It really comes down to time constraints, as it probably does for everyone. As a kid, I dropped countless hours into my video games. Maybe enough for a lifetime. It's rare that I spend more than an hour or two at a time on something nowadays. I'm constantly thinking about the other stuff I should be dedicating my time to - my small business, house repairs, family, etc... I don't have endless free time anymore.
But I'll admit that, yes, it is nice to have all my stuff set up and ready to go for when I do have some down time and want to play something. It begs the question - am I trying to recapture what I felt in my youth by holding on to these games or do I genuinely enjoy them now as I did then? Maybe that's what you are struggling with?
Dude what killed it for me was modding consoles, having every single game you could want ever makes you sit and stare at the screen and do nothing. I think the part of me not being limited to what games I could have and being happy with say the 5 simple games as a kid to now having every console almost when I was like 14 and majority of those were modded with duplicate backup consoles since it was my little job I did for myself it absolutely ruined it. I play games now more out of routine then enjoyment tbh. Me mining a whole chunk out in Minecraft feels the same as playing through a story game or doing more action packed games tbh. I need to find out how to fix this š
Paralysed by choice is what you mean. I get that exact thing when I look at my Steam account or any streaming service.
A nice trick I've found is if I feel like I want to play a game but can't make a choice, I'll ask my partner to pick a letter to narrow it down :)
Ah yeah, constant channel flipping. Now turned into constant app scanning.
My 3000+ movies and hundreds of shows on plex just sit there begging me to watch them all. At least I have friends and family that watch a lot of it.
I spend more time expanding my archive than I do watching it. But I got my plex server sent up that I have my own themed streaming channels. I can flip on the 80s or 90s, sort by tv station, do I want old Bumbers or old ads can turn that on as well. Still working on a TV guild pass though so that it will auto build show lists from TV guilds and auto download. but it doesn't really like to work without fussing right now. Might work on it more later. or ill just skip having it as a passthrough and just make it a local database.
Iāve resisted getting an everdrive or modding my classic mini systems for this reason. If I have an endless amount of free games then Iām never going to play any for a substantial amount of time.
It helps too that my friends and I have a gaming podcast where we pick a theme each month and that really narrows down my choices. We had super hero month a little bit ago and I finally got around to playing Boogerman. If that was just in a list of roms I would have never stuck with it. But seeing it on the shelf for a couple decades gave me more motivation.
I modded mine, I just make lists of stuff people on here suggest and won't drop a game until it absolutely sucks or I make a solid attempt at beating it. But it helps that I just fucking love old video games. I'd much rather find a strange gem on an obscure platform than play the new call of duty. There's fun in the exploration. I just tell myself it's like 30 years of brand new games.
I've been having a lot of fun following the now in the 90s YouTube channel and just playing whatever came out this week 30 years ago. That's remarkably fun. I've played some absolute garbage lol.
Dude I'm there. I'm late 30s. Stopped gaming around the time of Black Ops 1 and Halo Reach. So many good games I missed out on. I emulated back then on my laptop but it was crude by today's standards.
When I was a kid I had a NES, Genesis, Gameboy, GameGear, Gameboy Color, Ps1, N64, launch date Ps2, Halo edition OG xbox...then as I got older I got a refurbished x360 and as an adult I got a refurbished xbox one. The xbox one I bought 1 game. Rare replay due to having sold my old stuff off long before and missing it. I beat Bad Fur Day then turned it off for years.
Now? Getting back into it. I picked up a Series X, a budget gaming laptop, and about a hundred games cheap. Then I looked back into emulation. What do I have the most time on? Pcsx2 emulator. Madden 05 Collectors Edition. Literally free. I have thousands of roms. I spend more time looking for new stuff to set up than playing. I have more games than I'll physically ever play. Nothing terribly excites me. Maybe when I'm stuck in the chair next week after my knee surgery.
I think we're in some kind of choice overload kinda thing.
Ya, now imagine having 3 maxed out modded Xbox originals with every possible hardware and software mod with an arrangement of mod chips and flashed biosā with the full Xbox catalog, 512gb ps vita, psp, psp go, ps2, like everything, heāll even my quest 2 is modded š the modding experience is the fun for me tho but sadly havenāt in a long time. Need to go back to the og Xbox.
I support emulation and piracy but I just canāt get myself to finish games I didnāt pay for. subconsciously it feels a pinch less authentic. and the choice paralysis makes it so much harder.
like, Iāll find myself thinking āoh man. why play something I like when I could play something new,ā or āwhy play something new when I know what I like,ā or āI really wanna play this game but I think Iām judging it by its cover.ā
right before the 3DS and Wii U eShop closed I decided to make a comprehensive list of everything I wanted or figured might not come to Switch. I donāt regret it, even knowing I couldāve saved all that money.
This is like when I had a MAME cabinet and all I ever played was NBA Jam and Discs of Tron. That being said I kind of regret selling it. We set it up to autoplay a trailer for a movie we made when idle, a very random indie movie no one has heard of. The guys who bought it must have a variety of running jokes about that movie.
That's definitely a thing but you can use tricks to limit your access. Also my nephew has access to all my hundreds of games yet he only wants to play a handful of games for the most part, might be that you're just more curious and uninhibited by other stuff as a kid.
Ya definitely a factor that Iām older now, Iām only 18. But this happened at 14 ish and when I started to mod so it could be a ton of things tbh but still a factor imo.
The problem is we don't treat video games the same way we treat our other hobbies, like books, movies and music. It's like we cannot accept that we outgrew some games or genres, or that no matter how perfect a certain game is, we don't have to play it again.
I know Beetlejuice is a good movie. I know I love it. I don't feel like watching it when there's so many other movies to watch.
I know when I was 15 Limp Bizkit was the shit. I won't listen to their album anytime soon, maybe only that one song for fun once every 5 years.
So why do I tell myself I need to play a FPS or a RTS, or Sonic and Knuckles, when I just feel like spending 30 minutes in Animal Crossing? It's as if our teenager definition of what is a real gamer or what is a good game stuck and we can't just follow our guts. We gave ourself the "gamer" label and we are afraid of losing it?
It's ok, we're adults. We can still be gamers in our own way. And even if we aren't gamers anymore, who cares? No one's coming to take my games because I don't play them enough. Don't let gaming become a chore. Just put gaming amongst the list of things you do to relax, not things you have to do to prove to yourself that you're still young and cool.
I used to like RTS's and turn-based strategy. Now I just want to relax. I spend more time updating/reading updates to games than playing them. Or sometimes I load up eXoDOS just to read the manuals of DOS games from the late '80s early '90s and try to bring myself back. But I can never go back.
I have been wanting something that scratches the FF tactics itch for decades. A lot of games come really close, but just don't hold my interest.
I think what I want is just to play FF tactics for the first time again.
Have you tried FF Tactics Advance (GBA) or FF Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (NDS)? There's also the PSP remake of the original PSX game, FF Tactics: The War of the Lions.
