Is Gaming fun anymore?

[Shoggoth2588]

I find that I have more fun with my games if I just tune out the controversy and, the over-analysis. I try to stay away from most of the fandoms and communities too since those can be kind of inflammatory, especially if you voice your own unpopular views. Another great tip comes from avoiding early adoption...even turds like Ride to Hell don't stick as badly if you paid less than the price of a pizza for it.

It's basically what I do anyway and I'm loving gaming. I indulge in the indies (and whatever old games my laptop will run), I'll play newer games once they dip to the $20 range and I'll pick up games from my childhood that I never had a chance to play at the time. It's why I'm having so much fun with gaming! My most recent game is Watch_Dogs which I grabbed for $20 and after I turned off the online components, I started having...a moderate amount of fun. More than GTAV anyway but Watch_Dogs doesn't force me to race or take flight tutorials.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Yeah, I still enjoy games as much now as I did when I first started. Probably a lot more actually, thanks to the variety of experiences that you can now get.

Now discussion about games, that's become a bit of a crapshoot.

 

[FPLOON]

Gaming is always fun... when you, yourself, allow it to be... Granted, one's level of "fun" is more subjective than the base setup of a customizable character or level of tolerance for intolerable BS, but that doesn't mean the concept of "fun" is no more within the walls of gaming itself... For me, personally, gaming is never not fun to me... However, time keeps telling me to prioritize my life to other more "important" endeavors in general, so let's just say that my gaming keeps requesting sabbaticals whenever time tries to take me to second base or some shit like that...

Overall, it's all a matter of perspective... and once you find your specific perspective where gaming is, once again, fun for you in particular, then the rest comes back to you like riding a bike... or a scooter, I guess...

 

[Rebel_Raven]

Gaming is still fun for me. I'm looking forward to many games, and have a backlog I want to get. I go back and play games I have already.

Yeah, there's a lot of bullshit in the industry, and among gamers, shakey starts for online games, and so forth, but I can take it in stride.

Ps3, 360, ps4, android, 3ds, it's all good! Even the rare PC though my laptop ain't that great.

Thing is, I just don't really have as much time as I'd like. :/

Honestly, there's a huge world outside of AAA (depending on definition) and Indie. Lesser known games. Take a gander through game stores you have access to.

 

[Vigormortis]

Is gaming fun anymore?

Nope! It's clearly the most unfun thing in the world, nowadays. That's why it's one of the largest and highest grossing entertainment industries in existence.

. . . . . . . .

Okay, sarcasm aside: Yes, games are still fun. They're just as much fun as they've always been, only now there's a lot more variety to suit a wider range of tastes.

The industry has become massive. If what you've been playing is no longer fun, then one of two circumstances are in play:

Either your interests have moved on to other things, or you're just not playing the games that appeal to your tastes.

Spread your wings a little. Try games within genres you've never played before. Look into multiplayer games if you were a solo gamer. Look into solo, narrative games if you were a competitive player. There is a myriad of games out there for almost all tastes. You just have to look for them.

And if you genuinely can not find any that satiate your desire for sustainable entertainment, then maybe you've simply lost interest in gaming. Look for a new hobby. Maybe model building?

Point is, gaming is just as fun as ever. The only thing that's changed is you. And when you figure out what the change is and why, you'll be able to find the thing that entertains you just as much as games did in the past.

 

[EHKOS]

Yeah, a bit. Yoshi's Wooly World, Bloodborne, and Arkham Night are the only games I'm currently interested in. I've lost faith in a lot of studios. ORAS didn't survive the transition to 3D very well.
I never played any of the MGS games before, but recently I played through 1 and I felt like I enjoyed myself more than I had in a long time. I've never played an SMT game either, but last week Persona 4 was only $5 and I love it so far.

So I can still have fun (also played a bit of Nightfire thanks to the Zaibatsu) I just think we lost our way a bit. Either that or it's all just nostalgia and video games just aren't as fun as we thought. Watch your step, there's shattered rosey lenses all over the ground.

 

[Nazulu]

Gaming these days has no magic. They manage to make it feel recycled even when they have a different idea. And it doesn't help that they very rarely make genre's I prefer.

While I will always look out for new games, I'm mostly going back to the 90s and early 2000s to see what I missed out on. And I never thought the original Half-Life would blow me away, and I don't even like the FPS genre.

 

[Tsun Tzu]

I dunno?

