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do people mature out of video games?

subpar spatula

subpar spatula

Refuses to Wash his Ass
Member
Oct 26, 2017
22,075
i have loads of free time and i have a lot of games but i decide not to play them because i am almost instantly bored with them. whenever i try to play one i go, "what'e the point? i can do more enjoyable things IRL". when i think back on video games, i remember being in high school and doing that cause that's really all there was to do after school (besides drink). anyone else feel that way where video games have become less appealing and more boring as a result of more appealing alternatives to do with your time?
 

Deleted member 21709

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Oct 28, 2017
23,310
I don't think that someone losing interest in games has to do with maturity. People's interests and hobbies just change.
I'm not one of those people though.

You might be overwhelmed with choice, or maybe you just need to take a break from games.

My gaming interests shift, I have periods where I am heavily invested in handheld/portables, and times where I spend most of my time with PC games, and times where I spend most of my gaming time on consoles.
 
Bane

Bane

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
5,904
It was nothing to do with maturity, tastes just change over our lives.
 
Buckle

Buckle

Member
Oct 27, 2017
41,006
Lets see. I'm..

*checks notes*

32 and still love them so I can't say that applies to me. If you find hobbies or activities you enjoy more, more power to ya though.
 
Rocketz

Rocketz

Prophet of Truth
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Oct 25, 2017
7,904
Metro Detroit
It's a hobby. Sometimes people fall out of things they like. Happens all the time.

I play what I like, not what the new hit popular thing is.
 

Deleted member 1413

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,617
Life situations change. Too busy, don't have money, found something else, etc.

As a kid I would love 100 hour jrpgs because I lacked money but had a ton of time. Now a days my time is worth more than my money so I can't spend 30 hours hitting things with swords so I'm strong enough to hit a bigger thing hard enough
 
Jake_brake

Jake_brake

Member
Sep 13, 2018
364
No Sir/Ma'am. In fact I'm really enjoying the lot of games I'm just getting through right now. Maybe it's because I on fact don't have THAT many things else to do with my time at the moment, but even still, it's a hobby that's been a passion for some time and I certainly hope that doesn't change. I'll always TRY to find some time for it.

And with the sheer amount of quality titles coming and too come, it's an exciting time.
 
nexus

nexus

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Oct 25, 2017
3,644
For me it's the time. I still really enjoy playing some games but I'm a lot more picky on what I want dive into.
 

Deleted member 10629

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
12,238
Maturing out of games implies that is immature to like them. They're entertainment, nobody ever talks about outgrowing watching sports or movies.
 

Deleted member 2834

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Oct 25, 2017
7,620
I dislike the word "mature" because it implies a childiness to the hobby. We never talk about maturing out of movies, shows or novels. Priorities can change over the course of your live, it happens. I'm enjoying games as much as ever.
 
Z-Beat

Z-Beat

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
31,831
No, just the type, or we have less time to dedicate to them
 
MrHedin

MrHedin

Member
Dec 7, 2018
6,810
I don't think most people "mature" out of gaming, just as you get older more things start fighting for attention and you have to make some priority calls on what you spend time on. I don't have time for all of the hobbies I am interested in so I have to make judgement calls. Right now I'm not reading as much I would like as I am more focused on gaming, six months from now that could completely reverse.
 
Shoichi

Shoichi

Member
Jan 10, 2018
10,451
Not really mature but in same cases it may be the case. Many just don't have as much time as before or depends on amount of available funds.

I can say I don't have nearly as much time to play games as I did a few years ago when I was still in school. Work and real life take up a lot of time, along with trying to save funds for things. I also don't play nearly the amount of fps games as I did or play them at all. I would tweak so much on CoD/Battlefield games during college, haven't touched those series since.

A friend of mine that used to game a lot hasn't touched gaming outside of PoGo and some other mobile things in a long time.
 
