So whos better at games? You now, or you 10 years ago?

 Last week me and my friends on the GameOverCast podcast discussed a topic which makes us think about how awesome it was to be young and smart with quick reactions and shiny shoes, after years of sitting in darkened rooms playing games has our age and experience helped us or are we past it already?

In short, were you better at video games when you were younger?

Though now 29, I personally feel i am a better gamer all round, but dont deny that my reactions arent quite as sharp as they used to be...
What about you guys? Feeling your age yet while gaming?

Things to think about:
-Are you getting better at games with age?
-Reaction times improving or slowing?
-Experience giving you the edge over the old you? Say in something like racing games (intuitively knowing racing lines etc)
-Would the old you be ashamed at how slow you've gotten?
-Do you still have patience to learn new different games?
-Do you still have the patience to play games that punish you (super meat boy for example)
-Do you learn a new game faster now than you did "back then"? I.E younger fresher mind vs experience, and recognising design patters in games.

The podcast discussion has a mixture of views, some feeling their age, some thinking they have got better with age, over all a great discussion.

The rest of the podcast is also pretty funny(its no Giantbombcast, but hey, who is? ), including a disgustingly rigged quiz!
Give it a listen, you (probably) won't regret it  :).

Listen here: GameOverCast.co.uk
Or on Itunes here.

Probably equivocal, if not a slight drop in ability more due to less time available to play games in the first place. 
 
I would say I'd probably be better if I had the same amount of time I did back then. 

Me now. I would kick my ass.

Oh god yes I'm a better gamer. I used to rely on gameshark type devices to get through games as well as cheat codes. But damn I'm much better now.

Now.10 years I ago I was barely scratching the surface of gaming.

Me now. (I'm 18) 
 
There's no way I would have been able to play Starcraft 2 when I was 8.

Me now.
I lack some serious devotion at times but I make that up with lots of games I can buy since I work instead of play all day.
Good youth tho, wouldn't trade it for anything!

i would say now i play better. i use to be a lot slower back then.

I'm absolutely a better gamer now than ten years ago. I am only 16, though, so that doesn't say a great deal.

The 10 year old me had a lot more dedication for the games he was playing, modern me can't really stand to play most super long RPGs anymore. But I would kick that Kid's ass. 

When I played F-Zero on the SNES the year it was released, 1991, I thought it was hard as crap. I was 26 at the time and it took me a while to complete it. Last year I bought it again on the Virtual Console. Having not played it in 18 years, I completed it in 4 hours and found it easier. Was it nothing more than an 18 year old memory or am I just more of an accomplished gamer now? I'm 45 and I believe I'm much better at video games now. The learning curve has gone down to almost nothing. I don't even need to read a manual anymore. Just a quick check of the controls and I'm off and running.

Me now although I was better at certain things in the past. More obnoxious things in RTS games, though now I'm better at playing them straight up.

i played some of my old games, i must have had mad patience back then cause some of that shit is bad. 

Me in 40 years. I hope to have robot arms by then.

Probably not 10 years ago, but certainly 5 years ago...I doubt i could do Ninja Gaiden Black on the hardest setting now, or DMC3 Dante Must Die.

I don't think my skills have degraded, but I'm not as good at the games that are popular now as I was at the games that were popular back in the day. I'm great at 2d anything and I can still play a decent game of Quake or Unreal, but I kinda suck at most modern FPS/TPS games. Not a 'play on easy' level of suckage, but a 'never play online so as not to embarrass myself' level.

me 10 years ago, i had much more patience and time then. would spend a whole year honing my skills on 5-10 titles. finding all the secrets,speed runs. these days im more "hit it and forget it"

All I had was a NES and that was all I played.  I was either out riding my bike or playing that.  I think I was a little bit better when I was younger.  Though it did take practice, I was able to beat Contra, Super C, Mega Man 2 and 3, and Double Dragon without dying once, multiple times.  And TMNT 2: The Arcade Game with no continues.  I would really only die on the last two bosses a couple times.  I tried doing some of these recently and I can't do it at all. *le sigh*

I'm definitely better now. When I was younger I didn't enjoy combat as much and usually would dink around on side quests forever. Now I'm less of a wuss and have a lot of fun killing stuff as well as maxing out everything. I probably have less patience and time, but that's the case for pretty much everything nowadays. 

Given that I'm 20 now, I can say with conviction that I'm better than my 10 year old self. I feel like I'm better at games now than I ever have been in the past... no matter what age!

Me now, the way I play games has completely changed and has improved every aspect of it.

I would say ten years has definitely given some maturity and life lessons that have made me a better person, and in turn a better gamer. 
 
However, I can't stay up till 2am and get up at 6am for work like I could 10 years ago.

Better now, I didn't have any patience back then so never finished most of the games, now I can do several playthroughs and farm Platinum trophies without losing interest. I look back at some of the PS2 games I bought then and hang my head in shame...

Me now, I guess. I was pretty young back then.

For TOP LEVEL cs i was a whole lot better younger(16-19)...more competition driven, better-faster reactions, more aggressive and random. Now bout to be 23 i will never be as good my reactions times are slower but in return my thought process is a whole lot more consistent and improved.

this is a good question and i would say i'm a better gamer all round but one area. I feel like my patience    for games have went way done. When i was young i was a force to be recken with and i would get pass a level no matter how many times i had to do it 10 to 100 times i would keep playing. Now i can't do that and i just don't play games as much as i use too,  so when i hit a wall i will stop and return later if i can't pass ot after a 10 or so tries unless i'm really motivated.

i wasn't better 10 years ago but i was certainly more patient

Me now. I was 4 ten years ago.

More accurate with pc games, however for console games, about the same.

I was slow as hell 10 years ago.

Me ten years ago was still playing pokemon, so I'm pretty sure I could beat him in anything right now, though I was a strange little bastard, so you never know, he might outsmart me.

Probably me now.
 
I might not be as twitch but I understand games a lot more.

Definitely me now in every type of game except for old school American football games....I was a beast at those when I was younger but I've lost the skill.

I was 6 years old 10 years ago. I'm better now definitely.

Me now, by a long shot. I wasn't good. Guess I'm still not good, but I'm far better than I use to be.

Probably evens out, depending on the type of game.

I would say 10 years ago. Not because i'm old and slow or anything, but  because games now with the regenerating health, glowing switches and camera pans that show you where exactly to go whenever you enter an area has made us not have to think for ourselves for a while. Kinda like my spelling is now worse because google will just correct it for me. When I played enslaved I looked through the options to see if it was possible to disable the assists. The game was already easy enough without the climbable objects having a pulsing glow to them. Also, any shooter game that has snipers in the distance now either have red laser sights or a lens flare effect to show you there position. To go back now and play Ghost Recon 1 or Castlevania or something for the NES, takes a bit of re-adjusting.

Me now, but I think me about 10 years ago could rip me apart in Mario Kart for the SNES.

Depends on the game.  I'm not as good at platformers now than I used to be.  I'm better at strategy games and RPGs.

I am better now. Every time I play a game from my childhood and get surprised at how fast I can beat it.

Now. Unless I traveled back in time 10 years. Then it'd be both, somehow.

I'm way better nowadays. I think the accumulative experience counts for way more than the slowing of mental reaction times.

There have been trade-offs. The me of today has more technical skill, but I lack the platforming skills and patience for memorization that the me of 10 years ago did. 
I don't think I could play through Donkey Kong Country today and know where every secret is.

Me now.

yah, an 8 year old isn't usually very good at games.  However, just two years ago I was probably better at shooters since I hardly play them anymore!

Still not too good at video games, but without a doubt better than my 5 year old self.