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I think that this will be my last generation as a gamer

I have heard this tip from others. Just to let go for a while of gaming, totally. And then come back in 2-3 months vith a vengeance. It might be something for me actually.
At the risk of missing out on the small release of a great 2D game that will be immediately drowned out by the massive noise most AAA games make?

:)

:(
 
  1. All Mega Man games before the strategy ones
  2. All Zelda games prior to the GC era.
  3. All Final Fantasy games before X.
  4. Simple fighting games (I loved Mortal Kombat 2009)
  5. Simple platformers with tight controls
  6. Ys is my favourite series while it is still old school and I adore, same for Legend of Heroes
  7. Touch my Katamari Damacy and quirky games like Lumines on my Vita
  8. Games like ICO and Journey

I hate long games with bloated strategy requirements or ten hours of guidance to "get" out how to play.

tons of games in those categories being released on a wide variety of platforms including 360/ps3, and tons will be released in the future on a wide variety of platforms including ps4 :p
 
Play these games in the order they appear and you will be cured

Bayonetta_box_artwork.png


PG_Vanquish_box_artwork.png


Metal_Gear_Rising_Revengeance_box_artwork.png
 
That being said, I'll have to politely disagree on one point you made. I love that games are getting longer and longer. A good Skyrim, MMO, Far Cry, Dark Souls, Xenoblades, etc., etc. will always be a purchase that I will never and can never regret.

Couldn't agree more (though my gaming time is shrinking sadly). I also like how USUALLY if a game is short, it will have some sort of lasting appeal/replay value.
 
I always enjoyed games. I have about 300 (mostly digital though). While not that many, it still shows that it's a hobby that I invest in. With today's games focusing on FPS, sports and other shooters, I haven't had fun with new games in a while.

I don't want to turn this into a a graphics whore thread nor a PS4 bash-fest, but the Sony presentation didn't help at all to get me back as a full time gamer. I probably play games 5% and browse gaf the other 95% of all my gaming time.

The thing is that I mostly replay older games, I haven't finished a new game since I bought my Vita last year. I have this huge disconnect with today's games. Hell, I even beat Super Ghouls' n' Ghosts without cheats when I was younger and could do it again today anytime.
The last physical game I bought was FFXIII-2 and I stopped after 15 minutes of play, so much bloat, time and energy to put into something that I can't have much fun with.
I miss variety and short games from the PS2 era. But for me the SNES era was the best. Super Metroid was 4 hours most, but quite an experience.

I'm probably just getting old with nostalgia goggles, but I'm seriously thinking of quitting (new) gaming.
Check out indie games and the Steam store on your way out.

It might just turn you around.


AAA console gaming is pretty narrow these days, but overall gaming is more diverse than ever etc
 
If you're into older games and gameplay, then play old systems. I don't mean that in a sarcastic way either. I recently got back into the original Xbox and got a flashcart for my Megadrive. There is always a plethora of great games you will have missed out on. And going back to games you loved never gets old. San Andreas and Battlefront 2 on the Xbox will remain amazing forever to me.

You don't have to invest in a new generation to continue being a gamer, and if you do then there are tons of games out there for the purist. Any platinum title, demon's souls and dark souls are the first place to start. Or try quirky stuff like Catherine. You just need to do your research and take a punt. It's a fallacy that it's just dudebro and fps games out there. It's likely to the same way for the coming generation.

Even if you take a break from gaming, I can't understand the notion of declaring yourself out of gaming for good. There's always a community out there for the things you're interested in.
 
I always enjoyed games. I have about 300 (mostly digital though). While not that many, it still shows that it's a hobby that I invest in. With today's games focusing on FPS, sports and other shooters, I haven't had fun with new games in a while.
Stop playing mainstream games on lowest-common-denominator platforms and just focus on PC gaming. There is a huge range of games from all genres, regions and time eras for you to enjoy.

The indie scene produces innovative games that feel like nothing you've ever played before like every other week. You get 90% of the mainstream, hyper-polished blockbusters too, if you ever get that craving.