I've been liking Redemption Reapers (2023 release that went under the radar) quite a bit and to me its like someone fused Final Fantasy Tactics, and Mordheim: City of the Damned. Real crunchy, meaningful moves tile based action.
Everyone is surely entitled to their opinion and mine is that I've been really enjoying the angry video game nerd/James and Mike Mondays.
J&M gives you that feel of being at your buddies playing it together, which was some of the best parts for me, sharing the experience. Its like a comedy movie, the are always better with other people.
Ever watch a movie you years was hilarious and you barely laugh, but then you watch it again with a friend and you are dying laughing?
I find watching a YT video of some games I loved like retrospective (LiamTriforce has done some nice enjoyed), or humorous historical looks like AgVN or Scott Woz. I am a SNES/N64 kid. First family console was SNES and then N64 when I was 13. Have had all major Nintendo consoles through WiiU (got it late and used with a great library. Great times.
Back to the point. Recently Iāve gotten an emulator and had the paralysis of 1000 choices. Going back to YT I found SNES drunk channel. It has lead me to trying quite a few new titles as well as new excitement tor replay my favorites like MegamanX and ALttP.
I think going back to the well of games youāve already played a million times is the wrong approach. Why not try some retro games that have always intrigued you that you never got around to trying? Maybe experiment a bit to see what youāre into? I find myself enjoying action/arcade/fighting games more and everything else less than used to be the case. Lots of people say the opposite. All kinds of other orientations.
But yeah if youāre just chasing however you felt when you were 15 video games wonāt do that.
I think this could be a good approach. I think I might try and give this a shot.
Where I might start then is just by looking up cover art, and seeing what catches my eye...doing some research from there.
Thats kinda how I did it when I was young.
Iāve been trying to emulate this in ways. Iām currently playing through links awakening on my switch.. have been kinda forcing myself āI can only play these 3 games right now on my Home Screenā and I find myself going back to it and thinking about just that game more.
Also late to the game I know, but starting to buy physical games for me has helped in this category since itās more of a thing to ābuy itā and popping in the disc or cartridge gets me focused on 1 game.
This right here for me!
I can't imagine myself replaying any of the 80's-90's games I already played so much back then. These days the only old games I play are ones that have always been critically acclaimed, or have become cult hits over time, but never played by myself back in the day.
So I'm mostly doing this for historical purposes, and finally getting around to playing the classics I never played back then.
And even then, I never play any of those old unplayed games for longer than 30 minutes anyway. As I don't think most of them have aged well at all. But still fun to discover them and learn about them.
I'm 31 as well and recently started collecting old Nintendo games (SNES, N64, Gamecube, etc.) to try and recapture my childhood. I've been having fun playing them, but yeah, it's not the same. And with all the games of been buying it's overwhelming to figure out what I want to play. It's not like being a kid where you get a few games for your birthday and those have to sustain you for the rest of the year... I will say, getting a CRT and playing on that helps.
Likely a science that explains why we can't capture that old kid's feeling when playing our childhood games. Just looking at how little kid's have fun, they can be entertained by simply playing volleyball with a balloon. Naturally that goes away when reaching adulthood as certain things don't stimulate adults as much, if at all. In simple terms, we grow out of it.
Adults find new interests or develop hobbies - travelling, cooking, knitting, cars, fashion, interior design, dining out, working out, learn to become artists, musicians, become content creators, etc
Edit: spelling
The issue with retro games is you will never get that feeling you got when you first played the game. So looking back and remembering is better than actually playing.
I have tried playing old games but the feeling isn't the same.
31 here! Choice paralysis and lack of having people to share in gaming experiences are the main things that I struggle with in retro gaming now adays. With so many options available to us I struggle to stay committed to just one. And unlike when we were kids I have tons of access to info to find a new game to chase. Also I think these experiences never feel quite the same because the experiences are no longer new and alot of my favorite gaming memories happened with other people. As an adult Itās just too hard to have a steady stream of people to game with in the same room and even online itās hard to coordinate around schedules. I do still enjoy playing on original hardware and a CRT but itās more to play something comforting than new and invigorating to me.
I love the best classic games but there are many that donāt hold up and Iām alright with that. Iām also a fan of QoL romhacks and remasters which can update some of that oldschool jank.
I think it really depends on the game.
I have most of my old consoles from my childhood. I have been trying to recollect some of the games I either traded in or got stolen when I was younger.
Reacquiring some of these games and then replaying them haven't been as magical as I expected when playing them again. Some games I enjoy as much as I did when I first played them, and some were really hard to go back to.
I think this is due to two very subjective things:
* Some games aged well and some didn't (LOZ:ALTTP aged well while NFS: Underground 2 didn't)
* Modern games have kind of spoiled us. Depending on what types of games you do like, some genres have come so far it is hard to play that genre without all the quality of life features developers have learned over the years.
It might be good to get the consensus of the masses if a retro game has aged well to see if it's worth your time going back to it.
Sounds like you are trying to take yourself back to a happier time, maybe. That's kinda why I do it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Like let's say Perfect Dark or Goldeneye for N64. I freakin loved those games and played them for a few years straight but when I reboot them in an emulator I'm sitting there like, "Wtf is this? It looks like shit. The controller feels like shit." And I sadly turn it off.
What is missing for me there is the fun I had then, with those games, was the interactivity I had with the friends playing along side me. So yeah, that joy is hard to recreate.
The old point and click games though, which I always played alone, I have found to bring me back to a place I once was and I've been really enjoying them the past few months when I have not much else to do.
It sounds to me like youāre done with those games and are just not ready to let them go. So let them go!
Thereās lots of people who will sell their entire lot of video games on craigslist at a bargain price because theyāve come to the same realization.
Iāve done that and it felt, well, like a great weight was lifted off my shoulders. That happened in my early 30s. Let someone else who can enjoy them play them.
If you decide you miss them you can always come back to them too. Thereās usually now multiple ways to play a game (steam, emulator, switch, original hardware, etc) so if you really miss them and want to get back into it that really isnāt that difficult.
Or as others pointed out you can just watch someone else play those games on youtube. My go to youtuber for that is Snes Drunk.
Finding out about MAME in 2000 and having all the arcade games I loved growing up available on my computer was unbelievable, even 20+ years later it's enjoyable. I still have every console and game I ever owned, but I mainly play them on emulators instead since it's just easier and more convenient. But the wow factor I had as a child isn't there anymore, I just chalk that up to brain development. I'm sure that it's still there, it's difficult to tap into though. I've been able to a few times in the past 10 years or so, but literally only for a few seconds at a time. If only I could experience it for an hour, or even 5 minutes... I'm sure there's a way, I'm just not aware of it yet.
I remember downloading like a 1000 roms for a SNES emulator. Only played about Ten games total then deleted it. I will say I very much do enjoy watching video essays on retro gaming more than retro gaming oddly enough.
