I think I am going to stop playing videogames

[King Aragorn]

When Michael Bay's Transofrmers, Dragonball: Evolution and Twilight etc. have become the pinnacle of modern culture, I am now officialy Too Old for This Stuff.

Wait, what?
Transformers has been universally panned by both critics and fans, Twilight is one of the most hated movie franchises out there, and Dragonball: Evolution is cited as one of the worst movies of all time and did pretty bad in the Box Office.

Small rant over, back on topic: then well...I guess it's time to put down the mantle. I myself, LOVE modern day gaming, and i'v been gaming for a very long time now. It's just some people stop having interest in video games, just like some people can suddenly lack interest in anything else, I guess you should try taking a little break first, THEN making the final decision.

 

[Strazdas]

IF you want your mind Blow, get a PC. you play consoles and you complain about not getting your mind blown, on a 7 year old machine?

and if you truly do not enjoy gaming anymore, take a break, stop gaming completely, say, for 6 months. after that, do you feel liek your missing on important part of your life? if the answer is yes, go back to gaming, if no, jsut continue your non-gaming life. nothing wrong with that.

actually i had the thought myself yesterday, after having a long match with a friend in which we totally messed up (his fault, and he paid for it dearly, i got scot free since i did no big mistakes) i came to thin, hey, i didnt actaully enjoy this, anf aterwards, im goign to try finish this one game i stopped enjoying a while ago, why am i doing this?
and then i remmebered the good times gaming gave me, and i went on and had fun, while listening to escapists podcast to boost.

Man, the master race sure has some Jehova's witnesses levels of recruitment enthusiasm >_>

you are always welcome to join us.

Wait, what?
Transformers has been universally panned by both critics and fans, Twilight is one of the most hated movie franchises out there, and Dragonball: Evolution is cited as one of the worst movies of all time and did pretty bad in the Box Office.

yep all of them with exception with DB:E did exceptionally well in box office, the "Regular moviegoers" praise them to the level star wards was praised when it came out and ratings are so high it gets into to lists on variuos sites. Actually twillight is kinda meh, not worth the hate IMO. (yes, i saw them all, i see a lot of movies, closing to 2000)
a better example would have been harry potter though. bad books, worse movie, yet both the critics and the public seem to love it. the Y generation - us - are a generation of remakes, rehashes and cut corners. the guy you quoted is right.

 

[Scrustle]

It's definitely not your fault. The industry is starting to look a lot more bleak lately. I can totally understand why someone looking at it right now would be completely turned off by it.

But even if it's just you simply not enjoying games any more that doesn't seem like such a disaster either. It doesn't have to be you're "growing up". To be honest, I find the idea that videogames are just a child's plaything that adults don't or shouldn't partake in slightly insulting. It's also simply false. Also I think 20 years is far too long to be called a "phase". A phase is like those few months or years when you were a teenager when you turned goth for a while. Not 20 years enjoying a certain hobby.

My point is that it could just be that you're not interested in games any more. You're done with them, for now at least. That's totally fine. People's tastes change. Maybe you'll come back another time when things look more interesting, or not. Just do what you enjoy. Doesn't have to be anything more to it than that.

Don't feel bad about not playing games any more. Obviously it's sad to lose something that made you happy, but if it's not doing that any more then there's no reason to stick around if you don't want. You'll have a better time doing something you enjoy more, instead of playing games that bore you just because you wish you could enjoy them like in the good old days.

 

[Ickorus]

Get into PC gaming, it's never been cheaper, you could build a PC that will run all the latest games (albeit not at top quality) for between £200 & £300 or if you decided to splash out and spend around £200 more you could have yourself a mid-range PC that will run everything well.

The reason I suggest the PC is because I also loved Alan Wake and am fairly disillusioned with the state of console-centric AAA titles but as a PC gamer I find there are a lot of really good games developed either by indie teams or as PC only titles and so I haven't quite ran out of games to play. (though there has been a dip recently)

I'd definitely recommend keeping your consoles for the moment though, you never know when you'll get the urge to play again and you don't want to start from scratch.

All that said, the decision is up to you and I wish you luck in all your future endeavours whether they be gaming related or otherwise.

 

[Maximum Bert]

What the hell is all the urging for the OP to get into PC gaming for? does everyone think that is some magical cure because it certainly didnt work for me I got into PC gaming and then back out again and now only dabble in it same with handhelds.

All I can say OP is take a break I have been fed up with games and been thinking of quitting at least 3 times in the past and each time I took a good long break and only bought games I knew I would enjoy rather than ones I thought were technically very good but was doubtful of my enjoyment of them.

This will mean you can do other things and take a breather while the little time you spend with games is a pleasant experience in time you may start to game more or just drift away I keep coming back and then going again. Either that or make a conscious decision never to game again and be shut with it but make sure you are happy with that decision deep down as in you have no hesitation otherwise you may end up regretting it, I made this decision about watching TV back in 2000 and havent watched any TV in my house since and dont regret it for a second.

