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throAU

macrumors G3
Feb 13, 2012
8,775
6,937
Perth, Western Australia
My issue has become, not being able to finish games. I'll be so into a game for days or weeks, then just lose interest in finishing it. Sometimes I come back to a game months later , but most of the time I don't.

Is this an "issue"?

Games are entertainment - so long as you are entertained whilst playing, is this a problem? I look at the cost of a game, and if i get say, 20+ hours of enjoyment out of it (irrespective of completion) for $50-100 then I feel i have got reasonable value.

I haven't finished a game since Borderlands 2.
 
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compwiz1202

macrumors 604
May 20, 2010
7,389
5,739
I used to play a lot too, but ever since everything went to online multiplayer, it wasn't fun anymore. Multiplayer used to mean you have multiple people in the same room playing which was definitely more fun than online. Have finally played more again since Switch has been porting the FF games and bringing out more other RPGs.
 

BlankStar

macrumors 6502a
Aug 13, 2004
775
831
Belgium
For the people who lost interest in gaming: the spark can light up again. I quit gaming when I was 25 or something. I had all the consoles since the SNES from Nintendo, Sega & Sony yet at one moment I just lost all interest. My last console was a PS2 and never bothered buying a PS3. A couple of years ago PS4 Lite/pro got released and for a reason that I can't really explain my gamer-gen got activated again. I went out a got a PS4 Pro and I've been gaming again since. Finished awesome games like the 5 Uncharted Games, The Last of us, Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War; Assassin's Creed Origins & Odyssey, RDR2, Far Cry 5, 5 & New Dawn, I'm really on a roll. And the fun part is, that a lot of those titles are now "old" AAA-games so I bought them all at really low prices. And the future is bright since there are loads of games still on my hard drivelike The Witcher 3 (yeah yeah @MisterSavage I'm getting there ;-)) and there are loads of titles that spark my interest like The Last of Us 2, CyberPunk 2077, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Ghost of Tsushima and loads of titles that got released but won't buy until they're cheaper like Days Gone, Death Stranding & The latest Star Wars game.

In short: the spark never dies! Once a gamer, always a gamer ;-)
 

Falhófnir

macrumors 603
Aug 19, 2017
6,139
6,990
It's always been one hobby among many for me, I tend to find there are select titles that will grab my attention for a few weeks and I will play intensively, then once I'm bored of it it will be months before something new comes around or I get the urge to (re)play something again (one I always seem to get intermittent urges to play is Civ V, for some reason VI has never captured my imagination in the same way).

I also tend to find it's very much a winter time activity, there's so much else I'd rather do in the summer that even if there's a release I'm interested in I will put it off for months.
 

JayMysterio

macrumors 65816
Apr 24, 2010
1,494
32,929
Rock Ridge, California
I'll echo the sentiments that it maybe the choice of games that can drastically curb your interest. Especially if you play in the console space, where more & more games are going with "live services" which mean they want you playing as much as possible to "keep up with the joneses". So they can sell you cosmetic items, make you grind thru season passes, and increase the appeal of DLC.

I play/played a lot of Destiny 1 & 2, which has had rocky periods. One problem they've had is in how they address their audiences in that they have a casual player base, and a hardcore player base. To attract more players they went to appealing to casuals to keep them hooked, which alienated the hardcores, generating lots of hate. Bungie the company making Destiny, course corrected and went to pleasing the hard cores. Which means now the game is about grinding, finding groups for the best gear to do events only for groups, and more grinding. Bungie's even adopted the mantra that Destiny is a hobby, to emphasize the time sink.

Problem?

Once your attraction for a game starts to wane, that grind is exactly that, ...a grind. What Bungie wants to call a hobby, you start to think of as a second job, with no pay. When that moment hits, you become very disinterested, very jaded. You may look for other games, but if your interest is in that type of game, you'll soon find the very same issues.

It maybe as simple as finding a genre of games, or stepping away completely until you hear of something game wise that peaks your interest. One of the worst things though, is forcing one's self to keep playing to "keep up with the joneses", that's will completely turn you off from gaming I imagine.
 
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MisterSavage

macrumors 601
Nov 10, 2018
4,605
5,448
Once your attraction for a game starts to wane, that grind is exactly that, ...a grind. What Bungie wants to call a hobby, you start to think of as a second job, with no pay. When that moment hits, you become very disinterested, very jaded. You may look for other games, but if your interest is in that type of game, you'll soon find the very same issues.

That's exactly what happened with me with WoW. It stopped being fun and was more of a non-stop grind to try and keep up with my friends that had way more free time than I did. I didn't last long and was glad I got off of that treadmill.
 
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alexhardaker

macrumors 6502a
Sep 12, 2014
643
580
I also went through this phase a couple of times. I wasn’t a hardcore gamer, but I loved gaming (if that makes sense - I played mainly sports games & GTA, Sims, Spyro, Uncharted and others, but not Call of Duty or Halo). I was obsessed with the PS3 when it was coming out & got it on launch day. A couple of years later or so, I just didn’t really play on it. I wasn’t motivated (this also happened with sports & watching them, keeping up with sports news etc)

Then I got into it again, until I went to study a masters abroad. I wasn’t going to take my PS3 with me, but I was encouraged to. I touched it once when I first got to my flat (with a common area). My flat mates played on it more often than I did. I don’t think I ever played with them, actually (this was in 2017/2018).