I sort of feel like this is just going to eventually happen to everyone. I'm already kinda meh about 90% of games. But the games I enjoy I really get into and cling to for quite a while.

Ya get burned out. No big deal. Find another hobby and distract yourself from pondering the infinite.

Then, after a time, hop back in.

 

[Fox12]

I'm just getting older, and as I get older all things kinda lose their "magic".

I think it's this, and, for me at least, it's not just games. It gets harder and harder for me to get my "fix." That's probably why I lost my fucking mind when I found Berserk, it was the first story I'd found in ages that floored me.

Objectively, though, games are far better. I look back at games I loved, and they were kind of shit. The writing is better, the mechanics are better, the visuals are better. Most of mu favorite games are from the ps2 era onwards. Replaying old games, it's clear that I had shit taste. I mean, I thought this was the greatest thing on earth as a kid. How many of you have even heard of it?

Spoiler

The point is, I wouldn't want to go back. To old games, I mean. I'd go back to the 90's in a second.

I only get excited about a handful of games a year, but I only have enough time and money for a handful a year, so it doesn't worry me.

 

[Gladion]

Another one of the gaming mid-life crisis casualties. Well, here we go: I recently beat Alan Wake and was stoked about how good I thought it was, despite all the criticism I had heard about it. I've recently started Dark Souls, which is miles better than Demon's Souls IMO, I'm super hyped for the new Mortal Kombat and Witcher games as well as scared about Tree of Savior potentially hogging all my free time when it gets released. I love to replay those old games that gripped me, even if I don't beat them again all the time and get into niche titles that I had always wanted to play (recently played Policenauts with a buddy of mine over Skype) and generally just appreciate the medium more than I ever have in my 20 year gaming career.

So no, gaming isn't fun any more. It used to be all good, now it's all bad and on-disc DLC and shallowness.

And how the fuck did you manage to get GG into here? I swear.

 

[CritialGaming]

Gaming as you get older can become a mix bag. The quota of "fun" a game is required to have changes as you become more aware of your gaming preferences. The pressured of real life change who you are as a person and what kind of things need to happen in order to make you forget about it. That's essentially what "fun" is, a means of your mind being so entertained you forget how much you have your fucking job.

What this means for today's video games is that the design needs to hit you in the right way. Games that you used to prefer may change from RTS, to shooters (maybe because you now work in a post office). I find that as I age a game needs to be something really special to capture me and give me "fun". Maybe that is because I can now see when a game's level design is terrible, or the writing is bad, or the combat is bad, or the game is just simply bad. When I was a wee lad I was basically a moron who could mash buttons on any thing bright and shinny and call it fun.

These days I simply can't, so a game has to really step up its game. Now that being said, everyone will have a different idea as to what games may grab them. I actually really liked Duke Nukem Forever, but I like shitty dick humor and I'm a sucker for wall tits.

 

[Zen Bard]

Do you like how gaming has become than it was when you were a kid? I, deep down, do not.

This is the main question. And in a broad sense I agree with you. For me, it comes down to two things: getting older and the gaming industry itself.

I grew up in the 80's and have played a lot of games since then. But as gaming titles have become more homogenized, there's a huge "been there/done that" feeling with the newer properties. So for me, a new game needs to appeal to either my sense of adventure with something fresh and interesting or my nostalgia by being an effective homage to games gone by. In short, I'm no longer as easily impressed as before.

And I blame the industry. A gaming company's main goals are to make money and appease their shareholders. They no longer care (to the extent they may have) about artistic vision, innovation and entertainment. They care about quarter to quarter growth, stream revenues and increased stock prices. This translates to having annual "franchises" that retread the same formula, games stripped down of interesting mechanics to reduce the learning curve for wider appeal (aka "dumbing down") and buggy titles that are released too soon to hit the quarterly profit target.

These days, I buy older used XBox games that I have missed when they came out. Because they're cheaper ($20) and I'm sure as hell not going to buy a next gen console that has at best a handful of games for it that are worth playing.

 

[Feraswondervahnn]

See I was having a very similar problem. I then got the Last of us, which was enjoyable, and got me wanting to game more. The Next Game was Stick of Truth. Absolutely loved it! Probably the most fun I'd had in a game in recent years.

