I’ve been playing video games for a long time. for about as long as Darryn’s been alive, actually. Lately, I’ve been becoming a little disillusioned by the videogame industry, and the way that it seems my favoured entertainment medium is headed. Or maybe it’s just the way I’m headed.
There are a number of reasons for that that we’ve discussed at length, so I’ll not repeat them here. The gist of it though is that I long for that rose-tinted nostalgic time when games seemed to actually be about fun, instead of being about profit. I’m also growing tired of all this multiplayer nonsense being thrown in to games – mostly because the last thing I want to do when I pick up a controller is listen to whiny teenagers telling me about the terrible things they’ve done with my mom or casting aspersions about my sexuality.
I’ve also grown to hate games that just take too damned long to play. Where I would spend hundreds upon hundreds of hours in my youth grinding against giant blobs of jelly or whatever in some silly 16-Bit JRPG that was available at the time, if I even see a JRPG now, all I want to do is throw up. Instead, I’d much rather play games that are 8 to 12 hours in length. You know, before dire boredom sets in.
Don’t even get me started on all this social nonsense that’s cropping up in games all the time. If i wanted to compare things with my mates, I’d whip my genitals out. And be laughed at, pretty much like they all laugh at my lap times.
Anyway, I digress. I’m a family man, and the amount of time I have available to play games is diminishing. even when I do have the time, they impress me less and less. Is it because I’m a disillusioned, cynical grumpy old man, getting too old for videogames?
Can you even be too old for games?
Last Updated: April 26, 2013
umar bastra
April 26, 2013 at 10:35
One can never be too old for games but it is a testament to growing up. You get married and have a family it becomes hard to play games, and when you do have time, you need the game to be gratifying and as such your standards are much higher than they were when you were younger.
Man I used to play FF7 and FF8 every year over but now I hardly have time for one RPG but the love will never, EVAR diminish …. you just become more cynical. I for one will always play games for as long as live.
Video Gamers, real Gamers know, despite the the state that the industry is in, we will never forget nor let go of our love for video games
AndriyP
April 26, 2013 at 10:40
Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional
No, one can never be too old to play games
OldVideoGamer
April 26, 2013 at 11:02
Kinect 2 is mandatory. not buying the shit is optional 😉
AndriyP
April 26, 2013 at 10:40
Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional
No, one can never be too old to play games
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 26, 2013 at 10:40
Nah dude, I agree with you.
I’m feeling the same. But the main question is wrong. It’s not if we are getting too old to play. It should read “Are the older generation gamers being left behind for newer, younger players with less expectations of what games should be”
I played Biosock Infinite and I couldn’t put it down. So I definitely still want to play games. I still feel that nostalgic charm where I sit and think about the game world I am currently exploring while away from the game.
But it’s happening less and less because it’s all about socialisation, multiplayer and squeezing every cent out of people instead of good games.
It’s not us getting older that’s the problem. It’s the industry forgetting what makes a game a game, that’s becoming the problem.
That or we have played so many games that we’ve seen most of it and simply aren’t impressed with new games as we would have been when it was all still fresh and new to us?
umar bastra
April 26, 2013 at 10:43
I don’t believe there is nothing fresh for us to experience still. We just know what gaming should be like …. so we can’t enjoy this new stuff coming out
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 26, 2013 at 10:47
Hence why I made a point of saying how much I enjoyed Bioshock, It’s out there. It’s just not often that something comes along that’s actually good. Not for the older generation gamer anyway.
umar bastra
April 26, 2013 at 10:50
Yup indeed I fully agree with your comment though, I feel the same. Ni No Kuni breaks my heart, because I know, deep down, gamers will start caring less and less about these type of games … The number of games that will appeal to us is definitely going down. I’ll be honest. I’m afraid of the next gen
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 26, 2013 at 11:10
Same here man
HvR
April 26, 2013 at 10:51
It is actually a weird industry at the moment they cater and aim for mid teens to mid twenties but the the mid twenties to mid thirties market is actually bigger.
