How long have you been gaming for and why do you keep playing?

I've been gaming for at least 20 years. I think what I enjoy most about gaming is that it keeps changing. There's always something new and exciting to play. I think I'm a gaming lifer. What about you,SW? What is your story?

@SolidGame_basic: I'm more into retro games

I usually game for a challenge.

Back in my day the games were made hard so you couldn't beat them during a rental and made the games feel longer than they were cause you would die a lot and feel great finally beating a level.

Gaming was all about challenge to me and skill high scores.

We didn't care about achievements we didn't care about like a trophy or whatever the hell sony and microsoft are handing out to babies.

It just doesn't matter wheres the gameplay is there challenge, is the game laggy is it 60 fps is it fast paced.

Ya know what I mean solid? I don't want something popup on screen an be you earned this or open this pack or open no NO is this game gonna be good thats all my mind.

With GTA5 I feel like this game is good its fun its open. Thats great thats great some other games aren't great.

25 years and counting.

I'm thoroughly convinced I am insane and that's why I keep playing.

Been playing since the NES. My siblings and I grew up with video games so it's a hobby we can't grow out of.

30 years.

I see gaming as the newest form of story telling which is why I enjoy story driven games. I also see it as a great social format; mostly the coop side of gaming. On top of that it keeps the player thinking and coming up with strategy. At least, it used too when there was less hand holding.

Been gaming since I was about 7 or 8 (from memory). Maybe longer. So at least 20 years.

Don't see me stopping anytime soon... I love gaming more than ever.

Been a gamer for a little over two decades and I would say that escapism is my main motivation. Other reasons would be social interaction and embracing a challenge.

A bit over 30 years. Idk why I keep playing I guess I enjoy disappointing myself. Games feel the same since ps2 they just look better. Devs don't don't take risks like they used to. It's mainly a habit I guess

Been playing since the PS1 era (4-6 years old) and love it more than ever. It feels good doing stuff we are not able to in real life eg: Jump hundreds of feet into the air (Incredible Hulk). It is also being taken more seriously now and the stereotype of gamers being losers in their basement is disappearing which makes me glad because I don't see myself ever stopping and plan on playing Fifa with my future children someday:P

30 years, LOL, newbies, there was this thing called Pong launched in 1972 when I was 8 years old .....

27 years, I game in spurts now and I enjoy collecting more than I actually do playing games. I love video games, I really do and adore them as I always have, however I am extremely hard pressed to actually get into them anymore.

Started on the Sega Master System in 88 i think. I play because i like having fun, and that fun comes in many different forms, from completing a game, putting up fast laps times, getting achievements, beating my friends scores/times and so forth.

I for one don't give a shit about how many p's a game has or how many fps it is.

Gaming has been the one constant in my life, and the longest i've gone without gaming is 3 months for personal reasons, and i will be gaming until i'm unable to, and that day will be the day i kick the bucket lol.

30+ years...It's a fun, and inexpensive hobby compared to most others.

I have been on and off gaming for more than thirty years. I started gaming in 1982 when I was seven years old a year before the video game crash.

Exactly. I have been gaming for 24 years and don't play as much as before because everything I play feels like something I already played before.

was talking about this with my brother two days ago. I'm in my 40th year as a gamer, started back in 1976. I still game because all it was and ever will be about to me is having fun

I've been gaming for 20 years. It's definitely one of my favorite hobbies, I just think it's a ton of fun and at times presents a good challenge that feels accomplishing when completed. It's highly affordable since I play mostly retro games and it's a lot of fun to speculate future releases. I find playing certain games to be really addictive and I love listening to gaming music more than regular music. It's also great to be able to delve into a fictional world and be able to do stuff that you can't do in real life.

@SolidGame_basic: Since the late 80's, because I enjoy being immersed in other worlds. Same reason why I watch movies and TV shows.

30 years, started with a C64.

I keep playing because I have gaming embedded in me, even if I don't play a lot; and because I'm a very curious person, so I'm interested in discovering things and their evolution through technological advancement..

Got into gaming in 1999-2000.

Since 94.

25 years more or less, and I keep playing because I enjoy learning new things, and with each game there is a new world to discover, dozens of characters to know and countless things to learn.

37 now and started around age 5 or something...all I remember is I had all those console with the horrible controllers.

I still game bc I live a quarter mile at a time.

I started gaming 22 years ago, first console was a NES. The reason I still continue to play is that video games are my escape from reality. My way of winding down and just going into a world I can have endless possibilities of fun.

About 28 years. My gaming habits have definitely had their fat share dry spells and barely playing. 360 pretty much got me back into gaming again. I still game for the social aspect of it now. If my friends are online to shoot the shit with and play some games I usually don't play.

Bout 25 years, not that fanatic about these days, still enjoy it tho, certainly had a lot morr time for back in school days

Not sure exactly. A little over 30 years I suppose. My first system was the 2600. I keep gaming because I enjoy it. Didn't realize how many old farts were on this forum.

Playing since the early to mid eighties.

I play to escape, to appreciate others' creativity, to craft my own, and have new experiences. I also very much enjoy dissecting games and attempt to view them in their individual parts to understand how they come together. To try to view mechanics and assets in a micro and macro context, how they depend on others, and what possible flaws or benefits a particular approach brings. I try to see it from the developer's perspective and ask why they did it in such a way towards what they were attempting to accomplish. Nintendo's best games always leave me at a loss for words they are so well crafted.

Since the Atari 2600 days. I've always been attracted to gaming, I used to read novels as a kid and let my imagination run wild. Gaming was just a better fit for me and I never looked back. I enjoy many different types of games, but I enjoy games with arcade-like gameplay the most. Used to spend a lot time in the arcades back in the day, and I feel I have good hand to eye coordination and I've always done well in games like Street Fighter .....it's something I feel I'm good at, it also soothes my mind often, like a stress relief of sorts. I get distracted and immersed by the game and I forget other issues in my life.

