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Retiring from "Hardcore" gaming - Advice?

Sounds like you just like buying shit you aren't going to play :lol

Honestly, just stop being stupid with your money. Nearly every game will decrease in price. Wait on it. Avoiding the shitty hype threads of "Greatest Game Ever!!!" has done wonders for me. I want to play RDR, but I can easily wait on it. Same with LP2, Same with BC2, Same with nearly every game I've been getting this gen. Only exception I made in the past 2 years was for importing the Cave Shmups titles. Not buying shit day 1...you realize something after the hype past. It wasn't worth the price:lol
 
I rarely buy new games now.
Between my DS, Steam and my Xbox there is always something for me to play.
And if I want something new to play I'll borrow it from a friend.

The last big budget 60$ game I bought was Borderlands, but the majority of the money I spend on gaming is divided up amongst DLC, DS and cheap old games. I'm pretty sure I'll end up buying Alan Wake, but the only Day One Sure Thing for me right now is Crackdown2.l
 
I've stopped buying games.
Only 2 retail games in the last two months, when normally I'd buy 10-20 a month.

PS3 broke and I was like, you know what? I'm pretty much done. My favorite years were SNES and PSX. I haven't been as entertained since. Just glad I have a DS.
 
I have been strongly considering lately just going through my entire collection of current gen and PS2 stuff and selling everything I haven't played yet (sans a couple I will play soon), then just re-buying or renting them again when (if) I actually want to play them. Terrible decision financially speaking, but the reboot would feel kind of nice mentally.
 
Beezy said:
How about you smarten up and stop buying games new? Or just get a fucking gamefly account?
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Gamefly for sure. I was in the same boat as you, spending a shitload of money on games I wouldn't get to. Aside from a couple of sports games, and some cheap used games, I have not bought a single new release for about a year and a half.

I also only get about 2 hours a day maximum to play, sometimes a little more on the weekend. That translates to about 15 hours a week for gaming. You could effectively gamefly every new release (the 'big' games) and keep up with them that way. I've noticed that I hardly ever put a game back into the disc tray once I have finished the main story mode and taken it out of the console.

What I'm left with are situations like this, for example; Splinter Cell: Conviction. I plowed through the single player in 3 sittings. Make a mental note that you'd like to get into the co-op or replay it at some point in time. Don't sit on the game thinking you're gonna play it again any time soon. Just send it back right away and then keep an eye out for it once you can get it for under $20.00.

So, while you are 'quitting hardcore gaming' because expenses, life, and sleep get in your way, I'll be taking my $20.00 per month gamefly fee and receive Alan Wake and Red Dead Redemption next Tuesday.
 
thefil said:
*edit* A key I have learned: don't buy a game unless you actually plan on playing it today
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Mix a little CAGness into that. If you have a backlog, buy no new games unless it is heavily discounted. That way, hopefully, you'll be able to make positive progress on your backlog and save money.
 
Thanks for the responses/advice so far.

To clarify, it's not so much money issues as it is time issues. I don't buy games day 1 very often, and usually wait until price drop or sale to get games on my wishlist. I do usually buy games new, however.

More pressing is my collecting of games and completionist OCD tendencies for owning/finishing franchises. That's what this "retirement" is aimed to remedy. "Retirement" may be silly in this context, but I think it's still a suitable term because gaming has been a chief leisure activity for such a long time, sometimes with such attention that it became more work-like than leisure-like.

Also, out of curiosity, anyone make ever make the switch to handheld only gaming?
 
This is what I did.

Sell or trade-in all those games you have that you never will play. Limit yourself to one game a month. Never pay full price for a game, you do not have to play a game the day it comes out. Don't start a new game until you either finish the game you are currently playing or decide you have no interest in finishing it. If you decide you have no desire to finish the game you are currently playing get rid of it before getting a new one.
 
MattyGrovesOrMe said:
More pressing is my collecting of games and completionist OCD tendencies for owning/finishing franchises. That's what this "retirement" is aimed to remedy. "Retirement" may be silly in this context, but I think it's still a suitable term because gaming has been a chief leisure activity for such a long time, sometimes with such attention that it became more work-like than leisure-like.
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Understandable. As others have said, focus on the big games that you know you'll have fun with (and/or are heavily into the franchise) to focus on, then. No need to ruin a big game because you're burnt out on gaming from forcing yourself to play a bunch of little games.

MattyGrovesOrMe said:
Also, out of curiosity, anyone make ever make the switch to handheld only gaming?
Click to expand...

