Faux Hardcore Gamer? Am I growing out of my hobby?

[white_wolf]

Been playing since the Intelevision but within the last 2 years yeah I'm not gaming that much, I've notice wide spaces of down time spent doing other things then gaming to the point I'll let others play my system in my absence to keep the girl running and not feel over protective of her.

When I do game I'll do it for a week or two then break for a few more weeks. This year though has got to be pretty bad because I've got at least 3 games I've got no interest in completing normally I get a game and I bang it out it 2 - 3 days and that's not rushing thats just me playing right now I'm replaying a few titles and the one I'm most interested between RDR and TR3 is TR3! I'm getting excited playing Laura again and surprised I still remember the maps! I loaded her and RE into my PS3 and they work! I was jumping up and down like I won the lottery! I didn't think they'd work but they do! I still read sites, get info on games, heck I've even signed up to be play tester (but I'm not holding my breathe on it)and I'm waiting very patiently for Aliens, DAI, and trying to save for my PS4 solely for TW3 for the sole purpose of seeing how my decisions in 2 effect my game.

But playing with friends I shrug, sigh and go oh no maybe its because all they play is shooters and I've been COD'ed out for multiple years now, but I owe a match so I'll have to suck it up here soon and force myself to play it yet again. I think right now its not me loosing my edge or becoming casual its just the games I like aren't made much anymore and the ones I do like I've played them all, a tad tired of cliched heros and repeating plots makes me a tad picky at points, so now I have to bide my time for the new releases. I think taking the poster(s) suggestions of try a brand new genre might be something I should look into.

 

[Something Amyss]

Time keeps on tickin'... into the future...

Actually, if you believe Steve Miller, it keeps on slippin'.

Funny thing. I spend more time on these forums and listening to game reviews or extra credits or something than I do playing actual games.

I guess ever since that one topic on GTAforums about fuel being a thing people wanted in GTA V (That topic eventually led me to zero punctuation and this site), I feel like if I don't spend every day explaining why tedious chores shouldn't be mandatory in video games, next thing you know saints row will have a mandatory dishwashing mini game or that stupid fitness bullshit from GTA San Andreas. A bullshit irrational fear to be sure, but those are FUCKING DIFFICULT to get rid of.

Also, I just like discussing games. I don't know if this counts, but I do have a 10 minute video of metroid prime running on a loop on my tablet next to me.

Oh Good God, I remember in the buildup to GTA V, there were people on the boards I visited who were talking about putting on seatbelts and stuff. They got upset when I suggested a minigame to successfully tune the radio, though. Apparently, I wasn't taking their intrusive and meaningless tasks seriously enough.

I wonder if you still count as a "games enthusiast" or whatever the new buzzword around here is.

 

[Raikas]

I think it's common to go through phases where different elements of different pastimes/hobbies are more or less attractive; it's just part of life. From about 2005-2010 I went through a period of very little gaming, but I don't think it's any stranger than the periods where I watched very little TV (and that's not even getting into non-media hobbies; sometimes you just want to quit your sports team or stop running or whatever) - I didn't outgrow any of those things, they just weren't priorities for me at those times in my life.

And that's aside from the time constraint piece. I have a friend who used to be a fairly heavy gamer (4+ hours a night), but these days he's lucky to play 15 minutes a night. And that has nothing to do with enjoyment of the hobby, but he's married and has two kids under 3 years, and a house that needs renovating, and he still tries to find time for the band he plays with - and that's normal, life's like that. In a few years the house will be finished and the kids will be older and it'll all change again, y'know?

 

[Therumancer]

I want to discuss something very personal as well as seeing if I'm not the only one with this peculiar delema.

When this issue of Gamer came about. My first reaction was to defend the term vehemently. Crying a foul I did at the journalists lumping me into a group, how dare they. Yes, I was for the Gamer Gate movement for a little bit, but I'm neutral now I still side only mildly with parts of that movement.

This discussion is not about that. What I came to the conclusion though, one thing that has stopped me from following this thing was I realized something. Something I never would have ever admit.

I'm . . .CASUAL! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW7Op86ox9g

Allow me to explain.
I am a cartoonist and regular commissioning artist who's working on making comics. Obviously.
When I first got my computer another thing I had purchased was a video game console.

The reasoning was because, at a time I was a hardcore gamer. I wanted to play them video games and I use to spend hours just gaming.

