Is there such a thing as "growing out" of gaming?

[MammothBlade]

Some people seem to stop gaming regularly somewhere in their twenties, either because they feel that they've grown out of it or just don't have enough time. Despite this, the average age of gamers is supposedly something like 30 now. Being realistic, do you think it's a timeless hobby regardless of age, or do you see yourself eventually "moving on"?

I will always be a gamer. To me, it's definitely not something that you become too old to do. Even if I had a full-time job and a family I would still find time to play regularly. I find it unfortunate that some people still associate games with immaturity and childishness.

 

[dimensional]

Well you can grow out of anything insofar as you may drift apart from it with time but I dont think gaming is a childish pursuit that you become to old for.

 

[Soxafloppin]

I don't know to be honest, I left gaming for about 3 years. Between playing my Gamecube pretty regularly I then Eventually seen a PS3 going for a good price and thought..why not? Then got hooked again!

I don't see myself leaving gaming forever, the fact that gaming will be completely different when i'm 50 makes me feel like I'm not in a position to say and also makes me feel kind of excited for it.

 

[ThePuzzldPirate]

There is a growing out but I don't think it is the same as in you grow to old for gaming. My interest in gaming has plummeted greatly last year from the mass monopolizing of video games. The AAA industry itself has changed demographics to make more money which I'm not mad at them for it, I'm just not in it. To say this is the same industry from even five years ago would be outright lying and I'm seeing my reasons for caring for it starting to disappear. It's not completely lost however, With Double Fine and inXile luck with kickstarter along with a few developers, I will be around for a bit longer.

 

[SajuukKhar]

this cracked article explains how you can tell if you are too old for gaming

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-to-tell-youre-getting-too-old-video-games/

It is funny because it is so true.

 

[Gennadios]

I can't blame them. Game writing seems to be actively regressing into the juvenile, I get the strong sense that game writers get their inspiration more from anime(yes, there are good ones out there, but not the maority,) comic books(same thing,) and movies. When you have a competent team working with a well thought out literary base you can come up with some brilliant stuff, Bioshock, for example. If you have people that watch too much Scarface you just end up with 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand.

The gamers I know in the over 30 demographic (My Guild Wars guild and 8 friends in my game group, not that large a sample) still game, most of them just stick to MMOs, where story doesn't matter and teamwork and interaction are key, or they stick to the indie scene, where low resources force developers to leave the non-basic story elements to the imagination and as such, can't fuck sh*t up with their own inept writing.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

As you said, you don't really 'grow out' of gaming. Though there may come points where you don't find gaming as enjoyable or where you're too busy to game like you used to.

For some people gaming can be a phase and they just drift apart from it, but I don't believe you can just grow out of it.

 

[Strain42]

I would say that I've personally grown out of gaming. When I was in high school, it felt like I was buying a new game every other week. I'd come home and jump on one of my consoles and just play for hours.

I don't do that anymore. Not counting iOS titles (which are admittedly my biggest source of gaming now) I only buy about 10 games a year, I'm not in nearly as a big a rush to buy them on launch day, and outside of handheld consoles, I'm probably done buying new systems.

It's not that I like gaming less. I still play video games and still enjoy them. I just enjoy them in a much smaller moderation, and they don't make up as big a part of who I am (which I'd argue is probably a very healthy choice on my part. I can't even be around people who try to make video games the basis for their entire identity)

 

[Bebus]

I don't know.

I'm 23, and don't buy as many games as I used to, but that is partially because I am now totally self-dependent and don't have much spare cash.

I would say there are two main factors working against the 'older' gamer. The first is style of game. All-action games such as CoD lose their appeal fairly quickly in any case, but this seems to have accelerated as I have gotten older. There are still more than enough interesting and different games to keep someone with my low rate of game turnover interested, but if I got through any more than 1 a month this story might be different. I will still play a Gears of War, just like I would still watch a Die Hard. But if I really want to get interested, I need something more.

The other is (yes, it is still a problem when you are older...) peer pressure. Personally, I don't give much of a damn what other people think of me. But rather than groups of kids ganging around me, the pressure on somebody older is different, more institutional than personal. News reports which are written on the assumption that video games are only played by children. Advertisements which seem to do the same. People at work moaning about their kids being video game zombies. It all seeps in slowly, and when you pick up a game in a shop you imagine the parent next to you wondering what a grown man is doing with that thing. As I said I don't really care what they think, but I would be lying if I said I didn't notice it.

In summary, the drive to keep gaming as a mainstream hobby into adulthood needs work by both the developers and the gamers. There is currently nothing to grow out of, but adults need to be able to accept the medium as equal to film and book (something those 40+ cannot, in my experience, seem to do), and game companies need to keep up the quality of good, adult titles.

 

[daveman247]

You can as much "grow out" of gaming as you can "grow out" of reading books, listening to music or watching movies. Your preferences may change, you might do or enjoy other stuff more or you might be doing some of it less because of lack of time or shit mass market products that don't appeal anymore, but "gaming" isn't anything special anymore and shouldn't be treated as such. So, no.