Most importantly, a healthy middle-ground of medium-budget, creative titles from B studios exists on the PC, which died a looooong time ago on consoles.

You can then use emulation and play your old console games at higher resolutions, too. It really is the best of all worlds.

Spend $400 now on a PC now and you will be happiest you've ever been as a gamer.
 
I was having a similar conversation with a friend of mine last night. We are both in our early 30's, and we were starting to sound like old geezers missing the good ol' days.
I miss the days when my friends and I had a blast at Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat because we had really fun and close matches. Several years later I go online and get my ass handed to me most of the time, because everyone seems to play in "pissed off mode".
I remember having really fun gun fights with all of my friends and family while playing first person shooters in split-screen or system link mode. Then I go online and get frustrated quickly, because everyone uses the cheapest tactics possible.
I used to think voice chatting in games was an awesome idea, up until I started to hear strangers talking crap, whining, and generally being annoying.
I used to like the idea of expansion packs for games, but now that has been replaced with "Season Passes", micro-transactions, and on-disc DLC.
I still remember the days of entering cheat codes to unlock cool secrets in games. You barely see things like that anymore, nowadays you have to pay to unlock anything.

I basically just blame the Internet for changing games around (for better or worse). Some love the way things are now, but to me, it's turned "friendly competition" into a professional and hostile sport. Some people might say I just "suck" at video games. It's probably that, but many people online tend to take their competitive gaming WAY too seriously. It's also annoying that most games are competitive in the first place.
My biggest gripe about games now is how "disposable" they feel. You spend $60 on a game with a $20 season pass, and the game feels practically worthless a few months later. We are in this ADHD generation where we have to play as many games as quickly as possible because game developers are churning out games faster than anyone has time to possibly play. I would jump for joy if the video game market crashed and took a time out so I can catch up on my existing catalog of games without feeling guilty about ignoring many more on the horizon. It has gotten to the point now that I am so overwhelmed, it doesn't feel like I am playing games anymore, it feels like I am working for them. My problem is most likely that I read about the industry way too much. I would probably be better living under a rock and focusing on my existing library instead of constantly hearing announcements of what's in the works. This has been my hobby for close to 30 years now, and it's hard to just walk away from it, but I probably should take a vacation from gaming myself.
 
  1. All Mega Man games before the strategy ones
  2. All Zelda games prior to the GC era.
  3. All Final Fantasy games before X.
  4. Simple fighting games (I loved Mortal Kombat 2009)
  5. Simple platformers with tight controls
  6. Ys is my favourite series while it is still old school and I adore, same for Legend of Heroes
  7. Touch my Katamari Damacy and quirky games like Lumines on my Vita
  8. Games like ICO and Journey

I hate long games with bloated strategy requirements or ten hours of guidance to "get" out how to play.

I'd suggest playing the Souls games, Dokuro (bloated on content, though), Tokyo Jungle, and Gravity Rush if you haven't already.
 
As most of the commenters have already said: play different games. Stop wasting your time with those mainstream AAA games when they bore the shit out of you. They started to feel the same to me years ago and I just turned to other kinds of games. Indie, Souls-games, Platinum games etc. People mentioned all of this already. Getting into Dark Souls in particular was a pivotal moment that made me realize that I haven't had as much fun playing games in the last 10 years as I used to have when I was a kid. This game re-ignited my gaming spark! It brought back the fun I had when I started playing videogames. It was as important to me as playing Metroid 2 on the Gameboy.
 
I was having a similar conversation with a friend of mine last night. We are both in our early 30's, and we were starting to sound like old geezers missing the good ol' days.
I miss the days when my friends and I had a blast at Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat because we had really fun and close matches. Several years later I go online and get my ass handed to me most of the time, because everyone seems to play in "pissed off mode".
I remember having really fun gun fights with all of my friends and family while playing first person shooters in split-screen or system link mode. Then I go online and get frustrated quickly, because everyone uses the cheapest tactics possible.
I used to think voice chatting in games was an awesome idea, up until I started to hear strangers talking crap, whining, and generally being annoying.
I used to like the idea of expansion packs for games, but now that has been replaced with "Season Passes", micro-transactions, and on-disc DLC.
I still remember the days of entering cheat codes to unlock cool secrets in games. You barely see things like that anymore, nowadays you have to pay to unlock anything.