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 26, 2013 at 10:56
Really? Where do you find those stats? That’s pretty cool to know us late 20’s people are in the majority 🙂
But yeah, agreed, the crowd they are aiming for is bringing in less and less cash each year. As is proven by the fact that the industry keep losing money and not turning profits.
I honestly think the industry needs to refocus. When making an SP game, make it SP. Forget about online play.
If making an MP game, then focus on the MP game.
This formula works!
My proof? Skyrim and Bioshock Infinite. Both SP games that did really very well. Why? They were focused.
CoD, Battlefield3, they carry on doing well… Why? Focused MP.
There are no half jobs on these titles and it shows in exceptional sales and amazing reviews.
But no, they keep washing games down with features that aren’t needed. SimShitty springs to mind first.
HvR
April 26, 2013 at 11:31
Read an article regarding gender bias in gaming, they a break down of gender and age (for the US off course) the numbers showed that there was actually more female gamers aged 21 to 25 than male gamers in their teens.
Makes sense during a recession if your not a gamer would you spend effectively a R1k a month on your kid just to get a game?
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 26, 2013 at 11:32
Very interesting
OldVideoGamer
April 26, 2013 at 10:57
hear fcuking hear
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 26, 2013 at 11:10
So glad you agree with me 🙂
OldVideoGamer
April 26, 2013 at 11:21
I am glad that I am not the only one who is feeling a little odd with a hobby that we were happy to have for life. After my huge huge drunk rant on Darryns post a couple of Fridays ago I was about to take a trail period away from this hobby and find something else to pass the time.
I did feel that maybe the Peter Pan syndrome does finally wear off.
Its also nice to see the staff at LG are also able to pick up on our vibes.
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 26, 2013 at 11:30
That’s just the thing. It’s no longer a hobby. It’s a bitter pill to swallow. But it’s true. It’s becoming an elitist past time and if you can’t afford it… well tough luck. If you don’t like it… tough luck..
It’s harsh but unfortunately it’s true. It’s gone from being a hobby to a cash hoarding monster of an industry. The only thing that talks now is money. Not passion.
There are a few passionate ones left. But it’s slowly dying out and will be replaced by soulless, money guzzling entertainment not suitable as a hobby.
OldVideoGamer
April 26, 2013 at 11:36
Having real muppets tell us to DEAL WITH IT does not help.
Tomb Raider put a smile back on my face thanks to the first 6 lines in the end credits. THANK YOU for playing and spending YOUR time to finish our game that we worked hard to make for YOU, and we are 100% proud of what WE made.
🙂
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 26, 2013 at 11:42
I feel the same about Bioshock Infinite. You can tell the people were passionate. Why? The credits have jokes in them and people writing messages to their families and loved ones to say thanx for the support. Messages to the gamers saying thanx and they hope they enjoyed the experiance.
With passion like that it’s no wonder the game itself was bloody amazing and fun to play. They wanted people to enjoy their product and were so sure that their passion would make profits that they didn’t need to resort to cheap online transactions and tricks to make it worth while for themselves.
OldVideoGamer
April 26, 2013 at 11:46
Or one can pay $60 for an Activision Walking Dead game that was made by Bots but represent 90% of the industry.
The revolution is coming… if the school kids finally get bored shooting each other. But the new age will just feel like outcasts if they ever forced themselves to play an off-line game.
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 26, 2013 at 11:51
And that’s the kicker. The new generation gamer needs to be online and needs to socialse within their games instead of actually going out and talking to people. It’s easier for them to talk to a faceless person.
I play games as a hobby. To break away from the world for a few short hours.
Gaming companies are trying to take away the need to go out and meet people by including it in games.
The more time they can get people to spend on their games the more money they can make. Clever marketing I guess. But very bad for people in general.
The social aspect will simply turn gamers back in to what the world thought they were back in the day. People who never leave their houses and are unsocial. It’s going to destroy what gamers worked hard to prove wrong.
Rincethis: Beeralicious
April 26, 2013 at 14:41
I remember another game with an ending like that… And it was called Gears of War, Cliffy may be a bit of a nutter, but he had PASSION.
