General

Switched to handheld gaming (Steam Deck) because of having kids and wanting to have more time with the family whenever I play. I feel like I get better bang for my buck when I can game in bed and watch a show or movie as well. I think it just depends what you feel is time well spent. If gaming is your thing and you're happy and not longing for something else, then it's not wasting time. Same with money. I definitely spent a lot of time gaming as a kid, but was also athletic and balanced it pretty well. 20's was more work and gaming as I settled down quickly and had gotten a lot of the social/partying out of the way early on. 30's has been a lot more family and work oriented, and I try to squeeze in gaming when I can.

This exact thing has been on my mind lately.

When I was a kid, I'd play any game I got my hands on, and I'd play the games extremely thoroughly, searching every nook and cranny. 100%ing whenever I could.

As time went on, which brought more responsibilities, I found that I'm much more selective in what I play. However, that doesn't at all mean that because I don't have as much gaming time that I won't play a long rpg/longer game. It means that now I'll think twice before jumping into any game. "Do I really want to play this, or am I just being a kid in a candy store who wants everything?"

One thing I have found, in contrast to the past, is that smartphones make it so that instead of spending gaming time gaming on a console, I'll sometimes not bother going to get the console, and simply take out my phone instead and either play something, watch something, etc.

It used to be that you had to use a console (handheld or not) to play a game. I find that smartphones, while not having games that are, for me, as good as consoles, take away from time I would have spent gaming.

I used to play a lot of multiplayer games like Halo and Super Smash Bros. Not so much these days.

But I'd love to one day have a grandkid who trashtalks me at Super Smash, who I'd then promptly defeat :)

"You're so bad at this game grandpa."

"Oh, yeah? 3-0! Take that!"

This is on my mind more frequently as I age as well. I touched on this briefly, and there was some relevant discussion, in the topic I started here back in November. You might find it worth a read.
https://gametz.com/VideoGame_Discussion/whats-good...

The short version of what I brought up is below:
Time is finite and the show must come to an end. Being that I track the games I beat and how much time I spend gaming, it's real easy to average this data to the average lifespan. While it's a bit morbid to think about, I have a fairly accurate calculation of how many games I have left to play and beat in my lifetime. All I can say is that, I wish the number remaining were bigger.


To further add to the discussion:
I collected the most in my 20s when I managed a GameStop and retro games were still cheap. The highest game count my collection was ever up to during this time was maybe 600-700 games. Probably half of them I never got around to playing, I just enjoyed having them. Overtime, family and finances came to the forefront of my priorities. I now try to keep my collection to under 200 games. Probably 10-20% of those games I have yet to play (mostly RPG types), 75-100 of those are nostalgic loves that I can't part with, and another 30 or so are family/party games. The point being, I don't hold on to much beyond that and don't feel the need to hang on to everything. This is the biggest difference from my 20s to now late 30s. As long as a I have a small handful of new games in front of me to keep playing, I am content.

The next big difference is the arrival of online gaming. I grew up being an almost closet gamer and just nerded out on RPG after RPG before adulthood and into my 20s. These days, I spend a lot more time gaming with friends, FFXIV, Overwatch, Rocket League, R6 Siege, GTAV, Helldivers and now the sequel. These types of games that really have no end have definitely cut back on the number of games I feel the need to buy.

@incubus421 I just clicked on that link. Being that this topic has been on my mind, I was wondering if I had posted there. And not only did I, but my response there has a lot of similarities to what I wrote today. Consistency, I like it :)

I even mentioned there the same thing I mentioned today, about wanting a grandkid who trashtalks me at Super Smash. (Who I then soundly defeat in the game)

Here's my response from the thread (yours) that you linked:

@incubus421 Nice post. I got to the end. Lots of thought provoking statements.

I'll just go with my thoughts, no particular order.

To me, a 10/10 doesn't mean a game is perfect. Like you said, how could there be a perfect game? To me, a 10/10 could mean that the flaws are so minimal compared to how good the game is, or maybe that I enjoyed a game so much that I'd give it a 10. Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga for me is a contender for a 10/10.

When I played games prior to being an adult, I would play through the games extremely thoroughly. Leave no stone unturned, get every item, talk to every character, experiment heavily, etc. But not so much anymore. Now I want to enjoy the game I'm playing, and trying to do everything can feel like a chore to me. I don't know what changed between then and now that I now view it as a chore, because back then I enjoyed what I was playing even when I was being super thorough. Although, sometimes now I'll still be very thorough in a game, but now it's not a must do.

As a kid, I played video games whenever I had the chance, and couldn't wait to get home from school and play video games. But as an adult, I have other responsibilities and other things I want to do, so the amount of time dedicated to gaming typically isn't nearly as much now as it was when I was a kid.

I have to be realistic in that I won't play all the games that I want to play. So I'll play the ones I most want to play, and the ones I sort of wanted to play I'll sometimes watch some gameplay of or not play them at all.