Pureauthor is one. I think some others have, too. Handhelds are RPG-land, though. I've been "stuck" (in a good way) on Dragon Quest V for months, as a result. Usually only get 15-45 minutes on the DS a night. :lol
 
hiryu said:
This is what I did.

Sell or trade-in all those games you have that you never will play. Limit yourself to one game a month. Never pay full price for a game, you do not have to play a game the day it comes out. Don't start a new game until you either finish the game you are currently playing or decide you have no interest in finishing it. If you decide you have no desire to finish the game you are currently playing get rid of it before getting a new one.
Click to expand...

This is sound advice and sort of underlines the entire shift from hardcore gamer to a more occasional one: You have to get rid of the collector mentality that many hardcore gamers have. It's useless to you at this point. My old videogame collection, which was enormous at one point, is long gone. My current one is small and manageable, and focuses more heavily on titles that I can enjoy with my family.

It's about prioritizing and remembering that you are not a collector anymore.

EDIT: As for 'handheld only'... Nah. Haven't been able to do that yet. Love my DS, my PC, and Wii too much to consider that an option. Who knows though. I have a strong feeling I might be far more handheld oriented next generation.
 
Quicksilva said:
Start playing world of warcraft.
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That will do the trick. The time of my life where I played less games was when I had a WoW subscription. Usually people only get bored of it after playing it intensively. If someone plays it only a couple hours per day, that game will last a long, long time, and won't feel the need to buy other games. At least that's what happened to me.
 
MattyGrovesOrMe said:
Anyone here ever successfully "retire" from being a hardcore player? Offer any strategies?
Click to expand...

Oh yea. Not sure I'd categorize myself as having been a hardcore gamer - no, screw that, I WAS a hardcore gamer. Always had to play most of the new games coming up, spent 10 hours a day playing WoW for far too long, all that stuff.

Strategies? Have a kid. That in itself will cut down your available gaming time considerably :D. A kid is also far more unpredictable and fun that any game out there.

I quite like the way I play games these days, too. I play when I feel like it only, don't need to play all the new hawt stuff, but still maintain a solid interest. I still played Dragon Age, Heavy Rain, ME2 and so on. Will get both Alan Wake and RDR this month, but I won't buy another game till I'm done with that and be happy with it. It's all about accepting that keeping up with everything is damn well impossible and just enjoying the time you actually have to put into games.
 
MattyGrovesOrMe said:
I've put in my time. I've been gaming for thirty years. I've spent thousands and thousands of dollars on the hobby. I've even made a career out of studying digital game culture.

But I can't keep up anymore. My backlog of unplayed games is now over 120 deep (across 5 systems and PC). Compound this with a wishlist of 30+ games to buy upon release. But I can only squeeze in about two hours of gaming a day, if I'm lucky, these days. Not to mention that additional life responsibilities keeps shrinking my leisure budget (stupid mortgage).

So I think I'm going to let the 'continue countdown' hit zero this time, save my quarters, holster my light guns, hang up my dualshocks, and ride Yoshi off into the sunset... yeah. It's time for retirement.

Of course, I can't leave things behind completely (I've still got pixels in my blood, like most here). But I need to dial back.

Anyone here ever successfully "retire" from being a hardcore player? Offer any strategies?

I'm thinking of limiting myself to 5-6 new game purchases a year, and not getting into franchises I'm not already invested in. I might unsubscribe from some of the mags I currently get, and limit the number of gaming sites I read (thus avoiding some of the hype for shiny new games I don't really need and have generally been underwhelming lately... though nothing hypes like GAF hypes, so maybe I'm screwed on that point).

Any other advice would be appreciated.

NOTE: Using "hardcore" here to define heavy investment in the medium, it doesn't (and shouldn't) describe any particular kind of game or game genre.
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I have done this...Owning my own business, having a wife, and now a baby has completely depleted my free time...I remember when I could devote 5 hours a day to gaming easy, but now am lucky if I can get 30 free minutes a day.

Here is what I did, got rid of my 360 and PS3, just too many good games that get released each month, and with heavy online gaming a big part of both system, I started feeling out of it, like when I could only jump on Live maybe once a week.

So get a DSi and a PSP, portable gaming is the only way, you can actually pick up right where you left off anywhere in your house, no loading screens, just jump right back into a game, and play for 20 minutes or whatever, then close screen, and pickup the next time.

