Gaming The Love of Gaming

[Zidargh]

This is quite a general subject, but it's been something that I've been going through for quite a few years and I'm wondering if it's only me or if others suffer from the same problem.

Basically, when I was a kid I'd get incredibly excited about a new game. For example, the prospect of beating a new boss in FFVII would get me all goosepimply and my adrenalin would start going off. Or when my parents got me a new title I wouldn't even consider the possibility of there being flaws in the game, I'd just enjoy it for what it is, and love it.

However, as I've gotten older (17 years old now) games just dont have that effect on me anymore. Don't get me wrong, I keep purchasing games because it's a great hobby of mine and I know that, but I just don't find games as fun as a I used to.

Perhaps it's because I have a very negative mindset at the moment. Anyway, sob story aside, I was just curious to know if you guys and girls have suffered the same, or still get excited.

Do you play games until you finish them? Or do you just move on to the next one when you have some money? Eh, I need a solution.

[OtakaMoon]

haha i have the same problem and im only 14! hahaha i dont get the feelin anymore either haha.. Well a better solution is to beat the game before buying it because if u dont beat it... It will be just a waste of a game.. I have soo many games i havent even beaten yet hahaha

[Omnigear Fenrir]

I know exactly how you feel, I've noticed it happening to me these past few years.

I think one thing that has to do with it is the fact that growing older, we find other things to entertain ourselves with (like a, omg, social life! :animestun ). Being distracted by having more things on our agenda tends to turn one's attention away from gaming.

Another is that we might be gaming for so long, that we have slight cynicism about it. I've noticed a trend towards "vintage gaming" with people wearing paraphenalia flashing old NES controllers around and bragging about "the good old days". Funny....in twenty years, will people be bearing PS2 and Xbox controllers on their shirts?

And another aspect might be that gaming really HAS become something to be cynical about. Rebirth of old franchises, companies moving around from system to system, fanboys whining about everything, high-budget games ending up as hits or flops cast in obscurity...it's rediculous. Really, back in the early 90's, gaming was much simpler and easier to access. Nowadays, there's so much going on at once, it's hard to access sometimes.

As for me, I keep my neck out of the thick of it. I try to keep things simple by picking up one or two things that interest me at a time and it seems to work well. But since games are getting higher in budget and lower in replay value, I'm considering actually taking up stores on their trade-in deals, I'm sad to say... :animesigh

[BlueYoshi]

[color=darkred]I've been into games and consoles since I was five years old, which pretty much means I've kept the habit going my whole life, and yes, there was a time when I'd get super excited about buying a game without worrying about certain opportunity costs, due to the fact that my parents use to pay for everything, heh. Nowadays, I think it's just a case of maturing that I don't get the same feelings anymore. I remember in the past when I'd be asked what games I had, and I'd be able to fluently mention every single one in the order I bought them, demo discs included.

These days, replay value has most certainly deteriorated, and thus I'm not particularly bothered about trading-in my games for others, or if I was to buy a second hand game so to speak. There are only certain games that I've bought recently that have got me chonged upon release, such as Metroid prime 2: Echoes, and Metal Gear Solid 3. Honestly, as long as I buy the initial console brand new, then I'd be happy about acquiring the games I want in any way, just as long as it's reasonable and coherent.[/color]

[Sage Kaley]

Well I've been a gamer since I was old enough to press the buttons and watch the screen at the same time. In fact, my mom has pictures I drew when I was 4 of me playing video games. They look horrid but anyways...

I think in a way, I haven't lost that feeling. I still go into games like Star Ocean 3 excited and wait for certain game releases with just as much joy.

But I've also matured and gotten older since the times when I thought Home Alone 2 was a wonderful game. So while I still get excited, I look at different things. I'm not just excited anymore because of the 'oh somethine shiny' reaction. I'm excited because this battle system sounds fun, the story is fresh, the characters sound interesting, the graphics stun me, whatever it may be about that game.

Now, also unlike back then, when I'm disappointed in a game, it's not because I can't beat level 13. It's because the story is a let down with boring characters or the controls are confusing.

The games I buy I treasure in the same way though that I did when I was a child. Maybe my mind is just simpler (laughs) I don't know, I just still love games. I still replay the ones I have and I still try to beat them all.

Sometimes to do move on, that's my 'something shiny!' kicking in again but...I remember when I beat Chrono Cross I threw open my window and yelled to my dad that I had done it, he was outside mowing the lawn. I was so happy. So I dunno what to say ^^ That's just how it is for me. I just love video games and haven't lost that feeling yet, it's just become a bit more refined.

[Goodbye, Face]

[font=trebuchet ms]Wow, I used to think Home Alone 2 was an awesome game as well, I have/had it for the computer.