Skoobaz
April 26, 2013 at 14:28
Question is, where to from here? I dislike the idea of, in the near future having to be always online, sign in to whatever, purchase game, dl or god forbid, stream it, then if I want an extra item in game, I have to buy it, not earn it, like in the past. A better axe or whatever. Then when I do all this, my twitter, fb sites are all getting updated automaticall about my ingame achievements? Is that it? Hell no!
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 26, 2013 at 14:32
Where to? Heck I dunno. Back to the arcades?
Skoobaz
April 26, 2013 at 14:23
I second that! It’s all about nextgen. What about the OldGen, Us?
Sherlockian
April 27, 2013 at 10:03
I disagree with what you say of newer generation of gamers having less expectations. If anything I think they have greater expectations now days. If a game does not reach their exact expectations – Oooh boy. The amount of abuse games get now days when they do not fulfill some … I don’t know, some weird gaming fetish or something and people go off the rails as to how despicable the game is and how the developers should be shot etc.
I remember playing on the old NES or Sega systems and if a game was not “All it could be” you did not throw a tantrum, you went “Eh, still a fun game.”
But I whole heartedly agree with the sentiment of yours of “the industry is forgetting what makes a game a game.” – Granted not all developers or studios thankfully, but more than enough.
MieLLiePaP
April 26, 2013 at 10:42
Ur never to old for Games! i work in a Game Shop and there is 2 old guys thats older than 60 years old that loves to play PS3 & Xbox 360. They love Call of Duty and basically any warfare game. Most of the time they complain that the games takes to long to come out, coz they are not sure if they will still be here when the games eventually arrives 🙂
FoxOneZA - The Chosen One
April 26, 2013 at 10:43
I don’t think one gets to old for games but rather that one gets too old to old to adapt to technology. Now I don’t expect the older generation to go out all flapping in front of Kinect for a minute leading to exhaustion but I do expect them to accept that gaming is taking new directions to deliver a different experience from the very first time they played Duke Nukem and Stunts.
Rincethis: Beeralicious
April 26, 2013 at 10:43
Not too old! Despondent , shit yes. You’d be too if you were suddenly being told that you are in fact not the owner of a game, not allowed to do this because you are not online, not allowed to moan because the fucking servers for AAA games like Diablo and Simcity are down, told to stop whining by fuckheads like Adam Bohr (if you see him begging for money on the side of a street, please kick him in the shins), have to deal with First Day patches, made to pay, PAY, for characters different skins, lied to by PR companies, that’s if they aren’t too busy stealing budget to pay for fancy clothes/holidays. Yeah, I am bitter, about as bitter as the pint of bitter I think I probably need right now…
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 26, 2013 at 10:50
Couldn’t agree more man. With you all the way
umar bastra
April 26, 2013 at 10:52
Remember when we could pop a disc in and play a good SP game … Pepperidge Farm remembers
OldVideoGamer
April 26, 2013 at 10:56
DESPONDENT… nice one 🙂
Matthew Figueira
April 26, 2013 at 10:48
I don’t ever see myself giving up gaming completely, but I agree with you that the gaming industry isn’t quite what it used to be. I think back to the good ol’ days, of the hours I put into them 16 bit games, and games on the first ever Playstation. I remember nothing but bliss and awe about the stuff I played, and the amount of times I played a game over and over and over again.
These days (when I’m not playing dota :P) I play a game once, and thats that. I feel like there is no need to play it again. Perhaps its the wonders of being a child that makes you enjoy a game a whole lot more? I don’t know…
I played Abe’s Oddysee on steam a couple of months ago. I was shocked at how hard it actually was and that I actually finished it as a child. I played it so much back then that I got so damned good at avoiding all the danger, learning the timing, etc. Games aren’t that hard today. I think thats what the older generation is missing, something that can be challenging and make you want to throw your remote/mouse. Its the satisfaction of beating that game that we miss… we don’t really get that today. Not to say that hard games don’t exist today, but back then, every game had some kind of real challenge to it.
