Cant seem to get into playing games altely.

For some reason, I cant seem to get into playing video games like I used to. for most of this year, I have played little if any games. I havent beaten skyrim yet, havent played ME 3 yet, havent played Halo 4 yet, and so on a so forth. Really, im not sure whats going on. its like im afraid to dive into a game. It could be ive simply grown my interested in self development and grown more interest in technology in general than playing games. or maybe Im just more worried about my work and making money right now. The only game I seem to play now is SF 4 and some Skyrim. Really, im not sure whats going on, I hope im not growing out them because I still get excited about stuff. Has there been a time where you had a extended absence from gaming? What made you come back to it?

I guess it comes down to a lot of things, but I'm still unemployed which is one the reasons why I still game unite frequently. When I was bogged down with exams I was hardly playing games, I think just being on giantbomb and other gaming sites a d seeing their content makes me want to play games, especially those I had no interest of playing.

you sure you aren't setting a unrealistic standard for yourself? If you're thinking you're not playing enough games and yet you are playing as much as you want to I don't understand isn't that a good thing? Are you worried you are going to stop liking them? Actually if you take a break from them you might find it reinspires you to enjoy them, people get stuck in a rut sometimes with playing too many games actually and lose the ability to enjoy a game as well.

Just wait until you're in your mid-thirties and you realize that everything you do takes away those precious few remaining moments in your life that you could or should be spending doing every other thing that you're not doing. Everything feels like a race, nothing feels like you're accomplishing anything, and it's all just degrees of mitigating the waste.

(Assuming you're not already old, too).

I'm not playing a lot now either. I find myself watching people play through stuff on YouTube more (eh yeah...) and I visit forums more than I used to.

Games seem to come and get old way faster than before, where you'd see people stick around and play something for years it is now always a mad rush over to the new more shiny game, while constantly looking to the horizon for new games to play. There are so many aspects and concepts of modern gaming that's just tiring to me now, without many memorable moments to look back on because one game is usually just an evolution of another.

It must be really difficult to take gaming new places now; and that's why I keep thinking of old times like an old geezer, not because games were so much better (because they definitely weren't), but because they were new to me and the experiences they presented were fresh. When Counter-strike arrived in my teens, my whole class played it and talked about it. It was the new thing, and people stuck with it for years and years, and got really good at it. I kind of miss that staying power of modern games, in that they can dig themselves a trench and stay relevant and build that 'classic' status for themselves. Now I see Call of Duty this and that and I'm like whatever. I played Modern Warfare 2 and it looks just like the new one that just came out. BLOPS 2.

Weird times.

Just wait until you're in your mid-thirties and you realize that everything you do takes away those precious few remaining moments in your life that you could or should be spending doing every other thing that you're not doing. Everything feels like a race, nothing feels like you're accomplishing anything, and it's all just degrees of mitigating the waste.

(Assuming you're not already old, too).

@DarthOrange said:

I
@Branthog said:

Just wait until you're in your mid-thirties and you realize that everything you do takes away those precious few remaining moments in your life that you could or should be spending doing every other thing that you're not doing. Everything feels like a race, nothing feels like you're accomplishing anything, and it's all just degrees of mitigating the waste.

(Assuming you're not already old, too).

Well that brightened up my day :(

Yeah, sorry. I got my first gray-hairs over the summer and am taking it all rather hard. :)

@Branthog said:

@DarthOrange said:

I
@Branthog said:

Just wait until you're in your mid-thirties and you realize that everything you do takes away those precious few remaining moments in your life that you could or should be spending doing every other thing that you're not doing. Everything feels like a race, nothing feels like you're accomplishing anything, and it's all just degrees of mitigating the waste.

(Assuming you're not already old, too).

Well that brightened up my day :(

Yeah, sorry. I got my first gray-hairs over the summer and am taking it all rather hard. :)

If you are already in your mid-thirties like your post implies and just starting to see gray hairs, then do not fret. I am not too far from thirty and already have been watching gray hairs popup. It especially sucks seeing them pop up in my 'stache and beard. I would assume that by my mid-thirties I will be mostly gray. =)

Street Fighter IV is the kind of game that can make it hard to play other games, to be fair.

