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

M

Markster

Member
Man, I read NeoGAF, *******, and Evil Avatar every single day, AND I'm the president of my Uni's gaming club, and I still feel like I agree with the topic.

I sometimes feel if it weren't for the DS's ability to be a quick distraction for a few minutes, (been working slowly through Pheonix Wright for months now) I'd feel that I never just play.

But who am I kidding? I just ran a giant "come play games!" event. I guess I should just admit that I still play games.
 
M

mCACGj

Member
While it is sort of ironic, I really don't see this as a big deal. I mean, following the gaming industry can be a hobby just like video gaming itself.
 
S

Scrow

Still Tagged Accordingly
i was the same until i finished uni about a month or two ago, started working, and also picked up a Wii and Zelda:TP.
 
D

disappeared

Banned
Glad to see it's not just me. Yeah, I'll read up on games for several hours a day, every day, without touching a single game for a while. It's sad really. The internet ruined my hobby!
 
W

woxel1

Member
I considered this the other day... I'm so glad that there's a topic about it - drawing me deeper into the painful cycle :lol
 
M

Moderation Unlimited

Banned
GAF ruins gaming. All I do is read about stuff before it comes out and maintain unachievable expectations. Constantly hearing that everything sucks and that nothing is, or ever was, good has actually made me believe that (what I shall refer to as the OJ effect). The world we live in is sad...it's one where gamers kill gaming by sapping all the fun out of it with their cynicism and jadedness.

GAF is an unhealthy addiction. It's what we crave(tm).
GOD, WHY DO I WANT MORE GAF?!
 
C

chesspieceface

Member
not there yet with gaming, but I recently realized that's exactly the case with movies... I read about movie news/spoilers/reviews all the time, but I probably went to the movies only 5 or 6 times this year ...
 
H

HomerSimpson-Man

Member
Lapsed said:
GAF is a text MMORPG.
Click to expand...

Well holy crap, best analogy for this place.

The amount of time I spend here easily supersedes my actually gaming.

Once in a while I click my name....the amount of posts I'm contributed here is just obscene, truly just overkill, and a part of me will always constantly ask "WTF?"

This place...this atmosphere...it's an evil alluring addiction that won't let go!
 
C

Cubsfan23

Banned
It's the combination of getting older, the internet overexposing games, and being able to buy shit whenever you want. When you were little you probably had to wait until birthdays and christmas to get new games, so the experiences weren't taken for granted.
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
I do the same, though this is because the window for me to play games is an hour or two at night, while the window for me to read about them is on and off all day.
 
K

Knox

Member
I've done this, usually while playing an MMO which I don't even count as gaming anymore. It's not too weird, all the gamers I know do this to some extent, we talk about other games all the time but they don't play much outside of DS games and WoW.

However, if you've gone through this holiday season without playing anything, you should probably just quit.
 
S

Safe Bet

Banned
Wanted to say thank you for the multi-tasking pro-tip.

Thanks to my new Reciever with multipule inputs, I'm playing FFXII on the PS2 while refreashing GAF every so often on my PS3.

Nice...

I can do the same while playing 360 games but I gotta find away to do that while playing PS3 games since you can't 'browse' and play at the same time...

:(
 
B

Blablurn

Member
Uh, it happened to me too. I spend hours of reading about games but i dont have much interest in playng most of them.
Sometimes I play some Ouendan or EBA, but thats it.
 
D

disappeared

Banned
Cubsfan23 said:
It's the combination of getting older, the internet overexposing games, and being able to buy shit whenever you want. When you were little you probably had to wait until birthdays and christmas to get new games, so the experiences weren't taken for granted.
Click to expand...

That's very true. And even if you managed to scrape up enough money to buy a game outside of a birthday or holiday, it was a treasured occasion and you'd make sure to play the hell out of whatever you bought.
 
P

Parl

Member
Got the same thing too. I love the gaming industry to bits, but I barely play games. I used to be the opposite when younger.
 
S

SSGMUN10000

Connoisseur Of Tedium
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?
Click to expand...


Yup Im the same way. I read GAF daily but yet dont play much games. Heck I even read here more than I post. I sometimes sit back and enjoy the fanboys go at it.
 
D

Diablohead

Member
I read about nearly every game posted on gaf and get excited about a few of them but am never able to play those games because of two reasons: lack the console it's on and lack of money to buy said game / console at the time.

I realy want to play the new zelda but I doubt I can get my hands on the cube version untill easter , I also want to realy play motorstorm but im in the uk so LOL to that.
 
P

Provider

Member
GhaleonEB said:
I do the same, though this is because the window for me to play games is an hour or two at night, while the window for me to read about them is on and off all day.
Click to expand...

I 'work' 45 hours a week and I spend most of them reading GAF
 
J

jluedtke

Member
The same thing happened to me a couple years ago. I noticed that I was reading and writing about games far more than I was playing them. As silly as it sounds, I actually had to make a concious effort to get back into playing them. Now I'd say it's about even.
 
X

Xrenity

Member
Really though, I only play handhelds and the AAA titles.

Zelda: Twilight Princess really got me hooked again though. Awesome game, and can't wait for Mario galaxy and assassin's creed.
 