This year I think I will end up buying 4 or 5 games (bought 2 already) and only 2 of those at full price which is a pitiful amount to what I used to buy but I tend to enjoy the experience more as well as get more out of them in the long run, plus it leaves me time to do other things that I want to do so I find gaming as a reward rather than a chore as I struggled to get through my huge glut of games on the backlog.

If you play a lot of games in one genre and feel burned out take a break there I got burnt out on fighting games and took a 10 year break which did wonders. I have been on a break of FPS games since Halo 2 and am still abstaining now as I just feel no drive to get back into any despite how good some are (there are always rare exceptions in each case however).

The fact you are talking about leaving seems to me you are unsure like you want someone to reassure you that its the right thing to do or more likely seeing as this is a gaming website you want to have an excuse or reason not to and carry on otherwise why even announce it? Just stop gaming no one will care in the long run except maybe you and your friends if they gamed with you.

 

[King Aragorn]

snip

I cannot disagree more. The reason TF did so well is because of Micheal Bay's lies.
He promised grittier, darker stuff. The more enjoyable parts of TF1, and more focus on the robots What did we get? the exact opposite.

Not a single person I know likes those movies. All of them trash them completely and utterly. No critic I know or seen, or movie fan, would even near put them on their high lists. Most of the time, people praising them are really just being sarcastic lists/funny lists.

Also, may I add, every movie has a fanbase. It can vary from very small to big, and those two movies are no exception. The lack of people liking them makes the one that do, stand out more.

Twilight movies are also pretty terrible, same with the books. Some of the worst characters in both medium's, it only survived off of pre-teen girls, really.

I also don't like the Harry Potter books, nor movies, but I can understand why people like them. Unlike these two horrid pieces of...just bad.

This generation is no different than the last one IMO. Most of the time, it's just a case of nostalgia. Each generation had it's fair share of rehashes and what not.

OT: I forgot to mention, don't get rid of your system/games. You may one day have the urge to play again, and if you have a big collection, starting from scratch could really be discouraging.

 

[Jazoni89]

Oh, its mostly because you still play those baby console games (made for babies. master race ftw)

Spoiler: This is dwarf fortress

Although if you want to really push on your career, nows the time.

Why are you still playing those PC games, made for boring people.

Bow down to the juggernaut that is the Genesis, Sega CD, and 32X combo

Retro Gaming Master Race reporting in! Your filthy PC does not have Blast Processing, and will never have.

 

[Something Amyss]

The Last of Us is going to be a great game... but I can only wonder how much more amazing it would be to me if I'd only heard of it through word of mouth and really had no idea what to expect.

The alternative remains you may never have heard of it.

I would honestly rather love the games I have than go through what I went through in the 80s again. For every good game there were like forty crap ones.

 

[Mrkillhappy]

Not finding new game interesting is nothing new and you shouldn't feel bad about it. Just take a break and keep an eye on new releases as they become announced. If you see something that interesting that comes out buy it if not then don't, just remember gaming is a hobby and you have no reason to feel forced to stay gaming. Also it is not surprising that you aren't interested in new games as most are unoriginal and/or badly made.

 

[Raikas]

Seriously does no one know how to treat a hobby as a hobby anymore? It's something you do to pass the time for entertainment. Not some "lifestyle" that you somehow identify with as a "gamer". Just like with any other hobby you get what you put into it.

This. If it's not fun, do something else for a while - it doesn't need to be some all or nothing central piece of your life.

I went 3 years with very little non-social/casual gaming around 2006, I've had periods where I watched almost no TV, had seasons where I didn't bother going to concerts, I once moved to a different city and gave up on sports - none of it was any kind of life-changing event (although when I quit rock climbing I did get weaker, but that's hardly a major thing). If your fun time-waster isn't fun anymore, then going away (for a while, forever, whatever) is completely normal, and not a big deal at all.

If something else makes you happier, then that's what you ought to be doing.

And recommendations are all well and good, but honestly when I've taken a break I did it because I wanted/needed to use that time doing something else, not because there weren't any good games (or shows/concerts/whatever) around. Fair enough if it's really a game quality issue, but if not, let that be what it is.

 

[Rattja]

I know where you are coming from, and find myself in sort of the same situation.
What I started doing though, is looking back, to analyze the games I liked the most, trying to figure out what's missing.

Here is a few things that I found:

Minigames are more or less gone entierly. This is something I REALLY loved about games like Black & White and the Final Fantasy games. Just something to break up the boring parts, or just a change of phase, it's just nice. Also it adds personality to the games, depending on what type of minigames you have in there and where. They don't even have to be important.
Black & White nailed it perfectly, as you could set something in your village in motion, then do a minigame. When you finish, your building or whatever would be done.

