Gaming Burnout?

Lately, I have been feeling that gaming really isn't enjoyable as it use to be. I often let my little sister play Terraria while I read a book or play on the guitar. Every time I try to start up any game, I quickly lose interest. I was thinking to myself, maybe I am burnt out on video games and just need a break from it all.

I am curious, can gaming burn out occur? Is there ways to recover from it?

I am open to thoughts on the manner.

'Course it can. The cure is to take a break from gaming until you really feel the itch to leap back in. It's good to take a step back from your hobby every once in a while.

Take a break, play some yugioh cards, go to the country club and play some tennis. UNPLUG

@bigjeffrey: and @believer258 You guys are right, I believe I need to take a good break from anything video games related. I am just going to read A Tales of Two Cities and clear my mind.

this exact thread has been made literally every week since forums were invented

It's probably because of the dearth of content (good content, that is) that we're seeing right now. As for myself, I'm going through the holiday 2012 releases for the first time, so I've got plenty to enjoy (think Dishonored, FC3, etc.). But I do see your point. Sometimes it does help to step back from gaming, but usually I'll just start another game of Deus Ex and try some new play style.

This occurred to me some time ago. I left gaming behind for a while and just recently came back.

Finished Tomb Raider today. Think I'm going to go back to not gaming for a while. Was a fun game, but I realized I just couldn't give less of a fuck about the majority of games. Also, $60 is a decent chunk of money. I could buy so much food at Crepe Escape for $60. Argh! Nutella and Strawberry CREPES! Hold on, I need to go sell Tomb Raider and buy me some French pancakes.

Have you tried playing a game from a genre you wouldn't normally play?

I am currently about to go back to work after several months of not doing so. Part of the time off was voluntary, however I wanted to be back some time ago, but that's neither here nor there. Over the past couple months I've been playing a lot of games, mainly because winter in Alberta is bloody cold, but also because chronic insomnia doesn't give you many options to kill time. All I have to say is that I don't think I've ever looked forward to going back to work as much as I am right now. There is a such thing as too much of anything. That being said, Nutella and strawberry crepes? Where the hell are you from? I want some badly...

Games suck right now. This happens at the end of every gen, to me anyway. 3DS is having a cool year though so I just switched from XBox to that.

It has happened to me a lot over the years. It would have a tendency to get me down and think gaming is dying. It's happened so many times now that I accept it as a phase.

I go away from Gaming for a few months in these times, catch up on books I've been neglecting, put more time into my writing, marathon some shows I've been meaning to watch for a while, ignoring not only games but the games industry for the most part.

When I do eventually come back for a game that looks kind of neat it makes it all the better as I go in pretty blind, having not bothering to watch the endless trailers and dev diaries that come out for every game.

Happened once when I was at Uni. Thought maybe finally trying Dragon Age would get me back in but it didn't help. Mass Effect 2 suddenly came out and I got so into that it revitalised my love for the medium.

After that I really got back into my games and started Dragon Age again and it was one of the best experiences I've ever had.

It happened at the back end of last year too then I decided to impulsively buy Bioshock Infinite and that revitalised me once more. Bought a bunch of indie games off Steam and preordered a game called Eador: Masters of the Broken World just from looking at 5 minutes of video.

Eador is out tomorrow. I'm looking forward to checking it out. Seems very Heroes of Might & Magic with heavier role playing elements, diplomacy options and apparently multiple endings. Will definitely be interesting to say the least. I'm excited.

Nothing wrong with going through phases. In fact, breaks really help solidify an actual hobby or interest (such as noodling on a guitar, or playing games).

Moderation.

It happens to everyone. Take a break, come back when you want to.