Then I started Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Damn is that game awesome! I jumped straight in on Hard and was just stunned by the sheer spectacle of it all! Anyway I've been absolutely adoring this game and feel completely rejuvenated for more games now! I just bought Baldurs Gate 2 as it's the only one of the old D&D Crpgs from Obsidian I haven't played and again, incredibly fun! I have also spent almost 700 hours in Civ V and that's constantly increasing.

I know what you mean by finding it hard to find decent fun games, but once you're more familiar with your own taste it's a lot easier to get invested. It also doesn't hurt to mix up the modern games with some older ones. The majority of my game library is old except my Wii-U stuff.

So yeah. Just keep an eye out for what you, yourself is interested in. Just because people are giving a game critical praise it doesn't mean you'll enjoy it. Look for the games you want to play, they're more than likely out there

 

[Chemical123]

As long as there are space strategy games where I can design my ships to look like penises I will always have fun. Imagine, a spaceship that warps into hostile territory spitting out interceptors from its frontal hangar, while avoiding enemy shots with its dual fusion engines.

On a more serious note:
I remember having the same exact feeling as you but I eventually got over it after I stopped reading review and gaming sites. Just play whatever looks good to you and ignore everyone else. I loved Mass Effect 1 and 2, I HATED Mass Effect 3 and I did not give 2 shits about all the "experts" telling me that I am entitled or some other nonsense. I simply moved on to a different franchise. I loved DA:O, hated DAII and loved Inquisition but then I made the mistake reading all the negativity about the game which made me stop playing until I remembered my magic phrase(fuck'em). I stopped playing AC Black Flag as soon as I got bored of my ship, stopped playing Shadow of Mordor as soon as I mind controlled every orc in the land, I did not care about the story of those games just the mechanics. Alternatively, as soon I finished with Valkyria Chronicles storyline I stopped caring about all the side missions and objectives.

TLR
Play what you want, how you want it and ignore everyone else.

 

[hybridial]

TLR
Play what you want, how you want it and ignore everyone else.

I can tell you that we have rather different tastes. But you're completely right and I want to live by this philosophy. It's surprisingly hard when you're not feeling super amazing mental health wise (I'll spare you any specifics), but I know that this is what I need to try to do.

 

[Tilly]

Gaming is going through a tough transitional time, no doubt. There are so many issues that are conspiring to make gaming less relaxing at the moment.

1) The rise of the indie scene, the fact that it largely destroyed the mid-range developers.
2) The transition towards youtubers and away from written gaming media.
3) The problems with swelling AAA budgets that have forced developers into releasing shoddy messes of games/ huge delays.
4) The rise of people eager to force social issues into gaming, sometimes well thought-out and welcomed. Often for cynically pushing an agenda that has no benefit to the industry at all but is surprisingly lucrative.

I for one just don't want all of the external hassle. I just want gaming to be my go-to escapism (maybe why I'm at the escapist) that I can pick up at a moment's notice and then forget about when I put it down.

 

[Mister K]

Nah, I still love games. It's just that since I became actual gaming enthusiast and started following the industry I've seen a lot more bad games than when I was just a kid who bought games because the cover looked cool.

True, many games are bad, but as with any other medium, there is always good content. New non-AAA games, oldies... I think I've bought more games in the past 2 years than I did when I was in school and in my first University years. I haven't played ALL of them yet, for sure, but those that I did were at the very least not bad and great at most. Except for Baldur's Gate, this game reeeealy didn't age well.

 

[SKBPinkie]

Man, I have no idea when people will stop sucking indie games' dicks.

Like seriously, AAA has entire genres that wouldn't work at all with indie titles. Open-world, RTS, God of war-style games (AKA character action), games with deep mechanics (Souls series), etc.

Monster Hunter, Skyrim, Grid, Dirt 2/3, Halo, Gears of War, Uncharted, Destiny, Street Fighter, Far Cry 3/4, Mass Effect, etc. are some of my favorite titles out there, and not a single one of these can be achieved with an indie developer's scale.

You know, it's fine to check out some well-made, short-lasting titles every once in a while. But the whole "glorious indies should replace AAA scum" is an opinion I'm never gonna get.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Do I like where gaming is going?

not really, no

is it still fun?

yes, why wouldn't it be. I might not like where AAA is going or the mess its turned into but I still find games to play that I enjoy and look forward to. granted the number of games I give more then a cursory glance any more is rather limited (like 2-5 games at best a year anymore I genuinely care about) then before but I still enjoy the games I get.