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 26, 2013 at 11:02
Pffff DotaSlut is yooooo
Matthew Figueira
April 26, 2013 at 11:19
^_^ forever <3
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 26, 2013 at 11:11
Dude, Abe’ Oddysee was hard! Loved the challenge though.
umar bastra
April 26, 2013 at 11:13
Hello *wave*…..*Fart* hehe
Matthew Figueira
April 26, 2013 at 11:18
Dude! The number of times I wanted to rage 😛 I was so gob smacked that I managed such a challenge as a kid, but it comes down to trying over and over again until you get it right. Still one of the best and most imaginative worlds I’ve ever experienced.
umar bastra
April 26, 2013 at 11:28
you managed to save everyone? I couldn’t do it, was too hard
Matthew Figueira
April 26, 2013 at 11:51
I remember I came close once. I think I got 98/99. I had no idea where the last one was :<
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 26, 2013 at 11:31
Agreed 🙂
umar bastra
April 26, 2013 at 11:12
Abe’s Oddysee is freaking legend. but I WHOLE heartedly agree. there is no challenge in games anymore and you know what I found to be the lowest point in my gaming life … that games that have in game tutorials, have to start by telling you that “move the left analog stick to move your character” ….. WE NEED TO BE TOLD HOW TO MOVE??….wow
Wtf101
April 26, 2013 at 11:46
Yeah, but think about it: Most likely when you started gaming, you had a control with a d-pad and two buttons. Hell, when I started ye old arcade cabinet had one button.
Now look at your controller these days. Four shoulder buttons, four buttons on the face of the controller. A d-pad. Analogue sticks, the start button and that other button thingy used to bring up maps in a game. (Sorry, forgot what it was called)
Now you need to get as many sales as possible with a release, cause you just sank millions into a game. Appealing to core gamers are not going to make your sales targets. And will Joe Public really find something entertaining if he cannot figure out how to move/shoot/toss a grenade?
Point in case, the latest WWE game deviated so badly from its predecessors where it comes to controls, that the only moves I seem to be getting out of that thing makes it look like my character is trying to get his freak on with CM Punk. That game is now sitting on my desk, gathering dust.
umar bastra
April 26, 2013 at 12:01
HAHA poor WWE, no definitley I agree with you, but it’s not so much the fact they are telling us how to simply use the controls(simple controls i might add) but they leave nothing to explore,know what I mean. I would press all the buttons and do everything on the control and try and figure it out. That is why I love Dark Souls. there was no tutorial for riposte or even how to change your arrows and such. Games today just treat us a tad bit like a baby … but very valid point
OldVideoGamer
April 26, 2013 at 10:50
NEVER TO OLD TO PLAY. BUT, VIDEOGAMES HAVE OUTGROWN THEMSELVES.
What used to be an escape tool is now the complete opposite. SOCIAL BUTTONS and EXTROVERTED interfaces with A FUCKING GREEDY INDUSTRY,
has made me feel to old for videogames.
umar bastra
April 26, 2013 at 10:51
TRUTH!!!!
CaptainNemo42
April 26, 2013 at 10:50
…
HvR
April 26, 2013 at 10:59
Never to old to be gamer but as you get older ans busier you do appreciate your time more.
I think that is why you do not want to play games longer than 10 hours because the gaming industry has become the same as the music industry as it produces 5 hours of good game play and package it in 50 hours of repetitive bubblegum crap and then spend 10 times there dev budget marketing the crap out of it.
The root I chosen was stick to PC gaming (as I use the PC for work as well I can validate the expenditure versus needs of my family) and luckily for me is that EA left the RTS market alone after they raped C&C which is still my favorite genre and something that has great replay value without becoming boring. And then I purchase the new Half-life for that decade.
As my kid gets older I can get him into gaming and spend a few extra hours a week playing.
Proud to say I never touched a social gamed
HvR
April 26, 2013 at 11:04
You can always break out the golden oldies if you get fed up the new crap. Recently I revisisted Conquest of the New World, StarControl2 in DosBox, did a Kotor1 playthrough and got Pirate’s Gold runnning on emulator on my phone.