QFT.

I see it as more of a hobby of sorts. Something to do between things (This time sadly gets less as time goes on). Or something you do when you need to "unwind" and have some me time". Much like reading a good book or watching a film

Games are slowly being accepted as the older generation dies out. Morbid, but true.

 

[pezwitch]

You can as much "grow out" of gaming as you can "grow out" of reading books, listening to music or watching movies. Your preferences may change, you might do or enjoy other stuff more or you might be doing some of it less because of lack of time or shit mass market products that don't appeal anymore, but "gaming" isn't anything special anymore and shouldn't be treated as such. So, no.

This.

Gaming is something I do to waste time and relieve stress and boredom. I also read and knit and garden, but now that I'm pushing middle age I still play video games. I have moved away from consoles though and do most of my gaming on my PC and Kindle Fire. (Now that the Witcher 2 is coming out on console I'm rethinking this)

Bebus mentioned peer pressure and when I was in my early 20s there was a lot of pressure on me to "put childish things behind". Today, I work with several people over 30 who are parents and gamers so the pressure does goes away. (my friends with children say it is fun to introduce their children to a hobby they love)

 

[daveman247]

this cracked article explains how you can tell if you are too old for gaming

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-to-tell-youre-getting-too-old-video-games/

It is funny because it is so true.

True and also a bit depressing. This is a story of a guy who has died a little inside. Becoming old and cynical

 

[SajuukKhar]

this cracked article explains how you can tell if you are too old for gaming

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-to-tell-youre-getting-too-old-video-games/

It is funny because it is so true.

True and also a bit depressing. This is a story of a guy who has died a little inside. Becoming old and cynical

I pull that link out often when I see another "OLDER GAMEZ WERE SO MUCH BETTER THEN NEW ONES WAAAA" threads.

to be clear I dont think this thread is one, just stating my usual use for that link.

 

[EscapeGoat_v1legacy]

I don't know about growing out of gaming, but I've certainly slowed down. When I was mid-teens, I was constantly buying and playing games. I felt like I'd never stop and nor did I want to. However, as life has progressed, while I still enjoy games and gaming, I now enjoy them in significantly smaller doses, and won't (or can't) sit around playing games for hours upon hours at a time. And you know, I'm fine with that. I reckon it's normal. I still enjoy games, I still play them, but now I no longer want to play them for as long as possible, life has opened up. I do more things, I see more people, I get more stuff done. My horizons have expanded, my opinions have broadened and I experience more of life. You might even say I've leveled up.

Bottom line: I'll always be a gamer. I'll always love gaming. Doesn't matter that I spend less time gaming now, and it doesn't matter if it happens to you.

 

[krazykidd]

this cracked article explains how you can tell if you are too old for gaming

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-to-tell-youre-getting-too-old-video-games/

It is funny because it is so true.

I hate you for posting this , i feel so freaking old now . But it's true , so true sadly , and i'm only 23 . God help me.

 

[DirgeNovak]

"Growing out of" gaming suggests that video games are toys for children, which is pure bigotry. So no. You can stop gaming for whatever reason (mostly because you don't have as much time, social pressure to do something else, etc. etc.), but you can't grow out of it. Can you grow out of reading? Of watching movies?

 

[floppylobster]

Definitely.

As you get older you start to value your time more. And games become more of a distraction to unwind than something new and interesting to discover. The more you become familiar with the mechanisms that make games appealing the less appealing they become. I will only play a game for 3 reasons these days -

(1) Nostalgia.
(2) I have some time to waste that I specifically want to waste.
(3) The art style and aesthetic of a game is appealing.

Never again would I play something for 10 hours just because it's the latest game that every one is talking about.

Maybe games will one day change and become works of art but for now they're a time-waster that, while very engaging to the brain, are ultimately not fulfilling if you want to accomplish something with your life. Granted there are millions of people who don't care, and watching TV is often essentially the same thing. But the answer is still yes. You can grow out of games.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Some people seem to stop gaming regularly somewhere in their twenties, either because they feel that they've grown out of it or just don't have enough time. Despite this, the average age of gamers is supposedly something like 30 now. Being realistic, do you think it's a timeless hobby regardless of age, or do you see yourself eventually "moving on"?

I will always be a gamer. To me, it's definitely not something that you become too old to do. Even if I had a full-time job and a family I would still find time to play regularly. I find it unfortunate that some people still associate games with immaturity and childishness.

It's a timeless hobby but your TASTES and HABITS will change as you age, because your mature, your mindset alters, and how much time you can devote to gaming and what you want to get out of gaming will change. For some people, they'll give up gaming altogether. Others will find a happy balance. Some just see the "real world" as that shit they gotta get through every day so they can get back to gaming. If they pay their taxes, vote, and don't bother or harm anyone else, whats wrong with that?