Are video games still fun for you?

[kamoh]

Kinda just to start a thread here, but also to make a bit of a point for myself.

Up until college, I basically either obsessed about video games or at the very least set aside some money every few months for something I wanted to buy. First couple years of college, I devoted more time to breasts and whatnot. The holiday season of 2004 was chock-full of great titles (Halo 2, MGS3, GTA:SA, and a personal favorite, NHL2k5). I got all three of these games at that time and played through them.

Then I stopped buying. For the last 3 years I've probably spent $85 on videogames - the odd Madden or whatever rental, plus FFXII and NHL2k7. I had roommates that had Halo 3 and Portal (great titles), but near the end of my stay with them I was playing more FFXII and MGS3 than anything else.

I still play games, sure. All the time. You see the tournaments I run, the odd tetris or mario kart and I also play NHL94 in a league...but nothing new. I always go back to the older games now, and I feel like I might be showing my age (even though, compared to many of you, I'm a young 22). Have I just grown out of the relatively expensive video-game hobby and now obsess over the relatively-cheap chess, go, connect6, or the they-pay-me-to-watch hockey?

I'm interested by the new Final Fantasies, the new Metal Gear Solid, etc etc...but never really excited. Nothing is catching my eye anymore (not enough to plop down any significant cash on, at least), and I feel like if I could find and scrounge the cash for a Wii I'd just end up buying old games and playing Bowman 2 with the wiimote.

Are they just not fun anymore? Or is just not worth my cash investment?

[BeleagueredandBeset]

I definitely know how you feel about going back to old games. I've been playing the good ol' SNES more than anything lately.

I actually got around seven new Wii games for Christmas, and I've probably put, at most, three hours of play time into all of them combined. I've yet to even take the wrapping off two of them. I haven't picked up my DS since I moved in September. My XBox Live account expired in November and I haven't even bothered to renew it. And the only titles that even look remotely appealing to me are No More Heroes and SSB: Brawl. I'm actually glad you posted this, because I have had similar feelings regarding games lately.

I think that what it boils down to is, after playing so many games for so long, we grow weary of any titles that are less than what we consider to be excellent (like your Final Fantasy or MGS). I'm not sure if games are getting less fun or not, but I definitely see where you're coming from with this.

With any luck, this will just turn out to be some weird phase of life where things seem to lack the appeal they once had.

[PuRe-eViL]

I think it might have less to do with us growing weary of these titles, and more the fault of developers for not trying too hard to make things that are fun.

Nowadays it's ok to release a half-arsed game that looks all shiny and stuff, because there's a 12year old somewhere who doesn't know a good game from a not-so-good game.

But yeah, I mean, I take a weekly or bi-weekly (or whenever I'm bothered to do groceries with the missus) look at the game shops in our area, and I see shelves of crap, mostly. And the good games that are there are already at home on my shelf.

So maybe the standards of the younger generation of gamers are relaxed, so much so that developers can cater to them and still make money. Which leaves the oldies (I'm an oldie and only 21 T_T) feeling that decline...

Meh.

[FREAK55]

I started feeling the same way when I started college. Although I did get the Wii in '07, I haven't done much else.

These days, I prefer to play in multiplayer matches like SSBM and Mario Kart 64 with a bunch of buddies. Single player modes and games don't thrill me as much as they used to. Maybe I don't have enough free time to kill for trying to beat a single player game.

Actually, I take that back. I did beat Twilight Princess for the Wii, but that is the only game I have beaten in a long time.

[Tex]

I am a big fan of games and never got tired of them.

Good games? Bad games? They were released in the past, and will in the future.

[statas]

basically no.

if i get a new single player game, i enjoy it for about an hour, before the horrible vg monkey gets on my back. 40 hrs later, no sleep, and my life has taken another step into the crapper because my addiction won't let me walk away at a sane interval.

these days, i only will buy multiplayer games so i have no way to tempt fate and addiction. i'm incredibly focused on my music career(ha!- that's a bit of sarcasm), and i don't want to give me any obstacles or roadblocks. i can get more done if i stay away from games. but that being said, i know i'm not going to get anything done whilst hanging with my friends, so multiplayer stuff is okay.

i do occasionally fall sway to the siren lure of the nintendo or whatnot occasionally though.

and as a final aside, i am going to get a wii at some point. that whole system is basically a party console.