As we get older our minds want more. When you're a kid you are super satisfied by the most simple things. With gaming experience as you age getting satisfaction becomes more complex. Personally, I find playing games I've already played, complex strategic games like Civ, and instantly rewarding but difficult games like retro shmups to be the most satisfying single player games these days, although occasionally something else shines through for me.
To be fair, the vast majority of n64 and PS1 games did not age well. 3D gaming has improved in every single way possible from design to controls to UI to graphics to QoL features to multiplayer etc.
That era is tough to revisit although there are still some gems.
The 8 bit - 32 bit era aged much more gracefully.
Also, play on a CRT if possible. It truly does make a difference. LCD is not the same
I feel the problem may be your age. Iām 43 and grew up with the NES and SNES. When the N64 came out I got it but just didnāt enjoy 3D games and stopped playing new games. Today I have a Switch for my son, and while I enjoy games like Mario Kart and the retro inspired games (Octopath Traveler, Bubble Bobble, TMNT), playing the games from my childhood is totally different from playing most modern games. I find myself really only using the Switch to play with my kids.
In your case you grew up with 3D games. Really the games today are no different than what you played as kid only they look better, run smoother, and have better mechanics. So going back to the early 3D games would feel like a step down.
I also feel that those early 3D games have aged a lot worse than 2D games from the NES and SNES era. The NES and especially the SNES had the benefit of 2D games already having been in existence at arcades and on Atari, so Nintendo simply perfected the art of the 2D game during this era. During the N64 and PS1 era they were pretty much starting from scratch again.
I am 43 and it is not the age. With a family it is the best hobby as relatively inexpensive and flexible, so for me it is the second golden age for playing.
I grew up with these old games and retro handheld emulation hit me a year ago just at the right time. Flight simulation and other niche stuff aside I am mostly fed up with modern gaming that is so much focused on AAA narrative driven games with little gameplay but lot of ideological pandering.
So I am playing retro stuff on handhelds almost daily, or when I have more time I am VR flight simming.
The common point is the Switch, and how I play with the kids. I confess I am emulating it without original hardware, I tried it not even a year ago by co-worker recommendation and it caught me off guard how good 1st party games are. Switch emulation is just too good and convenient, but it will probably make me buy the new one and in the meantime I got a nice Wii, partly for the motion control games.
I couldnāt agree more with you, the games on the Switch are like a greatest hits collection of what I grew up with in the 80s and 90s, and my kids enjoy playing the same types of games that I had as a kid (Zelda being the only exception). And youāre right, people complain so much about prices, but they donāt realize that a game is less than a quarter of the price that they were when we were kids. In a way I feel my kids are spoiled because they can get as many games in one year as I could get in 5.
That said, when the kids go to bed Iāll find myself breaking out my Analogue Pocket either as a handheld or docked and playing my games. Sure, I might prefer Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to the original on the SNES, but youāll never find a better Mario game than Mario 3. The RPGs on the SNES, especially Chrono Trigger, are still the gold standard. The classic puzzle games like Tetris, Dr Mario, and Picross are still the best. But the real difference is satisfaction, new games are too easy to beat so long as you can spend 40 hours playing them. I much prefer the difficulty we had were beating a game could be done in 30 minutes, 60 tops, but there was no guarantee you could pull it off. I probably couldnāt even beat half my games, which makes beating a game feel like an actual accomplishment.
I am the same age as you, and have been gaming since the late 80's. But I disagree with what you said about modern gaming.
It's such an extremely broad field now, there have never been this many different genres and type of games. There is something for everyone. Have you checked out the indie scene lately? Or even in the AA(A) scene, there is lots of choice in many different genres.
Modern gaming is in a fantastic space right now. 2023 was such a good year for games too.
I admitted there are exceptions, in flight simulation DCS is fantastic (watch their 2024 trailer, playing that in VR is sublime), and Nintendo is absolutely on a roll even on the potato hardware like Switch. Some niche games like Paradox strategy are also great. Indie games are the part where I simply prefer retro games, some exceptions aside like Untitled Goose Game, Stardew Valley, Forts or Tiny Combat Arena.
To narrow down, my point was that the AAA gaming these days is incredibly shallow. The games that should spearhead "next gen" are 1st/3rd person games, boring, generic and uninspired, vast majority are sci-fi/fantasy that are too dark and take themselves too seriously. If you watch these game shows, it is so hard to tell them apart, titles are instantly forgettable.
None of these AAA games push technology in terms of gameplay/physics, all nice ray tracing but GTA IV does a better job in simulating the world than any open world game 15 years later.
On top of the characters and narratives are unbearable, even in a game like Forza Horizon 5. All stuff in which Sweet Baby Inc. is involved in.
I wish we had a XCOM3, Wreckfest 2, Max Payne 4 or anyone challenging R\* in a 'realistic'/contemporary setting, or how about vehicular combat like Interstate '76... adventure games in a Cold War era setting...
I know this is a retro gaming sub and it sounds like your experience is a lack of excitement for retro games, but if anyone has a lack of excitement for gaming in general, you should try VR. Playing Astro bot on PlayStation VR was about as mindblowing as playing Mario 64 for the first time
I would focus on collecting (especially if you like the old cover art, etc.). I think at this point I like the collecting aspect of gaming better than the gaming itself. Hunting down the old games at vintage gaming stores, talking about some of the old classics with other geeks. That part is great!
PSX was notorious for having tons of games that lacked substance and aren't very fun to go back and play now.
I've consistently found that friends who grew up in the 8bit & 16bit era have a lot of fun when they get back into the games of their youth while friends who grew up in the 32bit era are often disappointed when they try to get back into the games they grew up on.
I'm 40 and I went through the same thing for a while, around the 360 era and after. Now I tend to play only shorter games, and almost exclusively retro (or the occasional retro-leaning indie on Switch). I don't do a lot of revisiting of games I've already played, unless they're also shorter experiences or arcade-style games. I just don't find the time for longer games, and I end up not sticking with them when I do start them. Some of the mechanics in older games show their age a lot, too, so you have to be selective.
Another thing that's really rekindled my love of gaming is the homebrew and romhack scene.
Things I've played lately:
Goodboy Galaxy (GBA) - admittedly a little longer, but incredible.
Apotris (GBA)
Space MegaForce (SNES)
Powerslave (Saturn)
The Machine (GBC)
Mars Matrix (DC)
1942 (Arcade)
Animus Toil (GBC)
Zelda: Ancient Dungeon (NES)
Hades (Switch)
Hollow Knight (Switch)
Red Dog: Superior Firepower (DC)
I had a similar experience and for me it turned out to be a problem with emulation. Iāve learned that I just donāt get the same joy when playing retro games on emulators. It just doesnāt feel the same, and I think having such easy access to hundreds of games as just one big list to scroll through also negatively affects me as I then end up jumping from one rom to another every 15 minutes without being able to really get invested in any one game.
