Discussion topic: Are you a better gamer now, than you were 10 years ago?

[tardcast]

Last week me and my friends on the GameOverCast [http://gameovercast.co.uk] podcast discussed a topic which makes us think about how awesome it was to be young and smart with quick reactions and shiny shoes, after years of sitting in darkened rooms playing games has our age and experience helped us or are we past it already?

In short, were you better at video games when you were younger?

Though now 29, I personally feel i am a better gamer all round, but dont deny that my reactions arent quite as sharp as they used to be...
What about you guys? Feeling your age yet while gaming?

Things to think about:
-Are you getting better at games with age?
-Reaction times improving or slowing?
-Experience giving you the edge over the old you? Say in something like racing games (intuitively knowing racing lines etc)
-Would the old you be ashamed at how slow you've gotten?
-Do you still have patience to learn new different games?
-Do you still have the patience to play games that punish you (super meat boy for example)
-Do you learn a new game faster now than you did "back then"? I.E younger fresher mind vs experience, and recognising design patters in games.

The podcast discussion has a mixture of views, some feeling their age, some thinking they have got better with age, over all a great discussion.

The rest of the podcast is also pretty funny, including a disgustingly rigged quiz!
Give it a listen, you (probably) won't regret it .

Listen here: GameOverCast.co.uk [http://gameovercast.co.uk].
Or on Itunes here [http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-gameovercast/id376203083].

 

[BlumiereBleck]

Oh goodness yes. Skill develops over time.

 

[NeedAUserName]

I don't think anyone that was a gamer ten years ago and still is now would be a worse gamer today. Gaming is like a fine wine, it only improves with age.

 

[VaudevillianVeteran]

Definitely. I was only a kid. The example of this is after finding an old game that I loved ten years ago, but never managed to finish, I finished it within 3 days. Skill, logic and hand-eye coordination develop with time.

 

[TPiddy]

Well, I dunno, as a teenager I'd be able to play them for longer without being tired or suffering horrible, horrible eyestrain

 

[JasonBurnout16]

I was 7.. So I'm pretty sure I'm a better gamer now than I was then.

Although that was the year I first completed Dino Crisis..

 

[theevilsanta]

Great topic. I'm 25 and this is something I've thought about often.

For me it depends on the genre. For Counter-Strike I was definitely much, much better 10 years ago. I understand the mechanics better now, but I'm so much slower.

Platformers are a mixed bag. My reactions are slower but I tend to understand the general mechanics better and get what the map designer has in mind better. I think I'd be better at Sands of Time now as opposed to 10 years ago.

Any strategy game I am much better at now. I played some Civ 2 the other week and destroyed on King difficulty. I could barely beat Chieftain 10 years ago.

Oh, and I'm sure I'd be tons better at rhythm games 10 years ago.

 

[TaboriHK]

I'm a better player in terms of skill, but certainly less patient. There are games I will now dead-stop playing if they frustrate me enough, no matter what point in the narrative, and that threshold is not nearly as big as it used to be. I used to considered too difficult or cheap games as an affront to my skills. Now I view them as not worth the stress, 9 times out of 10. I'm only 23 so I'm probably too young to be this jaded.

 

[Crimson_Dragoon]

Oh absolutely I am. Maybe one day my reaction times will slow down enough to be a detriment, but for now, the experience I've gained in those 10 years has far outweighed any effects of aging. Besides, I'm in my mid-twenties now so its not as if I'm past my prime or anything.

 

[Judgement101]

I was six soooooo duh.

 

[White_Hawk]

im WAAAAY quiker, more strategic, paitant and game wise...so yes i am a better gamer.

 

[BRMXJzjsoawk321]

I was 4 ten years ago!

I could type and form sentences but I only played Everquest and had no idea what I was doing!

I like to think I get better at games everyday; But I can sense a barrier in my mind keeping me from getting actually good. Sigh. I'm a bit smarter when it comes to my games especially recently.. So yeah.

 

[Skoldpadda]

Of course. Repetition is the mother of all skills.

 

[C95J]

10 years ago I was 5, so yes, I have gotten better at every aspect of gaming.

 

[[Insert Name Here]]

Yup. When Halo first came out, I couldn't beat it. But now...THE POWER!!!

 

[pyrosaw]

Oh yes. My four year old self could only get twelve kills in a UT2004 match. Twelve Kills? Can you believe that? Bah!

 

[hazabaza1]

10 years ago I was 6.
So I think I could only get better.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

My reactions aren't as sharp as when I was 11, but then again when I was eleven I didn't have the muscle memory, general knowledge and basic skills required to get through most games. The only way I completed several of my harder games was by single-minded obsession to complete them, rather than as an actual display of skills. I learned to beat them by learning them, and so it became more like an overly elborate quick time event for the whole game.

This was of course back in the days when AI restricted all characters to moving around in a single repeatable pattern, and you could avoid most threats by just running out of their patrol route.

I'm not as quick a gamer in terms of sheer reflexes, but my skills have far eclipsed my need to be as quick off the mark.

 

[Jack Cheal]

ye, i remember, not long ago, when I would have problems beating the first bit on Doom, but now, i can easily run through MW2 or something quickly, without much problem, even on the harder settings. My reactions along with comparability with the controller have improved, my aim is better, my usage of other items, sprint and different weapons have improved, my reflexes are slightly better as well, I'm quicker to embrace new techniques, methods and control schemes, most of the time anyway.
I think the one thing I have lost though is most of my shooterness, I cant really think of the term. I remember when i used to just spray and pray, and half the time id clear a room after emptying every clip i had at the one guy in the middle, then walk to the next and be killed by someone I didn't have ammo for, and now I just take pot shots, which drastically improves my gameplay, but doesn't improve the excitement.