I still get the urges to wanna play the new shit like Splinter Cell, Just Cause, Halo Reach, GOW, etc...But I get by.
 
donny2112 said:
Mix a little CAGness into that. If you have a backlog, buy no new games unless it is heavily discounted. That way, hopefully, you'll be able to make positive progress on your backlog and save money.
Click to expand...

This line of thinking is why I have a backlog of 100 games instead of a backlog of 10 or 20. Granted, the average amount I spent for each of those was probably under $5 or $6.
 
i've basically only played street fighter for the last year and a half. this saves me lots of money. on the other hand it probably takes more time than my old, broader gaming habit :/
 
I went through the same thing and honestly this is the best rule you could follow:

"Am I going to play it when I get home? No? Then no."

If you aren't going to play the game that day when you get back then don't buy it. It still surprises me how well this works.


animlboogy said:
Keeping up with new shit just dilutes any affection I have for the hobby.
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This x 100
 
animlboogy said:
You're going from ultra obsessed to simply hardcore. Casual types tend to get a couple games a year and play only those. 6 games a year is still a lot of games, especially if a couple of them have solid multiplayer components, or there's an RPG or two in the mix.
Click to expand...

Which 'casual types' are you describing here? I would consider myself very casual at this point, and I buy a dozen games a year. No one I know fits this definition either.
 
No advice from me, I'm still very much in almost the same boat as you. I'm not looking for an out just yet.

I still buy tons of games, both new and old and I still seem to be managing quite nicely.
 
Follow these simple steps:

1 - Get rid of EVERYTHING that you bought solely basing on stupid concepts like "Metacritic score", "hype", "GOTY" (we have like 30 of these every year lol), "must have" or "Day 1"
2 - If you did it honestly, you should have around 10 games or so. If this is not the case, go back to the previous step.
3 - Forget about gaming sites for some days. Play the games you have left until you finish every single one of them (at a 10 hours average per game, 2 available hours per day, it shouldn't take more than 2 months)
4 - Once you are ready to buy more games, don't read reviews, previews or any crap that will likely get infected with PR bullshit, bribes, publisher threats to magazines and the like. Focus on the ONLY objective information you will find: gameplay videos, especially gameplay videos done by real players out of the retail game. Does the game look interesting enough? Buy it!
5 - Rinse and repeat from step 3

After some months you will find that your gaming experience has improved a lot. Welcome back to true gaming. Hardcore gaming is for losers.
 
Staying away from the gaming sites is definitely key.

BTW, this thread is great, it's like the support group I've been searching for...LOL, you know I'm going to fall right off the wagon when the next gen comes out, will binge like a mofo, and buy every single launch title for the PS4 :lol :lol
 
I find I buy a lot less game when I am honest about what I like. It isn't like I have to stick to any particular genre, but getting caught up in hype usually causes me to get excited for something for the wrong reasons.

It's hard to figure out what the wrong reasons are, though. Getting excited for Halo Reach because of the multiplayer is a bad idea, because I have had terrible experience playing Halo online. Getting excited for the single player and giving it a rent is a great idea.

Buying any game based on co-op is a bad idea, because I never feel like talking to randoms and it is hard to match up schedules with my one gaming bud.
 
I'm lucky to get 2 hours a week.

Here's what I do:


I only buy about 6-7 games a year (and cheap, used, bargain-price games when they come my way).


I keep up with gaming news and what's happening in the industry, but with games I am very picky.


The only games I foresee myself buying (new) for the rest of the year is SMG2, Metroid: Other M, and The Last Guardian. I'll probably have one surprise purchase in there pending what e3 brings. I really only buy games from proven developers and proven franchises, and even then I'll stray away if the reviews are poor.

Just be picky man. Real picky.
 
Stop reading gaming news or even gaming forums. You might stop wanting "new games'.:lol
 
MattyGrovesOrMe said:
Anyone here ever successfully "retire" from being a hardcore player? Offer any strategies?
Click to expand...

Sure. Those backlogged games? If you have not played them within 3-6 months, sell them. You will never play them nor will you miss them. Do not listen to those who will tell you keep them. Forget them. Then, eliminate your systems down to one (or two counting PC). Then, rent games for no more than a weekend. Finally, get off GAF.

After that, enjoy your free time, learn new hobbies and don't get too attached to this hobby ever again.
 
Class_A_Ninja said:
I find I buy a lot less game when I am honest about what I like. It isn't like I have to stick to any particular genre, but getting caught up in hype usually causes me to get excited for something for the wrong reasons.

