lexcalibur's Blogs

I'm getting too old for this...

Now from the title of this blog I hope people don't automatically assume that I mean videogames are for children, cause if they are I am very much a child. This blog is about coming to grips with the reality that as you get older things change, and you simply can't do the things you used to as a kid especially in relation to gaming habits.

This blog is very subjective so please don't take offence if I say something that's not in line with the way you live your life. It's purely my perspective.

I'm gonna start off by listing my gaming habits of my younger years. Most weekends I would rent out a game, I would play that game till at least 3 in the morning just to finish it or get my moneys worth. I used to play a greater assortment of games. I used to fully master every game I bought to the point where I could finish it with losing any lives. I used to play games that I loved for days on end. Since then things have changed dramatically.

Firstly hiring games. This is the thing that has probably changed the most since I was young. I used to be down at the video store every Friday night when I was a kid, standing there for a massive amount of time checking out the game covers for something to play. Now, I can't remember the last time I went into a video store. Every game I play these days is either bought or borrowed and the reason for this is two fold. One I have a full time job and can afford to buy any game I want, and two so do my mates so if there is something I want to play but haven't bought myself, I'll just borrow it. The down side to this is all the games I might be missing out on. My first ever blog was about the mystery being taken out of games with the increased media coverage games get these days. I never buy "Bad" games neither do my mates, and because of this the scope of my gaming tastes has narrowed.

All nighters...some of my fondest childhood memories consist of staying up all night to clock a game. I actually prided myself on being able to stay awake when everyone had gone to sleep (apart from one time where I literally fell to sleep with a controller in my hand...). These days I'm either too tired to stay up, or think there are other things I should be doing, like going out and socialising. I don't know if this is the same for everyone but as I have got older, it's been harder to find the will to stay up with the sole purpose of playing games. Also I don't hire games out anymore, so I know they'll always be there when I want to play them.

Now the next point of mastering games as opposed to finishing games. These days I play a game to finish it, I enjoy the experience while I play it, but when it's over I pretty much let it go. Back in my gaming prime, I knew everything about the games I owned. Alex the Kidd for example, I knew what boxes I had to hit in order to activate free lives, I knew how to maximse the amount of money I collected, I knew what enemies could be defeated or even what blocks could be split in half by punching the other side of the screen. Most of all, I knew none of this mattered because I could finish the game without dying. I just don't have the time to commit to this level of mastery in gaming anymore, other things always seem to get in the way, and it's a shame cause it used to be so fun for me.

Now finally the amount of time I commit to not only the games I love but gaming in general. Sad as it may sound I used to look forward to school holidays, not for the summer sun and days at the beach, but for the fact that I knew once the holidays hit I could spend a solid week in front of the TV maxing stats on FFVII. That's what I did, all day and late into the night, it was games all the time, and at the time it was awesome. Now however I find it hard to scrape more then three hours to play at any given time. This I put down to life, I have two mortgages, a full time job, play sports, go out for the occasional night on the town, and sadly all of these things pull me away from my beloved consoles.

The reason, I wrote this was to illustrate two points, firstly, I miss the good old days, long nights and hundreds of hours of fun. Secondly, things change, if you are at a stage where things have already changed for you, and you find it hard to commit time to games, you probably already know what I'm talking about. If you're still young, and are still up to your eyeballs in games, enjoy it. Don't let social pressures take you away too soon, you have your whole life to work and socialise, you might as well enjoy games as much as you can while you still have the time.

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On 20 November 2009, 10:38AM Posted by takuyafire

Oooo yea, this is a good'n.

Luckily I still have spare time so I can game...but really I'm in the same boat...I dont d*ck around attempting to memorise all the secrets in Doom 3d or anything.

Once I finish a game, thats usually it...then again I dont play console games much...so "finishing" a game is kinda out of the question...it finishes when enough 12 year olds get given the game by their parents alongside a microphone.

I have a question though: Would you, if you could, play the same way you used too? Or would you now find other things to do?

Because realistically I could now play games without sleep without too much of an issue...but I dont...there are other things I could do and I will ruin any social events if I stuff up my bodyclock by just playing games until the wee hours of the morning.