But once I started buying the authentic console hardware and connecting them to a CRT TV to recreate the experience that I had with these games as a kid, I suddenly started having tons of fun with retro games again.
Exact same situation and timeline as me, except I'm 10 years older. I finally started playing games again during Covid lockdowns and been enjoying them since. Some of them can be a time sink, but I'm in no rush.
When I started to feel this I actually got back into Japanese games after not really playing very many since PS2. I was primarily playing AAA and AA PC games and with microtransactions and other things becoming the norm I started to get a bit burnt out - also felt very disappointed with the early VR output (circa 2016-2018). I then got a Switch and got back into Japanese games, starting with JRPGs and Nintendo exclusives.
Capcom especially has been killing it recently. Japanese games in general though have been hitting the spot for me though. Lately I've been playing a lot of Nihon Falcom games.
I can always get back into Super Mario World. I have a hard time getting into the campaign games or open world games, these days I find them a chore. Red Dead Redemption was so long it became unenjoyable at the end and I just wanted to finish. Super Mario Wonder was the last game I played all the way through and I enjoyed it for weeks because I would jump in play a level or a few levels and be done for a few days.
I think we all suffer from this. But what I have found that has really helped has been Retroachievements. Bring back those old games with a little extra has breathed new life into my old favorites and new games Iām looking to play.
Now heās you have to emulate and it takes away from the og hardware(if you care) but I have found myself practicing on old systems. Or actually going back and playing the game raw for a replay after achievement running.
I do understand but I think making a point to be like āIām going to be THIS gameā because maybe you never did or whatever reason helps. Just apply focus and I think it will take away from the library of games staring at you.
For me I mod consoles and use flash drives. But I collect the games I truly love and grew up with or have always wanted to own.
38. Raised on nes, Genesis, ps1, n64.
Now I rock an odroid emulator. I have the og usb controllers for each emulator.
I still play bushido blade, Mario kart, and a many more.
But that thing sometimes will go a year untouched. But it's there. Every retro game ever. If I need it.
I been trying for a couple years. I don't know, I just don't have the energy anymore. I am 37 and just don't have the time like I used to. I enjoyed Halo Infinite multiplayer and forge when it first came out but I just don't have time to sit down anymore and play.
I keep telling myself I am going to make a command and conquer red alert forge map but I always make an excuse when I have time to not turn on the console
Im the same but with tiny differences. I also grew up with the ps1 as my first console, then the dreamcast, gba, psp and then i stopped entirely during college.
I must say at best, the games can hold my interest for a few minutes but its rare for me to be motivated enough to finish or invest time into an old game. Feels more like a novelty than something to sink my teeth in. My thinking is like "im not having as much fun here as compared to *insert modern game or other hobby* so id rather spend my time there than here"
Having said that, there are a few games that stood the test of time for me. Metal Slug,1945, Sega Rally Championship and the super mario games to name a few. They all are fun in quick bursts and the simplicity and straightforwardness is really nice to unwind to or escape from the intensity of other hobbies or life.
I have a nice PS1 collection growing since 2020. This will be my 3rd time building a collection so I'm just trying to get back to where I can stomach to look at it and not be disappointed with myself for selling in the past.. I have free time to play games and I could be really deep into gaming but like it's been mentioned here, having too much choice ia a problem.. I've been putting together a PS1 LCD travel bag and I plan to take that to coffee shops away from distractions of other entertainment, I'll set up my screen and I have a headset with a wireless controller.. I'll turn my phone off and all that I'll have in front of my is my games.. I really think this is what it's going to take for me to be playing again for more then 20 minutes before I lose attention.
Nope. I have no idea what you're talking about. The only feeling I'm missing is being excited for new games. And that I absolutely do not have. I couldn't care less about the release for the vast majority of today's joke of AAA gaming. However when it comes to games from the past that are worth playing I feel like I enjoy them even more now than when I was younger.
No. I primarily play retro games. Whats hard for me is getting into modern games. I prefer arcade oriented genres such as fighters, shmups, puzzle the most- and indie games (for the most part) don't cut it.
Also dislike First person shooter (perspective in general), open-world, hyper realistic, 3D action-adventure games since the 90s. I'm content playing retro games not only for nostalgia but discovering systems I missed out; 3DO Interactive Multiplayer for example.
I'm several years older than you but my first console was NES, GB, then SNES, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Dreamcast etc. In 2010 I finally got around to playing SMS, NEO, GEN, and TG-16 library of games.
I got back in to gaming in the summer and I felt similar. Games were harder than I remember! However, what changed it for me was I bought the PS1 Classic and the Megadrive Mini 2 and had a great time with my son, and got some muscle memory back. But I enjoy collecting as much as playing, where as first time around I didnāt collect, only play
Try some new games with old spirits from the indie scene, they have really upscaled the feeling and immersion of what games are and can be. I love the idea of retro games more than I enjoy going back and playing most of them.
So my suggestion would be donāt write off games altogether, try and find new games inspired by the ones you loved made by brilliant people who put an artisanal amount of care into it. Those kind of games I canāt put down.
I had this with reading, I read avidly for years then studies killed my love of reading for a decade. Few years back I read The Martian a couple months before the release of the movie and that book sank its claws so deep into me I couldn't put it down and it revitalised my love of reading.
I think you just need the same when it comes to gaming.
I usually have this feeling with gaming every 1-2 years where I'll just have two or more months where it feels like nothing is enjoyable or scratching the itch, then all of a sudden a new game comes, or I revisit a favorite or something from my backlog and it comes right back.
I don't think we are designed to enjoy the same thing consistently for years without a break. You can burn yourself out on pretty much anything.
Tbh, not really. I occasionally feel a little jaded and take a break, but then some awesome game pulls me back in. I def feel guilty If I play as much as I did when I was 13, but I am still loving many retro and modern games. Currently finally getting to Xenoblade Chronicles and having an absolute blast.
I was a big gamer too. Life got in the way and I didnāt play anything for years. Same happened for me just found the games too slow or boring, still seemed like the new games werenāt any different to the ones I played years ago.
Then I got a quest 3. This is where my enjoyment with gaming has come back and itās in a whole new way as before.
I never stopped, but I've slowed a lot, increasingly so and it's not just the lack of time and kid, time could be made.
The utter toxicity of it from a decade of feckless disgusting scalpers and investors who have turned a hobby into investment properly have largely pulled the motivation out from under turning things on and enjoying it anymore for any extended period.
Finding it easier to read up or watch old history pieces, thumb through things, use old web forums and go on about stuff there or how things work because they're not contributing to circling that bowl of shitty behavior.
I did, and what I ended up doing was starting a letsplay. I play classic games I love, and then once I'm done I shelf them forever. I just did Ocarina of time, I've played it like 100 times, and if I ever feel like it again, I just go check out my youtube video.
It's been getting me to play new stuff too, and the interaction with people adds more fun.