This happened to me over the last two years and what I came to realize is that I needed to stop playing games that I should play and start playing games I want to play. Two games that came out at the same time last year were Skyrim and Dark Souls. It was a no brainer to get Skyrim, but very quickly my interest petered off and I barely got halfway. I couldn't bring myself to finish the game at all. I watched the QL for Dark Souls and was genuinely interested in the game. I went out, bought it, and actually played through it. I honestly can't remember the last game I sat down and beat aside from this. Nowadays I buy fewer and fewer games, but I tend to finish them.

I can definitely get into playing games. My problem is that I want to play them all and I have nowhere near enough time to, so I'll start a game, play it for an hour, then go to a different game, then a different one, and it takes me a while to finish them. And this is after I've decided which game to start.

@Branthog said:

Just wait until you're in your mid-thirties and you realize that everything you do takes away those precious few remaining moments in your life that you could or should be spending doing every other thing that you're not doing. Everything feels like a race, nothing feels like you're accomplishing anything, and it's all just degrees of mitigating the waste.

(Assuming you're not already old, too).

Fuck. I'm in my twenties and I feel like that already.

Just sit down and go for it. Let yourself be immersed. It might take more than it used to but the feeling is still there. I personally notice my threshold has become much higher and I'm totally against some genre of games despite their "omfgawesomeness" like Xcom. Just doesn't float my boat, can't get me warm.

@Raven_Sword: Agreed with others like TaliciaDragonsong, maybe if the newest games aren't quite hooking you in to dive into that game world for whatever reason (maybe it's guilt over not playing Saints Row3), try going back to some game you know you enjoy playing in the past or never finished & get back into that. Good examples might be (after looking through your achievements): fable2, condemned2, bayonetta, doom or red dead redemption. Something familiar to get back in the groove then pick something completely new like Far Cry3, Xcom, or Saints Row3.

I skipped the PS2/Gamecube/Xbox generation at least until after the 360 came out when I picked up a PS2 and blasted through a huge backlog of awesome, then-cheap games in a short time. Don't worry about giving up on them for a while, if you're not interested, you're not, and if you regain interest, the rewards are great.

maybe try playing a game you normally wouldn't

like get a PSP and play a bunch of weird Japanese games or something

I was actually getting really burned out of gaming at the beginning of the spring. I tried to just take a break and hung out more with family and friends. I actually got a motorcycle license during my break and went riding around a lot. A couple of months ago, I just played a round of Team Fortress Classic, being my favorite game, and was lucky enough to play in some really fun rounds. I realized how long I was playing 4 hours later and got sucked right back in.

You may want to try just taking an extended break and maybe do something that you probably wouldn't have done before (like me getting a motorcycle license,) enjoy it and take your mind of games. Then in a couple months, fire up your favorite game and you might get sucked back in.

I actually had a similar problem earlier this year. It was not due to the lack of time, but to my nervousness of trying out new genres~

Especially something way out of my boundaries such as League of Legends~

However, I learned that it is difficult to catch on~ BUT! If you have some friends to hang out with in vent, mumble, or anything for that matter. It makes things so much more fun!

I guess my question is that, do you tend to game alone or with friends? Do you still feel the same way after gaming with friends?

Playing alone tends to suck and be weary. At least for me anyways~

I know others will game alone and I am happy for them as well!

This happens to me as well. I used to be able to just sit down and play games all day and night without any breaks. I remember playing Baldur's Gate when I was younger from 8 in the morning to dinner time and I forgot about eating> Recently though I'll just start a game and 15 minutes later just get disinterested and go do something else. I think its mostly a mindset, if you sit down and tell yourself you have to play something you will quit pretty soon whereas if you just start playing something and not feel that you have too its easier to get immersed. Thats what usually works for me.

Maybe you should play games that are shorter. Instead of 40 hour experiences for 60 dollars how about shorter experiences that are cheaper?

I could imagine if you didn't have time to just dump into skyrim you'd sort of grow detached to the world.

But if you spend 10 bucks on a game that you'll be done with in a weekend there's nothing wrong with that. You get a good experience you'll remember but you can move on to something else that is different.

At this point in your life you've probably have played hundreds of hours of the Halo games, 100 hours of Mass Effect, 4000 hours of Elder scrolls.

