Where did all the love go?

PostWhere did all the love go? by **Carlos** » Thu May 02, 2024 9:22 am

As I come deep into my forties I find my interest in gaming has just died and I wondered if others felt this way?

In the last few months I’ve tried to get through old and new titles alike. God of War was fun but ultimately not for me. I did quite enjoy Hogwarts Legacy but it’s not as much fun as Fable. I thought I might try Gears of War again but no, it’s still not Halo. After the 10th death I just gave up.

I tried a few retro consoles to see if it was just modern gaming but no, I just couldn’t be arsed with older titles either. I just find myself driving the roads of Forza Horizon, content.

A hobby that used to keep me excited with the latest news has become dull. The only game to keep me going has been the iOS release of Hades. I can play it whenever and the combat is brilliant.

If it wasn’t for my weekly Fortnite sessions with some friends I don’t think I’d bother having a console at home at all.

PostRe: Where did all the love go? by **Vermilion** » Thu May 02, 2024 9:34 am

I must admit, i'm definitely not into games in the way that i used to be.

I enjoy playing on my new PS5 for sure, but it's nothing like when i used to be playing stuff on the Gamecube/PS2/Dreamcast, and i certainly don't follow any gaming news for the most part.

PostRe: Where did all the love go? by **Godzilla** » Thu May 02, 2024 9:49 am

I go through phases where nothing gets my attention, then something awesome comes along and it's back to the old days of getting up early to play a couple of hours before work.

Baldurs Gate 3 and Tears of the Kingdom really got me hyped and lived up to the hype too.

Final Fantasy 16 and Rebirth grabbed me too.

At the moment nothing is really getting my attention but in the coming months Shin Megami Tensei 5 - PS5, Monster Hunter Stories 1 and 2 - PS5 and Earth Defense Force 6 will get a lot of time.

It's the best feeling when there is a new console or massive release and it lives up to the hype. Knowing you've got all weekend or even a week off to do nothing else but play it.

PostRe: Where did all the love go? by **Trelliz** » Thu May 02, 2024 10:21 am

Personally, i don't have time anymore. Maybe get 2-3 hours per week once the child has gone to bed, but the days of lazily gaming for hours and hours are over. That means multiplayer is right out as is anything in the "git gud" genre as my time is too valuable to get stomped over and over again in souls/roguelikes and make zero or even negative progress.

Also games haven't really gotten any better - i'd gladly take a game that looks like a PS3 or even PS2 game if it has cloud physics processing like Crackdown 3 or enemy generation stuff like the shadow of mordor games but ramped up to the next logical level with AI to make use of hardware in different ways instead of oh look another open world action rpg with crafting elements that has lovely water but is still basically the same game we've been playing for years. Sure rendering them at 4/8k looks amazing but consoles still aren't nailing 60fps and a boring game is still boring regardless of the pixel size/quality.

Finally its also a case of cultural alienation:

I don't give a gooseberry fool about twitch, youtubers screeching at each other playing Among Us/Fortnite/whatever and am old enough to remember when games didn't have season/battlepasses or whatever.

PostRe: Where did all the love go? by **Sprouty** » Thu May 02, 2024 10:23 am

I still love games, just don't have so much free time to play them.

I remember the PS2, Xbox / Gamecube generation. I had all 3 and loved it, had some fantastic games on each system and wow, was it special! This gen, I dont feel like I'm missing out by not having an xbox. Not because it doesn't have any games I want to play, but simply because I don't have time to play some massive games which I already own on PS5 and Switch.

I do also think that as the industry as a whole develops, it becomes harder and harder to stand out in the crowd.

PostRe: Where did all the love go? by **Squinty** » Thu May 02, 2024 10:57 am

I don't have a lot of time now. I am still playing through them, but slower. I still love them. Hopefully this will change once I move.

I wouldn't say my love of games has diminished but it has changed. Certainly I've found my focus is firmly on older games and systems. I've gotten really into my older FPS games, Quake especially, to the point that I'm getting deeper into creating maps for it and I have enough content there to keep me going for years.