Coolduderedux

Coolduderedux

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,464
I'd say more and more people are starting to feel this way because of the choices available to you. Before, you had more choice when you were older because you had more money to buy any games you wanted instead of hoping for a birthday or holiday. But now, some stellar games cost a few bucks and subscription services are so convenient.

It's like Netflix or Social Media, there's hours of new content available for you to experience but you spend most of your time browsing that you either lose interest or stick with something familiar and then lose interest.
 
Version 3.0

Version 3.0

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,152
Of course they do. That is to say, if you ask someone who played them as a child or teen, then stopped, that's going to be a common answer as to why. "I grew up", or something along those lines. You'd get the same answer about cartoons from a lot of people.

Here, though, people might take offense to that description, as it implies that we never "grew up". Doesn't matter. It's subjective. And clearly there are plenty of video games, and cartoons, that are explicitly not for children.
 
spad3

spad3

Member
Oct 30, 2017
7,122
California
absolutely. I have no drive to play massive games anymore (aside from Cyberpunk only because it's a dream game that I've only ever imagined of actually playing). I also have no drive to play pointless games anymore, I've regressed into quick satisfaction games like New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe, Apex Legends, Mortal Kombat 11. Something I can pick up really fast, make some progress, and then drop without having to keep up on lore and whatnot.
 
Aurc

Aurc

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,890
Video games are only a medium. I think it would be fair to say that people mature out of certain video games. When we're discussing books, movies, and television, you wouldn't say that you've matured out of those mediums, just that you've gone from reading Everyone Poops, to Blood Meridian (and hopefully not Everyone Poops Blood, lol). From Winnie the Pooh, to True Detective. From Super Mario, to Bloodborne. Stuff like that.

(Just for the record, I'm not saying you're wrong if you're an adult that enjoys things geared towards kids, but that most people's tastes either change or expand as they grow older, which is natural.)

I don't know that I'll ever "mature" out of the entire medium, but I can see myself having less and less time for it, as I age. Video games are inherently pretty time consuming, especially if you want to do all the content and be good at them.
 
pswii60

pswii60

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Oct 27, 2017
26,653
The Milky Way
38 and still love many videogames, but probably not the same games as the yoof of this forum likes. And what you said could also apply to anything like movies or TV.

You'll find you go through phases, and you'll come back to gaming again at some point. Likelihood is that you're probably just playing the wrong games though. You'll find as you get older, games like Uncharted and Call of Duty become less interesting, and you'll probably prefer games that use your brain instead, or games that offer some nostalgia to the games you grew up playing when you were young.
 
SliceSabre

SliceSabre

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Oct 25, 2017
4,556
It has nothing to do with maturity.

You aren't a more mature person because you don't play video games. Is the man who stops playing video game in favor of collecting toy trains a more mature person?
 
Bit_Reactor

Bit_Reactor

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Apr 9, 2019
4,413
Maturing out of video games implies that the artform itself is immature. You might as well ask people to "mature" out of animated films. Or "mature" out of anime.

I will always love video games as they are an interactive art form that gives life to otherwise unheard of points of view and do interesting things in interesting ways.

People can "stop having time" for video games.
People can "Not like video games anymore"

Calling it "maturing out" infers that the people who still play them well into their old age (like myself) are somehow immature for liking an artform. It reminds me of all the hilarious comparisons of Anime fans to sports fans. When a nerd had a ton of memorabilia it's "cringy" but when a sports fan spends thousands of dollars on sports stuff and makes an entire shrine to a specific team and riots when their team loses it's "fine."

False equivalency I just made aside, the way the subject line was phrased kinda set off the tone of the conversation, even if you didn't mean it that way. I get why people might find more things appealing, I really do, but to phrase it as somehow growing out of it is doing the industry and the art form a disservice imo
 
AxeVince

AxeVince

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Oct 26, 2017
580
It's the same question as "Do people stop hating vegetable ?". Tastes changes, mood swings, and what you want to do with your time follows
 
Caspar

Caspar

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Oct 29, 2017
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Maybe a couple decades ago it was more common, but now days with games like The Last of Us and Edith Finch there's a lot more content aimed at mature ages. So many games I love now I wouldn't have appreciated as a teenager or child.
 