It's hard to figure out what the wrong reasons are, though. Getting excited for Halo Reach because of the multiplayer is a bad idea, because I have had terrible experience playing Halo online. Getting excited for the single player and giving it a rent is a great idea.

Buying any game based on co-op is a bad idea, because I never feel like talking to randoms and it is hard to match up schedules with my one gaming bud.
Click to expand...

Yeah, exactly. It kinda sucks for new IPs for me to say this, but stick with what you know and like. Like, I really don't like FPS or fighting games, so it didn't make sense for me to buy The Conduit or Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. It took me forever to beat The Conduit and I felt ripped off, but I bought into the "hype." And while TatsuCap is a fantastic game that I'll defend to the death, it hasn't (nor will it ever) get rotation in my local multiplayer circle since none of us feel like learning the combat system or combos that define traditional fighters. So buying both at full price were dumb decisions.

The same situation applied to Metroid Prime 3, Okami, Red Steel, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, all of which I haven't beaten yet. The quality may be crap or fantastic but it doesn't matter if you don't enjoy playing it.
 
After i quit wow i kinda stopped playing "hardcore". Still love games but only an hour or so and not every day. Offcourse ocasionally i do play a lot when i really feel like it and have the time.

What helped me really was finding an other hobby,sport to help me tone down. Also i decided not to buy games until i substantially lowered my backlog. Still working, keeping my backlog at maximum of 5 games or so. Not buying any more untill i beat one and i beat them slow, 1 hour a day. Most games take me multiple months to beat now!
 
dallow_bg said:
I've stopped buying games.
Only 2 retail games in the last two months, when normally I'd buy 10-20 a month.
Click to expand...

Jesus Christ dude... I can't imagine how that's even possible. You'd have to be rich and unemployed to buy and play that many games. And those two circumstances don't usually go together so well.

I think I'm doing alright. I've got a number of games in my backlog and quite a few I still want to buy. Then even more I want to buy as they come out later in the year. But I'm resisting and sticking to one game at a time and getting it finished and completed before moving on / buying more.

As for 'retiring' from hardcore gaming. I don't think that's really a decision someone can make. It will either come about naturally from burning out or becoming bored with games in general. This has happened to me before and I stopped playing games for a year or two. But I came back stronger than ever like a drug addict.
 
2 hours a day? Wow dude, that's 14 hours a week. I get less than half that and I consider myself hardcore.

fake edit, now that I think about it I used to be a lot hardcore circa 2003/4 when I played CoD and UT2003 for more than 24 hours a week.


Guess I'm not that hardcore anymore either. Damn.
 
selig said:
So, you´re saying there are 120 games you already have but not played that are worth your time? Let me tell you: They´re not.

I never understood the mentality of buying but not playing games. If you dont play a game when you buy it, you have not enough interest in said game. Easy as that.

Choose 5-6 games per year that you believe are play-worthy and see how your interest in gaming returns. I mean...Im doing exactly that. Most games are the same and same shit that I´ve played 10 years ago. But once in a while, theres something like Mass Effect or Mario Galaxy, and that´s when the old fun returns. If i´d play all these action-games and shooters that last 10 hours, I´d be burnt out, too.
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It's not as simple as that. Sometimes I'm not in the mood to play through a game, maybe the game is the last in a series of games I like, etc. Persona 3 was one of my favorite games yet I haven't started Persona 4. Is it because I have no interest? No.
 
MattyGrovesOrMe said:
More pressing is my collecting of games and completionist OCD tendencies for owning/finishing franchises. That's what this "retirement" is aimed to remedy. "Retirement" may be silly in this context, but I think it's still a suitable term because gaming has been a chief leisure activity for such a long time, sometimes with such attention that it became more work-like than leisure-like.
Click to expand...

Steam has really been my downfall in this area. I think I own maybe 3 console games I've never played (DMC1, 3, and Panzer Dragoon Orta, all purchased based on hype, none of which are genres I'm interested in.) On Steam, I probably have over 100 I've never played. Those goddamn bundle deals really got me over the last year and a half or so. And for awhile I really felt like I wanted to at least try to play every one of them before buying new games, or else I had wasted all that money (to be fair, I bought all those Steam games with steep discounts, so we're probably talking ~$200-300 dollars of games, of which I want to play 25% of them, so not that big of a loss).

