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I spend hours reading about games and don't play them anymore

I follow the games industry very closely, having been a gamer since about 1990. I must read GAF every day, for like an hour or two at least.

And yet, I don't actually play games anymore. I never miss a day without reading the games news, and the developments, and the sales and what's coming out - and yet I don't spend any time playing games.

What the...? I am now making an effort to switch to playing games over reading about them, but I am interested - has this happened to you guys?
 

Brobzoid

how do I slip unnoticed out of a gloryhole booth?
yup- I blame my 15" black/white tv for killing my want to play games. But when I get a new tv I hope my want re-kindles.
 

Firestorm

Member
It's been happening to me for a while now. It's annoying. However, I just spend a bit over 3 hours in a row playing Zelda and I gotta say that it's hard to play that long. My head feels all muddy now.
 

Streaks

Member
I'm almost the same way. I have a 360 and only play on little spurts. Early on when achievements mattered more...played through FN3 just for that but after I got them I only play with one friend on Live on random occassions. GOW was the only game I really put time into and that lasted less than a week. I enjoy reading about the industry more than playing the games it produces. I'm only really looking forward to Lost Planet, Forza 2 and Halo 3 in the next year...maybe Ninja Gaiden if it comes out next year.
 

Ranger X

Member
Ghost Leviathan said:
I follow the games industry very closely, having been a gamer since about 1990. I must read GAF every day, for like an hour or two at least.

And yet, I don't actually play games anymore. I never miss a day without reading the games news, and the developments, and the sales and what's coming out - and yet I don't spend any time playing games.

What the...? I am now making an effort to switch to playing games over reading about them, but I am interested - has this happened to you guys?


Oh man... where should i begin...
 

RegularMK

Member
I read gaf several hours a day, and post occasionally.

But still devote a good chunk of my day to gaming goodness.

<3
 

Mifune

Mehmber
Yeah, I spend a lot of time on here, and a fair amount of time playing games. But that leaves little time for more productive things.

I think I have to cut down on my GAF time.
 

Barf_the_Mog

powerless or are they? o_O
If this was a few weeks ago I would agree with you and state that I was in the same boat, but recently the DS has been taking over my life. I'm playing it at university, on the bus, between GAF posts, etc.
 

Jiggy

Member
This is why handheld gaming rocks: I don't have to make a choice between playing games I love and missing out on announcements that'll let me figure out what the next games I love are going to be.
 

Tarazet

Member
I worked 40 hours this week at a computer and never looked at GAF. Now I'm reading GAF while resting my hands between RR6 races. Life is good.
 

Pellham

Banned
i know exactly how this is, although i got back into gaming recently after quitting an MMORPG (i don't consider my time spent on that to be gaming in the same sense as being into video games).

MMORPGs may be cheaper ($12 a month instead of $200-$500 a month) but they are far greater productivity killers.

Oh but anyway I consider myself a game collector first and foremost, so that might be the real problem.
 

Safe Bet

Banned
Ghost Leviathan said:
I follow the games industry very closely, having been a gamer since about 1990. I must read GAF every day, for like an hour or two at least.

And yet, I don't actually play games anymore. I never miss a day without reading the games news, and the developments, and the sales and what's coming out - and yet I don't spend any time playing games.

What the...? I am now making an effort to switch to playing games over reading about them, but I am interested - has this happened to you guys?
...most developers don't play games anymore either, so no worries.

;)
 
Same effect here... though I did get away to play through Zelda... now I'm sitting here again, but at least I've been playing my DS... leveling up in FFV right now...
 
Agreed, reading gaming news/posting in gaming forums can be more addictive than actually playing games... while I definitely still play games, I probably (okay, almost certainly) do spend more time reading (and sometimes writing) about them than I do playing... :) I noticed it a while ago. Heck, I finally started posting at NeoGAF a few months back because I just got too bored by the rate of posting/actual interesting gaming posts at the other forums I go to... :)
 

Striek

Member
Until I got banned from GAF in Jan. I probably spent 3x as much time here as playing games. Now its more like 1/2. The break got me interested in gaming again.

GAF has screwed up my love of alot of games though. I'm very picky and have no times for games that don't engage me immediately, whereas I used to finish nearly everything I'm now finishing ~15% of what I buy.
 

Dragmire

Member
That's because in GAF world, every game is bad so we spend all our time talking about when a good game is finally going to come out. Which happens maybe once a year.
 
Dragmire said:
That's because in GAF world, every game is bad so we spend all our time talking about when a good game is finally going to come out. Which happens maybe once a year.

It's a big problem tho. You might find yourself buying a game that only certain people on GAF or the majority of people in a thread say is good. You'll feel that the opinions here are most important, more important than outside reviews and opinions when informed about a game/system. That in return, stereotypes what type of games are bought by many here. That's why when something very unexpected happens(i.e. Wii becoming a run out success or Final Fantasy 12's high sales) you end up with 25 page threads about it. It might be strange to those HERE but to the outside world, who's playing these games and not spending hours on board, they had a much different gaming taste.
 