Nice blog though...saddening cause its true ;-;

 

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On 20 November 2009, 12:02PM Posted by lexcalibur

Reply to takuyafire20 November 2009, 10:38AM
Oooo yea, this is a good'n. Luckily I still have spare time so I can game...but really I'm in the same boat...I dont d*ck around attempting to memorise all the secrets in Doom 3d or anything. Once I finish a game, thats usually it...then again I dont play console games much...so "finishing" a game is kinda out of the question...it finishes when enough 12 year olds get given the game by their parents alongside a microphone. I have a question though: Would you, if you could, play the same way you used too? Or would you now find other things to do? Because realistically I could now play games without sleep without too much of an issue...but I dont...there are other things I could do and I will ruin any social events if I stuff up my bodyclock by just playing games until the wee hours of the morning. Nice blog though...saddening cause its true ;-;

To answer your question, no I wouldn't. Like you, I could play games a lot more, but as you get older you find other stuff that you would rather do.

I still play games quite a bit, don't get me wrong, but it works in balance with everything else in my life. Before there was no balance, it was all just games.

 

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On 20 November 2009, 12:47PM Posted by nimrod76

I play nearly every night but only for a couple of hours, Fridays are my late night I have to drag my self away from the console at about 1 in the morning, reminding myself that the kids are still gonna get up at 6 weather I am tired or not.
Have not pulled an all nighter since I was 15/16. I do miss those days though.

 

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On 20 November 2009, 01:09PM Posted by Deanology

Good blog, i like your perspective.

 

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On 20 November 2009, 03:34PM Posted by leopardsqueezy

"I don't know if this is the same for everyone but as I have got older, it's been harder to find the will to stay up with the sole purpose of playing games."

and

"This I put down to life, I have two mortgages, a full time job, play sports, go out for the occasional night on the town, and sadly all of these things pull me away from my beloved consoles."

I still vote that folding yourself up on a comfy couch with an unopened copy of some cool new RPG is a TRILLION times more appealing than the prospect of a night in town paying for over-priced drinks and dodging noisy, aggressive yobos and obnoxious slags on broken-glass-strewn, vomit-slicked streets.

Am I alone in thinking this?

Also, I suggest that in terms of '$ cost vs hours of entertainment derived', video games represent really good value. Y or N?

 

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On 20 November 2009, 03:59PM Posted by lexcalibur

Reply to leopardsqueezy20 November 2009, 03:34PM
"I don't know if this is the same for everyone but as I have got older, it's been harder to find the will to stay up with the sole purpose of playing games." and "This I put down to life, I have two mortgages, a full time job, play sports, go out for the occasional night on the town, and sadly all of these things pull me away from my beloved consoles." I still vote that folding yourself up on a comfy couch with an unopened copy of some cool new RPG is a TRILLION times more appealing than the prospect of a night in town paying for over-priced drinks and dodging noisy, aggressive yobos and obnoxious slags on broken-glass-strewn, vomit-slicked streets. Am I alone in thinking this? Also, I suggest that in terms of '$ cost vs hours of entertainment derived', video games represent really good value. Y or N?

Hahaha that depends, if your one of the yobo's and you bag yourself an obnoxious slag it's not too bad. Joking.

Yeah I fully agree, hanging at home with a good game is still one of the most relaxing and enjoyable things to do, and in terms of bang for your buck games are great value for the entertainment you get. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy a night out though.

 

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On 20 November 2009, 04:13PM Posted by RebeccaG

I remember spending hour upon hour playing, day after day. Now I'm lucky if I can fit in a few hours a week.

But I do love the feeling of starting a new game that I have just bought. I don't play them more than once anymore, probably because I can afford to go out and buy new games and I think there is more stuff coming out these days.

Oh, to have those school holidays again, days on end of nothing else you had to do.