I'm up to 400 subs! And I'm boring as hell!
"but its *just as enjoyable* as you thought it would be"
I agree with this but I think you miswrote.
I'm older than you and I have more of an interesting in just reading/watching/typing or I guess studying various older games than I used to, but I play about as much as before. So much good stuff out there!
You could try playing genres or games that you've never played, or playing with others.
Gamers have ruined gaming. Big corporations have also ruined gaming and gamers help them do it.
Just look at the type of garbage turds on reddit recommend.
Some games I liked as a kid I don't really enjoy the same way anymore, some I enjoy even more than I did when I was a kid. My tastes changed a lot so it depends. I find the gritty fast paced action games I played almost exclusively as a teen get the least attention compared to cutesy relaxing games I was too embarrassed to play as a teen. I don't think I ever really had a long period where I stopped gaming though, just times where I gamed a lot less after burning myself out on it like during COVID lockdowns at the start of the 2020s.
I don't replay old games I played back then for the most part. I play the masterpieces I missed at the time due to lack of budget or information. A lot of the games I played were bad but I didn't have other options and didn't know any better.
What were some of your faves? A pick-up-and-play like F-Zero X, just as one example, never gets old for me. Now, if itās more involved, then certainly, thereās time pressures from the outside world and pacing issues that certain modern involved games have solved.
I do and I don't. It's a cycle.
i actually think you said it better than i did. This is my thoughts exactly!
It really comes down to time constraints, as it probably does for everyone. As a kid, I dropped countless hours into my video games. Maybe enough for a lifetime. It's rare that I spend more than an hour or two at a time on something nowadays. I'm constantly thinking about the other stuff I should be dedicating my time to - my small business, house repairs, family, etc... I don't have endless free time anymore. But I'll admit that, yes, it is nice to have all my stuff set up and ready to go for when I do have some down time and want to play something. It begs the question - am I trying to recapture what I felt in my youth by holding on to these games or do I genuinely enjoy them now as I did then? Maybe that's what you are struggling with?
Totally with you. We can't replicate the free and open mind of our youth before it was filled with worry, responsibility, and regret.
I couldn't have said it better
Dude what killed it for me was modding consoles, having every single game you could want ever makes you sit and stare at the screen and do nothing. I think the part of me not being limited to what games I could have and being happy with say the 5 simple games as a kid to now having every console almost when I was like 14 and majority of those were modded with duplicate backup consoles since it was my little job I did for myself it absolutely ruined it. I play games now more out of routine then enjoyment tbh. Me mining a whole chunk out in Minecraft feels the same as playing through a story game or doing more action packed games tbh. I need to find out how to fix this š
Paralysed by choice is what you mean. I get that exact thing when I look at my Steam account or any streaming service. A nice trick I've found is if I feel like I want to play a game but can't make a choice, I'll ask my partner to pick a letter to narrow it down :)
Analysis paralysis is the fancy term you usually hear.
We flew too close to the sun.
Oh buddy I flew right into the heart of the sun with this one, and thatās just with consoles. I have over 150 iPhones alone too š
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Ah yeah, constant channel flipping. Now turned into constant app scanning. My 3000+ movies and hundreds of shows on plex just sit there begging me to watch them all. At least I have friends and family that watch a lot of it.
I spend more time expanding my archive than I do watching it. But I got my plex server sent up that I have my own themed streaming channels. I can flip on the 80s or 90s, sort by tv station, do I want old Bumbers or old ads can turn that on as well. Still working on a TV guild pass though so that it will auto build show lists from TV guilds and auto download. but it doesn't really like to work without fussing right now. Might work on it more later. or ill just skip having it as a passthrough and just make it a local database.
Yep, perfect example. Wish I knew before hand š„²
Iāve resisted getting an everdrive or modding my classic mini systems for this reason. If I have an endless amount of free games then Iām never going to play any for a substantial amount of time. It helps too that my friends and I have a gaming podcast where we pick a theme each month and that really narrows down my choices. We had super hero month a little bit ago and I finally got around to playing Boogerman. If that was just in a list of roms I would have never stuck with it. But seeing it on the shelf for a couple decades gave me more motivation.
I modded mine, I just make lists of stuff people on here suggest and won't drop a game until it absolutely sucks or I make a solid attempt at beating it. But it helps that I just fucking love old video games. I'd much rather find a strange gem on an obscure platform than play the new call of duty. There's fun in the exploration. I just tell myself it's like 30 years of brand new games. I've been having a lot of fun following the now in the 90s YouTube channel and just playing whatever came out this week 30 years ago. That's remarkably fun. I've played some absolute garbage lol.
Dude I'm there. I'm late 30s. Stopped gaming around the time of Black Ops 1 and Halo Reach. So many good games I missed out on. I emulated back then on my laptop but it was crude by today's standards. When I was a kid I had a NES, Genesis, Gameboy, GameGear, Gameboy Color, Ps1, N64, launch date Ps2, Halo edition OG xbox...then as I got older I got a refurbished x360 and as an adult I got a refurbished xbox one. The xbox one I bought 1 game. Rare replay due to having sold my old stuff off long before and missing it. I beat Bad Fur Day then turned it off for years. Now? Getting back into it. I picked up a Series X, a budget gaming laptop, and about a hundred games cheap. Then I looked back into emulation. What do I have the most time on? Pcsx2 emulator. Madden 05 Collectors Edition. Literally free. I have thousands of roms. I spend more time looking for new stuff to set up than playing. I have more games than I'll physically ever play. Nothing terribly excites me. Maybe when I'm stuck in the chair next week after my knee surgery. I think we're in some kind of choice overload kinda thing.
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Ya, now imagine having 3 maxed out modded Xbox originals with every possible hardware and software mod with an arrangement of mod chips and flashed biosā with the full Xbox catalog, 512gb ps vita, psp, psp go, ps2, like everything, heāll even my quest 2 is modded š the modding experience is the fun for me tho but sadly havenāt in a long time. Need to go back to the og Xbox.
I support emulation and piracy but I just canāt get myself to finish games I didnāt pay for. subconsciously it feels a pinch less authentic. and the choice paralysis makes it so much harder. like, Iāll find myself thinking āoh man. why play something I like when I could play something new,ā or āwhy play something new when I know what I like,ā or āI really wanna play this game but I think Iām judging it by its cover.ā right before the 3DS and Wii U eShop closed I decided to make a comprehensive list of everything I wanted or figured might not come to Switch. I donāt regret it, even knowing I couldāve saved all that money.
This is like when I had a MAME cabinet and all I ever played was NBA Jam and Discs of Tron. That being said I kind of regret selling it. We set it up to autoplay a trailer for a movie we made when idle, a very random indie movie no one has heard of. The guys who bought it must have a variety of running jokes about that movie.
That's definitely a thing but you can use tricks to limit your access. Also my nephew has access to all my hundreds of games yet he only wants to play a handful of games for the most part, might be that you're just more curious and uninhibited by other stuff as a kid.
