Does gaming still bring you joy?

The older I get I find my joy for gaming diminishing. Don't know what it is, I can play maybe 1 game every 2 years that I thoroughly enjoy...the last ones being fallout nv and mario kart 8 (long gap between). I see why a lot of older gamers go back to retro gaming, back when developers didn't depend on graphics for the wow factor. Maybe its a mix of things, I no longer have 8 hours a day spare time to invest in a long RPG. The few times I do game I just do it for spurts of fun here and there. Maybe its time to get a 3DS or a Vita because these iPhone games are pathetic.

Anyone else in the same boat?

You're playing the wrong games, yo.

Our generation that grew up with gaming are in adulthood now. We have other responsibilities now (I like to think so). Gamers now don't care about story, all their care about is the spectacle. Just look at COD and how shallow it is.

its true, now all they care about is how close this shitty game can come to looking like this shitty movie.

I spend the last week re playing Starcraft 2 and its expantion from beginning to end, so of course it still brings me joy.

I didn't realize life was so hard for 14 year olds

Just you wait till Christmas. You will only get one Apple device!

i wish

Can I exchange it for something useful?

Says the Macbook Pro user.

Like I said in another thread there isn't much out there that gives me a sense of awe and wonder but that's mostly due to age. Now it's more about learning, theorycrafting and playing the best I possibly can so I'm very satisfied with the games I play at the moment. I'd much rather devote a lazy Sunday afternoon to improving my macros/combos than going through the motions with a backlogged AAA game.

A lot of games now are copy and paste and follow the same formula with a new skin.

Last game I spent all night playing was terraria. Before that it was pokemon sapphire, and that was a long time ago.

I mainly use it for a hand warmer

uh, yeah gaming brings me joy. if it didn't i wouldn't do it.

Nope. So many things in the industry disgust me, and it has caused me to stop caring. Gaming is getting more expensive, while also losing it's value. It costs more and doesn't even pay off. There are much cheaper, much more entertaining things I can do with my time.

Being 15, I would honestly much rather spend my time reading or (attempting) to write. Or draw. Just work my brain in other ways. More imaginative ways. There was a time recently when my love for gaming reached peak levels....and then it just suddenly crashed. I realized that I didn't care. I realized that it doesn't matter. There are much better things out there.

I also suddenly realized recently that NO, I do NOT want to be a god-damned game developer or gaming journalist. I want to be a historian! Or a history professor or something. Until recently, I was clinging on to this concept that gaming is where I wanted my life to take me, then I realized that it is really just a pile of shit compared to my true aspirations.

No. Don't blame us because you don't listen to our advice on games. There's plenty of amazing games out there, and get a fucking PC already.

Yes, I still very much enjoy gaming. It almost feels like I'm in a transitional period though; I don't find enjoyment out of playing every big release anymore, and instead would rather just play what I know I like.

Bringing the focus in has certainly helped me enjoy more, but I'm still having a difficult time giving up on a game if I'm not having a good time with it. I'm getting better though!

Hah he's too young to appreciate a PC.

when i stopped buying consoles, yes

sounds like the TC needs a gaming PC

My PC has always brought me joy because I can find virtually anything I think will make me happy on it.

Not too limited in that regard.

Currently playing tons of CS:GO with my CS bro, Borderlands 2 with friends, and I'm thinking of starting up something new soon. Either Dark Souls, System Shock 2, or Kerbal Space Program.

People who can't find joy in gaming are either playing the wrong games, or just need to stop lighten up and stop taking things so seriously. By the latter I mean over-analyzing every little detail and comparing it to real life.

For me it's a matter of time. I just don't have enough time to enjoy gaming like I did when I was growing up.

Not nearly as much as it use to. Part of it is just being more jaded and having higher standards now, but the vast majority of games these days are just some of the most boring uninteresting shit. I still get that childhood joy back whenever Platinum makes a new game though.

I'm almost 34 and been gaming since i was 7yrs old back in the NES / Atari days... My gaming time has been reduced drastically due to various commitments however I still try to dedicate part of my free time to gaming !!

Currently planning on building a brand new Gaming PC to go along my PS4 & PSV...

I am a bit more critical of games now than I used to be (though who isn't?), but despite that I still enjoy and get satisfaction from them.

26 and gaming still brings me joy. Heck I look forward to coming home after a hard day of work and sitting down and playing for a little.

Thats what happens when you are a playstation4 fan.

no.

I know im in the minority here but i enjoy games more now than i did back then (well ps3 more. this gen barely started). im big on how a game controls and a lot of old games control like crap.

It just occured to me.... I don't feel any emotion when playing games. Yes I am mentally stimulated and fully engaged but its not an emotion in the traditional sense... Its a state of mind.

So at the risk of sounding like a moron... You're probably enjoying games wrong... As opposed to to enjoy the wrong games. ;).

I feel like I play games for their educational value these days more than anything else... But yes, Joy is still in there, somewhere. There just isn't enough of it.

Nope. Been just doing it for the achievements for quite some time now.

I don't enjoy games as I used to when I was a kid, but it still brings me hours of joy.

I don't understand how age can make me lose fun in games. It might make me a worse player if im 90 years old with low reaction time but if my body is working right i have fun watching a movie, watching football, playing games, like always. Maybe some people are born with a problem that makes them get bored of life, ready to die soon lol

Meh, still love gaming a Whole lot (Ironically I DO feel that way about movies though, yes real movies, not a slant against games).