But recently something happened. When I finally got a tablet to draw and internet access, I found I spent more time on the computer then I did booting my ps3 to play them games. It got to the point my ps3 served as entertainment for others and shockingly enough I was quick to sell it to help with my mother's car note. (It was a bad decision)

With that though, I decided maybe I like my computer so much I get steam, and so I did go into the pc gaming realm . . . and barely played and still barely play my 70+ games.

Is it age? I'm 28 years old. But I think that if my 13 year old self saw the games I had he would have a king size fit with glee, but he'd also be confused why I don't game so much.

I'm having an interesting issue. I read game websites. I listen to game podcasts, I watch let's plays. But I barely play my video games. My skills have been dying while I focus on my work. I've barely beaten but 2% of my gaming list and I've installed games and never booted them once.

Games have become a chore. People recommend me games and I say I'll play it, but i never do. Friends ask me to play a game, but i say, not now, I dun feel like it I wanna watch my shows or do some art.

I'm realizing I might have become a contradiction. Watching gaming culture and vids all the time, but barely but once a month do I boot a game to play.

Anyone else experience or experiencing this.
I'd like to get better at a fighter, but I just dun feel like doing it. I dun have the time man. Am I growing out of my hobby?

Everyone goes through periods of burn out with any hobby. A big problem I have is very few games really "hook" me anymore so I buy a lot of games myself that seem like they could be good, but never quite get motivated enough to play them, or start out playing a game and realize for one reason or another it's not really entertaining me and then drop it. Gaming is one of the few things I can still do (well, more or less, my hands are starting to hurt more and more) but really, when you do too much of it you need a break. Years ago when I was working I would have thought my current game collection and levels of time (being forced out of work and onto social security) would have been some kind of nirvana, now... not quite as much. I still go through massive binges though when something captures my imagination or gets me hooked, but that happens infrequently... I suspect part of it is that now that I have incredible times to game, nobody makes many games exactly like what I want to play anymore, those that did exist are ones that I beat into the ground so much that they feel kind of pointless.

 

[Lieju]

Yeah, I'm very much the same.

I have practically stopped playing non-handhelds. I still play my 3DS on the bus or to help with anxiety though. (As grinding stuff like supports in FE:A helps.)

 

[immortalfrieza]

Well, let's see... with my entertainment I pretty much do whatever the mood strikes me to do these days. Sometimes I'll go a week without picking a game up and then I'll spend the next couple weeks binge playing several games in a row or one really long one. Then again, I do spend a lot of time either on websites like this talking about video games or looking up information about video games. The rest of my free time I'm usually watching episodes of TV shows that I really liked or never go around to watching or reading dozens of various comic books, usually by superhero. I also tend to replay games I already have or playing old ones I either didn't know about until recently or never got around to playing more often than I play something new, though that might just be there's not that much new that is worthwhile these days.

One thing I've noticed is I have the tendency to go on a series binge from the first game to the last for the most part, such as recently where I seem to be into Castlevania and so I've playing each game from Castlevania 4 onwards, I just recently got to Lords of Shadow 1. Another thing is I seem to play 3 games at once, I'll play one, then drop it, and then pick up another one, then drop it, then again, and I'll end up back at the first one until I finish one and add another to the lineup. As a result some of them I end up forgetting about and not finishing until they end up in the lineup again. It used to be that when I picked up a game I wasn't stopping until it was finished, but I just don't seem to have that kind of dedication anymore.

So... I have no idea where I fit when it comes to my involvement with games.

 

[Plinglebob]

I'm a bit of a strange case in this respect. I like coming on these forums, watching Yahtzee, Jim, Extra Credits, etc., and consider myself pretty up to date with gaming news and culture.

However, I don't actually enjoy playing games that much. I hardly play them at all, in fact, and feel my free time is better spent reading books. If I spent the amount of time gaming as I do reading, I'd definitely qualify as "hardcore", but as it stands I doubt I even qualify as "casual".

Is anyone else the same?

While I don't read as much as you seem to as more into TV and films, I'm pretty much the same. I play a few big releases as well as WoW 3 times a week with friends, but other then that, not much.

 

[Weaver]

I'm feeling this way now. There's so many other things I'm doing I just feel like if I'm gaming I'm wasting valuable time that should be spent doing something productive.

 

[DrOswald]

Step away from playing for some time. Try coming back in 6 months. Try new genres when you do come back.

Also, try watching lets plays or speed running. This turns gaming into a spectator sport style of thing. That might be more your speed - very interested in games but perhaps not so interested in playing right now.

 

[Nurb]

There's nothing to "grow out" of. Your tastes change or you want a break or life has things crop up that you want/need to take care of.

Things happen, but you'll probably come back to it sooner or later