than you'd think. Video games are designed to replace your life, think about it it. When I was younger, they were much smaller/less demanding, they were toys for kids. Nowaways they are giant affairs which are hugely self-referential and constantly feeding into "what's next what's next what's next." You can never follow any game media (or discussion forum, etc) where people say, "oh, the next big thing has finally arrived. Let's just sit around and enjoy it for a little while, mmkay?" It's more like "okay this new hardware/AAA-release/famous developer's production is coming, it's coming, it's coming, HERE IT IS okay play it for a weekend and forget and now HERE we gotta start frothing at the mouth in anticipation of these 14 other huge important things with their staggered release dates over the next 6 months, and don't forget about the Christmas schedule..."

Look at the history of the past couple of years in this industry, especially compared to any generation before. It's never been so hectic and so constantly demanding for attention (and this is without any actual hype for next generation consoles, yet...)

What does all of that do to the part of our brains that are supposed to pay attention to things and enjoy them? How do things like talking walks, reading books, playing (casual) sports, etc compete with all of that - especially when you get sucked up into a culture when "all your friends are doing this too?"
 
webrunner said:
First, have you tried taking a step away from "Confusing japanese bullshit"? Japanese Developers have been having a particular hard time this generation, both stepping up the insanity and in many cases stepping down the quality. The only really good japanese games are ones that embrace the insanity like Bayonetta. Have you tried Uncharted 2, inFAMOUS, Portal, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Red Dead Redemption, Fallout, Bioshock or Arkham Asylum?

Second, trophy positioning is always upper right, i thought? The reason Xbox lets the devs pick is in case they need the default middle-bottomish part of the screen clear (such as when you unlock a "finish this level" and it pops up during the cutscene, it might appear on top of an important detail or the subtitles).

As for a consistent visual style for the achievements... why would you care and how is that better? The games themselves don't have a consistent style, why would their achievements? You don't see the achievement icon on the achievement popup anyway.
The only games that I haven't finished on that last are Fallout (because I can't stand the QA in those games), Dragon Age and Arkham Asylum. I did find BioShock to be really good and it still stands as one of my favorites to play.

As far as the rest. The whole argument is so out of this Universe that I don't know why I focus on it to the point of writing about it. This whole Achievements/Trophies nonsense stems from the fact that I think this generation lacks polish and attention to detail.


AstroLad said:
Yeah, first post right on the mark!

Don't even have to leave GAF. You can get started here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=406418

Honestly there are several things that really have made me fall in love with board games as I got tired of video games over the past few years:
-Broad appeal. You can actually teach and play eurogames with almost anyone.

-Social element. Way underrated, but people sitting around a board and talking is so much more conducive to discussion than a group of people staring at a screen and occasionally whooping or talking shit.

-Creativity. As strategy and turn-based games have become way less popular, especially in consoleland, some amazing board games have come out that are both simple and incredibly clever. I consider board-game design to be light years ahead of video-game design in terms of creative new mechanics.
Board games aren't really appealing to me, but sure. No harm in trying.

KiKaL said:
Maybe I am wrong but have you have worked on the development of anything? It sound's like you think adding some of these things is as easy as "tightening the graphics on level 3". I would really like to know how you have answers to theses problems. How would you up the graphics without taking hits to fps? How would you make DLC free when you currently can't on Live for instance. Did you really "solve" any of these issues or did you solve them by just stating it should be free?
No idea. Right now I'm simply talking out of my ass, with absolutely no knowledge. My grievances are that a lot of people here make it sound as if disabling effects would bump games to higher resolutions and better framerates. Why wouldn't developers do it then?

Also, I don't know whether to laugh or cry at DLC.
 
Monroeski said:
I have never been to a game store whose patrons weren't more than happy to let strangers join in on whatever they're playing, especially on dedicated game night events.

And I've never been to a game store whose patrons weren't either overexcited little kids or smelly, bald, fat nerds with thinning hair. Sadly they're so prevalent they scare away the more socially adjusted nerds.

rvy said:
My grievances are that a lot of people here make it sound as if disabling effects would bump games to higher resolutions and better framerates. Why wouldn't developers do it then?

Also, I don't know whether to laugh or cry at DLC.

Er, because higher framerates and resolution don't sell games, but effects and eye candy do? Most people who buy games don't give a shit whether a game is 1080p or 540p, 30 fps or 60 fps, or whether it has no AA or 8xAA.
 
whenever I get tired of gaming I usually spend time with my kids or I spend time with my wife and try to make another baby and by make another baby I mean play words with friends with her :/
 
rvy said:
After a while I realize the ridiculousness of it all, that it'll never happen and start to feel like crap.

Um, flights of fancy are nice and all that but short of being a billionaire how on earth did you intend to accomplish this
admitedly very awesome
dream.,
 
jetjevons said:
Um, flights of fancy are nice and all that but short of being a billionaire how on earth did you intend to accomplish this
admitedly very awesome
dream.,
Bombs.
 
I was in the same situation as you OP before I found my solution; stick with one console. I currently own all 4 home (PC) and both portables along with an iPad and Android Phone. It's a mess deciding what game I'd like to play. I keep arguing with myself over what platform I should invest into,etc.. I've finally made a big decision in this internal fight.

I looked back at my child hood and remember what game system I had the most fun with, and that was the N64. Since this was my happiness pinnacle for video games I decided that I should naturally follow nintendo and realized that I was trying to somehow artificially fill in the fun void with a PS3,360,PC because the Wii didn't have a online system, non HD graphics etc..

Basically I bought into the hype of HD graphics and downloadable titles and online multiplayer. But if I reference specially my happiness pinnacle, none f those things mattered or even existed, so why get so bent out of shape with them? yeah I understand that it's important for the industry to evolve but we're in such a weird generation that it's enough to drive you insane if you even try to justify the purchase of a console.