GSG Flash

Nobody ruins my family vacation but me...and maybe the boy!
It was the same for me, I basically stopped playing games and spent most of my video game time discussing them, even though I have FF 12 and haven't beaten it yet, but I've relived the good old days these past two days with Twilight Princess, I just had a 12 hour straight marathon of TP and yesterday I played TP for 9 hours straight, I don't think I've played a game for that many hours straight since FF 9.
 

Dhx

Member
I enjoy discussing the industry more than playing most games. But then again, I'm strongly considering going the finance route in this industry at this point, thus I may be an aberration.
 

Norse

Member
I have over 4700 achievement pts on 360 but I game far less thatn I used to...spend more time looking at game news, reviews, game hype, and these blasted forums than I spend playing games...I have to get in the mood to play games now...most of my gaming is rare time when in the mood to play hockey 2k7 online against nephews. I did finish oblivion main story portion though....would play more if there were more old school side scroller shooters on these power house consoles we own these days......returned my ps3 to the store today as well...just not interested enough in playing so why the need of multiple consoles?
 
Ghost Leviathan said:
I follow the games industry very closely, having been a gamer since about 1990. I must read GAF every day, for like an hour or two at least.

And yet, I don't actually play games anymore. I never miss a day without reading the games news, and the developments, and the sales and what's coming out - and yet I don't spend any time playing games.

What the...? I am now making an effort to switch to playing games over reading about them, but I am interested - has this happened to you guys?

I'm pretty much in the same position as you, I'm a games info junkie.

A friend sent me a link to a new games news site today and damn! It rules!

I can read on that site in a few minutes what used to take hours hunting down elsewhere online.

I haven't seen it posted elsewhere yet, so I guess it's pretty new.

The link is http://www.gameboar.com
 
The answer is simple.. You must be a sony or mircosoft fan.

if you owned a nintendo system you'd still be playing because nintendo is fun.. Am i right!? BOOYA! ha

Nahh i'm joking!

i'm close to that as well. i'm interested in the developments of the industry, sales, companies and their stock prices.

single player console games don't interest me as much anymore. the biggest games that have hooked me are multiplauyer online.

diablo 2, wow, everquest etc.

haven't been hooked on many console games the last few years.

smash brothers melee, perfect dark/goldeneye are the console games i put the most hours into though
 

mikeGFG

Banned
SpinningBirdKick said:
I'm pretty much in the same position as you, I'm a games info junkie.

A friend sent me a link to a new games news site today and damn! It rules!

I can read on that site in a few minutes what used to take hours hunting down elsewhere online.

I haven't seen it posted elsewhere yet, so I guess it's pretty new.

The link is http://www.gameboar.com

:lol
 
I think that the interest in gaming doesn't die (hence the attachment to NeoGAF), but we all go through dry spells where we just don't feel like playing. For example, I didn't sit down and concentrate on finishing Halo 2 until a few weeks ago, because when I bought it, I was in one of my gaming funks. My interest level goes up and down, depending on how things are at work, things with the wife, etc. It's like for alot of things (music, reading, movies)
 

Flo_Evans

Member
I don't know the scientific name for your problem but I am sure there is one.

Why don't you find a new hobby, like knitting?
 

drohne

hyperbolically metafictive
i don't think my interest in gaf has anything to do with videogames, fundamentally -- it's just a weird habit.

though i've been playing lots of games these last few months.
 

Angelcurio

Member
I used to have the same problem a couple of months ago. I could barely turn on any of my consoles. But then i met Okami, and God, i couldnt stop playing it, it helped to remind me how awesome and fun games can be. Playing Gran Turismo 4 and Zelda Master Quest while my copy of Zelda: TP arrives someday (stupid stores backordering the game) >_>
 

quaere

Member
When I was really into computers in the 90s I read the industry news every day, each review of new hardware, and discussed it on message boards. Not because I was going to buy any of it - I couldn't afford much of anything at that time - but because it was fun being on the cutting edge of something up and coming and exciting.

That's what the gaming industry is for me now. It still feels fresh, that every month is going to bring greater developments never seen before. Plus what other topic can fans get the kind of attention NeoGAF does? A movie star or Roger Ebert posting on a film board would be a once in a lifetime kind of thing - yet we have the gaming media and major developers reading and posting all the time.

It doesn't hurt that I like playing a game every once in a while either...
 

Drakken

Member
Yeah, join the club. :(

SpinningBirdKick said:
I'm pretty much in the same position as you, I'm a games info junkie.

A friend sent me a link to a new games news site today and damn! It rules!

I can read on that site in a few minutes what used to take hours hunting down elsewhere online.

I haven't seen it posted elsewhere yet, so I guess it's pretty new.

The link is http://www.gameboar.com

:lol

That's hilarious.
 
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