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[Men_in_Boxes]

I used to play, and mostly enjoy, just about every highly regarded game that released when I was younger. I loved games like Mario Bros, WarCraft 2, Tekken 3, Metal Gear Solid, Perfect Dark, Pokemon etc...

Today, I've noticed my interest has narrowed down to open world multiplayer and the occasional exceptionally innovative game.

Is this just what happens when people get older or do a lot of people stay as open minded as when they were younger?

 

[Plantoid]

Widened thanks to gamepass

 

[Con-Z-epT]

It widened to an extent that i can barely keep up with all the game releases.

This also gets accelerated by reading positive opinions on GAF from games i might never had touched otherwise.

 

[Phunkydiabetic]

Late 80s through the 90s I was all for Japanese games. They dominated the market but to be fair they also tended to be cutting edge, good gameplay, and technological marvels at times. PC gaming in the 90s planted the seed of what was possible with a completely different mindset to game development. I very much connected and enjoyed these games, System Shock, Fallout, the 90s fps phenomenon, the strategy games etc etc.

As the 2000's wore on it became increasingly apparent that for the most part Japanese devopers were falling far behind western developers in many facets of game development and I was increasingly moving towards western developed games. As the 2010's went on Japanese games had morphed into cringe inducing projects that felt stagnant in design and storytelling. Graphics were a step behind, gameplay and game design felt archaic to me.

In the end, for the most part, I cannot stand Japanese games anymore. It feels odd calling Japanese games a "genre" but I dunno, I see it that way these days. Jrpg's are just fucking horrible in particular. Maybe I just grew out of the Japanese nonsense or something I dunno.

Alright, this is the part where the weebs shit on me so have at it.

 

[Aenima]

About the same. What happened was more of losing interst in some genres and gaining more interest in other genres.
I used to enjoy strategy games, and lost interest in the genre and gained more interest in story telling games.

 

[Daneel Elijah]

Narrowed. But not really : it's just that since the PS2 era the games that i liked are either gone or the wait for the sequel is way too long. Can you imagine 3 GTA for the PS2; 2 for the PS3 and ZERO in all the PS4/XBOX ONE life?! No more MGS, Prince of Persia ... New indies came to replace some of those games but it is not the same.

 

[Fare thee well]

What you grow up with is a powerful powerful force. I rarely meet people who game outside of what their maximum gaming exposure as a kid was.

 

[GHG]

Narrowed. I know what types of games I like a lot better than when I was younger. No need to waste my time experimenting with stuff that's not suited to my tastes, no matter how much they might be hyped or well made.

 

[GymWolf]

Narrowed a lot.

When i was a child i loved platform, beat em up and pure action games like dmc\bayo and even some sport game like soccer or wrestling, now i barely touch some dmc in hard discount because i'm not really super good at them.

 

[Raven117]

Well...it widened....and its still wide...but I'm way more picky with my time and the games I choose. As an adult, there are more constraints on time...and..quite frankly...lots of other interests and hobbies that are deserving of time. So, I try to keep in all in balance. Not too much of any one thing.

 

[Haggard]

Where`s the "Shifted, I like other stuff now" option?

 

[Robb]

About the same.

I play and enjoy different genres today than I used to, but on the other hand the genres I used to enjoy a lot I no longer play so I think it evens out.

 

[ethomaz]

Same.
I have the genres I do like more but I play all of them.

 

[AndrewRyan]

VR alone has vastly expanded the genre of games including fitness and immersion experiences.

Technology aside my taste changed over time too. Racing used to be one of my favorite genres with full rigs but now rarely race anymore. Also have de-emphasized getting-my-monies-worth in favor of great experiences, even when they're short. Also have grown more interest in narrative focused games but I feel this is due to story telling getting much better over time.

 

[Aion002]

Narrowed quite a bit.

I completely lost all the interest that I had in some franchises that I used to love... I blame From Software.

 

[Fredrik]

It’s roughly the same. I’ve been enjoying metroidvanias, action games, platformers, RPGs, racing games all my life. Still prefer side-scrolling or top-down action over behind the character or first person perspective, because you see what’s going on around you and can dodge bullets. A big budget side-scrolling metroidvania made in UE5 with ray-racing and awesome animation would beat exactly everything for me.

Edit: Forgot about VR! That’s an expansion. I love it.

 

[Kilau]

Widened but I’ve also dropped some genres like sports, fighting and largely first person shooters.

 

[Imru’ al-Qays]

I'm more flexible in terms of genre but more demanding in terms of quality these days.