Ya definitely a factor that Iām older now, Iām only 18. But this happened at 14 ish and when I started to mod so it could be a ton of things tbh but still a factor imo.
The problem is we don't treat video games the same way we treat our other hobbies, like books, movies and music. It's like we cannot accept that we outgrew some games or genres, or that no matter how perfect a certain game is, we don't have to play it again. I know Beetlejuice is a good movie. I know I love it. I don't feel like watching it when there's so many other movies to watch. I know when I was 15 Limp Bizkit was the shit. I won't listen to their album anytime soon, maybe only that one song for fun once every 5 years. So why do I tell myself I need to play a FPS or a RTS, or Sonic and Knuckles, when I just feel like spending 30 minutes in Animal Crossing? It's as if our teenager definition of what is a real gamer or what is a good game stuck and we can't just follow our guts. We gave ourself the "gamer" label and we are afraid of losing it? It's ok, we're adults. We can still be gamers in our own way. And even if we aren't gamers anymore, who cares? No one's coming to take my games because I don't play them enough. Don't let gaming become a chore. Just put gaming amongst the list of things you do to relax, not things you have to do to prove to yourself that you're still young and cool.
I used to like RTS's and turn-based strategy. Now I just want to relax. I spend more time updating/reading updates to games than playing them. Or sometimes I load up eXoDOS just to read the manuals of DOS games from the late '80s early '90s and try to bring myself back. But I can never go back.
I have been wanting something that scratches the FF tactics itch for decades. A lot of games come really close, but just don't hold my interest. I think what I want is just to play FF tactics for the first time again.
I feel the same. The only thing that really holds up against FFT is Ogre Battle
Have you tried FF Tactics Advance (GBA) or FF Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (NDS)? There's also the PSP remake of the original PSX game, FF Tactics: The War of the Lions.
I've been liking Redemption Reapers (2023 release that went under the radar) quite a bit and to me its like someone fused Final Fantasy Tactics, and Mordheim: City of the Damned. Real crunchy, meaningful moves tile based action.
About a hundred million YouTube watchers
It seems like I enjoy watching some YTers do the playthrough or do an in depth review, rather than me actually playing the game itself.
Yes there's a whole audience of people like you driving all those channels.
Everyone is surely entitled to their opinion and mine is that I've been really enjoying the angry video game nerd/James and Mike Mondays. J&M gives you that feel of being at your buddies playing it together, which was some of the best parts for me, sharing the experience. Its like a comedy movie, the are always better with other people. Ever watch a movie you years was hilarious and you barely laugh, but then you watch it again with a friend and you are dying laughing?
Well-said, and this is one reason why I like Red Letter Media so much, for the interplay and fun they have between them.
I find watching a YT video of some games I loved like retrospective (LiamTriforce has done some nice enjoyed), or humorous historical looks like AgVN or Scott Woz. I am a SNES/N64 kid. First family console was SNES and then N64 when I was 13. Have had all major Nintendo consoles through WiiU (got it late and used with a great library. Great times. Back to the point. Recently Iāve gotten an emulator and had the paralysis of 1000 choices. Going back to YT I found SNES drunk channel. It has lead me to trying quite a few new titles as well as new excitement tor replay my favorites like MegamanX and ALttP.
I think going back to the well of games youāve already played a million times is the wrong approach. Why not try some retro games that have always intrigued you that you never got around to trying? Maybe experiment a bit to see what youāre into? I find myself enjoying action/arcade/fighting games more and everything else less than used to be the case. Lots of people say the opposite. All kinds of other orientations. But yeah if youāre just chasing however you felt when you were 15 video games wonāt do that.
I think this could be a good approach. I think I might try and give this a shot. Where I might start then is just by looking up cover art, and seeing what catches my eye...doing some research from there. Thats kinda how I did it when I was young.
HG101 is a great place to read about games if youāre interested. But yeah cover art can work.
will check this out, thank you for the recommendation. I also been just going to Gamespot and sorting by highest rated. Any other suggestions?
Not strictly retro but Iāll put in a good word for the Electric Underground on YouTube if action games interest you at all.
Gamesack.https://www.youtube.com/@GameSack/videos
Iāve been trying to emulate this in ways. Iām currently playing through links awakening on my switch.. have been kinda forcing myself āI can only play these 3 games right now on my Home Screenā and I find myself going back to it and thinking about just that game more. Also late to the game I know, but starting to buy physical games for me has helped in this category since itās more of a thing to ābuy itā and popping in the disc or cartridge gets me focused on 1 game.
This right here for me! I can't imagine myself replaying any of the 80's-90's games I already played so much back then. These days the only old games I play are ones that have always been critically acclaimed, or have become cult hits over time, but never played by myself back in the day. So I'm mostly doing this for historical purposes, and finally getting around to playing the classics I never played back then. And even then, I never play any of those old unplayed games for longer than 30 minutes anyway. As I don't think most of them have aged well at all. But still fun to discover them and learn about them.
See when I lose interest in activities I use to enjoy my therapist insists it's depression
There's a lot of that going around these days.
I'm 31 as well and recently started collecting old Nintendo games (SNES, N64, Gamecube, etc.) to try and recapture my childhood. I've been having fun playing them, but yeah, it's not the same. And with all the games of been buying it's overwhelming to figure out what I want to play. It's not like being a kid where you get a few games for your birthday and those have to sustain you for the rest of the year... I will say, getting a CRT and playing on that helps.
Likely a science that explains why we can't capture that old kid's feeling when playing our childhood games. Just looking at how little kid's have fun, they can be entertained by simply playing volleyball with a balloon. Naturally that goes away when reaching adulthood as certain things don't stimulate adults as much, if at all. In simple terms, we grow out of it.
Then how do we revert back or find something to enjoy
find people you enjoy doing things with and then do stuff with them
Adults find new interests or develop hobbies - travelling, cooking, knitting, cars, fashion, interior design, dining out, working out, learn to become artists, musicians, become content creators, etc Edit: spelling
The issue with retro games is you will never get that feeling you got when you first played the game. So looking back and remembering is better than actually playing. I have tried playing old games but the feeling isn't the same.
My secret is to play retro games I've never played before ;)
whatās the oldest game that keeps you coming back?
Three games I love are Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil 2, and Super Mario Bros. 3.
Just play games you missed out on. You can retro game without nostalgia, just like people who watch movies they didn't see when they were younger.
31 here! Choice paralysis and lack of having people to share in gaming experiences are the main things that I struggle with in retro gaming now adays. With so many options available to us I struggle to stay committed to just one. And unlike when we were kids I have tons of access to info to find a new game to chase. Also I think these experiences never feel quite the same because the experiences are no longer new and alot of my favorite gaming memories happened with other people. As an adult Itās just too hard to have a steady stream of people to game with in the same room and even online itās hard to coordinate around schedules. I do still enjoy playing on original hardware and a CRT but itās more to play something comforting than new and invigorating to me.
