Ever feel like you have grown out of games and can't play anymore?

Don't get me wrong, I still play games when I can but I feel my attention span has gone. Say for instance I was playing Metro2033 which I bought 3 weeks ago, played it for an hour and haven't touched it since, although I did like it. The only game i'm looking forward to buying is Dead Space 2 because I really much enjoyed part 1 but I feel the same thing will happen, i'll but it, play it for an hour or 2 and might not touch it for months.

If I go back 3 or even 4 years ago I remember myself always playing games for hours on end and spending the only money I had on new games and now I barely buy 3 a year. It might be the fact that I finished school in 2008 and basically got a job and got busy and wrapped up in everything. But does anyone else find themselves in this situation? Where you still enjoy games but couldn't play them like you did or your attention span is gone? I do have fun playing but I dunno, you can't just grow out of them surely not?

Also for people who have played and beaten Dead Space 2 what are your thoughts on it :)

But does anyone else find themselves in this situation? Where you still enjoy games but couldn't play them like you did or your attention span is gone? I do have fun playing but I dunno, you can't just grow out of them surely not?gibson-les-rick

Planescape Torment.

I'm going through this phase right now. I've suddenly become bored of video games, save a few. The only games I play now are CS Source, Minecraft, and World of Warcraft casually. I might get into The Sims series, but that's it.

EDIT: I used to play a TON of video games. 4 isn't that much for me. :D

I'm 24 so I don't feel like I'm getting to old for it or am growing out of it but there are times where I just need to stop playing for months or longer. You have probably burnt yourself out. It happens to me sometimes. No matter how many games I have or how many I want to play or have put on hold I just can't bring myself to play them because I'm burnt out. I barely played any games last gen compared to what I play now. I owned all three systems at one pont yes but I eventually sold them except for my PS2. I only played Halo 2 on Xbox andthe GTA

games on the PS2. FFX and Kingdom Hearts were among some of the games I always played too. Those are basically the only games I played all the time. I had no interest in last gen likeI do this gen and I was also a teenager back then too busy with making music, going to parties getting messed up and hanging out with girls. Teenager things that most 20 year olds now do.

I have done my fair share of messing around so now I'm literally a burnt out 24 year old who just wants to relax on weekends and not go to bars and get messed up all the time. I want to stay home kick back and play video games. Atleast for a year or 2 and maybe I'll eventually get back into the whole social life thing lol. I got my girlfriend and my video games thats all I need for now.

I felt a similar way, but then found I'd grown to like games with better... experiences? I guess. I mean, I used to love everything about FPS games. Now, unless it's multiplayer (which I enjoy because of the competition) I hate FPS usually. However, I absolutely love games like Braid, LIMBO, Minecraft or a game with a strong story. Short action games don't do anything for me anymore. Take God of War for example. I absolutely loved the first a few years ago & the trilogy is exceptional, however I recently played the GoW 1-3 for the PS3 & even though I had fun, I did feel like I was going through the motions & it wasn't what I'd call a memorable experience (some of the boss fights perhaps, simply because of how brutal their endings were).

As for Dead Space 2, my cousin bought it, & I really enjoyed the first. But DS2 was more of the same really & I just wasn't feeling it this time around. The only shooter I'm looking forward to is Gears 3. I'm starting to think I missed out big time this gen because even though I bought a DS & PSP twice, I only bought one or two games for them each time before selling them. Now I'm looking at their library & seeing so many games I think I would have loved. I think I spent most of this generation buying games hyped up in the mainstream (CoD, Uncharted etc) & missed many gems.

Basically, I think you should be looking at games & genres you haven't really been interested in before & giving them a try. Time constraints may have a lot to do with it. I'm about to start Uni & only got to play my new PS3 for a couple of weeks & now I can't play it at all because of study. I wish I had a game like Advance Wars on the DS to play in the short breaks I get.

I only game 2 hours a week i'm too busy to play any longer than that.

No, but I have noticed that as I age, my taste for games becomes more and more specific. Before, I'd play almost anything but now I'm a little pickier about what I decide to put time into.Smug_Duckling

I go through stages where I either can't be bothered to concentrate on a game, or I'm all out and want to play games to death.

From Fable 3, until LBP2 came out, there was no desire to play games. If I tried then interest was lost after an hour or two. When Steam had their christmas sales I bought quite a few games that have just been a waste of money.

Nope. I'm 36 going on 37 and while I don't have the time I used to, I still love gaming (just started Tactics Ogre and am still playing LBP2).