 

[Silvawuff]

Narrowed, but not because I wanted it to. Example, I really like JRPGs, but I don't have as much time to play them now that I'm at a different phase of my life and have less time to spend gaming.

 

[ReBurn]

Stayed about the same. Arcade racing and fighting top the list followed by third person action adventure.

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

Good thread, I had to think for a bit before voting. I picked narrowed because when I was younger I played more stuff like licensed games and robot/mecha games but nowadays I play the same spin on a few comfort genres like survival horror and character action, 2D games, etc.

 

[Krappadizzle]

Favorite genre is pretty much Immersive Sim games, which only a handful of studios do any big budgets versions of, so I kinda just take what I can. That said, I care less about FPS games in general than I did 10 or even 15 years ago, so there's that.

 

[brian0057]

Yes.

 

[MikeM]

Narrowed. Which is why i’m not sure if I will keep GamePass as a majority of the content there isn’t for me.

 

[dave_d]

Largely the same. I've always liked platformers, shooters, and RPGs. I'm still no fan of racing games or sports games.(Except wrestling which is of course not a sport) About the only new genre I've expanded out into are first person shooters. However the reason for that isn't a change in taste, the technology in the old ones just gave me motion sickness. (IE Wolfenstein and Doom.) Now with modern 3d graphics for one reason or another they don't make me sick to my stomach.

 

[The_hunter]

I play every genre now, but western rpgs are still #1 for me.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Widened. As a kid i only played racing and driving games pretty much (and the occasional classic like Sonic or Alladin). That slowly grew into action games like GTA, tried shooters like Half life and Halo and other things. More recently started trying stuff like RPGs, JRPGs, VNs, tactical games with turn-based combat, more experimental games, etc.

 

[Pejo]

Just by virtue of having so many games available these days, my interests have widened. There are only two genres I know of that I absolutely hate - competitive FPS and rogues (lite/like doesn't matter, any of them).

 

[speckz]

It stayed about the same. I mostly got tired of the triple AAA OMG brand new games that need L33T WTFBBQ hardware, which is $$$$ due to scalpers to play games over the last few years, so I went back to my backlog, and I am playing primarily classic like those sold by GoG, mostly RPG/CRPGs.

 

[SteelCurtain 59]

Growing up, gaming was basically just a social activity (playing multiplayer/coop, or playing a single player game with friends), or mindless fun. Starting around late high school I started getting interested in games that were narrative driven, or more expansive games. I basically kept finding new genres that I enjoyed to the point where today there are very few genres that I'm not at least somewhat interested in, or at least have 1 game I enjoyed in the genre. 10-15 years ago there would probably be no universe where I play Persona 5, Fire Emblem Three Houses, or Life is Strange, yet those are some of my favorite games

 

[luffie]

Definitely widened. Games these days have a combination of genres and are generally more fine tuned and diverse.

I used to like rpg and action only, now i like turn based strategy, roguelike, and base building too. People in the past mever tasted the drug that is Factorio and Civilization.

 

[Shifty1897]

What an interesting poll to see such an even split. Great question OP.

Gaming has been my hobby since I was 4, but basically since 12 my interest in gaming genres have stayed completely the same. RPGs (both J and W), Strategy games, with the occasional AAA action game are pretty much all I play. Once a generation I'll play and enjoy a racing game or 3D platformer.

 

[Chastten]

Hasn't really changed since roughly the late 90's.

Still mostly play jRPG's, platformers, racing and action games on consoles, with the additional RTS, FPS or Sim game on PC.

The things that changed are simply because of the times. I used to love xtreme sports and arcade-like games and played the hell out of Wave Race, 1080 Snowboarding, SSX, Robotron, etc, but they're simply no longer being made. And couch multiplayer has partially made way for online multiplayer.

 

[lem0n]

It's expanded. I grew up playing exclusively racers and Pokemon. The first non-racing game I played through and beat was Halo on Xbox, even though I've technically been gaming since DOS. I played an odd Commander Keen and Super Mario game at my friends houses sure but overall I was flying with blinders on until the mid '00s.

Today I tend to play adventure games, shooters, puzzle and of course my beloved racers.

 

[Y0ssarian]

Erm well I used to try any genre and I enjoyed all of them. Nowadays I generally prefer rpgs. If something is on gamepass i will check it out regardless

 

[Edgelord79]

They've really narrowed as I've gotten older. I don't have the patience to sit through games like before due to time constraints and other reasons.

 

[Belthazar]

Widened in a very narrow way... Which means I started liking new but very specific kinds of games.

 

[fart town usa]

Narrowed, big time.

