Is this normal?

BlueMak

I am almost 32, playing video games since about 1981. Bought my first computer (not with my own money) back in 1987 (an Atari ST).
Over the years I have owned or used extensively lots of computer systems and even some consoles. I have played (more than few min of course), thousands of games of all types and formats.
For the last year, my PC gaming time has been used on many games, but only very few I keep playing. winSPMBT, C&C Renegade, EU series, Rainbow Six Vegas and a few more, with low hardware requirements. I was never in favour of the gaming consoles, but I find myself more and more playing some "light" games on my Xbox 360, and use my PC almost exclusively for strategy and wargames of very low requirements. Not because my PC can't handle anything more hungry, but because I find them....boring!
I have played several RTS games, some of the best looking ones (though most of the times just the demos), but also managed to buy some, for example Company of Heroes, World in Conflict etc. I find myself playing PERHAPS through the campaign and then losing all interest in the games. Their very good and nice to look graphics make me feel NOTHING. Innovative new controls, new ideas, just don't do it for me anymore!
Case in point, last week that I had a lot of free time for gaming. I played few hours of Renegade online, some Mass Effect and PGR3, and about 90% of the rest, winSPMBT (single and PBEM) and EU:Rome.
Am I getting old, am I just going through a normal phase? I am a gamer, no question about it, so there is no chance I will stop playing.
Am I getting boring? (as a gamer).

I am now considering just abandoning PC serious gaming and by serious I mean hardware intensive, and stop getting gaming desktops. A nice medium power laptop and my xbox 360.

Any of you going through something similar?

I am BlueMak and I am a gamer.

mkk

I'm 34 and know the feeling, except maybe I had it more a couple of years ago. I think part of it is when being so experienced in games one automatically starts rating the games as you play and compare details in the gameplay to older ones. Then when you/I pick up a game like Company of Heroes that can be great fun but has a glaring issue with the vehicle movement AI of a type that irritated you many years ago in another game, one kinda feel "what the hell was wrong with the developer" when most other parts of the game were top quality.

The best remedy is probably to not play much at all for a while to get the appetite back.

Lowfat

not i. I don't game a lot, but when I do it is strictly on my PC. I have a 360 hasn't been powered on since January. I have a Wii, hasn't been powered on in over 8 months now.

SFOSOK

Your lieing to yourself.


I had a few different consoles and gaming PC. I have never been able to get rid of my PC and stop high end gaming (all my consoles are gone though).


Do you know why?

Cause you can't sell the games and you get chump change for the parts.



Its always like this for me.


I should sell my comp.

-But you need your comp you use it for things other than games

Ok then I will get rid of the games.

-But you spent so much money on the games, they don't cost a monthly fee, no one will buy them, and they will always be fun in the future.

Fine, then I just wont use it for playing games.

-But then you wasted your money buying the games before.

Ok then I play the games I have, not buy any new ones, and not buy any new parts.

-But your computer is old and you can't even run your games at the absolute highest. Also there is that sequel to that really buggy game that would have been good if ........

ALRIGHT, Shut the hell up already!




That is why you can't get away from PC gaming.

BlueMak

I didn't say I won't have new computer, just not as gaming computer.
The only games that I play a lot on a PC are strategy games and wargames that are not available on any console. For the other types of games, it looks like they are all being made for the xbox 360 as wel for the PC.

I never sell my games anyway, I have done the mistake of selling games in the past (1993) and I regret it ever since.

It's been 3 days now till my first post and I still feel the same. It's weird.

Zardon

Its not really weird. It is like everything, the more you do it the less exciting and mundane it becomes. I think even porn stars would have the same issue.

There is also a possibility that at your age you have just saturated yourself with so many games over the years that you are becoming numb to them. That and a combination of the fact that pc gaming in general is rerunning old ground and makers are focusing more on new graphics technologies rather than groundbreakling playable titles. (Crysis for example).

I find almost all games boring now apart from a small percentage. I am one of the most fanatical strategy gamers and the only game in the last few years to hook me was Supreme Comimander.

Just find something else to do for the next 6 months and come back to it with a fresh perspective. 3 days is hardly time away.

Vikingod

Allan said it right.

I hardly game anymore. In the past few years, there have been very few games which really spark my interest. COD4 is great, but I don't hardly play it anymore. Other than shorter titles like Crysis, HL2 EP1, etc. I've not finished a SP game in probably over a year. I can't play Guild Wars for more that five minutes without getting bored with it (and I loved that game). It's natural. Thing is, your might never want to get back into it. Think of all the things you did when you were 10, 16, 22, and figure out how many of them you do now.

As Z said, find something else to get into. It's good to have more than one thing you enjoy.

Callandor

You might remember this

Gaming has lost its "Awesomeness" for me

That was me about two years ago, I don't know about the guys in the thread but I actually felt like I would never have fun in gaming ever again, lo and behold some years late I really enjoy it again, its not as good as initially, Allan said it all right, was playing some gaming classics like Pokemon Stadium on the N64 and DOA2 on the PS2 with my cousins the other day and it was not the games, just the general enjoyment of beating the games together that made them fun.

I miss the days that I was fresh and really wowed by games when I at first picked them up, but as Allan said things can't be fresh and clean forever, comes a time when even your favourite song of all time becomes "okay" and redundant. Just the way life is . Just get used to it and find ways of removing the monotony, sometimes, nowadays, I actually think that life might be too long.

DJ BIG T

blue im 36 went throw what your going throw now.. i do have console dreamcast and a wii, dont play them just pc.. i think its a phase until you get a hold of a hardcore game thats going to grab you...

randomuser83

In my experience its not just games that draws you to computers. Its okay to have other interests as long as you do love games. Dont worry about it, its just a phase.