Suede

Suede

Gotham's Finest
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Oct 28, 2017
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I think your taste can change over time. Sometimes I feel like nothing interests me then that one game will come along that reignites that passion again. It's also harder to invest so much time into the hobby as you get older.
 
MrFrankFontaine

MrFrankFontaine

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Oct 25, 2017
1,038
I agree with some of the posts from earlier. Perhaps just a bad choice of words, but I don't think it has anything to do with maturity.

As you get older, the things you decide to do with your free time changes.

I still make time to play games when I can (as I still enjoy a lot of games even being in my forties), but I don't spend nearly as much time as I did when I was younger. Between family, friends and my career, what I enjoy spending precious time has definitely shifted. Has nothing to do with maturity though.
 
Ultima_5

Ultima_5

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Oct 25, 2017
7,670
once i hit adulthood, having a full time job and life meant that my free/hobby time is much more precious. ive drastically cut down on how many games i pick up, and if its not good in the first few hours i'm not wasting time with it. same goes for movies/books/tv/etc. i dont think its "outgrowing," more like... not putting up with crap anymore.
 
ghibli99

ghibli99

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Oct 27, 2017
17,689
Define "older" OP. Could just be anecdotal, but I feel like these threads are usually made by those in their late 20s, maybe early 30s.

I'm in my mid-40s, and I love games just as much as I did when I was younger, maybe even more. I have other interests, but games continue to be my top hobby.
 
oni-link

oni-link

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Oct 25, 2017
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People change and some things become less of a priority and others more of a priority
 
Jake_brake

Jake_brake

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Sep 13, 2018
364
NarohDethan said:
Maturing out of games implies that is immature to like them. They're entertainment, nobody ever talks about outgrowing watching sports or movies.
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Tis why games may not have grown out of that "just for kids" stage yet. Some people will see it as that, and if they lose interest simply chalk it up as "growing out of it."

It's fine if you lose interest, maybe OP needs some time away from it. But it may be more just losing interest than growing out, and most definitely maturity.
 
NNN

NNN

Member
Nov 1, 2017
256
at this point in my life (26yo) I enjoy talking about video games more than actually playing them. Strange
 
OP
OP
subpar spatula

subpar spatula

Refuses to Wash his Ass
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Oct 26, 2017
22,075
ghibli99 said:
Define "older" OP. Could just be anecdotal, but I feel like these threads are usually made by those in their late 20s, maybe early 30s.

I'm in my mid-40s, and I love games just as much as I did when I was younger, maybe even more. I have other interests, but games continue to be my top hobby.
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i am 29 with hours of free time each day
 
Aaron D.

Aaron D.

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,301
Depends, I guess.

I'm 50 and have been hardcore into gaming since before Atari 2600. Haven't slowed down a bit since the beginning.

Then again, in the 80's I was into thrash/hardcore metal but I haven't followed the genre in decades (still love the classics of the era though).

People phase in and out of tastes all the time as they take on the years. Some things stick. Some things don't.
 
carlosrox

carlosrox

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Oct 25, 2017
10,270
Vancouver BC
Closer to a sign of immaturity I think, depending on the mentality behind it.

If it's a "I have to grow up and games are for kids" or worrying about what people think of you, then it's not really a sign of maturity.
 

Deleted member 3190

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I definitely go through stretches where I don't play much, but I fully expect to be playing games in retirement. That said as many have already said, sometimes your interests just change.
 

Deleted member 10629

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Oct 27, 2017
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Jake_brake said:
Tis why games may not have grown out of that "just for kids" stage yet. Some people will see it as that, and if they lose interest simply chalk it up as "growing out of it."

It's fine if you lose interest, maybe OP needs some time away from it. But it may be more just losing interest than growing out, and most definitely maturity.
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I game much less than I did before, but that's because I barely have any time to play. But they're still my number one hobby, I love talking about them.
 
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