One thing that has changed is that most AAA budget games is completely ignored now. Since they tend to frustrate me to no end, lets just say a wrong focus. Try to please averyone (which they do) and end up pleasing no one.

Last time I felt utterly thrilled by a game is likely Original Sin, that game had me sitting with a huge smile on my face for some 80 hours spread over well pretty much every day till last week (playing it a few hours a night with co-op partner).

Mario Kart 8 also had me giggeling with joy, ironically so did SM3DW. Currently playing Sword art online on the vita, and Little Kings story, which have me in a good mood, but trying not to play too much in one sitting of those.

And then I do have rituals where I replay games from my childhood once every year. I am amazed at how many of them still holds up.

But as I said earlier, most AAA Deved games (by Money and Manpower, not rating) Brings me Little joy. Mostly with the exception of Nintendo, but there have been 3rd party aswell. I think I have come to the conclusion that the inconsistancy within the games logic gets me rather frustrated. Not to mention most protagonists are the bland: Wisecracking White male with short Brown hair, or serious White male with short Brown hair, both whose personality would make me punch the screen.

Basicly it feels like the AAA industry have forgotten that games were supposed to be fun and entertaining, and not chase after the imagenary bankrupt Hollywood. It is strange in some odd way, that when I playied through DN3D I had a smile on my face all the way through its goofy oneline spewing pacing, while; BF4, I:SS, Crysis 3, Watch Dogs and the like left me Cold, alienated and wondering why those games were made. Void of character, charm, vision or story (hell even UT 2004 told a better story then Crysis 3, and it practically had none).

So I still get alot of fun out of gaming, but aperrently I am too old, and like diversity too much to be considered a target audience for that industry :\

Luckily then I have an entire platform almost dedicated to me :D A PC that allows me to play anything new and old, and indie-middle tier games making Things I look for :D

Yes, they are still enjoyable for me. I don't think any game will bring the magic and joy certain games brought to me as a kid, but I still find some games to be quite an experience.

Games have changed over time as well. Hardly games anymore imo, outside of nintendo. The industry is just too big. People want the quick buck and copy/paste a formula. Consumer got duped into it--pays whatever it takes for more of the same. So it isn't just the games but also the auro that surrounds the industry. It is hard to pin down to a few words but the recent nature of Phil Phish and that one recent Woman ordeal..........................................who cares? We've got violent games and then stuff like that. We've got journalists that REPORT on if games are etc etc etc causing some dismay, and then the same pop journalism broadcasting some foul mouthed jerk and a sex scandal.............to potential children? Hmmm, okay.

Sorry, but its the truth. While this may have happened behind the scenes in the past, it was still always about the game. The game was the focus. Go find an old EGM or Game Players Magazine. These guys really worked for their money as if readers didn't like the magazine they just stopped buying. These guys said if a game sucked or not. Reviews came before game releases.. etc etc

Also, I recently hooked up my n64. Goldeneye is an AMAZING game. Took me a minute to get used to the controls--c stick to move/strafe--it controls just fine. What I really like is how this game creates an illusion of the player being a spy. The world feels more real than most modern fps games. How so with technically less superior graphics? The world feels more real because there's choice. There is a room you may not have to go into and it is player discover to find the right path. This game is from the late 90s! Now things are so streamlined its quite sad.

Age, the type have games all have changed. The last year had some good games on the One. Even though they are good games, they are not the games that I mainly game for.

2015 will be a different story with The Division and Halo 5 and possibly Fallout 4. The new Farcry and AC Unity look right up my alley too.

Still my tastes have changed. I am more picky now in what I will devote time to. Time is precious and I can't waste it on the games I used to.

I go in and out of phases with gaming now. I can literally go months without playing and be perfectly fine, then one day wake up and be in the mood to play something, then a couple of months get burned out again. I believe part of it does has something to do with age. When you're a kid, games have a certain kind of magic to them and that's probably because of our imaginations being capable enough to believe anything. If a game can give you some sort of "feels" then it's done it job. I play a lot of fighting games so of course I can get irritated, excited, happy, full on pissed, etc. because I'm competitive and those games make me feel something. It's the same reason so many loved TLOU. Maybe it is the kind of games you're playing that are turning you off more so lately. Maybe you're burned out on the genres you play. Maybe it's time for you to try something new. Portal 2 recently caused me to go on a gaming binge because it was so good.

tldr; Try something outside of your box.

Yeah, but it's because I'm very aware of what kind of games I like. In my early 20's, I almost quit gaming because all I mostly played were the hyped up and latest AAA titles. Today, I don't as nearly limit myself, and accordingly, my level of enjoyment is way up compared to then.

Yes, it's difficult finding a game I don't get some sort of enjoyment out of.

I enjoyed actually gaming but then I started coming to SW and now it's all meh. :P

Occasionally I stop because of the sameness and the ridiculous challenges that multiple tough games in a row make you hurdle again and again. That loses its value on me after a while. So I usually play some games that are more experience games for the hell of it.

OP needs more Civilization and XCOM in his life.

OP is a bad troll.

If that fails there is always Bigrigs or Rapelay.

Yes. In fact, I appreciate gaming more these days than I did in the past, as life is far more stressful than it used to be and video games provide a means to relax.

I am finding games pretty boring last 4-5 years still the odd one I enjoy but they're few and far between.