Yea, I actually had this exact feeling for the past couple years. Just being busy with school, work, and the gym was the biggest reason I wasn't playing games, but even when I did have the time I usually wouldn't play any games. It was weird. It's gotten a lot better in the past few months though. In fact, just yesterday was my day off and I sat down and started Portal 2 for the first time......and completed it in the same day. I haven't played a game for that long in a loooooooooooooooooooooooong time......it was beautiful. So anyways, I think you just go through weird times every so often, but you'll get the itch at some point.

i have times where im burned out and i dont play games much for a month or two, but then im right back into them. nothing wrong with taking a break.

@Raven_Sword said:

For some reason, I cant seem to get into playing video games like I used to. for most of this year, I have played little if any games. I havent beaten skyrim yet, havent played ME 3 yet, havent played Halo 4 yet, and so on a so forth. Really, im not sure whats going on. its like im afraid to dive into a game. It could be ive simply grown my interested in self development and grown more interest in technology in general than playing games. or maybe Im just more worried about my work and making money right now. The only game I seem to play now is SF 4 and some Skyrim. Really, im not sure whats going on, I hope im not growing out them because I still get excited about stuff. Has there been a time where you had a extended absence from gaming? What made you come back to it?

time away.

If you force yourself to go back in you'll burn yourself out or make it un-fun. And that's what videogames are supposed to be, fun. If you don't feel the urge don't play. If you want play SF4 and only for SF4 three years do that. People have did that Starcraft: Brood Wars and most had a ball.

Also when you start to have too many set "goals" with games and feel you "have to" play ME3 and "have to"play Halo 4 that's when it's no longer a game, it's become work. And worse one you have to pay money to even do. Which isn't fun.

Yeah, but that's because work, school, trying to get an internship and a girl.

Winter Break is almost here though, I'm gonna fucking destroy Far Cry 3 and finish Sleeping Dogs and a couple other things.

@Raven_Sword: Sometimes I kind of lose motivation to play games, generally going back to some older game you loved even for like 5 hours is enough to get interested again. I still enjoy playing Starcraft occasionally for example, though old Bnet hates one of the new Windows systems.

@Raven_Sword said:

For some reason, I cant seem to get into playing video games like I used to. for most of this year, I have played little if any games. I havent beaten skyrim yet, havent played ME 3 yet, havent played Halo 4 yet, and so on a so forth. Really, im not sure whats going on. its like im afraid to dive into a game. It could be ive simply grown my interested in self development and grown more interest in technology in general than playing games. or maybe Im just more worried about my work and making money right now. The only game I seem to play now is SF 4 and some Skyrim. Really, im not sure whats going on, I hope im not growing out them because I still get excited about stuff. Has there been a time where you had a extended absence from gaming? What made you come back to it?

Sounds like you need another hobby. I recommend exercise. Not being an ass or sarcastic, I'm serious. I got real about exercising about four months ago, and everytime I come home from the gym, everything is better. Games are more fun, etc.

That being said, I never beat Skyrim either. That game.. meh.

I hear you, I'm like that too lately, last game that I actually got hooked to was dead island (but that was this year, was late to the party), It's like I barely have time to play anymore and when I do there are so many things to play I end up playing nothing at all.. dunno what it is exactly, maybe just the lack of a game that really hooks me.

I really get the lack of interest in games, for the most part I cannot be bothered to pound my head against brick walls to try to get a handle on them lately.

E.g. I got about 1 hour into gears of war 2 today, and realized that my capacity to aim on a console FPS is so poor that keeping at it is beside the point (10+ deaths per a hard time limit checked turret sequence). And I cannot care enough to try to improve, because even if it seems like a good game .... meh. So far I have been able to get back into gaming by just going for things that are more casual on the gameplay side though.

Perhaps your just tired of the current console generation dragging on? perhaps you're tired of me3, halo 4 and skyrim being shallow pastiches of their forebears?

Perhaps you're getting old?

I don't know, perhaps many things... Don't try to analyze it. You say you play a lot SF4 so you're probably getting good at it, I think that's pretty great. Perhaps you should try getting into some other fighting games since you enjoy that one?

Tell me about it.

You just have to force yourself to sit down and play something when you have a chunk of time. I usually don't feel like playing anything, until I load up a game and realize I'm enjoying myself.

I think we've all become too comfortable being bored, that's the whole problem. It's so easy to let something mildly entertaining hold your attention at a low level, and be satisfied with that forever. Like, say, staring at a forum for hours.