Poll: Giving up gaming because you're old

[Ljs1121]

After thinking about it, I'll say yes. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love video games. But at some point I'll probably start seeking other interests, getting into hobbies I hadn't thought of before, etc. I'll leave my games to my children should I have any. Otherwise, I'll probably give them to a fellow video game enthusiast friend.

 

[Mr F.]

Well, I have started gaming less because I am getting older. That is not because I am getting too mature for games (Unless taking on responsibility after responsibility is considered to be maturity, but I do not hold that that is the case) it is simply because I have other, better things to do with my time.

I think eventually my responsibilities will kill off my gaming habit, much like they have killed off my other time-consuming habits. Hopefully I will one day end up with a career that is not really compatible with gaming. I hope that I have the time to but, well, I also hope I don't.

But when I am older and have the free time again I hope to start gaming again. I mean, once I eventually retire and have a bunch of grandkids I would love to be able to game with them.

So no. I won't give up gaming because I am old. When I am old I will start gaming again.

 

[Legion]

Bear in mind that those who are 80 right now didn't have any of the technology we have when they were kids. Therefore it's not as large a part of their lives as it is ours.

Older people tend to be into more practical things because in their lifetimes not only were they more necessary, but in some cases, they wouldn't have had much else to do if they didn't.

 

[Gnmish]

32 years old, have a wife and a kid, and run my own business. Gaming is the only fun I tend to have these days!

 

[RedBerserkerD]

34 years old, have two kids and full time job.I still play games but I grew up with gaming. In all likehood I'll die with a controller in my hand

 

[floppylobster]

Well I am old and at the certain point I can say gaming WILL lose its appeal to you.

For a while you'll keep buying games, but then you won't find the time to play them. Then you'll realize that and slowly stop keeping up with the latest releases. After that you'll pretty much stop gaming and start to dislike the latest games that come out.

There's only one thing to do at that point - Retro gaming!

I may not give a shit about the latest Call of Duty (or almost any new game these days) but I still love to playing old Vacuum Fluorescent Display games, Game & Watches (yes, I'm that old), MAME, and other emulators. I still have a lot of my old consoles too. (Retro gaming is the reason I love consoles over PCs).

This is the latest game I bought. It gives me a lot of joy in 5 minute bursts -

Spoiler

 

[imagremlin]

43 here, gaming since the Atari 2600.

I call bull.

There are generations now that have grown playing games, for them videogames are a perfectly valid form of entertainment.

That's like saying people will stop enjoying music, movies, books, cards (poker or whatever strikes your fancy), collecting coins or whatever at some age. Once these generations grow old, the stigma that videogames are for kids will vanish.

Tastes and available time changes, but I don't think anything in your brain switches and prevents you from enjoying.

 

[Syzygy23]

As an MMORPG guild leader for 8 years, I've had somewhere between 50 and 100 members that were above 50 years old, and over a dozen well into their retirement. SO I know for a fact your friend is full of crap! And no, I intend to game until something stops me. Either death, a lack of arms or blindness.

I MAY be playing games less because of joint stiffness. In which case I'll take more walks and start doing drugs.

By the time you go blind, we'll probably have the tech to replace your useless meateyes with superior, sleek, cutting edge robo-eyes.

Captcha: Exercise more. Screw you captcha, I just rode 3 miles uphill on my bike yesterday! On 14th gear too!

 

[ResonanceSD]

How dare you spend time and money on things that I think you're too old for!

-_- seriously? go for your life.

 

[Bloodtrozorx]

I'm 27 and I intend to be gaming for a long time. I think just a few short years ago it would have been unheard of for people to game past say 35-40 but the guys who were 8 when the NES dropped are 35 now and they are going to make it acceptable for my old self to be gaming when I'm 50.

 

[Daget Sparrow]

It is an unpleasant and unavoidable eventuality that I will grow too old for Games, whether it be because of that every annoying thing called "real life" creeping up on me, or because I'll grow too old to learn anything that new games bring to the table.

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

It would seem to me gaming would be a pursuit tailored to the elderly. Minimal movement required, but still allows exploration of various worlds.

Some of my friends grew to play fewer games, but I can't think of one that's totally given them up. Seeing as they're universally available now.

My friend's dad used to just spend hours on a gameboy color his son bought him playing Tetris. Tetris is boring. I wonder if I'll be 80 and playing FF7 or something and the kids will think the same about me.