I basically just blame the Internet for changing games around (for better or worse). Some love the way things are now, but to me, it's turned "friendly competition" into a professional and hostile sport. Some people might say I just "suck" at video games. It's probably that, but many people online tend to take their competitive gaming WAY too seriously. It's also annoying that most games are competitive in the first place.
My biggest gripe about games now is how "disposable" they feel. You spend $60 on a game with a $20 season pass, and the game feels practically worthless a few months later. We are in this ADHD generation where we have to play as many games as quickly as possible because game developers are churning out games faster than anyone has time to possibly play. I would jump for joy if the video game market crashed and took a time out so I can catch up on my existing catalog of games without feeling guilty about ignoring many more on the horizon. It has gotten to the point now that I am so overwhelmed, it doesn't feel like I am playing games anymore, it feels like I am working for them. My problem is most likely that I read about the industry way too much. I would probably be better living under a rock and focusing on my existing library instead of constantly hearing announcements of what's in the works. This has been my hobby for close to 30 years now, and it's hard to just walk away from it, but I probably should take a vacation from gaming myself.

If games mean nothing to you because you feel you have to buy the next big thing all the time I think that's a problem with you and not devs. If you feel guilty for working on a backlog then again that's you and not devs. Actually just about everything in this post sounds like something you need to work on and not actually something wrong with the industry.
 
Hey OP have you played Dark Souls yet? That game made me feel like I was playing video games again for the first time.

Like everyone else has said, check out Steam. It has something for everyone and tons of incredibly solid indie games.

It sounds like your main problem is AAA fatigue, and I'll agree most of the big budget games that have come out are crappy sequels or franchises that are uninteresting. There are alternatives to this, you just have to look around and maybe try a different genre of game.
 
With today's games focusing on FPS, sports and other shooters, I haven't had fun with new games in a while.

There's more variety and more games being released than there's ever been, it's factually irrefutable. If you have the impression that there's only a few genres being made, you need to broaden your horizon. Check out the PC indie market, try handheld gaming or perhaps dig into the iPad library.

Sure, some blockbuster titles seem to cater to the same tastes all the time and yes, I'd love to see more midlevel creative productions like an Anachronox, Psychonauts or an Oddworld game, but that doesn't change how much choice is out there today.
 
It's okay, this website has Off-Topic too. But seriously, I can't count how many people have made these melodramatic threads then stuck around the Gaming discussion forever.
 
Stop playing big-budget AAA games.

Play Dark Souls, enjoy the vast library of Indie gaming on PC, play Minecraft.

There is a lot more variety now than there ever was in the history of gaming.
 
Buy a 3DS, play some Phoenix Wright and Ghost Trick and 999, be content.

I've been gaming for almost 23 years now, and I'm still finding plenty of new things to play. As others have said, you just have to be willing (and financially able) to branch out, try smaller, quirkier titles from time to time. The Zeldas and the Resident Evils of the world are still fun (if you take them on their own terms), but there's merit in the less-known titles, like Deadly Premonition or the Layton games.
 
I know how this guy feels 100%, I came in during the N64 era and can't say that lately I've been bragging about games like I used to. There are a lot of FPS games coming out for the consoles which I didn't notice until I went on GameStop and noticed that shooter games are at 385, sports at 531, and action at 984. I don't mind so many sports games and definitely action games, but that shooter category is way to high compared to others.

Not to mention that I haven't seen a game I've wanted for a console this whole year. Dead Island Riptide and Bioshock Infinite looks good but they're both shooters. On handhelds though I see tons of different types of games and it even has a lot of JRPG's like I like.

So I kinda get where this guy is coming from and even I've been thinking if I should quit console gaming and just go full on handheld gaming and my animation work.