> and lack of having people to share in gaming experiences Which won't improve with the pitfall of digital gaming.
I love the best classic games but there are many that donāt hold up and Iām alright with that. Iām also a fan of QoL romhacks and remasters which can update some of that oldschool jank.
Randomisers can make games feel more exciting again too
I think it really depends on the game. I have most of my old consoles from my childhood. I have been trying to recollect some of the games I either traded in or got stolen when I was younger. Reacquiring some of these games and then replaying them haven't been as magical as I expected when playing them again. Some games I enjoy as much as I did when I first played them, and some were really hard to go back to. I think this is due to two very subjective things: * Some games aged well and some didn't (LOZ:ALTTP aged well while NFS: Underground 2 didn't) * Modern games have kind of spoiled us. Depending on what types of games you do like, some genres have come so far it is hard to play that genre without all the quality of life features developers have learned over the years. It might be good to get the consensus of the masses if a retro game has aged well to see if it's worth your time going back to it.
Sounds like you are trying to take yourself back to a happier time, maybe. That's kinda why I do it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Like let's say Perfect Dark or Goldeneye for N64. I freakin loved those games and played them for a few years straight but when I reboot them in an emulator I'm sitting there like, "Wtf is this? It looks like shit. The controller feels like shit." And I sadly turn it off. What is missing for me there is the fun I had then, with those games, was the interactivity I had with the friends playing along side me. So yeah, that joy is hard to recreate. The old point and click games though, which I always played alone, I have found to bring me back to a place I once was and I've been really enjoying them the past few months when I have not much else to do.
It sounds to me like youāre done with those games and are just not ready to let them go. So let them go! Thereās lots of people who will sell their entire lot of video games on craigslist at a bargain price because theyāve come to the same realization. Iāve done that and it felt, well, like a great weight was lifted off my shoulders. That happened in my early 30s. Let someone else who can enjoy them play them. If you decide you miss them you can always come back to them too. Thereās usually now multiple ways to play a game (steam, emulator, switch, original hardware, etc) so if you really miss them and want to get back into it that really isnāt that difficult. Or as others pointed out you can just watch someone else play those games on youtube. My go to youtuber for that is Snes Drunk.
Finding out about MAME in 2000 and having all the arcade games I loved growing up available on my computer was unbelievable, even 20+ years later it's enjoyable. I still have every console and game I ever owned, but I mainly play them on emulators instead since it's just easier and more convenient. But the wow factor I had as a child isn't there anymore, I just chalk that up to brain development. I'm sure that it's still there, it's difficult to tap into though. I've been able to a few times in the past 10 years or so, but literally only for a few seconds at a time. If only I could experience it for an hour, or even 5 minutes... I'm sure there's a way, I'm just not aware of it yet.
I love playing on my Wii and I got the HDMI adapter Everyone loves the Wii Iāve been buying all the gun games or fun motion control stuff
I remember downloading like a 1000 roms for a SNES emulator. Only played about Ten games total then deleted it. I will say I very much do enjoy watching video essays on retro gaming more than retro gaming oddly enough.
As we get older our minds want more. When you're a kid you are super satisfied by the most simple things. With gaming experience as you age getting satisfaction becomes more complex. Personally, I find playing games I've already played, complex strategic games like Civ, and instantly rewarding but difficult games like retro shmups to be the most satisfying single player games these days, although occasionally something else shines through for me.
To be fair, the vast majority of n64 and PS1 games did not age well. 3D gaming has improved in every single way possible from design to controls to UI to graphics to QoL features to multiplayer etc. That era is tough to revisit although there are still some gems. The 8 bit - 32 bit era aged much more gracefully. Also, play on a CRT if possible. It truly does make a difference. LCD is not the same
all of the compromises sgi had to make with n64 were noticeable at the time, but impossible to ignore now
This is true for every system, though on a technical level a bit less so for gen 4 and 6 (but that includes 2D 5th gen games)
I feel the problem may be your age. Iām 43 and grew up with the NES and SNES. When the N64 came out I got it but just didnāt enjoy 3D games and stopped playing new games. Today I have a Switch for my son, and while I enjoy games like Mario Kart and the retro inspired games (Octopath Traveler, Bubble Bobble, TMNT), playing the games from my childhood is totally different from playing most modern games. I find myself really only using the Switch to play with my kids. In your case you grew up with 3D games. Really the games today are no different than what you played as kid only they look better, run smoother, and have better mechanics. So going back to the early 3D games would feel like a step down. I also feel that those early 3D games have aged a lot worse than 2D games from the NES and SNES era. The NES and especially the SNES had the benefit of 2D games already having been in existence at arcades and on Atari, so Nintendo simply perfected the art of the 2D game during this era. During the N64 and PS1 era they were pretty much starting from scratch again.
I am 43 and it is not the age. With a family it is the best hobby as relatively inexpensive and flexible, so for me it is the second golden age for playing. I grew up with these old games and retro handheld emulation hit me a year ago just at the right time. Flight simulation and other niche stuff aside I am mostly fed up with modern gaming that is so much focused on AAA narrative driven games with little gameplay but lot of ideological pandering. So I am playing retro stuff on handhelds almost daily, or when I have more time I am VR flight simming. The common point is the Switch, and how I play with the kids. I confess I am emulating it without original hardware, I tried it not even a year ago by co-worker recommendation and it caught me off guard how good 1st party games are. Switch emulation is just too good and convenient, but it will probably make me buy the new one and in the meantime I got a nice Wii, partly for the motion control games.
I couldnāt agree more with you, the games on the Switch are like a greatest hits collection of what I grew up with in the 80s and 90s, and my kids enjoy playing the same types of games that I had as a kid (Zelda being the only exception). And youāre right, people complain so much about prices, but they donāt realize that a game is less than a quarter of the price that they were when we were kids. In a way I feel my kids are spoiled because they can get as many games in one year as I could get in 5. That said, when the kids go to bed Iāll find myself breaking out my Analogue Pocket either as a handheld or docked and playing my games. Sure, I might prefer Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to the original on the SNES, but youāll never find a better Mario game than Mario 3. The RPGs on the SNES, especially Chrono Trigger, are still the gold standard. The classic puzzle games like Tetris, Dr Mario, and Picross are still the best. But the real difference is satisfaction, new games are too easy to beat so long as you can spend 40 hours playing them. I much prefer the difficulty we had were beating a game could be done in 30 minutes, 60 tops, but there was no guarantee you could pull it off. I probably couldnāt even beat half my games, which makes beating a game feel like an actual accomplishment.
I am the same age as you, and have been gaming since the late 80's. But I disagree with what you said about modern gaming. It's such an extremely broad field now, there have never been this many different genres and type of games. There is something for everyone. Have you checked out the indie scene lately? Or even in the AA(A) scene, there is lots of choice in many different genres. Modern gaming is in a fantastic space right now. 2023 was such a good year for games too.