Since I was 7.I play to have fun,I play to escape from the world,Have new experiences and because of their stories.

Since i was 5-6...video games always attracted me...and because i didn't have too many friends so yeah, i needed something that could make me happy, that's why i start playing video games PS. Sorry for bad english

Over 20 years, and it's a hobby I enjoy.

I've been gaming since I was probably 3 or 4 in the early 90s. My family had a Nintendo, Sega, and a PC with great games like Hover.

I imagine I've always played for the interactivity side of it. I like games that require thought in terms of how to utilize game mechanics, how to traverse the maps, and even how to develop the story. I've mostly moved away from consoles since the Xbox and PS4 suck in that department, but I think I'll get the Switch.

As it stands I'm sure I'll be a PC gamer for the rest of my life, though I don't doubt there'll come a time when consoles aren't really a thing anymore, and there won't be anymore distinctions between hardware boxes.

1988 or 1989 was my first exposure to the NES with SMB and Duck Hunt. I got my own SNES in 1993 (IIRC) and had access to a computer from around that time as well. So I've had gaming as a part of my life for about 27 years (of nearly 30) and been gaming regularly for 22.

In the past few years, I've become a much less "serious" gamer. Work, life and other things have been getting in the way of time I used to invest in gaming and honestly, that's not a bad thing. I'm looking forward to introducing children to gaming. Seeing their eyes light up at the prospect of a virtual world.

It's probably been about 23 years now.

I am most fond of gameplay mechanics, level design and challenge.

I still game because Nintendo is still around to really focus on those aspects and Street Fighter competition has me always learning and developing.

Every now and then I do like to get lost in a big open world. I'm really excited for the next Red Dead. Hopefully they handle the story missions way better this time. I don't know how much more cinematic horseback riding I can take. It was the nature, sharpshooter, hunting, etc challenges and just exploring the world that made the first so good. The story took a backseat to the free roaming elements for me.

Since the Atari 2600 so roughly 39 years. I have always been fascinated with video games and just love them to death. I have never really had much of a break from them in the last 39 years and have done minimal complaining if any. I don't see myself ever getting tired of video games, I may not put the hours into it I used to but I would if i could.

I've been gaming since I was 3 or 4 years old in the early 90s so, that's around 21 years. I believe I started off on the Gameboy.

I've been gaming since the arcades was the only video gaming around. Why game (up to now)? Because I can.

The only time I cut back on gaming is back when I was still struggling financially. Once I'm more well-off, I picked it up again.

Oh god, this thread is cringeville to me

So much "I game...", "I've been gaming...", "I'm a gamer..."...

unghghhh...my brain is caving in.

You should go to internet jail for at least a month anytime you use "game" as a verb. That shit's horrible goddamn.

Your grammar's not perfect either. Quit that. ;)

I know. Why do you assume it should be?

27 years, I guess. I just find them fun, like any other hobby.

I've been gaming since I was about 5 years old, so about 25 years. I keep playing because I enjoy it. The two things that I enjoy most about gaming are the social interaction of playing multiplayer games with friends and the challenge of completing a hard, well-designed level which are why my favorite types of games are party games and retro side-scrollers.

Started playing when the original Pokémon Blue version came out. My interest in gaming started to wane but now that my children are old enough to play games it is a blast again. Love playing Mario Kart and stuff with them.

32 years, been gaming since I was 5, I started on the atari 2600 and have owned just about every system since then. I am a pc gamer now, although I do plan on buying a wii u at some point and maybe the switch, but I don't see myself buying consoles like I used to. There has never been a time in my life where I was not gaming and I am sure there never will be. I just have too much fun playing games and I am constantly playing games of all different genres and all different eras, as the hobby continues to evolve it just gets better and better.

I dunno, around 27 years I suppose. I keep gaming because it is and always has been more rewarding than movies or books. I love both of the latter (especially reading), but there is something to be said for interactive media - even with scripted stuff like Uncharted, it throws you a bone for engaging with the story. Meanwhile things like platformers, puzzlers, and even FPS are basically spatiomotor brain games on different levels. If you have an active mind, it can be very rewarding compared to sitting there and just watching colors flash on the screen with TV or movies.

Since the mid-late 70s as a kid. I play games to relax and lose myself for a while and have some fun.2

I started when I was like 4 on a Master System. I guess I keep playing because it's still entertaning for me :)

Pretty much all my life, I have faint memories of some Amiga system in our house, but the fondest memories are from playing Sega Master System II (Sonic 1, California Games, Mickey Mouse, Dynamite Dux, Alexx the Kid and that game with the two bald dudes). It was in the early nineties (93' or 94'). After that we got a PC and it was all about DOOM and a plethora of other DOS games, which we of course got illegally by copying the discs :P

Edit: Diskettes lol, not discs. I don't even remember when I've had to write that, diskettes, diskettes, diskettes.

I have gaming for about 20 year which is most of my natural life and I keep going because of the stories and gameplay. Like I know I started gaming back in the N64 days when 3D graphics was like having sliced bread for the first time but to see the industry evolve has been an interesting one. I've watched as the stories and gameplay were very basic to now where they tell adequate complex stories with layers and decent gameplay to boot. I'm also seeing where the medium is devolving as well with F2P being stuff with microtransactions or hell even 60 dollar games being stuffed with microtransactions. Then there is the debacle of digital vs physical which is plausible when Comcast and other ISP stop being dicks and allow for unlimited downloads. But I digress.