No time/energy for games?

[MikeRox]

I do agree though as I get older I find myself going in for shorter games, and the thought of a 80 hour epic does nothing for me. Maybe thats why I like the dreamcast and snes so much.

I think I've always been like that, I'd rather complete an amazing 5 hour game 20 times than complete a pretty much equally amazing 50 hour game even once. But I generally find shorter games allow for far superior level design etc and defintely prefer "5 minute" arcade games you can perfect.

[Concrete donkey]

I think I've always been like that, I'd rather complete an amazing 5 hour game 20 times than complete a pretty much equally amazing 50 hour game even once. But I generally find shorter games allow for far superior level design etc and defintely prefer "5 minute" arcade games you can perfect.

I'm the other way round. I much prefer something I sink my teeth into as apposed to a quick five minute thrill. I want a game with heart, a reason to care and a reason to fight, and the whole world is at threat or look, your in world war two, are no longer counted as valid reasons. Strangely enough the fifty hour epics are pretty much all I have time for anymore.

Saying that, Portal was one of the most amazing game playing experiences I?ve had and will not argue against games of that quality no matter how long or short.

[egparadigm]

I have been away this weekend on a BiPolar Self-Management course. The title of this thread sounds alot like the statement of a married man/woman complaining that the fun has gone out of their relationship and that they no longer have sex. Maybe it was deliberate...?

[Dogg Thang]

I very rarely have sit-down time for games these days which is why I'm almost exclusively a handheld gamer.

[J0e Musashi]

Ha, same here. I'm doing an hour or so each night before I nod off. Only just made it to the first Blitzball game in Luca.

Quality! Same here, 1-2 hours before I go to sleep. You have the International version? TBH it's the only FF game I've ever got on with.
I HATE Blitzball though, I just cannot work out how to play it. Other than the mandatory game you have to play I totally skip it usually. This time I'm planning on 100%ing the game, so I'm gonna have to come back to it later.

I very rarely have sit-down time for games these days which is why I'm almost exclusively a handheld gamer.

Same here. Handhelds rock IMO. I've got use of the TV late at nights now though, hence me getting back into my PS3.

[Blade Runner]

I lack motivation to play/finish certain games. I loved Ocarina of time back in the day however I still haven't completed Twilight Princess. I never finished Yakuza. However were some games I was addicted to and completed countless times, for example Resident Evil 4.

[hudson]

Quality! Same here, 1-2 hours before I go to sleep. You have the International version? TBH it's the only FF game I've ever got on with.
I HATE Blitzball though, I just cannot work out how to play it. Other than the mandatory game you have to play I totally skip it usually. This time I'm planning on 100%ing the game, so I'm gonna have to come back to it later.

I'm playing the PAL version on my PS3, which has the Expert Sphere Grid anyway, I believe.

I played about 3/4 through this the first time it came out, but can't remember why I stopped. I plan to get through this and XII before the end of the year or whenever XIII comes out. I better get a bloody move on

[DeathAdder]

Same here. Handhelds rock IMO.

Same here too. With handheld gaming being so good at the moment, I look forward to long train journeys and plane trips like never before, and it means I can entertain myself while the wife is watching the childish drivel that is Japanese TV.

[nintastic]

3) Go retro - makes you appreciate new games

Oh no it does'nt it makes you buy MORE ! ! !

[Ian(not Ian)]

I don't really have the time/energy for work tbh

[Malavon]

I HATE Blitzball though, I just cannot work out how to play it. Other than the mandatory game you have to play I totally skip it usually. This time I'm planning on 100%ing the game, so I'm gonna have to come back to it later.

Man, I loved Blitzball so much, me and a mate frequently played three hour sessions non stop. Flying around scouting out new players, praying that when the top players contracts were about to expire they wouldn't sign a new deal, leveling up our players and getting a perfect team setup. Awesome

It wasn't as fleshed out as some football manager games I admit, but it had one big advantage: you actually played the games. I hate just sitting there looking at circles move over a picture of a football pitch.

Really wish they expanded the game a bit more and released a proper version of it, I'd have been first in line to pre order it even at full retail :P

Anyway, going slightly off topic there..