I've played videogames for pretty much the entirety of my life but I didn't game much during the height of the PS2 gen. PS3 and the DS turned me into a fanatic but I fell off again when the PS4 released.

I own a shit ton of consoles but I only play the same dozen or so games for the most part. It's been that way for like 6 years now and it's a healthy relationship and don't really see it changing.

I buy a lot of obscure stuff on sale but I don't finish the majority of new games that I start. Mostly just curious and a desire to support things that are overlooked.

 

[kingfey]

I found alot of good games, once I got out of my comfortable genre zone.
Sometimes you need a little bit adventure in other genre, and you might like some good stuff.


Also, current stealth games are shit.

 

[Beechos]

Its def narrowed but thats mainly because i have less time to play games because of life. Unless its something that really catches my eye. Cuphead and limbo/inside are games that come to mind i had to play just by seeing them. Same thing for that xbox game "the last night" if that ever comes out just love the atmosphere and art direction. Any update on that game??

 

[yansolo]

narrowed, as i get older i lose more interest, i tend to try a game and if im not feeling it i scrap it after an hour, especially the more light hearted games

 

[LavitzSlambert]

Narrowed. I used to play whatever was available, but I have come to realize there are some games and genres I just never liked. My parents gave me a Sega Genesis and I had a lot of fun with it, or so I thought. But I wish it had been a SNES - I thought I enjoyed Sonic games but I actually hate them, I find the pace the game wants to keep up completely contradicts any exploring/branching pathways.

Other games I realize I dislike are RTS and pretty much any game that requires you to micro manage resources. Traditional fighting games and racing (except for some kart games with friends) also don’t appeal to me.


With all that said I play more games now than I ever did as a kid, and I do take chances on new genres. But I know what I don’t like and stick to avoiding them.

 

[Kenpachii]

Widened, couldn't care less about single players a decade+ ago, today i try them out and often like them.

 

[CheeseCake]

It stayed pretty much the same for me. Mostly multiplayer, single player here and there.

 

[Arachnid]

Well...it widened....and its still wide...but I'm way more picky with my time and the games I choose. As an adult, there are more constraints on time...and..quite frankly...lots of other interests and hobbies that are deserving of time. So, I try to keep in all in balance. Not too much of any one thing.

Same here. I play all kinds of genres now, but only the best from each. No time to waste on 70-80 review average type games.

I still go out of my way to play every survival horror title I can though. That's where I make my exception.

 

[FeldMonster]

Narrowed significantly.

I used to play many genres such as racing games, platformers, fighting games, etc.

Now, if it isn't an FPS, it isn't worth my time.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Widened, slowly. My first two games were Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy VII, and I stuck with straight adventure/RPGs until a friend of mine from school brought over Metroid Prime one weekend. That got me into Metroid, to a lesser extent, Metroidvania, and to a much lesser extent First Person affairs.

From there, I bought Resident Evil 4 at the suggestion of a friend, became obsessed, and extended that to the entire series to that point, Eternal Darkness, and later all of the Silent Hill games.

I got real into Metal Gear sometime in between that, and most recently (like four years ago) I got into some choice open world games.

Still vastly prefer JRPGs and Survival Horror, but I like a good game, regardless of genre.

 

[Raven117]

Same here. I play all kinds of genres now, but only the best from each. No time to waste on 70-80 review average type games.

I still go out of my way to play every survival horror title I can though. That's where I make my exception.

Hahaha nice! Well, I’m a sucker for most rpgs. We all have our things.

But overall yeah…. I’m not messing around with something that’s 70 or 80 unless there is just something specific that draws me to the game.

 

[Sosokrates]

I grow increasingly inpatient with games that dont push the medium foward in some way and just copy popular but old ideas.

In general the rate of progression on NPC realism, environment destruction, invisable walls etc is rather pathetic.
I mean, I get it, the above problems are insanely hard and probably were limited to the hardware to some extent. I kinda hope that because of diminishing returns devs dont focus as much on visuals and try harder to address these areas.

Many Games these days and of yesterday dont hold any mystery to me, they dont surprise me. I know that the game world is limited to a unbreakable area, I know that defeating the enemies is just a case of finding the most efficient way of lowering there health. Most games are systematic.
Dont get me wrong blasting aliens in Halo is fun, all the enemies and watching them trying to out flank you , while trying to beat them with a combination bof granades, guns and movement is fun, or playing uncharted 4, the climbing, swinging etc is fun and these aspects continue to get better, however they still have the constraints I mentioned. I wish games would genuinely surprise me.

 

[Shubh_C63]

Definitely narrowed.
No time to play games and favoring pick and play Coop games more.