Gamers over 45 years old...

[FuryofFive]

I just turned 25 and was wondering if I was getting too old for gaming...glad to see the hobby doesn't necessarily have to disappear as one gets older.

thats the misconception with american culture, if thats where your from. Gaming is looked at as childish, while countries in Asia see it as much more, if not national sports

 

[quakeworld]

40 years old here. My gaming preference has narrowed down to playing a few games consistently the last few years. Quakeworld, Quakelive and Urban Terror.

 

[StinkyPinky]

It's frustrating for me because I'm the only gamer in the family (I'm 31). My father is always telling me "stop playing that kiddie stuff. You're a grown man". When I try to explain to him the demographic of gamers he just ignores me. My wife somewhat understands but can get pissed at times as well. My brother thinks I'm just weird. My mother just looks at me in resignation

Gaming for life. Will never stop unless I go blind (god forbid)

 

[Arg Clin]

Nice thread - just 13 more yers till I get to post here

I'm 32 and have just taken up gaming after a pause of 5-6 years. I used to game all the time, but eventually other aspects of life pushed gaming aside. Then I stumbled across my old computer and was thinking that it should be thrown away (old AthlonXP - only good as a really big paperweight really). However, I couldn't get myself to toss it, so I ended up firing it up - loading up some old games - and then I realized just how much I actually missed gaming.

So I eventuellt built a new rig and back to full speed on the gaming.

Gaming childish? No more childish than reading a book, watching a movie, playing a boardgame or solving crosswords I'd say. Gaming is about entertainment and mental exercising. It suppose gaming appeals so much to me beause I find much entertanment way too passive, and raw mental excercises boring because it lacks artistic content/creativity.

 

[Zen0]

I am 25 and there is increasingly fewer quality titles worth playing these days, so I am no longer a gamer. I do want to pick up Diablo 3 in a year or whenever it releases. Dragon Age 2 reviews were too disappointing to bother with.

 

[Arg Clin]

I am 25 and there is increasingly fewer quality titles worth playing these days, so I am no longer a gamer. I do want to pick up Diablo 3 in a year or whenever it releases. Dragon Age 2 reviews were too disappointing to bother with.

Sadly I have to agree - I have noticed a lot of titles not worth my time. Then again wasn't there always? Does ones memory favor the memorable games, and leave the rest to be forgotten? I am not sure.

I can recall many really crappy games 10-15 years ago, that I've wasted way too much time and money on - doesn't seem like much have changed. It's still a challenge to pick out the good ones.

 

[Zen0]

Sadly I have to agree - I have noticed a lot of titles not worth my time. Then again wasn't there always? Does ones memory favor the memorable games, and leave the rest to be forgotten? I am not sure.

I can recall many really crappy games 10-15 years ago, that I've wasted way too much time and money on - doesn't seem like much have changed. It's still a challenge to pick out the good ones.

Not before, there was an amazing RPG every year - Final Fantasy, Baldurs Gates, Neverwinters whatever. Even Dragon Age 1 was not bad.

Today, games seem to be getting simpler and shorter, more cinematic and less interactive. Call of Duty is incredibly fun, but it lasts 5 hours on the hardest difficulty mode.

Don't get me started on MMORPGs. If a game can never be "beaten", I'd prefer to work on more rewarding stuff - like real life endeavors.

Diablo 2 was so great and addicting, I'm hoping Diablo 3 will be a return to the glory of gameplay over graphics and fluff.

I do like Starcraft 2 though, I'll have to pick up Episode 2 & 3 to play through the storyline. That came after something like 10 years in development?

 

[Arglebargle]

It's frustrating for me because I'm the only gamer in the family (I'm 31). My father is always telling me "stop playing that kiddie stuff. You're a grown man". When I try to explain to him the demographic of gamers he just ignores me. My wife somewhat understands but can get pissed at times as well. My brother thinks I'm just weird. My mother just looks at me in resignation

Gaming for life. Will never stop unless I go blind (god forbid)

What I find really amusing are the folks who are down on 'gaming', but are obsessed with football, basketball, etc, completely oblivious to the fact that those are games too. Somehow there's an arbitrary line drawn between them.

Numerous studies are showing up that point to the helpful effects of gaming as you age. I'm an old fart at 56, so perhaps that's good. Everyone in the household here games, so there's no negatives, other than various 'Ewwww! You're playing that??' moments.

 

[Nostrada]

46 or so - and way too many hours BFBC2. Sometimes it is not useful to show a player exactly how many hours they have played a certain game . . .

 

[Arg Clin]

Not before, there was an amazing RPG every year - Final Fantasy, Baldurs Gates, Neverwinters whatever. Even Dragon Age 1 was not bad.

Today, games seem to be getting simpler and shorter, more cinematic and less interactive. Call of Duty is incredibly fun, but it lasts 5 hours on the hardest difficulty mode.

Don't get me started on MMORPGs. If a game can never be "beaten", I'd prefer to work on more rewarding stuff - like real life endeavors.

Diablo 2 was so great and addicting, I'm hoping Diablo 3 will be a return to the glory of gameplay over graphics and fluff.

I do like Starcraft 2 though, I'll have to pick up Episode 2 & 3 to play through the storyline. That came after something like 10 years in development?

I agree, the RPG genre has taken a nosedive, with the exception of DA 1, which for me was the best RPG ever. The tendency towards more cinematics aren't IMO bad - in fact I think the DA 1 and even DA 2 strikes a good balance.