[Jarvi]

Games have definatly lost some of their allure to me now that I'm getting ready for college and money matters a lot more to me now, but I still enjoy the good game for here. I'm starting to dislike console games because I never have enough time to sit down and beat them, but I love my DS, I can stay up for hours playing whatever random game, and it's easy to pick up for like an hour each night and play for a bit before I go to sleep.

[Genjutsu74]

Yeah, I'm gonna mimic everyone else here. They've definately lost their luster for me. I used to play ALL the time; it was basically all I did. But I have less time and money now, and I've simply lost interest in some of the franchises I used to love.

I couldn't even get into Twilight Princess, and I love the Zelda series(although, admittedly, I've always enjoyed the top-down Zeldas more than the 3D ones). And I still haven't finished FFXII; Final Fantasy was my favorite franchise for a long time.

Having said that, there's still a decent list of games I'm anxiously awaiting, namely Smash Bros. Brawl, the Kingdom Hearts franchise, Lost Odyssy, Tales of Symphonia 2, and a few others. The interest is still there, but it's definately eroding.

[kamoh]

I think, ultimately, I really enjoy something that's totally revolutionary, but still retains some original, natural flow.

Portal was good at this.

Wii is actually good at this because everyone knows how to swing a tennis racket poorly.

There's some tough ones too...FFX had some interesting new quirks with the non-level-up system, MGS3 with it's cold war theme, and I'm sure there's plenty more but those are the ones out of my collection.

I have a tough time with GTA - I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and the load time is horrific...

I'ma go play Cave Story now though...

[Tex]

Nintendo DS is a good deal because it is not that expensive and yet a neat choice for the busy bodies. Furthermore this console has a lot of cool games and they're easily accessible in general. Unlike what happens with most of other consoles of this generation (which are all expensive, beyond hard access).

[FR]

I got Super Mario Galaxy and Twilight princess sitting right in front of me and I try playing it but I can't get into it...either games are starting to suck or with age interest in them start to fade. I don't know what it might be but hopefully Condemned 2 or Patapon will rekindle my love for video games.

[herograw]

I haven't been able to play thru a new game on my own since Shenmue 2. My video game playing rampage effectively ended with college. Nowadays all I play are classics and multiplayer N64/GameCube games, but more often nothing. Upon moving to hawaii I only took a GBA and have since lost it.

So yeah, I know how you feel. I used to read my GamePlayers magazine faithfully and actually ANTICIPATE titles coming out. GamePlayers is long dead and, with exception to SSBB (which I won't end up playing until summer anyway), this is no longer the case.

Games I still play:

Final Fantasy IV

Mario Kart

Smash Bros

Smash Bros Melee

Turok: Rage Wars (Raptor WHAT)

Mario Tennis (and to a lesser extent the sequel)

Monkeyball for GC

RE4

Goldeneye

Perfect Dark

Conker's Bad Fur Day

Tetris Attack

etc etc

[The Damned]

I enjoyed most of Dementuim and Zelda Phantom Hourglass for DS. I never finihsed the former (stupid fucking boss) and I'm taking my time with the latter.

I think the DS is my current system of choice there days.

[Israfel]

I'm liking games just fine. Actually, for the past few months in particular I've been enjoying gaming about as much as I ever have. Although, I do find that it helps to mix up genres and try a wide variety of titles. Back in the 90s I mostly only played JRPGs--if that was still all I played I probably would have burned out a long time ago. I recently went on a point-and-click adventure kick and discovered what very well might be my all-time favorite game-The Last Express. And now, I'm exploring the platformer genre a bit--just finished Jak and Daxter for the first time last night (great game, btw). Now obviously, neither one of the games I mentioned are new, but I don't mean to suggest that current titles don't interest me--they do. It's just that I find older games to be equally compelling.

I've been gaming for just about 20 years, and I still love this hobby.

[Arek the Absolute]

I have a long list of games that I bought last year that I have yet to take the shrink wrap off of.

I just am not interested in most games that are coming out. They just don't have that "magic" that older generation games have.

Besides brawl, I don't see me buying that many games in the future.

im also cheating and having my wii modded so thats another reason why i dont intend on buyin a lot of games in the future

[PlastikBag]

Well, my tastes in games have certainly changed. I can't stand JRPGs anymore. Other than that, games are fun.