It's not that I don't like newer games. The indie scene has some wonderful stuff and I'm still there for the biggest titles, but I'm less tolerant of bullshit and timewasting. Stuff that leans heavily into Gen Z and their taste I do find a bit alienating as well. I'm happy to say I've never touched Fortnite and never intend to. It just looks like everything I hate in modern games. Same with Forza Horizon and it's utterly awful "influencer" aesthetic. More than ever it's not the gameplay that sucks, it's the presentation.

EDIT: That's not to say those games are bad. They're just not for me. And that's fine, not everything has to be. I'm in my 40s now. I'm no longer the primary target market for these companies. :lol:

I think it's that I've become more picky over time. While I do broadly try to keep up to date with what's popular and doing well I no longer feel the need to play everything.
My interaction with games is definitely broad but shallow. I'll try loads of things on a whim but I rarely stick with anything for long. Once I think I've had my fill of something I'll happily move on.

It doesn't help though that modern AAA games are just one big homogenous blob of the same gooseberry fool with a different texture set slapped over it.

PostRe: Where did all the love go? by **site23** » Thu May 02, 2024 11:20 am

I'm just about youthful enough to see the appeal of some of the less shouty 'mainstream' streamers, which definitely helps keep me engaged with the zeitgeist.

But actually playing a videogame is a bit of an event for me now. There are certain series that I love (Zelda, Souls), or that are just too good to miss out on (new mainline Mario games), or very occasionally I'll get caught up with the hype of something because I know lots of people who like it. So when there's a new release that catches my eye in one of those ways, I'll carve out time for it. When the Elden Ring DLC comes out I'll be putting other hobbies and commitments on hold, maybe even taking a couple days off work here and there. It's not sustainable to do that with every game that looks interesting or reviews well, so I have to be pretty selective.

Going back to streamers, I'm sure in a few years there'll be a new thing that I find totally baffling, and then I'll join the rest of you in like, shaking my fist at the clouds.

PostRe: Where did all the love go? by **Imrahil** » Thu May 02, 2024 11:31 am

Yeah, my wide-eyed enthusiasm and excitement towards paying new games isn't there any more. In my mid-40s it's become more of a reasonably content way to pass the time. But I often find myself going for weeks, sometimes months, without playing anything.

Which would have been unheard of in my 20s.

PostRe: Where did all the love go? by **ITSMILNER** » Thu May 02, 2024 11:32 am

My gaming habits have changed now I’m older, I only really play games on handhelds now, only play on a TV if it’s local coop/multiplayer with partner/mates.

I’m still interested in the new games coming out but I rarely buy anything at launch unless it’s something I really want. I’m happy to wait on stuff and play it 2-3 years later knowing it’s cheaper and likely patched so less buggy :lol:

The indie scene makes it more interesting, if we never had that then I would probably play a lot less.

PostRe: Where did all the love go? by **False** » Thu May 02, 2024 11:53 am

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

as you are worn down by the world around you, it is harder to find yourself in a position of absolute carefree whimsy and with the time to devote to it

i personally have almost zero interest in any of the perpetually unfinished live service seasonal affairs, partially because i am quite susceptible to the "just one more daily quest" mindset and partly because i have no interest in spending any money outside of the original purchase price for a product

as soon as you are off the constant line of new release new release and you allow yourself to just pick up whatever takes your fancy at a vastly reduced price (if you pay more than £20 for a computer game you are a psychopath) there is a lot more freedom in selecting what deserves your time

PostRe: Where did all the love go? by **False** » Thu May 02, 2024 12:03 pm

a thought occurs to me - when you or i were younger and engaged, we cared enough to join forums, and buy the consoles, and the games on release, and maybe the dlc or expansion packs

now, most of us by our own admission dont care to get involved in new communities, be they twitch or discord or some live service thing, we dont care to own all of the consoles, or to buy the limited edition release bundles - etc

we arent the target market now, we grew out of it

you remember when you were a kid and you showed your games to your parents and you might have got a few polite minutes of interest out of them

congrats you are your dad now, and the games are for the kids, because they are the ones spending the money, and thats where the design focus goes

PostRe: Where did all the love go? by **Tomous** » Thu May 02, 2024 12:27 pm

No. I still love it.