I'd love to have a grandkid one day who trashtalks me in super smash bros, but I then totally beat them, show them who's boss :)

I realize my experience is not the norm, I went from collecting games for me to collecting games to share with others at the conventions I help staff videogame rooms for.

I still buy some stuff for myself but a lot of times I buy because I think "Oh this would be interesting to have available for people!"

The sad thing is 99% of the time people want to play what they are already familiar with, so despite having a hundred different Switch games available, all the switches at the convention are typically playing Smash or Mario Kart.

We did find a solution to that problem but it's a lot of work to do right: Achievements. People will play any game for official recognition that they did a thing.

As for my mortality I'm honestly not worried about it yet.

Great answers all! Please don't get my original post wrong. I plan to game until I kick the bucket, which is hopefully not soon. Like many of you, I also.have many interests, and far less time than I once had to indulge in all of them, so that is why I am pickier.

Cool to hear about grandchildren. I still dunno if I want kids, but it seems like one of the greatest gifts to a parent is being able to pass down great experiences and be able to share them with their kids/grandkids.

I would never let my offspring beat me in Smash either :)

nonamesleft wrote:

Your story made me think of this:

https://youtube.com/shorts/NuLz299SPVc?si=1H049UwC...

I LOVE that he calls the controller the "remote control" because that's what we referred it as back in the day.

Rollobobo wrote:


Pick up the remote control!

Yeah, that's right. Remote control. I forgot about that
These days I'm used to hearing/saying "controller."

I love this topic just because it shows we are an online community of multiple decades.

I turned 50 last Dec. 40 never bothered me at all, but 50 does. For some reason I have 70 at being the 'end'...end of work and end my by brain and desire really doing things. It's a bit scary to think that I have 20 years left (if I'm fortunate). But I'm getting off topic.

Every gaming obsession I've had comes down to the fact that I have more money then time. I remember buying so many video games and then was like "I'll never be able to play these once". I'm there now with board games with having almost 300 of them.

My litmus test has been: how long to play all your stuff ONCE? That is often an eye opening moment where I re-evaluate whether something is truly worth keeping or not.

I've found that it's basically easy to get all the games, but to use what you've acquired is a different matter.

Glad to see I’m not the only one thinking about our finite time in the context of gaming. There are so many great games that as much as we like to think we’ll get to them all it’s really just a fantasy. Time is far more limited as you get older not just because of commitments to family but also other competing options for which time is better suited. It really depends on your views on life and what you want it to be about.

Games can be a massive timesuck some of which can take 100+ hours to complete. So the question is how hardcore of a gamer am I that I want to invest that much time into completing a single game? The answer is not that hardcore. I’d derive more satisfaction from reading a truly great book. Or spending that time with friends and family. Or hiking a mountain trail. Or pursuing some passion project.

I still do game time to time and have beaten a few games in the last year. Most of those were relatively short retro arcade games I was nostalgic about. The only long one was Jedi: Fallen Order which I did really enjoy so no regrets about committing to that one. The games I spend time on will be carefully chosen and will probably be a mix of retro classics and newer games that are widely acclaimed, e.g. RDR2 which I started playing recently.

I do get how passionate people get about games because in my younger years I was like that too so more power to you if you choose to spend your time gaming. Do what makes you happy at the end of the day.

Before gaming, the common quote was: "So many books, so little time."

I've found that I'm a lot less patient with games as I've gotten older. If it can't hook me in the first couple of hours, I'm out. May be a great game - I've tried to play Witcher III a handful of times and can't get through the first couple of hours even though I know it's going to become awesome at some point. I also have started playing more small games that I find on GamePass because those ar games I can knock out quickly or aren't as complex as some other games. I've put a ton of time into Power Wash Simulator just because it was so mindless, but kinda gratifying at the same time.

Witcher 3 is also one of my "man, I'd love to invest time in this game, but I don't want to" :D

I’m only 34 but feel the bleak shadow of death looming over me at all times, so I understand this feeling.

I need to fudgein commit time and finally just play through Chrono Trigger before it’s too late, is what I’m saying.

It’s strange getting older and being the guys with the wisdom. In my career I’ve transitioned from workhorse to mentor / leader. It’s been a fun ride but it’s a good perspective to look back, remember receiving the same advice - the only way to know is to do in many cases. The old (🧓)adage if I’d have known then what I know now… but would you really want to? Now that my oldest daughter wants to be a vet I’ve found myself grappling with legacy for the first time. I need to build something for her with the time I’ve remaining. The end has gone from a welcome respite to something I need to push away as long as possible. It’s cool seeing how you change when you live for others.

Hahaha @theJaw 100% on CT.

Chrono Trigger is a must-play. If it’s hard to find regular blocks of time to play on a TV I recommend even playing it on your phone in bits and pieces. It would still be worth it.

Feeb wrote:

That's awesome Feeb....and hey: at least you don't have to worry that she is getting into a career that has a limited shelf life :)