I cant be bothered with games at all at the moment. I have DMC4 and Lost Odyssey sitting next to me, both half played but I just can't bring myself to carry on with them. I just sit here, look at them and immediately think "**** that" and instead sit here for 20 minutes in a daze doing sod all. I think I'm just too lazy.

[Kongster]

I don't really have the time/energy for work tbh

LOL Work, in addition to my other priorities, rob me of my energy and gaming time.

[egparadigm]

I very rarely have sit-down time for games these days which is why I'm almost exclusively a handheld gamer.

Did you see my earlier comment? This also takes on a strange new meaning in the light of it...

[MCE]

Wow, there were only a couple of responses when I went home from work yesterday and today there are 3 pages. Thanks for all the responses people.

I think getting older, living with my partner and working as a games tester has contributed too.

Yeah, I've moved in with my girlfriend in the last year and obviously that leads to less free time to fill in with gaming. I'm not blaming her or anything like that, she's completely supportive about my interests, it's just how it goes when you move in with someone.

This happens to me if I'm going through a particularly severe depressive patch, thankfully it clears though.

It's funny you mention that. I have been going through a fairly low time recently due to my work situation and other things. My interest in gaming has been falling for longer than this period but I do think it has something to do with it.

My standard reply to these threads is: These threads crop up quite often.

No doubt, I have seen these sorts of threads on here before, just didn't know what to search for to find one! I did try "disillusion" but that didn't come up with anything useful.

Maybe it's just my perception but these threads do seem to turn up on NTSC-UK more often than other gaming forums I've frequented. I've always considered this place to be a more "mature" gaming site which possibly accounts for that. The people posting here when they reach an age when their tastes or lifestyle change and they question if gaming is something they still want to devote a large amount of time to.

i've found i am getting daunted by certain types of new games that feel to difficult or too 'big'

I notice a few people have posted similar thoughts to this and I know what you mean. The unfinished games I mentioned in my first post are "big" ones. I used to love the thought of getting a game of this type and digging into it for hours but, as I've said, it just ends up feeling like a chore. Maybe I should look at quick, less "important" games as some have suggested.

I feel like this a lot and for me its a time/energy issue, id much rather do something less interactive like watch a film, which i can relax with, i dont find playing very relaxing.

I agree with this, it seems all I want to do when I get home from work these days is turn my brain off. I'm sure that's not good for anyone, an active mind is a healthy mind, after all.

I'm the same. Sometimes I'll be playing games all the time & then I'll have a break where I catch up on my reading or watch a few films/dvds instead. Of course, this doesn't stop me buying games all the time...

I know what you mean here, I still have the urge to buy the games that sound cool to me. Lately I've resisted due to the realisation that I just wouldn't get my money's worth from them.

The title of this thread sounds alot like the statement of a married man/woman complaining that the fun has gone out of their relationship and that they no longer have sex. Maybe it was deliberate...?

Haha . No, that wasn't my intention but it's an amusing angle to take on it.

[JazzFunk]

I've had this sensation for yonks. The last game I truly enjoyed and put hours into was OutRun C2C on the PS2, and that was about July/August last year. It WAS fukkin great, though, so great, an orgasm of a game.

What's arse-bad is that I've got so many A/AA/AAA games I'll probably never play much again, let alone finish. I've probably completed around twenty-thirty games over the last three years, and only a handful I've truly enjoyed - Tenchu: Wrath Of Heaven, Splinter Cell, Killer7, Resident Evil 4 - and they made me remember that inwardly rewarding feeling, that feeling that I'd actually enjoyed this truly superb piece of entertainment, especially the last two, and I remember it being precious.

It's just that, I kind of find it hard to be bothered because it's so much effort, and the movement of life kinds of changes circumstances. Girlfriends to please, less free time, less freedom, more chaos.

What I really want is to stockpile my games collection, three brand new, old-style PS2s, a couple of GCs and Xboxes, store them away for thirty years and live my twilight years out in unpressured - possibly weeded out - semi-solitude, losing my final days to quality gaming, where I don't have to worry about money, sex or success.

I never finished Yakuza.

Me too. I SOOOOO badly wanted that game and salivated madly over previews of it. And then I got it, played it for 20 minutes, then haven't touched it since, wtf??!!!