But then I realized, I just don't care. If I could go back and not purchase them, I would. But I can't, yet there's no reason to throw good time after bad money. Sure, some of them are probably good games, but there's a reason I've not been excited to play them, and I shouldn't try force that.

So now my "real" backlog went from over 100 games to probably ~20, all of which I'm very excited to play. So I'm playing through those and not buying new games. And I am definitely not buying another Steam game unless I'm going to sit down and play it right then and there. My first real victory was Civ Colonization this last week for $7.50. I definitely wanted it, but resisted the urge.
 
I unofficially retired from "hardcore" gaming six years ago. The best part is that you get to pace yourself with the handful of games you end up buying all year.

K' Dash said:
Can't be said enough.
Click to expand...

Bullshit. GAF keeps me up to speed on news in the industry, which is hardly a bad thing.
 
You can post on GAF, but stay away from the preview/review/trailer/hype/official threads.
 
Dani said:
Stay away from GAF.
Click to expand...
No, GAF is where you go if you want to retire from hardcore gaming. GAFers have huge backlogs because they spend more time browsing GAF than actually playing games.
 
beje said:
Follow these simple steps:

1 - Get rid of EVERYTHING that you bought solely basing on stupid concepts like "Metacritic score", "hype", "GOTY" (we have like 30 of these every year lol), "must have" or "Day 1"
2 - If you did it honestly, you should have around 10 games or so. If this is not the case, go back to the previous step.
3 - Forget about gaming sites for some days. Play the games you have left until you finish every single one of them (at a 10 hours average per game, 2 available hours per day, it shouldn't take more than 2 months)
4 - Once you are ready to buy more games, don't read reviews, previews or any crap that will likely get infected with PR bullshit, bribes, publisher threats to magazines and the like. Focus on the ONLY objective information you will find: gameplay videos, especially gameplay videos done by real players out of the retail game. Does the game look interesting enough? Buy it!
5 - Rinse and repeat from step 3

After some months you will find that your gaming experience has improved a lot. Welcome back to true gaming. Hardcore gaming is for losers.
Click to expand...

terrible advice.

DONT do this.

edit: i misread what i bolded somewhat.

if you bought games solely because of hype, you're dumb. (im assuming you did not do this. who the fuck does this?).

but selling off your collection so you only have 10 games left is a bad idea. expecially if youve been collecting for 30 years. unless you never ever play any of your old systems and games (i do). if you dont ever plan on playing them again, then maybe consider selling.

but selling off your whole collection is a rash and bad decision.
 
Either stop playing new games and play the games you most want to in your backlog slowly, or forget about your backlog and try to just play one game at a time.
 
MattyGrovesOrMe said:
I've put in my time. I've been gaming for thirty years. I've spent thousands and thousands of dollars on the hobby. I've even made a career out of studying digital game culture.

But I can't keep up anymore. My backlog of unplayed games is now over 120 deep (across 5 systems and PC). Compound this with a wishlist of 30+ games to buy upon release. But I can only squeeze in about two hours of gaming a day, if I'm lucky, these days. Not to mention that additional life responsibilities keeps shrinking my leisure budget (stupid mortgage).

So I think I'm going to let the 'continue countdown' hit zero this time, save my quarters, holster my light guns, hang up my dualshocks, and ride Yoshi off into the sunset... yeah. It's time for retirement.

Of course, I can't leave things behind completely (I've still got pixels in my blood, like most here). But I need to dial back.

Anyone here ever successfully "retire" from being a hardcore player? Offer any strategies?


I'm thinking of limiting myself to 5-6 new game purchases a year, and not getting into franchises I'm not already invested in. I might unsubscribe from some of the mags I currently get, and limit the number of gaming sites I read (thus avoiding some of the hype for shiny new games I don't really need and have generally been underwhelming lately... though nothing hypes like GAF hypes, so maybe I'm screwed on that point).

Any other advice would be appreciated.

NOTE: Using "hardcore" here to define heavy investment in the medium, it doesn't (and shouldn't) describe any particular kind of game or game genre.
Click to expand...



Holy shit man did I posses your body and post this?? Im 100% in the same boat as you. I Have 3 Consoles, 2 Handhelds, iPhones, iPads, PC's about 28 games deep in never played but bought day one... The NEw Final Fantasy, Assassins Creed 2, and more sitting there never played.

I just bought red dead redemption and 2 more on layaway what the hell is my problem! Im an Addict and I need help!

I spend more time reading about new games getting excited to buy them than I do playing them as sick as that sounds it's 100% true!
 
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