How did your gaming habits change as you got older?

[Gabbo]

Buy fewer games, and play less often. I'm closer to the 'one game a year' that I used to get for birthdays or xmas as kid despite being the one buying. I'm just more selective cause games are expensive. Also emulation, is weirdly a thing for me now. I have a larger console library than ever and only have two consoles (ngc and wiiu), but I looked for deals for older titles at retro stores here in the city that I can rip and play in emulators. I never owned a playstation or an xbox, but I can experience their games now in a whole other (if sometimes busted ass) way.

Component upgrades are slightly more frequent, but full systems (PC) still tends to run in the 5-8 year turn over.

I also seek out coop/multiplayer titles slightly more often, so I can game with my wife. Multiplayer is something I only would have done at a LAN in my younger year, (mostly shooters or rts) or with my brothers on one of our Nintendo consoles as kids.

 

[deadmonkeyuk]

Buying less games playing more games.
Not buying everything day 1 for nothing just buy and play and don't care so much for the current hype just enjoy yourself.

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This is a good way at looking at things. In my 20s I had to buy everything day one. Only bought LOU2 and GOT day one this year. Tonight I plan to start my first ever playthrough of RE2 Remake that I picked up for £8!

I'm 44 and I no longer play online games, don't have the reflexes anymore. I also don't care for things like crafting systems just for the sake of it, and games that are more than 20 hours plus.

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I relate to that something happened to me around late 30s where my reflexes completely disappeared for online games. You just can't complete with teenagers who play the same game 10 hours every day.

There is something very special about a well crafted single player game that is less than 20hours. Playing Uncharted Lost Legacy over a few days off work was one of my best gaming moments this gen.

 

[Buff DrinkLots]

My interest in learning new multiplayer games has dropped to 0. I play more single player games now and when I do play multiplayer their games I'm already good at like Halo.

 

[fanboy]

Middle school - AAA
After 20 - getting to know indie scene
23 and more - getting deepe to japanese games

 

[JJH]

32 years old here. I play mostly on my iPad and iPhone anymore. My days of being zoned out in front of a TV are limited. How is remote play on both consoles now days?

 

[ireadybreakfast]

I'm 38, a professional, married, two kids under age 8. I always have played a wide variety of games and that hasn't changed too much. I am more selective on the open-world games I play. No GAAS or MP games, aside from an occasional Friday night with some friends. Probably the biggest change in the past few years is that I really enjoy rogue likes. I love being able to get a full, varied experience in 30-45 minute chunks. They are my go to when I have a smaller amount of time to play. This year I have played Hades (my GOTY), Monster Train, Nowhere Prophet, and Star Renegades.

Edit: also playing some games with my kids as well :)

 

[Deleted member 16753]

The older I get the more social I am, so I avoid being a recluse playing only single player these days. Instead of playing big RPGs alone I get on some Game Pass coop/MP games with my friends, or a local coop game with my wife.

Game Pass does give me a lot of great shorter titles to play to fill the gaps though, but they make up 20% of my game time.

I used to play a huge amount of fighting games too, including playing in many regional and national tournaments, but SFV killed that for me.

Edit: It looks like I'm the opposite of most of you.

 

[Molecule]

On the difficulty aspect, I play games on the default and I love "harder" games like Souls games. The frustration I feel when I keep dieing or at a hard spot is fine for me, I'll get better and get it done. But the frustration I feel from competitive mp games is very different and I feel I don't have the patience or want to deal with that. Going against kids that have a ton of time to play is no fun, and I used to be one of those kids 😂.

 

[Molecule]

I'm 38, a professional, married, two kids under age 8. I always have played a wide variety of games and that hasn't changed too much. I am more selective on the open-world games I play. No GAAS or MP games, aside from an occasional Friday night with some friends. Probably the biggest change in the past few years is that I really enjoy rogue likes. I love being able to get a full, varied experience in 30-45 minute chunks. They are my go to when I have a smaller amount of time to play. This year I have played Hades (my GOTY), Monster Train, Nowhere Prophet, and Star Renegades.

Edit: also playing some games with my kids as well :)

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I'm having my first kid in a few months and that's one thing I've thought about. My game time will be drastically reduced. How do you find the time?

Sorry double post.

 

[Alark]

I'm only 23 so I'm still very young but I have a wife, a child (and a second one on the way) and I'm studying and working, so I don't really have much time to play anymore. When I was a teen, I was constantly playing games and it didn't really matter to me what types of games they were. Now I can only play an hour or two a day at most but I'm very rarely spending my free time playing games. I also never play MP games anymore and usually only play games that I know that I'm going to enjoy. I'm mostly just playing games from my favourite franchises and won't even give a chance to new games unless they look amazing. The only new game I've finished this year is FF7 Remake.