Slade Boender
April 26, 2013 at 11:04
Yeah, just like you can get too old for sex and booze binges and going to “that” side of town for company.
On a serious note, I just dont like the corporatism of the industry, thats what makes it feel so alienating. So maybe too old and cynical that its all dilapidated into bullshit.
caponeil
April 26, 2013 at 11:24
Of course not. Love of Video Games is a state of mind. It is what keeps me sane and fill hours that will generally be filled with drinking and partying too much!
Anon A Mouse
April 26, 2013 at 11:24
If it’s too loud you’re too old, as the saying goes but I think the gaming industry lost the plot as to what gaming should be. As @360Mirror:disqus says AAA games only get about 3% of the current gaming market, surely that should be an indication of how bad it became.
I do know that not every one is the same and that not every game will cater to every ones liking, but 3% is still way off. I truly fear for the next gen and I am almost 80% certain that I will not be making the transition to the next gen consoles but that doesn’t mean that I will stop playing. I have a PS2 ans PS3 console with lots of games that can still be played as SP and be enjoyed. Heck I even have a few crappy games on my Laptop that I play when the mood suites me.
One thing though that I do not agree with is the length of games. I hate it when I pop the disk in on a Saturday for a nice long gaming session and the game is finished before I’m going to bed. I don’t say make the game 300 hours long because that becomes old very fast but make it at least well worth putting your time into the game. I’ll say anything from 12 – 24 hours for main storyline and a few extra hours for side quests will be more than handsome.
Thus to answer your question ~ Just as I keep supporting Liverpool no matter what crap football they play, the same will be with games. I’ll play what I have no matter how old I get.
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 26, 2013 at 11:39
The only differance is supporting Liverpool doesn’t cost you lots of money and they don’t force you to buy their products….
Well, I guess it costs money if you need to go drown your sorrows at ye ‘ole pub over yonder hill.
I wouldn’t mind if games were a bit longer either. But I do wish they would allow me to save ANYWHERE I bloody well please. I hate doing sections over simply because I am a grown man and have responsibilities I need to attend to.
I don’t plan my day around gaming. I plan my gaming around my responsibilities. And If I only have 15minutes to play then I want to play for 15minutes, save my game and come back later.
Not play 15minutes. Quit, come back later and need to do those 15minutes over again.
i once played a game 15 times over on the same section simply because I didn’t have enough time in my week to get to the next effing checkpoint
Anon A Mouse
April 26, 2013 at 11:53
I do agree checkpoints are from the Devil. Heck even your best plans can get bulldozed. I remember once I played a game (can’t remember what it was) but I struggled my ass off to get beyond a certain point, when I finally got past it I had to attend to real life. I was heart broken to have to do it all over again. Luckily the second time around was easier but still.
Ryan
April 26, 2013 at 12:06
The last 7 year gaming generation has been a recycling dump. Large gaming corporations recycling shit games with shit messages. That is why you want shorter games, to get all the shit over with.
Gaming has became popular as an entertainment source in last couple of years. With all the new people joining gaming in the last 7 years, that only knows and supports the large gaming corporations recycled shit. How can the gaming industry improve and innovate on game play?, when support is used on recycled shit.
Pc gaming, is a place where independent gaming studios could get support for new and interesting concepts and game play ideas. But a lot of pc gamers went over to the corporate shit box because of the controller and couch. In the last 2 years a lot of people went back to the pc side of gaming. So i hope there will be enough support for new and innovative gaming developers.
Seeing as the consoles has a lot of gamers, 8 gigs ddr 5 ram is going to help in improving on games for years to come. Playstation learned from the Ps3 shit ram setup and 7 years. I can’t type more without seeing what i type. So let me end of by asking if we need another 7 years with a corporate shit box promoting shit, like Usher. Xbox and Xbox 360 never started out as a corporate shit box.