[kitty]

I think I'm just getting old (I'm only 18! ack!) or people just don't know how to make a good game anymore. Only Portal and the Wii shows the innovation of the old days and rythym games I only play for the music. And yet the Wii is only a system and not a game. The games themselves are just...meh. I blame all the graphics whoring that's in the industry these days. I've been playing old games like the others here. Over winter break I played this old game for PC and Mac called Titanic: Adventure Out of Time. Great mystery game right there...

[Zombie]

I really enjoy gaming right now. I just beat killer7 (it may be a few years old, but it's new to me!) which was awesome, and am looking forward to NMH. I am even thinking of getting a PS3 soon (there is a few good exclusives on it right now, and the future for it looks promising). Oddly though, I am not really exited for SSBB. I dunno, I know I am going to buy it and most likely enjoy it. However, I just don't seem to be freaking out like the rest of the internet.

This thread has worried me about my future in gaming, though. I wan't to play and enjoy video games forever, but will that really happen? I wonder if I will ever lose interest. I sure hope the day never comes when that happens.

[Paratha]

A decline in interest in video games is pretty much for the best as you enter or are continuing college.

I agree with what's been said before: other than Brawl, there are no games I really care about, either new or old. Maybe something is wrong with me, but I didn't like Galaxy much at all.

[zircon]

Yes. I wasn't really playing them for the last few years, except for GBA titles, but since getting a Wii, DS, and 360, I've been having loads of fun. Still, I'm not as much of a gamer as I was - I don't play for hours on end every day. Just an hour or two here and there.

[The Coop]

My gaming really hasn't changed all that much in terms of how much I enjoy playing, it's just harder to find the time to sit down and play some games I really want to. Stuff like Dragon Quest VIII and Final Fantasy XII took forever to beat, since we're talking about investing scores of hours before you even start getting close to the end. When I was younger, I could always find the time to pump a few hours into games like them. But now? Now it's a struggle to get a free hour, let alone three or four, so RPGs get less attention than they did a while back.

If something has changed, it's the amount of time playing newer games versus older ones on PC. Ever since discovering and becoming reasonably competent with DOSBox a couple years ago, I've been playing more older PC titles than newer ones. I mean sure, I'm playing through Quake IV again right now, but when I sit down to play on my PC for a bit, I'm more likely to fire up Powerslave, Wing Commander or The Immortal these days.

[JH Sounds]

I was in a real rut before the Wii came around. I remember reading a thread about the then-newly-announced graphical capability of the Xbox 360 and thinking "er.. and?" I presumed all three next-gen systems would just be graphics upgrades offering nothing new. I was pretty much going to retire from gaming at that point.

[Hawkwing]

The Wii has re-invigorated my love of video games.

[The Pezman]

It's very difficult to recapture the magic and amazement you feel about games when you're young. And "young" can be 15, 17... whatever age you would still call yourself impressionable.

I was just talking with a friend about our old gaming experiences. As I was telling him about Final Fantasy VII, my mind flashed back. I could remember how awesome it was to be playing a Pokemon-like game (the only RPG I'd played at that point) and how engaging the storyline was. We had real characters in a dismal setting who were fighting the president of a corrupt corporation... and suddenly everything changed! You can't get back to something like that, no matter how new and fresh the gaming experience. It's our own personal ennui: "Oh, there's our character. He's gonna have angst... oh crap, here they go again, talking for hours on end." When I played FFVII I lived for the dialogue and story development. I still love the story, but I'm more likely to tune in and out and skip stuff nowadays, largely for time's sake.

[kamoh]

I really enjoy gaming right now. I just beat killer7 (it may be a few years old, but it's new to me!) which was awesome, and am looking forward to NMH. I am even thinking of getting a PS3 soon (there is a few good exclusives on it right now, and the future for it looks promising). Oddly though, I am not really exited for SSBB. I dunno, I know I am going to buy it and most likely enjoy it. However, I just don't seem to be freaking out like the rest of the internet.

This thread has worried me about my future in gaming, though. I wan't to play and enjoy video games forever, but will that really happen? I wonder if I will ever lose interest. I sure hope the day never comes when that happens.

Killer 7 is old in this thread - when I started it I considered 2004 to be my breaking point.

And honestly, I don't mind. I'm not pumping hundreds of dollars a year into this hobby that ultimately will just be entertainment. For some reason I consider everything to be a capital opportunity (sans Cave Story), and I'm not really bothered by it (okay not everything). Of course, I've found hockey