 

[Sword Familiar]

I think I watch more games than I play nowadays. Just too tired all the time. Back in the day I couldn't wait to get home from school to play.

 

[Asbsand]

24 years and now 27 years: I feel like playing games can be as stressful and anxiety-provoking as my social and academic issues can sometimes be, like when going into a hard task that you're not sure if you can get done to a deadline, or having to find out how to do a presentation. Triggering in a way where I legitimately find the game uncomfortable and depressive to be in, and have to stop.

So I watch more than I play. I used to be really good with games and really hardcore, but now I find a lot of them to be daunting to sit and play. I can't just be in a game like I used to. There's always external factors pushing in on me when I try to play something new.

 

[CelticKennedy]

Less always online GAAS games. More games that I can pause and where I can actually see the finish line.

Married with two kids.

 

[ireadybreakfast]

I'm having my first kid in a few months and that's one thing I've thought about. My game time will be drastically reduced. How do you find the time?

Sorry double post.

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Congrats! Two things have really helped me: 1. gaming is my favorite hobby, so I make a concerted effort to carve out time for it. Usually one weekend day, my wife and I will take "shifts" of 3 hours to give the other person a break to do whatever they want. It works out really well. My wife is supportive and doesn't get upset about me playing games at all (this may help more than I previously thought, lol). 2. We cultivated early bedtimes for our kids- they are tucked in at 7 pm sharp and generally asleep by 7:30. This allows for a decent amount of adult time in the evenings.

Ultimately though, your game time will reduce, but I have found that I enjoy gaming more now than ever. I just don't get the marathon sessions I had years ago.

 

[mattiewheels]

I barely ever pay attention to any story in games anymore, except the obvious exceptions where the story is the main draw.

Just played Ys VIII, and I skipped every single story beat since it began to feel like such a waste of time. Just let me smash things please.

 

[CelticKennedy]

Congrats! Two things have really helped me: 1. gaming is my favorite hobby, so I make a concerted effort to carve out time for it. Usually one weekend day, my wife and I will take "shifts" of 3 hours to give the other person a break to do whatever they want. It works out really well. My wife is supportive and doesn't get upset about me playing games at all (this may help more than I previously thought, lol). 2. We cultivated early bedtimes for our kids- they are tucked in at 7 pm sharp and generally asleep by 7:30. This allows for a decent amount of adult time in the evenings.

Ultimately though, your game time will reduce, but I have found that I enjoy gaming more now than ever. I just don't get the marathan sessions I had years ago.

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Similar situation with my family. I find myself actually enjoying games more. Because you put in so much work you end up earning your fun time. Also I like the fact that I'm playing fewer games but really playing the hell out of each one.

 

[dunkzilla]

I have no patience. I care more about stories/interesting worlds than gameplay

 

[GlitchyDegree]

As a kid, it was mostly platformers, JRPGs & fighting games

As a teen, it was mostly open world games, multiplayer shooters, music games, & fighting games.

Now as a 23 (will be 24 Monday) year old, I play almost everything but stick mostly to single player/local multiplayer games.

 

[Fredrik]

I still like action and racing games more than anything else. Open world games is a new favorite though.

But the older I get the more annoying the violence and gore gets. Pixel violence was tame but I'm just not into watching realistic looking people die in brutal ways, so it's not easy to find games I genuinely like these days. And unfortunately devs just can't help themselves, they seem to think we're all 14 and think chopping the head off an enemy is the coolest thing ever, soon we'll have gore in Tetris too lol

 

[Midnight_Chomper]

1. Definitely more selective with games
2. Pretty much avoid any massive open world game (looking at you Assassins Creed) or massively long RPGs. I will still play some open world games if I'm really interested (Arkham, spidey, horizon). I will probably stop rockstar games after the slog of RDR2.
3. Only play games once through. No longer have the luxury and multiple play throughs with so many other games to tackle.
4. Play at night after kids are asleep and other responsibilities are done.

bottom line is: less time now to play games but still love them

 

[noeybys]

I used to only play big open world games and JRPGs.

Now I'm 33 and work for a company where crunch is the norm...
So I like games that are pick-up and play. Recently been playing games like Lumines and Pistol Whip for example.
But I still look forward to big releases that come once or twice a year like Cyberpunk and Sony 1st party titles and I usually a take a day off for those to get myself started on the game.