As for length - I'll always check out reviews for a game length expectancy and then decide if it seems to be x $/hour worth. More than often it's just a matter of DLCs for a lengthier game, which is fine by me.

I totally agree on the simplification - and that's a really bad tendency. I suppose it's the fault of the wretched consoles and the whole gaming going mainstream thing. Lowest common determiner. We'll just have to vote with our wallet on this one.

I don't know maybe I'm just being old fashioned - but I also expect a lot of 'old fashioned' gamers (= prefers more complex games) has better financial resources, making us an interesting audience.

 

[dac7nco]

42, almost 43. My games on the C64 were initially typed-in from Compute magazine, or bough @ Toys'R'Us. In my teens they came from warez BBSs, and after that I just didn't have time to game. The last ten years I've bought them, but It's only because I can. I've never played WoW; my favorite arcade quarter-machine was Gauntlet.

I still have Sid Meyer's Alpha Centauri, Hasbro Risk and Diablo-II (LOD) on a Windows 98 virtual machine, which I'll play in a window @ nicht before I hit the rack.

Daimon

 

[tydas]

Well, 47 this year and still love all types of games but 12 hour work days, 3 kids, kids sports and other RL stuff puts a severe damper on game play...but still manage to get some gaming in...and I have to disagree, plenty of good games...

One thing though, I cannot stand console games, especially the FPS (sports games are ok)..

Recently, my right wrist started hurting and it made me wonder if my joints will even allow me to play games when I'm older...

Oh well...

 

[Tripwir3]

41 next month and can still pwn the n00bs once in a while. lol

 

[SantiClaws]

thats the misconception with american culture, if thats where your from. Gaming is looked at as childish, while countries in Asia see it as much more, if not national sports

Only a matter of time until the attitude changes as the generations that did not grow up with gaming die off. People don't stop watching movies when they get older, why would they stop gaming if it is a form of entertainment they grew up with? I don't plan to stop gaming until I die.

 

[Anneka]

41 next month and can still pwn the n00bs once in a while. lol

And there is another proud member of our community;
Keep them coming i always say

 

[SpunkyJones]

I'm so old I probably already replied to this thread and can't recall.

 

[snarl]

It makes sense for people to be in their 50's and playing games. Gaming really starting taking off 30yrs ago so those people were young and now they're older but still love playing games.

Well said, I'm 50 and love my gaming PC

 

[Bonesdad]

all your dentures are belong to us!!

 

[coloumb]

Gaming is no different than any other "hobby" at any age.

The only places where I feel "old" are at gaming conventions [E3, Pax, etc] - perhaps that's why people think of gaming as for "kids".

 

[JPS35]

Almost 41 and just finished Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (fantastic game by the way), and hoping for Crysis 2 in a few weeks for Birthday. My wife is almost 42 and she plays some as well...

Games have grown to be more than just "Pong" and "Space Invaders" that sucked our quarters away. The graphics, cinematics, story telling, music, imagination, characters, etc. have pushed the boundaries beyond them being for kids or just young adults.

 

[ronach]

Well..I'm 73 and still doin FPS games, been enjoying it since the mid 70's.
Hey Spunky..you replied already..ya..well...I think you did..when did you do it ? I hope you guys havn't taught your ladies to play BBC2, I was doing real well a while back until some player started knifing me often, heh, the only one who could do that in the past was my second ex..so..I was thinkin that some gal found her way into the game and was busy slicing up us poor old fellas.

I'm doing Crysis 2 the latest COD game, Portal 2, and I'll pick up any worthy game in the future that I don't mind delaying the rework on my dentures again for.

 

[uli2000]

Well..I'm 73 and still doin FPS games, been enjoying it since the mid 70's.
Hey Spunky..you replied already..ya..well...I think you did..when did you do it ? I hope you guys havn't taught your ladies to play BBC2, I was doing real well a while back until some player started knifing me often, heh, the only one who could do that in the past was my second ex..so..I was thinkin that some gal found her way into the game and was busy slicing up us poor old fellas.

I'm doing Crysis 2 the latest COD game, Portal 2, and I'll pick up any worthy game in the future that I don't mind delaying the rework on my dentures again for.

Thats awesome. I play with some guys in their 50's and 60's, a few of which can pwn with the best of them. I think theres a couple of 70+ guys in my clan, but they play other games.

BTW, love the sig! I think you'll be ok, at least until they have to start changing your diapers.

 

[ronach]

uli2000 said;
I think theres a couple of 70+ guys in my clan, but they play other games.

WHAT..comon. what games are they playing ? Gurlie games..maybe poker or blackjack ?

uli2000 said;
I think you'll be ok, at least until they have to start changing your diapers.

You on my list uli..and for your info we don't call em diapers, they are refered to as didies..thank you. On a rare occasion I could use a didie in game, especially when some one sneaks up and stabs me in the back..uh oh..yep..pass me a didie earl, my ex just showed up. Man uli, you got me all wigged out now, I'm goin on line and burn up a few clips on some noObs before breakfast ( pablum ) it's great with stewed prunes.

Meanwhile, get them old guys on line and into the fray, the young guys need some easy target practice.

 

[Anomaly1964]

Now I don't feel so bad...grin.

 

[Thump553]

I've been gaming since I took the insurance proceeds from the theft of my Mattel Intelvision (and some other stuff) and bought an Atari 400 with it. I don't try to keep up with cutting edge any more, and I tend to stick to certain games I like forever rather than play a different game every night.