Paul Fouche
April 26, 2013 at 12:24
weird but lately i seem to have outgrown some games, eg i cannot play an mmo like i used to.. battlefield gets boring after two matches.. SC2 gets frustrating .. ( think thats my fault though) i mean 5 years ago i could play games litterally from friday afternoon till sunday evening with no problems.. now i struggle to sit and stare at the screen for more than 3 hours straight i guess they just dont make em like they used to.. OR im getting old
DaxterZA
April 26, 2013 at 12:30
PC gamers might have a problem one day with their bad backs, wrists, necks and hips, us console gamers have been chilling on couches playing games our whole lives, so we will be in better condition to play games IMO. Haha
Jokes
But on a serious note, Im not married and dont have kids, so I think when some of us one day have a family we might not have so much time to play games….Ive seen it with many people…
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 26, 2013 at 12:31
Hahahaha. Good laugh sir. But just know that Carpel Tunnel Syndrome awaits all gamers. 😉
Tbone187
April 26, 2013 at 15:08
Mind you, your thumbs can take a hammering with the analogues on Fifa…
Gerhard67
April 26, 2013 at 12:31
I still remember the times when we used to hand in the empty bottles for money to play arcade games at the corner café. I play only sp games and must say the games of today is pretty amazing. Graphics, sound, stories etc. My concern is that developers these days seems to cater more to the online and social crowd.
I also have a real problem in that some games over complicate the button configuration to do special moves.
We are most definitely not to old, but maybe they should have an old school mode built in the games so that I can laugh at my kids when they fall down a cliff (in the game) because there was no prompt that says JUMP!
Karl Thomson
April 26, 2013 at 13:06
Some food for thought: A 63 year old man has just STARTED played League of Legends after watching the LCS (premiere LoL esport tournament)
http://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/1d41wq/jim_aka_a_ping_axer_the_64_year_old_vietnam_vet/
Brady miaau
April 26, 2013 at 13:26
I have a wife, as do many other gamers.
Many people on this site have kids and so forth (I do not, but ask again in November 🙂 ) but time is found to play. I enjoy, so I make the time.
Yes, I will not wake on Saturday morning and start playing till the bar opens, like I used to, but so what? Now, clean house, mow lawn, wash dishes, cook food, build on house, that sort of thing. Then play games.
Also helps that my wife goes to sleep much sooner than I do, so I have that two to three hours a night to do what I want. Well, when I am not working late, of course.
Dude McPersonson
April 26, 2013 at 13:50
It’s not me, it’s games. As a 36 year old gamer I feel the same way. The most recent example of me and videogames growing apart is Dead Space 3. I loved the first two games and as usual I played it on the hardest difficulty from day one. Dead Space 3 is disappointing, it’s EASY even on the hardest difficulty and the mechanic seems entirely built around maximizing the probability that people will spend real money in-game without being obtrusive. This is to the point that the unobtrusiveness is almost insulting to consumers in the same was as subliminal advertising. “you’re so stupid that you might actually fall for this”. The scavenger bot aspect is so arbitrary and so obviously a feature with the sole purpose of adding a basis on which microtransactions can be introduced.
From the outset I felt like I paid full price for 4/5’ths of a game. The resource mechanic also made me feel like I was cheating when spending resources on ammo. IMO dead space 3 is not a dead space game and I doubt that I will buy dead space 4. On the whole it was dead space 3 that made me think, more seriously than ever before, about how long it would be before games and I parted ways.
Tbone187
April 26, 2013 at 15:20
Priorities change and gaming ain’t as high any longer…Can’t blame the industry as the lyties are still getting enough time in…If I was 16 again, playing Far Cry 3, it would’ve been heaven yet now I’ve had it for ages and it still isn’t done…
Johnnie Finn
April 27, 2013 at 02:46
Why are you people talking about games, then?
matthurstrsa
April 29, 2013 at 07:13
I’ve also been feeling this way lately. I think there are too many games being released, and so if you try and play them all, you feel old because you don’t get the time to play them due to your other responsibilities. I’m just much more choosy about my games and I’m still loving the games I play.
Lupus
April 29, 2013 at 10:52
I’m in my thirties and still like to game, not as much as I used to. But it is more single player games, my reactions are definitely not as fast as they used to be on MP games 🙂