I go out of my way carve out as much time as possible without hindering family responsibilities, work, health, fitness etc. Which isn't a huge amount compared to my youth for sure but still enough to fully embrace the hobby.

And for a long time there has been more that I want to play than I can ever find the time for so most the time I'm spoilt for choice.

And I absolutely still get hyped for news and new releases.

PostRe: Where did all the love go? by **Carlos** » Thu May 02, 2024 12:30 pm

False wrote:"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

“….including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”

It’s always worth reading the whole quote. CS Lewis was a smart man.

Tomous wrote:No. I still love it.

I go out of my way carve out as much time as possible without hindering family responsibilities, work, health, fitness etc. Which isn't a huge amount compared to my youth for sure but still enough to fully embrace the hobby.

And for a long time there has been more that I want to play than I can ever find the time for so most the time I'm spoilt for choice.

And I absolutely still get hyped for news and new releases.

This.

PostRe: Where did all the love go? by **Outrunner** » Thu May 02, 2024 12:32 pm

My interest in gaming has been dwindling for years. I can pretty much pinpoint it to Sega leaving the hardware market and their output of great games dwindling over the years. I was pretty heavily invested in that generation (owned all 4 consoles), loved the Xbox 360 but didn't play as much as I used to. I bought a PS4 pretty late and only own a handful of games (maybe 10 if that) and they only two games tempting me to get a PS5 are Assassin's Creed Red and Ghost of Tsushima 2. I daren't let myself get excited for the relaunches of Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio and Golden Axe, Sega just don't make games like they used to.

I still like retro games but setting something up for a quick blast seems like a lot of effort. I'm considering maybe getting into emulation but I'm not sure what sort of specs I'd need to run DC, Gamecube, PS2, Xbox games.

I'm still interested in games (I'm doing my dissertation on one after all) but I'm just not fussed about playing anymore.

PostRe: Where did all the love go? by **False** » Thu May 02, 2024 12:37 pm

Carlos wrote:
False wrote:"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

“….including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”

It’s always worth reading the whole quote. CS Lewis was a smart man.

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?s ... ersion=KJV

its from the bible mate

its always worth knowing the whole quote, god almighty who rules above us all is a smart man

PostRe: Where did all the love go? by **Drej** » Thu May 02, 2024 12:41 pm

I am 41 now, I think its normal to sometimes feel guilty if I spend too much time gaming instead of doing more productive stuff. However I did make some life choices which still give me plenty of time to enjoy games. I live alone, with no kids and no steady relationships. My only real commitments are training, although not as intensley as I used to do, , studying as I am trying to do a part time degree and chores.

I feel that as long as I stay committed to not neglecting my other commitments, I can still enjoy gaming, mainly during the weekends.

With regards to the quality of gaming, I find that the more I grow up, the more difficult I find it to get stuck into games, but I always love to keep an eye on up and coming titles and get hyped for some releases.

PostRe: Where did all the love go? by **D_C** » Thu May 02, 2024 1:13 pm

I'm 37 this year and sure my gaming habits have changed due to work and generally being an adult, but I do go through phases where I'll be gaming most evenings and have multiple games on the go but then I'll also go a few weeks without playing much at all. I struggle to finish more games than I used to, so if I do manage to I know it has been a great game.

I do think the live service model is aimed at the younger crowd however, and I don't tend to buy into those so much as I know I'll miss most of the content.

PostRe: Where did all the love go? by **Moggy** » Thu May 02, 2024 1:17 pm

False wrote:
Carlos wrote:
False wrote:"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

“….including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”

It’s always worth reading the whole quote. CS Lewis was a smart man.

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?s ... ersion=KJV

its from the bible mate

its always worth knowing the whole quote, god almighty who rules above us all is a smart man

"And lo, Jesus did tell the disciples that God loves a Mario player but will cast into the fire any Halo heathen. Because he is the Lord and accepts no covenant but his own."

Where did all the love go?

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