Video games for morons: How do I not suck?

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no i am awesome. ESPECIALLY at halo 3 and gears. anyway the trick is to learn. get a feel for everything when to use each weapon get your aiming sorted where are good points with which weapon and choke points and grenade accuracy and just generally "take in" everything. of course if your mentally slow you migh take too long and OH BTW in gears of war you don't "dodge" attacks you hide behind walls ¬_¬

You have to just get a feel for the game. No game is perfect and as such you will never be perfect at a game. To be fair, GTA4 is a game themed around death so I wouldnt worry about that too much. Sometimes I just drop grenades and stand there because I love watching the ragdoll physics and exploding cars. If this is really worrying you then may I suggest - attempting the game on an easier setting (theres no shame in it) or looking for some videos of more experianced players on youtube for pointers. I tend to find that after a certain amount of time with a game I can perform the simple stuff so fluently that i can do it without really thinking, and then I can leave myself free to concentrate on the difficult stuff. Online gaming is different because theres a lot more emphasis on knowing your environments and reacting to developments accordingly.

At the end of the day computer games are all about entertainment, dont push yourself to get better at a game if you really arent enjoying it.

Just out of personal curiosity, when did you start gaming?  I've found that people who took up gaming back in the masochistic 8 & 16 bit eras are much better at games today (or far more tolerant to dying repeatedly to learn the game) than people who started gaming during the easy cinematic hand-holding PS1 & PS2 eras.  This is solely to satisfy personal curiosity...I can't really say anything that will help you not suck at games.

Challenge yourself. That's the key to getting good at anything.

Maybe your just not cut out for those types of games. There are many genres in gaming, try some others.

what should we say... your bad at games?
keep hammering away and you will learn it

I suck too.  But I keep playing.  I do cheat in GTA4.   Let the bashing begin.   I really suck online.   Like in COD4, as soon as I start, I'll be shot!!
It's crazy.    I guess I need more practice online, but getting killed constantly kinda puts a damper on it.

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Yay! Finally a thread for us that love videogames but fail at them miserably! I too, suck at games, but I love them so I keep playing.

Only games I suck at are RTS' and Smash Bros. I'd consider myself pretty fuckn' good at FPS.

When you start a new game, choose the difficulty one higher than you'd normally pick. Resist the temptation to cheat and save lots.

Actually, Demilich brings up a good point.  One way to get better at a game is to pick a higher difficulty setting.  I always try for at least normal or hard.  Sure, you'll die a lot, but you'll train yourself faster on what to do and what to look out for.

Me, I'm craptastic at first person shooters, but I still enjoy them.  I don't play CoD4's multiplayer because I can't see the enemies - poor vision and color blindness in that game is a royal pain.  But I do enjoy Halo, because the colors are a bit easier to see and it's easier for me to distinguish friend from enemy.  However, what I really enjoy in Halo is something that not many people do - I'm a better support guy than a run-and-gunner.  If the team needs a driver, I'm darn good at piloting a Warthog or a Mongoose.  Sure, my K/D spread isn't great, but my team still wins pretty frequently.

So it's all about what makes you happy with a game.  Keep trying, but remember, if it frustrates you that badly that you're not enjoying the experience, then move on until you find something you enjoy.  You might also possibly want to look at switching genres - FPS might be difficult, but what about a turn based RPG?  You're not so reliant on reflexes, and tactics factors in far more than anything else.  They're a great alternative if you get frustrated with more spastic games.

If it's your reaction time giving you the problems, it could be your eye-hand coordination needs a little work.

Practice, practice, practice.
You'll get better with time.

I never looked at gaming as something that you could practice at to improve, but I guess you can. I'm a fairly good gamer, but it does depend on the game, or genre.

Just keep trying.
I went from dying like, 5 times a level in Halo:CE on Easy to finishing Heroic in a year or two.

"Just out of personal curiosity, when did you start gaming?  I've found that people who took up gaming back in the masochistic 8 & 16 bit eras are much better at games today (or far more tolerant to dying repeatedly to learn the game) than people who started gaming during the easy cinematic hand-holding PS1 & PS2 eras.  This is solely to satisfy personal curiosity...I can't really say anything that will help you not suck at games."

Maybe you're just not the best at shooters. I know some people who just can't play shooters at all because it's just too much (whether it's 1st or 3rd person perspective) ...who knows.

"I never looked at gaming as something that you could practice at to improve, but I guess you can. I'm a fairly good gamer, but it does depend on the game, or genre."

I have to agree.  I kinda suck at games too, but I love playing them.  Also, I'm not the kind of person that can play them for hours and hours on end.  I am still working on GTA4, and I love the story and such, but I took a break at the end of June, and haven't gone back yet.  I wish I could be better, but I think I have short attention span, so it's hard to get good at them when you can't play them for hours and hours on end.  I'll keep playing cuz I love playing, but I never beat myself up about not being really good at it.  I just take my time.  Some games I am just better at.  Depends if the game interests me.  I beat Bioshock in 6 days, cuz I thought it was amazing, and I generally don't like FPS games.  So go figure.  Just play at your pace and enjoy... that's what games are really about.... 

Lots of practice and, if you're stuck somewhere, ask why and try to change your strategy some, or look around for tips (sometimes its something silly like, oh, you need that sword or his weak spot is his stomach) If it's an RPG gain a few levels and try again.

This is a good thread.  I thought for sure there would be some posters saying  "you just suck" or some stuff like that.
DMC4 at times kicked my ass.  I never cussed so much (playing a game) in my life.
The sad part is, it wasn't even the fighting parts.  It was,  not puzzles, but kinda like it.
The one part where you had to Fist-grab (?) the orbs in the dungeon.  Man, took me forever.

"I never looked at gaming as something that you could practice at to improve, but I guess you can. I'm a fairly good gamer, but it does depend on the game, or genre."

So am i the only one that find games are to easy at the moment.

i hate all these responses. 

cheat codes are your friend

Well, the longer you game, the better you get I suppose.

I've been gaming since I was born, so I was beating those hard ass Megaman games by the age of 6.

Aim high. Go for incredibly hard games like DMC/NGS and master those. Everything else afterwards will feel like child's play.