I don't know whether I can say the same thing as you guys. I've been playing games since I was three or four, not very well, of course, I beat Super Mario Bros. when I was five. I seem to go through phases, rather than a simple spiral downward. I get pissed off when a game I thought looked good gets slammed by critics, and I do hate bad games. However, right now, I'm salivating over Soul Calibur III, Final Fantasy XII, Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2, and Ohkami. I don't think it's possible for me to ever become less of a gamer than I am right now.[/font]

[Final Remix]

[font='Comic Sans MS']My first game was Pong. I was like?2 or something when I learned to play it. Only joystick, no other controls. Easiest game ever. It was my mom?s system, as she was a gamer back in the day of the Atari and Coleco. I used to play E.T. I had no idea it was such a horrifically bad game. I always just thought it was hard.[/font]

[font='Comic Sans MS']My all-time favorite games are [/font]

[b][font='Comic Sans MS']Journey to Silius[/font][/b][font='Comic Sans MS'] ? Avenge and investigate your father?s death in a post-apocolyptic world.[/font]

[b][font='Comic Sans MS']River[/font][/b][b][font='Comic Sans MS'] City[/font][/b][b][font='Comic Sans MS'] Ransom[/font][/b][font='Comic Sans MS'] ? What?s cooler than fighting your way through an entire city of truants to rescure yer girlfriend?[/font]

[b][font='Comic Sans MS']Sonic the Hedgehog [/font][/b][font='Comic Sans MS'](anything) ? It?s Sonic[/font]

[font='Comic Sans MS']and [b]Final Fantasy VIII[/b] ? An amazing RPG. Love story, interesting control scheme. Stats can be augmented and dropped in the blink of an eye.[/font]

[font='Comic Sans MS']Nowadays, when I purchase a game. I play the hell out of it for the first day. If I manage to beat it in that day, I usually put it in the back of my gaming binder. One of the most mediocre games I?ve ever played, Minority Report (GCN), got me interested again. I thought to myself: ?I need a good brawler with limited controls to remember, and a decent soundtrack on at least one level.? I loaded up the ?Brawl in the sprawl? level, turned on my unlocked guns cheat, and went to town.[/font]

[font='Comic Sans MS']Games get me interested on and off. It depends on what mood I?m in. Given the crappy trade-in price at game stores around here, I?ve kept even the worst of games. (the ever-glitchy [b]Reign of Fire[/b] anyone?)[/font]

[font='Comic Sans MS']To keep stuff interesting, I usually also start on the hardest available difficulty and gauge myself from there. I don?t give up on a game when I can?t beat a level. I usually save and quit a game right after beating said level.[/font]

[font='Comic Sans MS']Games still get me excited. I walk into the local gamestop and ask what decent games are coming out, and what they all think about ?em. I usually put 5 bucks down on a game here or there. I waited on Killer7 and Zelda since they were slated for release of a press packet. It just depends on the game and company providing it, to determine what I?m looking for in a game.[/font]

[Rachael]

These past couple of days I've been wondering why I haven't been into my games as much as I used to. I remembered I'd cuss or swear violently if I lost a battle so much my mom would yell at me, I'd be beaming after beating my games and yes I even remember I was bawling my eyes out when yuna (from ff10) couldn't touch tidus before he left. I think it's just a point that we mature and think, it's just I game. We don't personalize our games to our lives any more. Before I was eat/sleeping/and thinking about games. Now I have a part-time job, I'm switching schools and my dads being a jerk about tons of stuff so I can't think about my games on a daily bases. It feels like it's become just a basic hobby.

I also think this year hasn't been the very best for games as well. I like to check the ratings at gamespot before buying a game and nearly all have them been like 7/10 or 6 or 5. This new year will bring in alot more games and better ratings like KH2 ( heh heh no surpirses there :animesigh ) or FF12 soul calibur 3 prince of persia 3, legend of zelda, as well as many many more. So I say wait for 2006 and maybe it will hopefully rekindle the flare we once had for games

[paranoidandroid]

I've always loved video games, but it seems to me that, as in all things, there isn't really anything that original out. The only series I still get excited about are FF, and Metal Gear Solid. I hope that the next generation will change things.

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Considering all of the rehashes that have been announced, I'm not so sure that the next generation will change anything in a major way. But hopefully that isn't true.

Anyway, I do know what you mean. I'm not as excited about gaming as I used to be, although I think my excitement has simply changed. Now that I'm older, my tastes have changed slightly. I do still enjoy the Marios and the Zeldas, but I'm also a fan of Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid and Grand Theft Auto.

The funny thing is, with something like GTA...it isn't the violence or the "adult" nature of the game that appeals to me. It's simply the scope and the nature of the gameplay. For all its faults, there's really nothing out there like the modern GTA games. That experience of "freshness" is what made me interested in the games in the first place, I think.