Well i must say some games can really do it for you but which ones. I think it's not about the fact that you don't enjoy games anymore it's because you play the wrong games. I played metro 2033 too and i did like it too but it doesn't give me the thrill that some other games gave given me. Great graphics, great ennemies , great gameplay it actually isn't enough for me a game has to capture me. I quit metro 2033 after a couple of hours and haven't touched it since.

Maybe i have to play longer but it just got boring for me. I will give you a list of games i played the last 5 years (so this gen) . from best to worst. I wil start with the single player games. Some i played on pc some on the x360.

Oblivion, mass effect, Fable II (only on x360), Resident Evil 4, dead space, crysis, borderlands,mass effect 2, Fallout 3, Fallout new vegas, dead space 2, Gta IV, Assasins Creed.

Games that are previous gen but were very good also; Fear, far cry, doom III, halflife 2, riddick: escape from butcher bay, bloodrayne, resident evil 4 (is actually previous gen also but the game is so good i just put it up there with the others), ...

I can go further back in time but i won't :)

Multiplayer games i played this gen are most fighting games on console like soulcalibur IV, fight night R3, and ufc 2009 . On pc the call of duties (modern warfare 1&2, world at war and black ops)

Previous gen multiplayer F.e.a.r combat (and it 's free, it's the only free game i play. it's the multiplayer from f.e.a.r, suddenly they released it free. Don't you just love sierra)

As for dead space 2 , it is in the list , good game you won't quit it after an hour but i would play the other games first on my list . If you haven't played mass effect or oblivion you're really missing out.

I'm still looking for gems though. Games that i played lately that disappointed aremetro 2033, stalker ( i only tried shadow of chernobyl) black ops single player (the multiplayer is very good though)andsingularity allthough i played a good ten hours of singularity already, it started of pretty well but now it's just boring. I just started mafia 2 and batman Arkham asyslum and batman started off well the first hour but get's boring now.

Mafia 2 didn't start well allthough i liked the demo, we'll see. Aliens vs predator is actually as bad as they say lol but the multiplayer is ok, just cause 2, i played the demo but it doesn't really appeal.. i'm thinking of trying out turok or maybe the condemned games i haven't tried those yet.Resident evil 5 isn't bad they say but not as good as re4, so i suppose it try that too.

I'm considering assasins creed 2 though for my next purchase , i've heard to many great things about it and i really liked the first game and everybody says AC2 is better.I've heard some bad things about bioshock 2 so maybe when it's on discount.

I'm waiting for deus ex to come out and mortal kombat for the console.

Best game i've ever played is drakan but that's more than ten years old.

Greetz

Nope. I've only "grown into" games. Since starting when I was 5 or 6 (can't really remember exactly) I have only become more interested in gaming, and more appreciative of the hobby. There are times where I get "bored" of gaming and take a week or two off (usually because I'm busy doing other things) but always come back and enjoy it more and more as time goes by.

[QUOTE="gibson-les-rick"] But does anyone else find themselves in this situation? Where you still enjoy games but couldn't play them like you did or your attention span is gone? I do have fun playing but I dunno, you can't just grow out of them surely not?ChiliDragon

Honestly I dont ever feel as though I am sick of games or outgrowing games, as I think that is just crazy. I predict always loving and playing games (although maybe a bit less down the road).

That said, I have done the exact same thing you did. I just cant get into many games now, probably because I am pickier and not as easily pleased by games, but that doesnt mean gaming as a whole. Uncharted 1 and 2, MGS1-4, Bad Company 2 (mutliplayer), and more kept me glued to the screen. But games like Bioshock, STALKER, Mafia II, Just cause 2, adn more are having a much harder time keeping my attention. I just dont really feel like playign them, rather I want to play old Zelda games, or replay Uncharted or something.

So in short, I think I am a bit more picky and selective, but not sick of gaming in any way!

Though I rarely go for long periods of time without gaming, it goes up and down for me. Don't be scared of losing your hobby, it'll come back.

