Is there such a thing as "growing out" of gaming?

[DalekJaas]

I used to play games a lot more when I was younger, now I buy 1 or 2 games a year and don't play more than 6 hours a week. I spend more time on internet forums that I joined back when I played games a lot than I do on games during the week.

Skyrim really broke the mold, I got right into that during my holidays. But generally I just play CoD.

I definitely feel you can grow out of gaming, real life gets in the way.

 

[RatRace123]

I guess you can "grow out" of gaming insofar as to become bored with it, or care less about it. Kinda like me and TV, I still watch a few things but I'm not glued to the cable box like I was when I was younger.

So, yeah I'd say you can.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

My father did, around 50. He used to be insanely obsessed with command and conquer and Warcraft 1 and 2. Also doom and duke nukem. I think he played a lot of Starcraft too. He just doesn't like modern games and he's played enough of the old ones.

I remember he used to tell me to stop hanging around my base in command and conquer so long by telling me to "Get into them! Go on, get into them!"

 

[00slash00]

growing out of something doesnt necessarily mean that you think video games are only for children. it might mean that youre too busy (i work between 9 and 14 hours a day, finding time for video games isnt always easy) or that what you loved about games, isnt as common anymore. i consider myself i gamer, even when i go weeks without even turning on my console or loading a pc game, but i have definitely grown out of it a lot because i have more responsibilities now. youre dreaming if you think you will always play regularly. though i do believe you will always want to play regularly

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Depends on how you view it. Today's trends turn me off to a lot of games, so I play a lot less than I did when I was younger.

 

[Dethenger]

Do you grow out of reading books? Watching movies? Listening to music?

 

[Goofguy]

Maybe not necessarily growing out of but moving on from. Maybe your responsibilities are such that you don't have the time to do it anymore. Or it could be that it just doesn't interest you the way it used to. Notice how I didn't use the word "gaming" as this could apply to any hobby.

Gaming is a past time like any other. I'm pretty sure I won't stop doing it anytime soon but more likely just do it a lot less especially once I have real grown up responsibilities like a wife and kids.

 

[Froken Keke]

I certainly don't play as much as I used to, but I'd say that's more because no new releases interest me, rather than me growing out of it.

 

[Dethenger]

Do you grow out of reading books? Watching movies? Listening to music?

I grew out of watching TV. That's something, right?

Well, TV is very seldom something substantial. I wouldn't hold TV up to literature or film.

 

[lunavixen]

I don't think i'll grow out of it competely, my rate of playing may slow down in the future as i move into the full time occupation of my choice, but i use my video games as a way to unwind and also a way to see various sotires that aren't found in books. but that's just me.

 

[Haukur Isleifsson]

I think being a hard core gamer alongside a 9-5 job and family-life can get hard. But I guess that it is ultimately a question of priorities.

I have heard it suggested that your brain chemistry changes in such a way when you grow older that you stop enjoying the constant flood of stimulus that many video games provide. But I have no references for that so take it with a salt-mine or two.

 

[Olas]

Hmm... let me go ask all the elderly people at my grandmother's retirement home who are addicted to Wii Sports.

 

[psicat]

I don't think people truly 'grow out' of gaming. I think tastes can change as people mature, and maybe that change takes them away from gaming. But, people can also just experience a change in the types of games they enjoy and the platforms the prefer to play them on and still remain a gamer all their life.

 

[Windcaler]

Im one of those gamers in their 30's. Everyone I know around the same age also still plays games regularly. For themselves and sometimes with their wives/girlfriends and kids

I think to say that a person to grow out of gaming is to say there is a definite age where games become something for kids, teenagers, and/or young adults. I just dont believe thats true, I have a family friend who just turned 97 years old and he plays games whenever he can. In fact I got him battlefield 3 for Christmas and last time I stopped by he was playing it

So I think people can come to a point where they no longer enjoy games or they dont have time to play games a lot. However I dont think and will never think that there is an age cut off for when a person can or cant enjoy games.

 

[darkonnis]

I would say you probably do, but because games are aimed at such a huge wide spread audience, often the storyline isn't great because if its complicated, alot of people literally can't follow it. And as an outline usually ends up like, "girl gets kidnapped, adventure, rescues girl, kill boss" very few games have tried to break this mould.

 

[scar_47]

You can "grow out of" anything really, people and their priorities change especially once you start supporting yourself or start a family that's going to change the amount of free time you have and what you do with it. I don't see myself giving up gameing but I'm about to graduate college and start my career so theres probably going to be lesd time for it and that means being more selective with purchases since I'd rather play the best games I can where I've settled plenty of times before just for something new. It's not about games being for kids its about life happening.

 

[Aur0ra145]

I haven't necassarily grown out of gaming but my taste in games has greatly changed.

I grew up on FPS's. Seriously, I started with Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear. Talk about an unforgiving game. So I advanced along the FPS genre, I spent over 350 hours playing BF2, I played some CoD and various other games.

Since then, it's really been the social community that has really kept me into FPS's in so far as I still play them today. I play with a clan of about 6 people and I have a really hard time playing anything without my teammates in TeamSpeak 3. I guess you could attribute it to "everything is better with friends."

However, FPS's are too easy for me now. I'm pretty damn good, and it gets boring always topping the leader boards.

So what did I do? I switched over to RTS's. I think they take a lot more skill, foresight, sound tactical doctrine and overall strategy. It's my niche for the time being.

Note: I've been a PC gamer all my life (well, ever since I could afford one when I was 16) and I can't fathom why anybody would not play on a PC. I know loads of people have fun on consoles, but it just seems like there is no depth to those games. Also, the console community seems to be a lot younger than PC demographics.

 

[nuba km]

You don't grow out of gaming, that's like saying you grow out of reading books or grow out of watching movies or growing out of music, the only thing that changes over time is your taste in those media.

 

[tzimize]

this cracked article explains how you can tell if you are too old for gaming

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-to-tell-youre-getting-too-old-video-games/

It is funny because it is so true.

I almost started feeling bad, but then I remembered that:
1: I dont have, or intend to have kids so I still have a load of time for my big hobby and
2: I still manage to find hidden gems here and there, indie or not and still have that childlike wonder and excitement for thing that I really love. And I'm almost 30.