With so many franchises, it's getting harder to experience that freshness or newness. A younger player might enjoy The Wind Waker more than me, because it might be their first or second Zelda game. But I've been playing Zelda since the beginning and as a result, there are various aspects of it that do not seem very fresh or exciting anymore. Although in TWW's case, I think it largely comes down to certain areas of the game not being as polished as they could have been. But I digress.

So I'm not sure if games themselves have necessarily changed, or if I am simply excited by different kinds of games these days. To some extent, games definitely have changed - certain franchises have lost the charm that they once had. As much as I liked Super Mario Sunshine, for example, it just didn't feel like a Mario game a lot of the time. This was probably largely due to the graphic design though, as opposed to the gameplay.

I'm ultimately not really sure how to answer this question, I guess. In some ways gaming is always improving. For example, I felt that MGS3 was the very best game in the series so far - I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed it. And Resident Evil 4 was highly addictive. Then there's Half-Life 2, which is the one game I've become the most engrossed in over the last six months or so - it just blew me away. I'm hoping that the next Zelda game will have a better feel than The Wind Waker, if only because it would be nice to be as impressed with Twilight Princess as I was by Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask.[/font]

[Zidargh]

I think the main real issue is just with anything today; You can have too much of something.

For example, Final Fantasy VII was my first RPG that I'd ever played, and seeing as I was a kid at the time as well, 7/9 (can't remember) I found it incredibly easy to get engrossed. I think it's that new experience which charms us all, then captivates us, forcing us to buy new games to try and reclaim, that like you said James, freshness.

This sounds like some heroin addiction, but I guess it works in the same context, lol. With so much of something (In that developers tend to take advantage or use things which could be considered 'cliche'), I buy new games to try and get back that charm. But the more I do, the less the charm is. A downward spiral really.

I think the last game which I was totally in love with (and with that, I actually cried at the end), was Metal Gear Solid. I found that the gameplay didn't get out which allowed me to continue to the end of an absolutely fantastic story.

[b]Solution[/b] = Stop buying games.

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]This is why I am such an advocate for new ideas. There are a lot of people who ask why new ideas are needed, when people are happy to have their Halo 2 and their Metal Gear Solid 3. I mean, sequels are fine and usually they can do some cool new things (as I mentioned, I thought MGS3 was quite amazing).

But it's great to still see off the wall games and games that try to introduce major new ideas into established genres. I think this is why RE4 felt so good - it made some new strides, but they all worked so incredibly well. It brought freshness to the survival horror genre. I also felt this way about Half-Life 2, in terms of the way it used physics as part of the gameplay (and not just a gimmick). I felt that gave it a freshness that is missing from a lot of games.

So I think the main thing is just finding the right games, which are trying to add some kind of new appeal.[/font]

[Zidargh]

I agree.

But then, I think even using RE4 as an example, it did not revolutionise gaming in that all it did was further the praise and increase the fanbase the series recieved. Albeit it introduced tons of new gameplay which made the game really something, yet RE4 is simply (technically) the latest game in the very successful series.

Basically, what I see to be a groundbreaking title is something that does things differently, in a [i]good[/i] way, and is actually appreciated. Take Halo 2 for example, I don't see how it is groundbreaking at all. In my opinion, it's just another Sci-Fi FPS, that [i]isn't[/i] really appreciated properly, but just [i]overrated.[/i] Most people that rave about it followed the massive amounts of hype it puts out.

I think the problem with the market in general is that many developers are incredibly hesitant to be innovative because going by statistics, innovative games don't sell. Another example is Ico. That game is beautiful. But from what I gather, it only has a cult-following, compared to, I don't know, Ratchet and Clank.

The reason there's been no revolution, (which many people seem to want) is because the innovations in a product don't divert the attention of companies and consumers enough. Resident Evil 4 is recognised to input alot of new ideas, like the over-the-shoulder aiming system for example, by alot of people. But what I'm saying is that they don't really [i]appreciate[/i] it, they just react with a "Cool."

Trying something new is intimidating in anything, like life for example. But it's time the rest of the companies out there had some balls and took the risk.

[Iori Yagami]

I remember my first game... it was so long ago but when I picked up the controller I knew I would be hooked for life but lately I've found that during a game after I've done a certain thing in the game I would just stop playing.

I've still got that excitement feeling when playing a new game, tho. I'll always have that feeling when I play a new game or encounter an awesome boss. It's just I don't have that "I'll play anything for a thrill anymore" mindset anymore. I won't just play any game anymore but I still love the little obscure below average games that I played in my youth.

The feeling is still alive, it's just reserved for the amazingly awesome parts of the game.