"bored " of games

[Mirinjawbro]

Morning all.

random question but was talking with my cousin yesterday and we cant get an answer

back from age of 10-22 ish i spent every spare minute on the xbox / pc i could.

in the last 5 years ish i barely play if not at all any games. why would age change what we enjoy? is there science behind it? are games just not as good as they used to be?

this doesnt go with just games. i used to live for the weekend, going out, partying, drinking. was probably jount with games on how much i loved it.

now we are all older - married / kids , i go out maybe 3-4 times a year. i get excited but its just not the same, always a let down. almost like games above.

everyones answer is "were older now", but why does that change anything?

is the answer just to try find new hobbies we like and swap them?

[conkerman]

I have periods of gaming then, lose interest. I think this is due to me being more fussy about games, if I don't get engaged by the game straight away then i move on/away.

I reckon it is a by product of not wanting to waste (limited) time on games that don't grab you.

You are not alone

[deckster]

Welcome to middle age, padawan. Your brown corduroy trousers and golf membership are in the post.

[Doofus]

I don't have the patience anymore. My wife is on her second play through of Horizon Forbidden West, whereas I lasted about an hour before I just gave up.

I'll play CoD, or GTA, or Red Dead, but not much else.

[V6Nelo]

I've found the games I play now are with friends, I really enjoy 2 vs 2 on Fifa, or a group of us playing Overcooked, Just Dance or Battlefront.

I guess it's mixing fun with social time without suffering the next day like after pubs/clubs as most have other commitments.

Last single player game I enjoyed and played until the end was Witcher3.

[Jasandjules]

If you find the right game then I suspect you will play it. So many these days are just same old same old. Try Ghost of Tsushima maybe.....

[Mirinjawbro]

good to hear its not just me, makes me feel more normal

i think what i hate most is knowing how much i loved it all and even though i can do it now, its never the same and probably never will be.

5pm - vodka - halo 3 - cab - out - kebab

repeat and repeat.

[LukeBrown66]

I would say you simply need to find a genre that suits you NOW not then.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

Honestly I'm the same since that darksouls game that seemed to kill off all joy I've tried a few things but they have all been boring. I'd not found anything for a while before that really either. Other day I started playing peggle again

Edited by Trustmeimadoctor on Tuesday 26th July 08:16

[Djtemeka]

Me too. Bought a nice pc less than a year ago as an upgrade.

Still playing Doom Eternal, C&C Generals and Heroes 3 Wake of Gods.

Could run the latter off a calculator

[Mirinjawbro]

so you think its a mixture?

we are older
games arent as good anymore. pay to win etc.

if someone asks me without thinking too much of games i remember / liked.

ridge racer
road rash
gameboy
sonic etc
godz
international track and field (button bashing)
tetris

more recent

halo 2 / 3
counter strike 1.5 1.6
wow tbc

i did try halo 4 / 5 and hated them. really tried but stopped playing after a week.
same with the new counter strikes

i did really like destiny but only when 2/3 of you were playing. solo was boring

[SD_1]

LukeBrown66 said:

I would say you simply need to find a genre that suits you NOW not then.

Very much agree with this. Back in my late teens and early 20s I loved racing games and shooters, however these days at 30 it is all about the immersive single player games for me. Red Dead Redemption 2, all 3 Witcher games, Kingdom Come Deliverance etc.

I have dug out old Grand Turismo and COD games I sunk hundreds of hours into back in the day but it just isn't my thing anymore.

[ZedLeg]

I go through phases where I struggle to stick with games but at the same time I've found some really great stuff over the last few years. I think I've just become more picky as I've got older.

I got really into online multiplayer games for a while but I've sacked most of them off.

[Mirinjawbro]

does this apply to just games? i dont want to keep looking back but i struggle to enjoy things now like i did with games etc

for me its like i've had 3 stages so far (mid 30s now)

10-20 gaming
20-30 partying
30+ cars / modding etc

whats next?

[Zetec-S]

Boring answer, but "life" gets in the way.

I was the same, heavily into gaming in my teens/early 20's (95-2004 ish) but then work commitments and getting married meant it took a back seat. So much so that for about 10 years I didn't have anything that modern or suitable (an original xbox and a fairly basic PC). It was probably about 6-7 years ago I started to get back into it, with a new xbox and decent gaming laptop.

As others have pointed out, you need to find a genre that suits you now. Back when I was younger it was mainly FPS like Half Life, etc, I spent many hours kicking my mates arses over the LAN we had set up in our student house. After watching a load of YouTube videos I quite fancied the idea of modern online gaming, only to discover that I get my arse kicked by people who are younger or who spend a lot more time gaming than me

I've gone down the single player route, RDR2, Witcher 3, etc, plus strategy games like Civilization and Cities Skylines, but it's a slow process. Took me a couple of years to finish the Witcher (about 120 hrs), RDR2 is still not finished. Likewise GTA5 I still have a handful of main storyline missions to finish, but I need to be in the mood. Tried GTA5 online and realised I was rubbish, I think it was on another PH thread someone joked they got fed up being sniped while in a fighter jet, I know that feeling

I also think your brain changes as you get older. It's not just that you can't be arsed to sink 100's of hours into a game, I think you also question if its the best use of your time, as there are other things you might need to do (jobs around the house/garden/etc). And even if there's nothing which needs doing, is there really any point in spending all that time trying to get <insert your local non-league club here> into the Premier League in Football Manager.

[Leon R]

Still some great games out there and I would probably play more if I had more friends that played.

I do really enjoy Apex Legends as a game and the level of polish in the game is some of the best I have ever seen but it is also the first game I have played where the matchmaking makes it a lot less fun than it should be.

People say that micro transactions are what ruined games but I would take them every single day over skill based matchmaking.

[MesoForm]

Zetec-S said:

I also think your brain changes as you get older. It's not just that you can't be arsed to sink 100's of hours into a game, I think you also question if its the best use of your time, as there are other things you might need to do (jobs around the house/garden/etc). And even if there's nothing which needs doing, is there really any point in spending all that time trying to get <insert your local non-league club here> into the Premier League in Football Manager.

I think this is it for me - I can't sink 25 hours into learning the mechanics of a new game as at my current gaming levels that would probably take me 3 months, but back in my single, solo-living days I could probably do that over the course of a week and enjoy the learning process. I still go back to things like the Total War games where I can drop into a save game, play for an hour, save it and go do something else but I can't play games like World of Tanks or War Thunder as by the time I 'get my eye in' to remember how to play the game I've died without doing much ten times in a row.
I also have problems where I die in a hard bit of a game, quit, then come back to it 6 months later on a hard part of the game not really knowing the controls Think I'm stuck on Mirrors Edge: Catalyst because of this, despite it being one of my favourite games.

[ZedLeg]

That's a good point tbh, I'm unlikely to pick up a new game if I have to spend hours learning the mechanics of it. Crusader Kings 3 was a non starter for me even though I was quite excited about it being on Gamepass after hearing mates rave about it for years.

Whereas something like Elden Ring which is a stupidly large game is fine because it's all easily understandable to someone who's played RPGs before.

[LankyFreak]

Only game I bother playing on my own now is Skate 3. Won't be playing the new one.

If I've got a few mates over I play some Street Fighter 3: Third Strike. Love that game

[Calza]

I definitely get this too. Sometimes find I force myself to play a game, but really enjoy it when I do!

I've noticed I struggle with concentration now - especially online FPS. My eyes start getting strained and sore after an hour or so.

I'm only mid 30's!