 

[Jason Rayes]

I'm 43 and I still love gaming. Interestingly enough, most people I talk to about my hobby - gamers or not - don't seem to find that odd. It's been a fantastic way to build bonds with my kids (my son and I are rampaging through Pandora right now - my daughter and I love to blast bots in the various co-op modes in Call of Duty and Gears of War - and all three of us play Minecraft together). Plus it's just fun.

I'm 42 so I empathize, I think gaming is much more acceptable now than when we were kids and it was considered a geeky hobby. Now most people game, even if its just angry birds or farmville, so people tend to be saying less "Games are for kids". Most of my friends with families do just as you do and make it a family thing which I think is great.

After thinking about it, I'll say yes. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love video games. But at some point I'll probably start seeking other interests, getting into hobbies I hadn't thought of before, etc. I'll leave my games to my children should I have any. Otherwise, I'll probably give them to a fellow video game enthusiast friend.

I have hobbies outside of gaming, I think I would be worried if I didnt. Im a hiker and a member of a hiking club so I tend to game less in summer and more in winter. Im also a member of a gaming club (Boardgames etc) so that keeps me busy. Add books and movies not to mention Doctor Who, I think I keep a good balance. I just don't think video games will ever drop out of the lineup.

OT: I don't think you are ever too old to learn, my grandmother took an internet course at 70 so she could do her family history research online

 

[UltraXan]

So long as I have hands, a capable machine, and free time, I will keep fighting the good fight. Also because I REFUSE to let any of my future children (if I have any) beat me >:L

Captcha: "you good?" Why yes, captcha, I'm feeling very good, thanks.

 

[Tallim]

The only issue I actually have getting older while gaming is lack of interest. The longer you have been gaming, the more you have seen of gameplay styles and genres. I buy a lot less AAA titles now than I used to and tend to play interesting indie titles.

I've almost completely gone off FPS games, the last one I got was Bulletstorm because it tried to do something different and I had a lot of fun with it.

Time does factor into it, I'm a single parent of a 3 year old and you don't get an awful lot of downtime in which to game. I find myself generally playing games I can either pick up and play quickly for a small amount of time or long term strategy titles that I can play a couple of turns at when I get a moment.

As to whether I'll stop gaming ever? Probably only if I become physically incapable of doing it. Or if there becomes a complete lack of innovation in games being made.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Undoubtedly my tastes will change, perhaps as I get older I'll try and get into Pen and Paper RPGs and tabletop.....but I hope to be jockeying keyboards and rocking controllers until the day I die.

 

[DanielBrown]

No, but I won't prioritise gaming over real life. If I have a family and a job that keeps me busy a lot I probably won't be having much spare time anyways.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Already started going grey and my wife & I still play. I expect we'll probably play more when we get old, don't have a kid to run around after, and lose some mobility.

 

[ParanoidEngineer]

I'll stop gaming when I get bored.

 

[Lee Medcalf]

I think age is no limit to gaming and to be honest, the generation that "just play bowls" do so in the same way we play video games now. Its something they liked doing in the past or wanted to try out. Its not an age thing, its a time to do it, thing.

I turned 41 in August and when I was 8 I was playing Adventure on the Atari VCS, then progressing onto the VIC20, ZX Spectrum, C64, Amiga, PC Gaming, Playstation and here I am 33 years later playing Mass Effect, Rez, Black Mesa and eagerly awaiting my next paycheck so I can pick up Rocksmith.

Do I have any intention of stopping? Not at all!

I think time I get to play games has decreased due to more demands on my time (family, work etc) but when I do get time to play its solid blocks of time. And just like the old people of today, mooching about playing cricket, bowls and any other old person stereotype game you care to think of, I think come retirement I will indulge in my love of games even further!

I might not have the reactions of a teenager, when it comes to playing Battlefield in 2033 but then again, just as I don't play old school shoot'em ups any more (though FWIW I used to love Xenon 2: Megablast on the Amiga and Ikaruga on the Gamecube) I'm sure my tastes will mature too.

I find myself more interested in story driven RPGs, strategy games and RTS games than I was previously. But that's just natural I think. So in the end I think that this up and coming generation of old people and retired will be the first proper generation of "grey gamers" and come the day that happens to me, I'll be right there along side them!