However, Suddenly I recently got back into gaming again. This is all because of the Nintendo Switch. I wasn’t much of a Nintendo guy growing up (apart from handhelds for Pokemon). The switch got me into gaming again, that I play quite regularly now. Nintendo games just seem different. The graphic style isn’t as heavy as other games (I used to hate Nintendo when I was younger because graphics were all that mattered to me ?), and they’re more fun to play & easier to just pick up - they’re “lighter” than other consoles games (if that makes sense). When I play CTR on PS4 now it just feels a bit meh compared to Mario Kart on the Switch, and I loved CTR on the PS1. I think it’s partly to do with the heavy graphics and it’s just not as fun as Mario Kart.

I played breath of the wild & really enjoyed it. I’m enjoying Super Mario Odyssey - every time I pick that up I always find a couple of moons, even if I only play for 15 minutes & I find it enjoyable when it happens. Mario Kart is great to have a quick play too. I don’t know yet, but I’m not sure I’ll bother with the PS5, or even heavy games like GTA (if there’s another coming out).

I’ve got Super Mario Party arriving tomorrow, and I’m excited. I’m glad I’m not like I was when I was younger, and now understand why people love Nintendo consoles and games.
 
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SegNerd

macrumors 6502
Feb 28, 2020
298
298
I’ve also noticed a major drop in how much I enjoy games lately. I can’t tell if it’s because the PS4 is reaching its end of life, or maybe it’s just me.

It’s actually kind of a dilemma for me, because if I were to decide I was done with gaming, I would buy a 4K Blu Ray player now - but if not, I would just wait for the PS5. I know it’s a first world problem and I don’t mean to sound entitled, but uncertainty about this question has made it hard for me to plan future purchases.
 
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tshrimp

macrumors 6502
Mar 30, 2012
412
3,436
I’ve also noticed a major drop in how much I enjoy games lately. I can’t tell if it’s because the PS4 is reaching its end of life, or maybe it’s just me.

It’s actually kind of a dilemma for me, because if I were to decide I was done with gaming, I would buy a 4K Blu Ray player now - but if not, I would just wait for the PS5. I know it’s a first world problem and I don’t mean to sound entitled, but uncertainty about this question has made it for me hard to plan future purchases.

I think we all go through this at some point. I know I did. I probably went >2 years after the PS1 was eol where I didn't play a game. After some time I had a friend talk me into getting an Xbox (the original with the mammoth sized controller), and between Halo, and Project Gotham Racing, I got back into gaming. I also think I ruined my thumbs for life during that time ;). Take a break, and come back to them when you get the itch.
 
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DoubleDragon1987

macrumors newbie
Jan 1, 2020
29
32
This EXACT thing happened to me right at about 25 with Zelda Wind Waker on Gamecube in the 2000s (I am 43 atm). I then tried to get back into gaming with going back to the NES and then it all came crashing down when I was playing Marvel vs. Capcom 3. All of a sudden, in the middle of playing, I just stopped and removed my hands from the joystick - this is me in the video playing MvC with that awesome SF2CE stick

After that moment, I now "visit" video games all the time as a "tourist" for nostalgia and memories. Maybe I will play emulation on the computer for a few minutes to travel back in time to a place and moment where I was happy and still a kid at heart.

This is how I approached your dilemma.

But why? Most of the points were repeated above my post but it is a combination of feeling like I am wasting time (if playing beyond 10 minutes or so) by not being productive in any sort of way, sitting down too much (I am always active now compared to my 20s), my brain having been changed (I just don't see games the same way anymore), and so many responsibilities (gotta go to the bank today, then laundry, then clean my bathroom, then pickup dinner at Stop and Shop supermarket, then get some emails sent for work and then shower then floss and brush and on and on and on...). I don't even have kids. It would be 10 times harder to have free time then but of course I suppose I could play games with them but I doubt I would. I am too much of a "grown up" now. The overall mentality and situations have changed.

Maybe something like this happened to you. Your brain just said "no," and that was that. Something triggered a part of your brain that shut off the dopamine release/chase pathway that video games once gave you on that level.
 