#Gamingwoes
 
I always enjoyed games. I have about 300 (mostly digital though). While not that many, it still shows that it's a hobby that I invest in. With today's games focusing on FPS, sports and other shooters, I haven't had fun with new games in a while.

I totally agree.

There are just a few games that I really enjoyed this generation on PS3 (Demon's / Dark Souls / Spec Ops The Line / Batman Arkham Asylum / Deus Ex HR / Saints Row 2+3 / Yakuza 3+4 and all sorts of HD collections featuring games from PS2 generation) - and I own 100 PS3 games in total. 100. On Wii there were quite some more, especially adventures which I really enjoyed. Still in total it's depressing, especially all those similar multiplayers. Capture the flag. Team Deathmatch. Always almost exactly the same but with different skins. And those multiplayer modes will be abandoned after a few months.

Then you also got patches here and patches there. And next generation (PS4 in that case) looks like the same, but even with more shiny but the same mass-compatible gameplay. I'm also thinking about going Wii U only or even not going to next generation at all. I'm just sick of this shit. And on top of all this, they even ruin my favorite franchises. Hitman. Tomb Raider. Metal Gear Solid. Resident Evil. SOCOM. Silent Hill.

It's so depressing and I think this route is going to lead into a videogame crash of some sorts. I can't really believe that this many people enjoy the same crap with different skins and maps for multiple generations and it will go on forever.
 
just wait for wasteland 2, shadowrun returns and project eternity etc.
the near future actually looks pretty neat with all this gems. :3
I know your feel though. the sony conference was just another confirmation on how fucked up the mainstream market continues to be. -.-
fuck all this "social"network mass-appealing bullshit!
 
I know how this guy feels 100%, I came in during the N64 era and can't say that lately I've been bragging about games like I used to. There are a lot of FPS games coming out for the consoles which I didn't notice until I went on GameStop and noticed that shooter games are at 385, sports at 531, and action at 984. I don't mind so many sports games and definitely action games, but that shooter category is way to high compared to others.

Not to mention that I haven't seen a game I've wanted for a console this whole year. Dead Island Riptide and Bioshock Infinite looks good but they're both shooters. On handhelds though I see tons of different types of games and it even has a lot of JRPG's like I like.

So I kinda get where this guy is coming from and even I've been thinking if I should quit console gaming and just go full on handheld gaming and my animation work.

#Gamingwoes
Have you read this thread? You don't have to play shooters, sports games or those monthly-released Assassin's Creed games (might as well be a genre by know). Not even on consoles.
 
Hey OP have you played Dark Souls yet? That game made me feel like I was playing video games again for the first time.

Like everyone else has said, check out Steam. It has something for everyone and tons of incredibly solid indie games.

It sounds like your main problem is AAA fatigue, and I'll agree most of the big budget games that have come out are crappy sequels or franchises that are uninteresting. There are alternatives to this, you just have to look around and maybe try a different genre of game.

I bought Demon's souls, and is one of the most frustrating games I had the displeasure to play. Bayonetta was great though.
 
Some seriously jaded gamers in this thread. Stray away from big budget mainstream games and there are plenty of great games and genres to explore. Also, invest in a DS, it's like playing a handheld SNES.
 
OP I refuse to believe there are no games you have enjoyed recently. Your just not looking in the right places or know about them. Give a list of the games you enjoy so we can help.
 
I bought Demon's souls, and is one of the most frustrating games I had the displeasure to play. Bayonetta was great though.
You should've stuck with it until it clicks. It would've totally gotten you the same sense of enjoyment as playing/finishing Super Ghosts'n Goblins without cheats back in the day.

Give those games another try and get Dark Souls.
 
How can you see a for of entertainment as something you'll quit at some future time? I lump games in with tv shows, films, and books.

I can never picture myself saying "You know, I think I'll stop watching movies in 6 years"

I mean, maybe I will indeed stop watching movies in 6 years, but it isn't something predetermined, it would be because it's something I naturally became less interested in and stopped doing
 
I bought Demon's souls, and is one of the most frustrating games I had the displeasure to play. Bayonetta was great though.