 

[EarlGreyHot]

I don't force myself to beat games anymore. If I'm not having fun I stop playing. I've also become way more picky. Buy a game maybe once a month.

Also, about 80% I play is Japanese games now. It's becoming more and more.

 

[Bradford]

I started playing more games more seriously and explored way more types of games than I ever was interested in as a kid.

 

[Concrete1337]

For me most of my MP gaming is coop stuff with buddies instead of competitive online stuff like COD.

I'm picky with open worlds and kind of dislike the trend of AAA going that way for everything.

Having child now now I am hesitant to play the long 50+ hour games. I'm scared for baldurs gate 3 and the new pathfinder. I love those games but it's a huge commitment. It's stopped me from starting wasteland 3 :(.

 

[The GOAT]

Open world games and gigantic RPGs are a harder sell for me these days. I prefer story driven games that hover below the 20 hour mark. I can chip away at it over a month or two.

Finished Demon's Souls last night. Clocked just over 40 hours. Next game is Cyberpunk. That's going to last me until February I'd imagine.

 

[Kratos2013]

The older I get the more I appreciate the relief I find while gaming. On my 20s and 30s gaming was a competitive show among friends. LAN parties, XBL, PC it was survival of the crazier,lol.
After 30, Stressful MP marathons are gone. I only play Halo, occasionally with friends and my sons. Tbh the MCC has make it easier to bridge the age gap.
On the other hand, open world games and story driven games are way more satisfying these days, especially when one feels no need to rush. I kind of enjoy every moment more.

 

[Aaron D.]

At 51 I've found myself more interested in mechanics-driven strategy & simulation/management titles than ever before. I guess that old meme about your dad only playing strategy war games is really true (though in my case I'm more into infrastructure/colony management sub-genres if that makes sense).

My interest in big-budget AAA has simply fallen off a cliff. Cinematic storytelling summer-blockbuster productions, while interesting on an academic level (production design), feel too homogenized and focus-tested to hold my attention.

Do enjoy storytelling in the indie space though, where smaller budgets and sales expectations typically lead to more adventurous and/or authentic avenues explored.

Basically, if a game has a big advertising budget with TV commercials and billboards or whatever, chances of personal interest are pretty much zero.

Titles appearing on my personal GOTY lists are typically made by dev teams composed of less than 10 people with a few outliers here and there (CK3, Disco Elysium, etc.).

 

[Boy]

I play less. About 3 to 4 games a year and i'm good.

I tend to gravitate to games like the souls/siekro/nioh/zelda because it's just a pick up and play with straight up gameplay that has the environment telling the story.

 

[arcadepc]

Play mostly 2d/3d arcade like games now. Despise open world games in general ever since the 90s. Though now I avoid playing those games online as it requires quite a lot of time and investment.

Also some adult games as well. At least it is better than doing fatalities in MK.

 

[neoJABES]

34, and I actually find myself gravitating back to games that give me nostalgic feelings of my childhood.

I still love all games but I primarily follow Nintendo, Sega and other Japanese companies.

Rarely play online multiplayer anymore as I feel I don't have the time to learn the game and "get good". When I do it's for a few matches of getting my ass kicked in Halo or something.

 

[shoptroll]

37 here. Bascially started to gravitate away from MP shooters once the Unreal Tournament 2004 scene started to die out after college and UT3 being a bit of a dud for most folks on PC. Pretty much stopped with largely online focused games a couple years ago when I couldn't keep up with the meta and wanted to get off the "treadmill" that they keep you on, and went back to mostly solo gaming and local multiplayer stuff.

Pretty much these days I'm largely focused on retro and smaller team projects, with the occasional bigger budget releases from Japan (mostly Nintendo, Square-Enix, Sega). But there is something about retro and indie projects where the budgets generally keep the scope reigned in and focused which really makes me happy when I play them.

I still play longer games like RPGs but I've started to make peace with the fact that I don't have a lot of time for games these days between my other responsibilities so they're going to take me a long time to complete.

In short, I'd say the biggest change for me was just being comfortable with continuing to play what I wanted to play instead of chasing the new hotness. That if the industry passed me by, I was ok with that.

EDIT: I stopped pre-ordering things too, especially CEs (which take up a ton of room with things I don't actually use), and just try to wait for reviews or until I'm actually wanting to play the game. Sometimes I'm weak and a good sale gets me but I feel like I'm buying fewer games than I was.