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BlankStar

macrumors 6502a
Aug 13, 2004
775
831
Belgium
I had the same but it all came back @DoubleDragon1987. I quit gaming in the beginning of the Playstation 2 era, never had a PS3 or original PS4. When the PS4 Slim/Pro got released I bought me a Pro a a bunch of "old" AAA titles, didn't really know why I bought it, but all of a sudden my spark came back and I've been enjoying really awesome games like God of War, Read Dead Redemption 2, etc and currently Final Fantasy 7 Remake. I do have the luck that my girlfriend likes to read a lot, so she sits next to me with a book, while I play on the PS4. :)
 

ericwn

macrumors G4
Apr 24, 2016
11,817
10,396
I had the same but it all came back @DoubleDragon1987. I quit gaming in the beginning of the Playstation 2 era, never had a PS3 or original PS4. When the PS4 Slim/Pro got released I bought me a Pro a a bunch of "old" AAA titles, didn't really know why I bought it, but all of a sudden my spark came back and I've been enjoying really awesome games like God of War, Read Dead Redemption 2, etc and currently Final Fantasy 7 Remake. I do have the luck that my girlfriend likes to read a lot, so she sits next to me with a book, while I play on the PS4. :)

Nice that you found a way back in! Congrats!
 

michael nielson

macrumors newbie
May 13, 2020
15
14
I have an Xbox One X and a Nintendo Switch and I haven't turned on my switch in 8 months and i'll play a round or two of Halo 5 a week on my One X. Gaming used to be everything to me and now I can barely play anything. I desperately want to be interested in gaming it just isn't much fun for me anymore. I'm not even excited for Luigi's Mansion 3 which I was in love with the other two. I'm 25 by the way.
I used to play league of legends 10 hours straight everyday in college for 2 years then i started hating the game because it took away 1 year of my life. But im back at it, except i play only a couple of games.
 

BlankStar

macrumors 6502a
Aug 13, 2004
775
831
Belgium
I used to play league of legends 10 hours straight everyday in college for 2 years then i started hating the game because it took away 1 year of my life. But im back at it, except i play only a couple of games.

I don't play endless timesink games anymore. Part of the renewed joy is finishen awesome stories. The Last of Us, Horizon Zero Dawn, Read Dead Redemption 2, God of War, ... In the end it's the story that makes these games a joy to play (for me at least)
 
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tranceking26

macrumors 65816
Apr 16, 2013
1,385
1,533
Gaming used to be everything to me and now I can barely play anything. I desperately want to be interested in gaming it just isn't much fun for me anymore.


I've been on and off console games for the last few years. Since I turned 25 I think.

As mentioned on my thread I'm turning to Easy Mode in hope of a revival.

A few hours enjoyment each day is what I'm hoping for. There's so many good games out there on the XB1X and the Switch.
 

michael nielson

macrumors newbie
May 13, 2020
15
14
I don't play endless timesink games anymore. Part of the renewed joy is finishen awesome stories. The Last of Us, Horizon Zero Dawn, Read Dead Redemption 2, God of War, ... In the end it's the story that makes these games a joy to play (for me at least)
Well yeah for many actually.
 

SamC741

macrumors newbie
Jun 6, 2022
16
10
I believe its the age factor, I used to play games now not that much interested in games.
Also, give some time other activities for few weeks and then try playing games it may help
 

MisterSavage

macrumors 601
Nov 10, 2018
4,605
5,448
I believe its the age factor, I used to play games now not that much interested in games.
Also, give some time other activities for few weeks and then try playing games it may help

Not for a good chunk of us.

"During a 2021 survey, 38 percent of video game players still come from the 18 to 34 age demographic, and seven percent are 65 years and older."
 

clementishutin

macrumors newbie
Jun 6, 2022
11
5
For me, the controls in video games have simply become too complicated. And I have the impression that playing the game requires a lot of practice. I don't have the patience to learn intricate controls, even though gaming is intended to be a pleasurable diversion.
 

ericwn

macrumors G4
Apr 24, 2016
11,817
10,396
For me, the controls in video games have simply become too complicated. And I have the impression that playing the game requires a lot of practice. I don't have the patience to learn intricate controls, even though gaming is intended to be a pleasurable diversion.
Good points, that’s certainly why more casual games on smart devices dominate the gaming market in many places.
 

Khalanad75

macrumors 6502a
Jul 8, 2015
543
1,881
land of confusion
For me, the controls in video games have simply become too complicated. And I have the impression that playing the game requires a lot of practice. I don't have the patience to learn intricate controls, even though gaming is intended to be a pleasurable diversion.

I'm the same. When they released the new Battletoads, I started to play it, and then through the tutorial they started to pull out button combinations for certain scenarios and I just "noped" right out of the game.

Basic controllers now have 8 buttons plus a dpad. You need more than that, I am not interested.

Too old for that now.
 

cateye

macrumors 6502a
Oct 18, 2011
603
2,414
Age is just a number.
Agreed. I'm 51 and play a lot of different types of games, but twitchy, ultra-sweaty online multiplayer? Oh yeah. Bring it on. There's something super satisfying about being taken for granted as "too old" to play that kind of game, then dominating.
 
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MisterSavage

macrumors 601
Nov 10, 2018
4,605
5,448
Agreed. I'm 51 and play a lot of different types of games, but twitchy, ultra-sweaty online multiplayer? Oh yeah. Bring it on. There's something super satisfying about being taken for granted as "too old" to play that kind of game, then dominating.
Same. I play Fortnite to spend time with my nephew because he loves it. I'm not good but I hold my own.
 
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