I'd still give Dark Souls a shot. It's slightly tougher but because of the semi-frequent checkpoints in the game, it's much less frustrating when you die.
 
I can definitely see where the OP is coming from. I have tried playing games like Black Ops 1/2 and other modern shooters. Very few have the same quality as older games in the same genre.Call of Duty 2 will remain my favorite army style FPS for online play.Story lines are more weak and poor in comparison to older titles with very few exceptions. Indies and F2P titles(eg PS2) have managed to capture my attention more than any other game that I have played recently.Somehow the devs of those games (often a one man dev team) have actually been able to put the fun back into the games and very often, pieces of their character and visions (eg Braid).
 
Definitely consider going the digital market of PSN/XBLA/eShop/Steam/etc. Not as expensive, not as long and demanding, tons of variety and creativity thrown in... you can't really go all that wrong. The "short and sweet" you desire is certainly there.
 
Retro gaming is a joy in itself and something I gravitate towards from time to time because keeping up with new releases can be a strain on your time and your wallet. Combine retro gaming with a handheld and I think you'll begin to rediscover some of the joys of gaming...but if you don't, meh. You're human and your tastes in things will change, perhaps you're out of gaming and need an entirely new hobby to fill that spot.
 
I bought Demon's souls, and is one of the most frustrating games I had the displeasure to play. Bayonetta was great though.

Should still check out Dark Souls if you can, it streamlined the majority of the more 'annoying' elements of the game, while still staying true to its core elements.

Honestly the only thing that bothers me about this generation is the death of console JRPGs, there are very few and handhelds have some great ones but they never felt quite as memorable to me. I think this generation has the biggest variety in games in as long as I can remember. There are both indie and high budget games in just about every genre with highly positive fan and critical reception.
 
You're human and your tastes in things will change, perhaps you're out of gaming and need an entirely new hobby to fill that spot.

Yep. I have thought this way. Have work out and watching football (soccer) on TV as big hobbies. Might start watching movies instead of gaming.
 
OP, you know why you used to play more? Because there was no GAF.

Stop browsing, start playing. Varity is huge these days.

Miss the old days when we were playing games instead of talking about them.

And yes, I know I'm writing here as well now. However, I have lowered my forum browsing immensly the past few months and now play and enjoy games more than ever before.
 
Retro gaming is a joy in itself and something I gravitate towards from time to time because keeping up with new releases can be a strain on your time and your wallet. Combine retro gaming with a handheld and I think you'll begin to rediscover some of the joys of gaming...but if you don't, meh. You're human and your tastes in things will change, perhaps you're out of gaming and need an entirely new hobby to fill that spot.

as I see it, the OP is more talking about a general frustration with the current developement of the gaming industry? is that about right?
I mean sure you can stick to the old games but as I said there is still some good stuff hidden behind all the shit which is actually worth checking out + differs from the old games in a good way, like they really improved instead of fucking things up
 
Am I weird if I say that none of these games interest me the slightest?
Damn...I wasn't interested in Dead Space 3, RE6 or AC3 either. It's depressing.

I wasn't interested in the first two at all, and had my doubts about the 3rd. I tried the demo for MGR:R and I preordered instantly. Then, I went back and bought Vanquish yesterday while picking up Metal Gear. I'd say try em out and see of you become interested.
 
OP I am totally in the same boat as you. 100%

PS2 was the last great generation but the bloat was setting in then.

I think it might be that neither of us are a "PC gamer". Since the 360 and the west was so dominant, PC'ness has become the prevailant games genre. By that I mean generic shooters that the PC has suffered since Doom.

PC devs need to clear off back to PC.
 
I often find myself being bored with recent AAA games but I can always find something that interests me, old or new. I don't think I'll ever quit gaming. Nowadays we have it all. We have state of the art AAA games, and we can buy old games and consoles on Ebay. There HAS to be something you'll like if you look hard enough.
 
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