This generation really sucked for me, and thank god it's almost over. My solution OP is to stick with one console and one company and go through with it fully. As for me I'm going with Nintendo (as soon as amazon delivers my 3DS!) and I won't be buying or paying any attention to any of the home consoles because it's practically over.

Sorry for the long post but I hope it can help out the OP or anyone else in a similar situation.
 
For a year or so after I got a PS3, I followed nearly every big exclusive's thread, followed the hype cycle up to release. Then two weeks after this huge "game of the forever" came out, they would be onto the next game to hype up. You felt like you constantly had to keep up. I'm making this sound WAY more dramatic than it was, but yeah I got burned out for a while.

Take a step back, theres no problem with only playing 10 or less games all the way through a year. You'll probably enjoy yourself more.
 
Personally, I feel that my mind and body "needs" different things at different times. Instead of fighting it, it's better to go with the flow. If you don't find it enjoyable anymore stop playing and do whatever else you'd rather be doing instead.

I'm a passionate (passion is probably what causes this issue) person who has a lot of hobbies and interest (basketball, football, cars, politics, videogames, movies, books, hiking, church, traveling, tech gadgets, comic books, etc.) and at any given time I could really into any of these hobbies. I came off a period where I was in a hardcore politics phase. I went down to DC for the Colbert/Stewart Rally, I was driving people to elections, listening to politics podcasts and reading politics blogs. During this time, I was doing very little gaming. However, as politics will do, I started getting frustrated/annoyed and not really enjoying myself so I unsubscribed from my Politics podcasts and RSS feeds and delved back into the world of games, eventually I'll get tired of the gaming world and get really into another one of my hobbies/interest.

I'm even like this with the subject matter of my media. I was in a phase where all I could read or watch was non-fiction (books and documentaries), I felt like if I was consuming some "fake" story I was wasting my time. However, I eventually got sick of that and got the feeling that I needed to read or watch some well-crated stories.
 
I've been having fun playing what I'm interested in.

Assuming you aren't an idiot, online message board cynicism (a perfectly acceptable thing, by the way) shouldn't make it impossible to continue playing and enjoying what you actually like.
 
Framerates, resolutions, trophies, achievements, DLC, logos .... I seems to me like none of these things have much to do with ACTUAL gaming. They are just extra BS surrounding the games. You seem to be obsessing over the minutia and missing the forest for the trees.

I have to agree with the people who say you need to take a break, and likely should also pick up some other hobbies or interests (not necessarily in place of gaming - just in addition to).

I also fully agree that you (and many of us here) are like the TV nerds who bitch about obvious plot twists. We all know so much about games and the nature of games that we train ourselves to look for the flaws. We see them immediately and probably give them too much weight. I have a film buff friend that I can hardly go to the movies with because he comes out bitching and disappointed with almost every movie, and I'm like, "Hey, I thought it was a fun flick." I'm just looking for a way to kill two hours whereas he's there to analyze. Likewise, he's not really a gamer but follows some big releases. He thinks game X or Y is great but I can see all these flaws that he doesn't even notice.

Finally, I agree about playing some retro and retro-style games. Some of the only titles in the last 3-4 years that fall into the "simply a joy to play" category for me are XBLA/PSN titles. Right now I'm playing Lara Croft: GoL and it's essentially an up-rezed 32-bit game. It's wonderful. I can hardly find a flaw and when it do, it's fully outweighed by the good stuff.

Take a break. Branch out. Come back and don't waste ANY time with stuff you don't like. Try some DL or retro-type stuff.
 
though nowehere to the same extent im finding myself in the same boat.

Im talking/bytching about games more than i play them.


Host Samurai said:
Thats the problem with this generation. Too many western games. Needs more balance on the home console front like last generation.


except some notable exceptions, almost every major western release this gen has been of a game i didnt like.




ironically enough, last gen i didn't even know games as western/eastern..they were just games.
wondermega said:
This is actually quite interesting to me. The game industry is one that keeps growing by leaps and bounds, continually getting more and more fascinated with itself, seriously rolling around like this giant behemoth demolishing anything in it's path (the amount of general media attention that it gets regularly boggles my mind, although I do understand that it is business)

But the issue is that it is heading for some serious burnout among a certain type of people, and this cross-section might be larger than you'd think. Video games are designed to replace your life, think about it it. When I was younger, they were much smaller/less demanding, they were toys for kids. Nowaways they are giant affairs which are hugely self-referential and constantly feeding into "what's next what's next what's next." You can never follow any game media (or discussion forum, etc) where people say, "oh, the next big thing has finally arrived. Let's just sit around and enjoy it for a little while, mmkay?" It's more like "okay this new hardware/AAA-release/famous developer's production is coming, it's coming, it's coming, HERE IT IS okay play it for a weekend and forget and now HERE we gotta start frothing at the mouth in anticipation of these 14 other huge important things with their staggered release dates over the next 6 months, and don't forget about the Christmas schedule..."

Look at the history of the past couple of years in this industry, especially compared to any generation before. It's never been so hectic and so constantly demanding for attention (and this is without any actual hype for next generation consoles, yet...)

What does all of that do to the part of our brains that are supposed to pay attention to things and enjoy them? How do things like talking walks, reading books, playing (casual) sports, etc compete with all of that - especially when you get sucked up into a culture when "all your friends are doing this too?"

Hmmm... you have a point here. part of my love for games was the fact that last gen games LASTED. I could buy a game in jan and still be playing it, happily by july.

Games are increasing becoming overhyped disposable entertainment like movies, but at 5* the price.
 
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