 

[TheDutchSlayer]

This is a good way at looking at things. In my 20s I had to buy everything day one. Only bought LOU2 and GOT day one this year. Tonight I plan to start my first ever playthrough of RE2 Remake that I picked up for £8

Click to shrink...

Exactly thank you for your nice comment.

 

[StallionDan]

In regards to ownership. (not counting handheld).

Kid - Mainly single system.
Teenager - Two systems.
Young Adult - 3-4 systems.
Older Adult - Single system.

In regards to gaming habbits
Kid - Mainly single player
Teenager - 50/50 Single player/Local MP
Young Adult - 45% single player/10% local MP/45% online multiplayer
Older Adult - 75% single player, 25% online multiplayer, local MP barely a thing.

Young Adult years was PS2 etc gen and when online gaming really took off (especially on PC), but as I got older and more responsibilities I just don't have time for it as much, by end of PS3 gen my multiplayer gaming had dropped a lot.

But also all the microtransactions, battle passes and crap turn me off games and multiplayer is full of that in a lot of games, so maybe that is why.

 

[Magic]

Play a lot less due to other commitments, but as a result enjoy gaming as much as ever, I just can't handle longer gaming sessions like I used to.

Ive started to make better use of my time, finishing more games than ever, but also have tried to get better at dropping games if I'm not enjoying them, or not having to complete every last detail to satisfy any OCD that may kick in.

 

[TheLastYoshi]

Since I have less time for games Switch has been a godsend in this regard, I'll pick it up in moments of downtime and play a short burns of whatever takes my fancy. Ironically this has meant playing more games than before.

Click to shrink...

Switch's accessibility has exposed me to so many indie titles that I otherwise would have never bothered playing.

I have constant slight tremors in my hands, have since childhood, some days worse than others, which made using a controller for aiming frustrating.

Click to shrink...

I beat Cuphead last year and experienced a lot of pain in my hand afterwards, felt like minor carpal tunnel and I had to take a legit break. Happened again with Hades recently, I love playing games with detached joycons because I can just rest my arms to the side while laying down but the joycons were too small for that game.

I've learned to stop playing games the instant I lose interest in them.

Click to shrink...

100%.

 

[Kung Fucius]

I don't have time to complete everything anymore. I try to get all of the narrative stuff, but don't kill myself trying to complete all the 'extra' bits.

 

[J75]

I barely finish games now. I used to more often in the past, but not a whole lot either, absolutely no online gaming for me whatsoever and in general, I'm gaming a whole lot less than I used to. And play pretty much everything on easy (or if the game allows switching mid-game, start with normal and drop it down later) but that's less of a habits thing for getting older since I've always been like this.

 

[Gigi A]

28 years old

Basically just lost interest in playing games that go beyond 15 hours, unless I truly love the game like Bloodborne where I put in 90+

I find myself having more fun just playing online games to be honest, since I don't have to focus so much on story despite wanting to.

 

[dasu]

Getting myself to sit down and commit to a game is really hard now-a-days. While part of this is a matter of me not having the recreational time that I did when I was much younger, I think that part of it is also attention fatigue due to how accessible and bountiful social and new media is, and I think that another part of it is that very little has really excited me in the past decade of gaming.

 

[Yabberwocky]

As someone who was smitten with long RPGs when I was younger (particularly JRPGs), I find it much more exhausting to commit to one long game now, as I don't have time for the same extended game sessions that I once had, and I like the satisfaction that comes with finishing a game I'm enjoying. I really want to play FE:3H, Xenoblade Chronicles* DE/2/Torna, Personal 5* Royal, etc, but putting that time commitment to just one game for a few months is overwhelming. *I remember how much time I spent in the base games of XC1 and P5, lol. I adored them, but huge time sink. It doesn't help that I had about 2-3 years where I wasn't really able to play many games due to poor work/life balance, and now have a bit of large backlog/library I want to work through. It's hard to feel relaxed at the thought of playing one very long game when I could catch up on multiple games I also want to play in the same amount of time. If I get through my backlog more, longer games might become less overwhelming again. (Annnnnnd BotW2 and Horizon: Forbidden West will most likely come out in 2021, send help.)

At any rate, games with a runtime of 5hr-30hrs are a good length for me. It's been fantastic that indie/AA games on console have become far more prominent in the PS4/Xbox One/Switch era, because I get to experience and finish an excellent variety of quality shorter games -- and there's been so many memorable indie/AA games, it's absolutely crazy. As others have said, I don't buy nearly as many games Day 1 anymore, and I kind of plan games around my schedule, eg. this one's shorter, I'll play it now, I'll play this one next month, etc. (Though again: BotW2 and Forbidden West in 2021, lol.)