 

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On 20 November 2009, 10:22PM Posted by ChatterboxZombie

Between school, work and otaku-degree anime watching i still find time to game.
for those who dont i pity

 

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On 20 November 2009, 11:07PM Posted by Srassy

You know what you should do bud? Work lots, earn heaps and try to get yourself an early retirement. Then play some games. :)

That's my dream. My biggest problem so far is that I just suck at games now. I used to put in so much effort and had so much patience but I have no idea where it all went. Because I had less money and less games I felt a need to complete every game I owned at least 5 times.

 

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On 21 November 2009, 03:04AM Posted by weazzyefff

Bro. I have no job. I start uni next year. I'm 20.

I do all nighters every day. I go to sleep at 5am wake up at about 1pm. I get paid on the benefit, and i splash it all on liquor on the day.

I think.... I think i'm living the life for now.

Get sf4 and try mastering THAT. I still havent and i've played it for about 20,000 hours.

I just finish games these days and then scrape up the trophies until it has to go back to the shop.

 

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On 21 November 2009, 11:36AM Posted by Kegz

I don't know if this was the case for you but I (think) you left out trying to get 100% completion. In the old days I ALWAYS made it my job to get every single thing in a game, nowadays even if I try I'll give up somewhere between 70-90% most of the time. It's just not worth it any more.

 

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On 21 November 2009, 12:36PM Posted by p-nutt3r

Reply to nimrod7620 November 2009, 12:47PM
I play nearly every night but only for a couple of hours, Fridays are my late night I have to drag my self away from the console at about 1 in the morning, reminding myself that the kids are still gonna get up at 6 weather I am tired or not. Have not pulled an all nighter since I was 15/16. I do miss those days though.

Can't beat waking up to a messy house thanks to the kids having an hour headstart, lol.

Great blog for the older lot. I can't remember the last visit to the video store either. PSX, PS2 had a vast catalog to choose from.

All nighters, fun times with the bros.

 

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On 21 November 2009, 02:51PM Posted by leopardsqueezy

"Oh, to have those school holidays again, days on end of nothing else you had to do." - RebeccaG

Days with nothing to do? Yeah, I had a name for that earlier this year: middle of a recession and no job, ha! Seriously though, it did suck, being a bum... ain't nothin' glamorous bout the dole office, ya hear...

 

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On 22 November 2009, 09:24AM Posted by itachi27

I hear ya mate, great blog.

 

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On 22 November 2009, 06:25PM Posted by sakuraba

yea man i used to go hard out until id clocked the game but these days i dont know if im getting worse or the games are getting harder because my will to stay up and keep playing just aint there, being old and smelly sucks

 

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On 22 November 2009, 06:41PM Posted by SpawnSeekSlay

Reply to Kegz21 November 2009, 11:36AM
I don't know if this was the case for you but I (think) you left out trying to get 100% completion. In the old days I ALWAYS made it my job to get every single thing in a game, nowadays even if I try I'll give up somewhere between 70-90% most of the time. It's just not worth it any more.

I agree.. even to this day i am a completion wh**e, but i settle more for getting as many trophies/acheivements as i feel i can get or are possible for me, if they arent i simply move on... but NOT till i do the ones i KNOW i can get.

But i agree with Lex theres too many things to worry about and do in life... it's just worse in the middle ... ~25yr -> ~65yr.

I have a group of friends who are all in our late twenties/early thirties and we mix gaming with outdoor activities well.
Its all balance... mortgage and work are about as certain as death in life. You just learn to balance the in-between alot better with all that you enjoy. Cant do it all though! Ive still got 2 games in my cabinet since Febuary that are untouched since purchase.. just cant get the time to get um done lol

 

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On 24 November 2009, 03:28PM Posted by chinaman71

amen

 

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On 16 February 2010, 12:58PM Posted by Ranger

Very good blog. All of the points you've made bring back some very fond memories of my early years.

To add to the list, but this is more of a health issue than being to old for gaming. I have to limit my gaming these days because of RSI, which can get pretty serious. I work in the IT world and also type alot at work, so I now have to trade off playing games with being able to do my job.

It's not really a choice, I just don't play as much.

 

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On 7 March 2010, 09:56PM Posted by The Host of Chaos

I enjoyed this blog mainly because it really mirrors my perspective on things. 5 stars for you!