P

plagiarize

Banned
BobJustBob said:
I blame my job. I have eight hours a day to read game forums but I can't game for eight hours every day.
Click to expand...
heh. that'd be me too. i've been gaming a lot more in the past year though than i did last year... finishing a lot more games too. not really sure of the difference.

i think the fact is, that theres more games and developements that it's fun to talk about (both good and bad news) than there are games worth playing.
 
B

billysea

Banned
Same here. I feel like I am addicted to follow the game industury.

I also think those of us that are like this are much better than those so-called analysis.
 
W

WrathOfOtaibah

Banned
Its been a while since I played games.

I still enjoy reading the gaming discussion because of Nintendo fanboys. I love how they have aneurysms over any slight, no matter how insignificant, against the Wii or DS. I find this more entertaining than playing games at the moment.
 
Â

∀ Narayan

Member
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
Click to expand...
Good god.
 
T

TheIkariWarrior

Member
I spend about 95% of the time I could be *playing* videogames, reading/talking/chatting/writing about videogames, and only about 5% of my free time actually playing games, usually. however, Zelda Twilight Princess and Wii Sports has changed that over the past few weeks :D
 
F

Fallout-NL

Member
My problem is that I got really picky about my videogames. Only true quality like Gears of War is capable to entertain me. It's just so rare that I spend a lot more time looking for good games than actually playing them.
 
SpinningBirdKick

SpinningBirdKick

Banned
I made a real effort over the weekend to get back into playing games again, I decided to dig out some of the old consoles from the cupboard to replay some classic titles.

So I have mostly been playing:

Sega Rally (Saturn)
WipeOut (PS1)
Crazy Taxi (DreamCast)
Wave Race (N64)
Mario Kart (SNES)

Pretty much all driving stuff and all titles that can be played in small bite sized chunks.

Pulling off a good exit to the final corner on Sega Rally still had me grinning from ear to ear after all this time. :D

I think the problem with new games is that they seem to require such a large time investment to complete or get anywhere these days. It's daunting even getting round to starting them with you don't have much free time.

Even though I had great fun over the weekend, it still didn't stop me firing up www.gameboar.com and www.neogaf.com as soon as I switched on the PC though :lol
 
M

{Mike}

Banned
Funny thing is I like more to talk about videogames than actually playing them. I do play many, but it's really time consuming. Reading stories and writing them is the best ^_^ The past few weeks have been heavily retro for me.
 
C

charlequin

Banned
BobJustBob said:
I blame my job. I have eight hours a day to read game forums but I can't game for eight hours every day.
Click to expand...

That's really the problem for lots of people, I think. GAF is easier to goof off on at work than videogames are, and msot people don't have enough time because work sucks. :-/

My case is helped by the fact that my wife also is a gamer, and most importantly that we don't watch TV (except from DVDs) -- most people could probably squeeze in at least 5-10 hours of gaming a week if they cut television out completely.
 
B

BojTrek

Banned
I probably spend more time on the forums and reading gaming news.

Here are my reasons:

- I am 36 years old, married, 2 daughters (3 years and 1 year old)
- I drive the girls to the sitter, work, pick the girls up from the sitter 5 days are week.
- After work it is dinner, baths, playtime, and get the girls to bed.
- I'm tired!

After that... I am beat... so for some reason it is easier to sit at the computer over loading a disc in X-Box 360 and sitting on the couch.

I play "real-life" basketball one day a week and cards with the buddies one other night. So, that takes away time to game.

I normally play X-Box Live games because they can be played in quick bursts. I own the following games on X-Box 360

NBA2K7
NHL2K7
Ninja Gaiden
Gears of War
Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter
Burger King - All three (have not loaded them into the X-Box 360)
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
Dead Rising
Need For Speed: Most Wanted
Tiger Woods 2007

I have not loaded NHL2K7 yet or even played a full round on Tiger Woods. I play Gears of War for about 20 minutes online. GRAW is only played when a friend comes over and we play people online.

I really enjoy Lego Star Wars II because I can play a level or two when the girls nap or before going to bed on the weekends. Plus I am addicted and want to get 100% in the game.

For me it is a problem playing long story games or games that take too long to get to certain save points or goals. I am just too damn tired and cannot get motivated to play video games.
 
S

speculawyer

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. 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?
Click to expand...

Guilty as charged. :lol

I actually call it my 'meta-game' . . . . my game about gaming.

I do make the info productive by investing in game companies.
 
S

speculawyer

Member
Lapsed said:
GAF is a text MMORPG.
Click to expand...

OMG! He's right. :lol Well, except that it isn't all text based.

And to think that I actually had pride in the fact that I won't play MMORPGs . . . . it turns out I was playing one all that time.
 
C

cs060mk2

Member
Yes I know what you mean.

And playing with a silly stick in front of a TV can not change my mind. Todays consoles and games are crap.
 
S

speculawyer

Member
Considering all these people that read about games but don't actually play them makes me question a lot of the advice that read here. :lol

I bet there are people here who fiercely argue views on games and game systems that they haven't even played. That is kinda pathetic.
 
G

gameboya

Member
people gaf because you no longer have to play video games to know everything about them. hey don't waste your time with "x" game it sucks! omg this game PWNS, you do this and you WIN!!
 
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