 

[Devilgunman]

I started playing sport games (sp modes only) and farming simulators when I get older. I found them to be chilling and free of pressure. I never touched this type of games when I was sub-30.

 

[Agent_J]

I'm a single father and I work a full time job and two side gigs. The only time I get for gaming is when I choose to stay up late and lose sleeping hours. It'll take me months to finish a linear story based game, so now I only play the best of the best. Sadly if it's not a 10/10, a masterpiece, or something truly unique- I can't bother with it.

 

[CerealKi11a]

I'm in the same boat as you. I used to value the "this map is bigger than the previous three games combined" type of game size. Now I just want a game I'll be able to finish without getting bored. Spending multiple hours a day gaming just makes me feel like I'm wasting time I could be using on other valuable things.

 

[Bosch]

I already set this as my last gen so I will enjoy my last ride.
Games are going on a way I enjoy less every year.

 

[nopattern]

I'm unable to play games for long periods of time anymore. I've also started to become frustrated and overwhelmed with the options in games, its been a weird and slightly upsetting thing as I've gotten older. Games like God of War and Horizon where you have all these different build components and branching skill trees for abilities. I always feel like I'm going to pick the wrong things and I get frustrated.

 

[dedhead54]

I mostly enjoy single player, story driven games and barely play any multiplayer games (especially GaaS or competitive games).

I enjoy playing Switch handheld almost more than I enjoy playing anything on the TV.

Thanks to DQXI:S and FE:TH, I actually enjoy jrpgs now (after 20 years of trying to get in to them but failing).

 

[Nakazato]

I play about 15-20 hours. Less than I did in highschool. I only play one MMO or MMO lite at a time and only two single player games at a time.

 

[MrHedin]

For me I think it's more due to kids than age but I definitely play a lot less than I used to. It's just a time management issue, I basically get 1.5-2hrs of free time a night and with that time I fill with reading, D&D, video games, some TV, and/or just spending time with my wife. If I get 5 or 6 hours of game time a week that's a pretty good week for me. As my kids have gotten older I have been able to get a little time here and there on weekends but that just might be 1-2 hours more.

I don't think my interests have really changed over the years though. I was never big into multiplayer stuff when I had time and I definitely don't even bother now because I can't put in the time to be competitive in any way. I also shy away from Soulslikes or other games with high difficulties. Back in my 20s the grind and the constant failure wouldn't bother me but now I would just feel like they're not respecting what little time I have and don't even mess with them.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Nearly zero tolerance for narrative-driven games, or rather, I still play them, I just have little tolerance for the moments in the games that are still heavy on narrative. I just feel it's clearly often in the way of great gameplay and game design. Look at RDR2, amazing potential, but clearly all forced to follow a very puppeteered style of gameplay because of the story needs. Nakey Jakey's review was spot on. I can't care about Cyberpunk because it looks like you spend all your time listening to NPCs talk.

I want a big open world, less chatty characters, more focus on a great set of gameplay features that work well together, and just let me have fun with the world.

Back in the days my favorite games were JRPGs, but what an open-world game now can offer has just massively shifted priorities as far as I'm concerned.

I am fine with heavy-narrative in strategy games though, because there is a clear separation between the gameplay and story. So a game like FFT is still one of my favorites.

 

[Deleted member 56752]

For me I think it's more due to kids than age but I definitely play a lot less than I used to. It's just a time management issue, I basically get 1.5-2hrs of free time a night and with that time I fill with reading, D&D, video games, some TV, and/or just spending time with my wife. If I get 5 or 6 hours of game time a week that's a pretty good week for me. As my kids have gotten older I have been able to get a little time here and there on weekends but that just might be 1-2 hours more.

I don't think my interests have really changed over the years though. I was never big into multiplayer stuff when I had time and I definitely don't even bother now because I can't put in the time to be competitive in any way. I also shy away from Soulslikes or other games with high difficulties. Back in my 20s the grind and the constant failure wouldn't bother me but now I would just feel like they're not respecting what little time I have and don't even mess with them.

Click to shrink...

Not a time management issue for me. Just a different view of life. I felt obligated to play when I was younger. Now? I play when I want to and stop when I want to. That's it. If my friends hit me up to raid and I don't want to - I just say no. It makes me happier. I don't rush to complete games. I think miles morales took me like 2 weeks. Maybe 3. TLOU2 - 3 weeks, GoTsu- a month.