Name a new game today without achievements, I don't think you can.
To me this is a problem, as every single time I see one pop up on my screen, it breaks my immersion. It would be fine if they only had things that were actually hard to do, but when I see one every minute or so for things you just do anyway it just becomes stupid. "Grats, you started the game" "grats you did the tutorial".

This is something that came to me while playing some older games, but I also miss games without voice actors.
I never ever heard Vivi speak, but he sure as hell is my favorite game character of all time, and I think giving him a voice would ruin that.
Tibia don't even have a single sound at all, but I nearly shit myself when I see "GROOOOAAAAAAAAR" pop up on my screen as I know a dragon is near.
Oh, while Im at it talking about sound, after FFX there is no song, melody, theme or anything I can really remember from any game. There has been good music/songs here and there, but nothing that really stuck in my head. I mean, I can still hum Banjo Kazooie or Zelda tunes after all this time, but can't remember a single note from games I just finished.

I feel that they over all just lack personality, that little extra that make me remember them.
Like the over acted scenes from C&C, or Tetramaster, or blowing off a squirrels face with a stitched up teddy with a sniper.
Or let's take WoW, where the idea of shamans and paladins being exclusive to one side was one of the things that brought me in.

Anyways, these are things I miss and would like to get more of, you can only play old games so many times.

I should add that they are not all bad, as I am more and more looking towards indie games for entertainment. Still, I have not been swept off my feet for a while thinking "holy crap this game is cool".

All said and done, it is a hobby, something you do for fun. The problem is that you as a player have no control. People make the games they make, and it's up to you to like them or not, and I don't think I do anymore.

So yeah, thats my thoughts on the matter, I do think industry has changed.

 

[Pink Gregory]

But that last one illustrates one of my sentiments. Virtually everyone loves Mass Effect, Bioshock and Uncharted. Now the first 2, never had any special feelings for them. I'm coming around on Uncharted though.
But it sticks with me like my DM once said: "Dude, you don't like the Lord of the Rings movies? Then you don't like fantasy!" (and I did a sense motive, no trolling).

I guess I'm just hopelessly stuck in a world where gaming became bland.
When Michael Bay's Transofrmers, Dragonball: Evolution and Twilight etc. have become the pinnacle of modern culture, I am now officialy Too Old for This Stuff.

Hold on, hold on.

Since when has it mattered what other people think? I think you're becoming overly concerned about other people's tastes, here.

 

[DigitalAtlas]

Then go ahead. What's stopping you.

Also, it is you; nothing to be ashamed of, you don't enjoy videogames anymore; or you just don't like anything new that's coming out. In fact, if you think only the new stuff coming out in the AAA market is worth paying attention to, you're missing out on a lot, but I'm not going to pretend to know what you enjoy. To be honest it sounds like you've been buying games while thinking 'I'm supposed to enjoy this, I guess.'

Hanging on when you don't enjoy it is just going to make you bitter.

Go ahead.

EDIT: Alright, so I'm being a little unduly vindictive; I'm just so tired of people beating the 'OLD GAMES GOOD, NEW GAMES BAD' drum that I have a tendency to lash out. I'll admit, it's not a good time to be a console gamer, but that needn't limit you; there are plenty of indie games that are low spec enough to be run on pretty much any PC and that are fantastic.

Maybe it's you, maybe it's the fact that these consoles don't have that same pioneering spirit or technology jump and just seem like a cash-in for something that needn't exist

I felt this way for awhile, then I stopped reading reviews and got away from the community and purchased what I thought looked interesting and found a lot of hidden gems from yesteryear.

If you want to know what sparked my gaming again, it was Mega Man X.

 

[Pink Gregory]

Maybe it's you, maybe it's the fact that these consoles don't have that same pioneering spirit or technology jump and just seem like a cash-in for something that needn't exist

Why needn't they exist?

I agree that the console market is sadly a hostile environment to new and exciting ideas though. Which is not to say that something that can sell is inherently bad, which is what a lot of people seem to think.

 

[rob_simple]

It's win/win for you either way, really. If you keep playing there's always a chance that you'll find something new you actually like (and I guarantee there's some stuff already out there you've just not found yet) but if you do stop then, if you ever do decide to come back, there will be a mountain of games waiting for you.

There's still a lot I'm excited about in gaming, but I agree that new consoles don't hold the same magic for me that they used to. I could have given the Nintendo 64 Kid a run for his money the day I unboxed my own; now it's more like 'oh a new console, maybe I'll get it when it's cheap, if the games are good, I guess.'

That might have something to do with the fact that it's all my own money now, though; I think a lot of the old excitement came from waiting for Christmas every year after spending months reading Nintendo Official Magazine and seeing all these games I wanted but couldn't have, yet.

 

[LadyRhian]

I'll just keep this simple and recommend one redone game: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. It has both content from the original game and Tales of the Sword Coast, and new content as well: 4 new characters, and a tactical game called The Black Pits, almost certainly with new stuff to come. I do have to admit some bias here: I was among the Beta Testers.