I'm 50 years old and often think that I shouldn't be playing games at all! I got interested in PC games a few years ago and have bought far too many to be healthy. Having given up on the TV, I was looking for some entertainment - something to get engrossed in. This kinda worked at first, with city-building games like Caesar III or strategy games like the Total War series. But now I'm feeling a bit passed it. Good examples are games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age Origins, Fallout 3, Assassin's Creed etc. I bought all these games due to massive reviewer/user praise, but couldn't get into any of them. And so I went 'back in time' to other 'classics' like Baldur's Gate etc. I couldn't get into those either. Somehow, the whole premise of these games no longer excites me. I tried 'Thief 3' and was fairly impressed until all the supernatural hokum begins then quickly lost interest. I tried 'realistic' shooters like 'Arma' but found them buggy, and well, not that realistic. I tried 'grand strategy' games like 'Europa Universalis' but just got annoyed with bugs and inaccuracies. I tried multiplayer games like 'Field of Glory' but discovered that human opponents just bug out if they don't like the look of their game. I tried puzzle games like 'Trine' and got annoyed by the inability to save, making me go back over the game ad infinitum. When you add to this, the fact that many PC games are buggy, broken, or have DRM issues, or dual core issues, or video driver issues, you get a fairly daunting situation. In other words, I'm becoming hyper critical of games and hyper picky. Although, deep down, I know I'm just wasting time and money, I find it hard to give up on games completely. Maybe I'm trying to get back to those happier times when gaming was new to me? Just for the record, games currently on my PC are: Tropico 3, Sins of a Solar Empire, Lost Horizon, Torchlight, Ghost Recon 2. These games all run smoothly so get regular outings.

[QUOTE="ChiliDragon"][QUOTE="gibson-les-rick"] But does anyone else find themselves in this situation? Where you still enjoy games but couldn't play them like you did or your attention span is gone? I do have fun playing but I dunno, you can't just grow out of them surely not?insanewolfninja

There are times when I feel that way, and then an amazing game is released which reignites my passion for this hobby. I don't believe I'll ever outgrow games completely, but suspect I'll be playing less the older I become.

NOPE!!! Been gaming 20 plus years and can see my self gaming another twenty. I know gamers 50+ so theirs no shame in the game. The content of modern games is rather mature. It's not for kids. It's negligent for parents to buy their kids these games and then blame devs and publishers about graphic content. (and don't get me started on Germany and Australia's views on graphic games) It's just stupid...

Not even remotely. My tastes have changed as I have grown older but I doubt I will ever stop gaming.

Sometimes you just don't feel like playing games and you'll probably get back into them eventually. I don't really know if it is "growing out of them" as that seems to imply they are for younger, less mature people (although that is the case for some games). I'd say the culprit is here: "I finished school in 2008 and basically got a job and got busy and wrapped up in everything".

If you've got other responsibilities, like a job, family matters, etc. your priorities are different now. Perhaps you've started to be more serious as a result of work and associate games (not even consciously) with goofing off. Maybe you're just preoccupied with other things and have your free time split up into hour long breaks (between work, errands, etc.) Perhaps something about your job has influenced your likes/dislikes and you find other hobbies more enjoyable.

You don't have to play if you don't want to. If you miss being able to get into games and enjoy them you can just try a new one every now and then. If you usually play a certain genre, like first person shooters, maybe try an RPG or an RTS. Try a sports game. Every now and then I get in phases where I can't get into a game. This usually is when I'm interested in something else at the time, like a sport, or in a movie watching phase. Then, all of a sudden, a new game will come out which I'll buy and really enjoy. Then I'm back into gaming for a while.

This happened to me fairly recently actually. Last summer I occupied my time with working some, watching movies and exercise. I didn't get any new games at all and really didn't play any old ones I had. I didn't turn my computer on but about 3 times in a couple months. Then, Halo: Reach came out September 14. I got it and really enjoyed it. I played through the single player, and played the multiplayer non-stop for about a month. Then I got into Team Fortress 2 and played it non-stop for about a month. Then I got Mass Effect 2, which lead to a straight month. Then MGS4, Black Ops, and currently Battlefield: Bad Company 2. All it took was me enjoying one game and now I've been back in a "gaming phase" for about 4 months.

Yes, all the time. And then I play something really good and stop feeling that way. It's a cycle that's gone on for a while now.

This generation's games are different. There just isn't the same depth, no heart put into their creation, and it seems like developers have to come up with more and more contrived scenarios, wrapped around familiar game mechanics,and ultimately it's all about graphics, linearity, blowing sh*t up, set pieces... or wasting resources trying t ocash in on the soon-to-be-over MMORPG thing.

I mean name a recent RPG that either isn't an RPG or isn't sub-standard? Lost Odyssey ; nice but kind of a let-down gameplay wise. Nowhere near the PS1 FF standard.

Yeah I hate being negative and dissing people's work, real gamers have been pushed aside due to some cynica lmarket analysis and it's more about appealing to the largest number of consumers who don't really care about story, memorability or anything like that.

FF13 is symbolic of what's happened. KOTOR, the last truly great game? Enjoyed Dead Space 2...