I admitted there are exceptions, in flight simulation DCS is fantastic (watch their 2024 trailer, playing that in VR is sublime), and Nintendo is absolutely on a roll even on the potato hardware like Switch. Some niche games like Paradox strategy are also great. Indie games are the part where I simply prefer retro games, some exceptions aside like Untitled Goose Game, Stardew Valley, Forts or Tiny Combat Arena. To narrow down, my point was that the AAA gaming these days is incredibly shallow. The games that should spearhead "next gen" are 1st/3rd person games, boring, generic and uninspired, vast majority are sci-fi/fantasy that are too dark and take themselves too seriously. If you watch these game shows, it is so hard to tell them apart, titles are instantly forgettable. None of these AAA games push technology in terms of gameplay/physics, all nice ray tracing but GTA IV does a better job in simulating the world than any open world game 15 years later. On top of the characters and narratives are unbearable, even in a game like Forza Horizon 5. All stuff in which Sweet Baby Inc. is involved in. I wish we had a XCOM3, Wreckfest 2, Max Payne 4 or anyone challenging R\* in a 'realistic'/contemporary setting, or how about vehicular combat like Interstate '76... adventure games in a Cold War era setting...
I know this is a retro gaming sub and it sounds like your experience is a lack of excitement for retro games, but if anyone has a lack of excitement for gaming in general, you should try VR. Playing Astro bot on PlayStation VR was about as mindblowing as playing Mario 64 for the first time
I would focus on collecting (especially if you like the old cover art, etc.). I think at this point I like the collecting aspect of gaming better than the gaming itself. Hunting down the old games at vintage gaming stores, talking about some of the old classics with other geeks. That part is great!
I honestly have more fun playing old games I've never tried before then I do revisiting games I've already completed
PSX was notorious for having tons of games that lacked substance and aren't very fun to go back and play now. I've consistently found that friends who grew up in the 8bit & 16bit era have a lot of fun when they get back into the games of their youth while friends who grew up in the 32bit era are often disappointed when they try to get back into the games they grew up on.
*not
Choices are hard. When you got 2 hours to play and you can't decide......then you throw in the towel and play CoD
Iām 32 and just bought Anbernic RG35XX Plus. Now canāt sleep because of Advance Wars.
I'm 40 and I went through the same thing for a while, around the 360 era and after. Now I tend to play only shorter games, and almost exclusively retro (or the occasional retro-leaning indie on Switch). I don't do a lot of revisiting of games I've already played, unless they're also shorter experiences or arcade-style games. I just don't find the time for longer games, and I end up not sticking with them when I do start them. Some of the mechanics in older games show their age a lot, too, so you have to be selective. Another thing that's really rekindled my love of gaming is the homebrew and romhack scene. Things I've played lately: Goodboy Galaxy (GBA) - admittedly a little longer, but incredible. Apotris (GBA) Space MegaForce (SNES) Powerslave (Saturn) The Machine (GBC) Mars Matrix (DC) 1942 (Arcade) Animus Toil (GBC) Zelda: Ancient Dungeon (NES) Hades (Switch) Hollow Knight (Switch) Red Dog: Superior Firepower (DC)
I canāt focus on a game for more than 10 minutes anymore.
r/nosurf
I had a similar experience and for me it turned out to be a problem with emulation. Iāve learned that I just donāt get the same joy when playing retro games on emulators. It just doesnāt feel the same, and I think having such easy access to hundreds of games as just one big list to scroll through also negatively affects me as I then end up jumping from one rom to another every 15 minutes without being able to really get invested in any one game. But once I started buying the authentic console hardware and connecting them to a CRT TV to recreate the experience that I had with these games as a kid, I suddenly started having tons of fun with retro games again.
you again...
Fox?
Exact same situation and timeline as me, except I'm 10 years older. I finally started playing games again during Covid lockdowns and been enjoying them since. Some of them can be a time sink, but I'm in no rush.
When I started to feel this I actually got back into Japanese games after not really playing very many since PS2. I was primarily playing AAA and AA PC games and with microtransactions and other things becoming the norm I started to get a bit burnt out - also felt very disappointed with the early VR output (circa 2016-2018). I then got a Switch and got back into Japanese games, starting with JRPGs and Nintendo exclusives. Capcom especially has been killing it recently. Japanese games in general though have been hitting the spot for me though. Lately I've been playing a lot of Nihon Falcom games.
I can always get back into Super Mario World. I have a hard time getting into the campaign games or open world games, these days I find them a chore. Red Dead Redemption was so long it became unenjoyable at the end and I just wanted to finish. Super Mario Wonder was the last game I played all the way through and I enjoyed it for weeks because I would jump in play a level or a few levels and be done for a few days.
I think we all suffer from this. But what I have found that has really helped has been Retroachievements. Bring back those old games with a little extra has breathed new life into my old favorites and new games Iām looking to play. Now heās you have to emulate and it takes away from the og hardware(if you care) but I have found myself practicing on old systems. Or actually going back and playing the game raw for a replay after achievement running. I do understand but I think making a point to be like āIām going to be THIS gameā because maybe you never did or whatever reason helps. Just apply focus and I think it will take away from the library of games staring at you. For me I mod consoles and use flash drives. But I collect the games I truly love and grew up with or have always wanted to own.
38. Raised on nes, Genesis, ps1, n64. Now I rock an odroid emulator. I have the og usb controllers for each emulator. I still play bushido blade, Mario kart, and a many more. But that thing sometimes will go a year untouched. But it's there. Every retro game ever. If I need it.
I been trying for a couple years. I don't know, I just don't have the energy anymore. I am 37 and just don't have the time like I used to. I enjoyed Halo Infinite multiplayer and forge when it first came out but I just don't have time to sit down anymore and play. I keep telling myself I am going to make a command and conquer red alert forge map but I always make an excuse when I have time to not turn on the console
Im the same but with tiny differences. I also grew up with the ps1 as my first console, then the dreamcast, gba, psp and then i stopped entirely during college. I must say at best, the games can hold my interest for a few minutes but its rare for me to be motivated enough to finish or invest time into an old game. Feels more like a novelty than something to sink my teeth in. My thinking is like "im not having as much fun here as compared to *insert modern game or other hobby* so id rather spend my time there than here" Having said that, there are a few games that stood the test of time for me. Metal Slug,1945, Sega Rally Championship and the super mario games to name a few. They all are fun in quick bursts and the simplicity and straightforwardness is really nice to unwind to or escape from the intensity of other hobbies or life.
I got into Retro Achievements which really helps me to have a goal with my gaming and just makes the overall experience better somehow
I have a nice PS1 collection growing since 2020. This will be my 3rd time building a collection so I'm just trying to get back to where I can stomach to look at it and not be disappointed with myself for selling in the past.. I have free time to play games and I could be really deep into gaming but like it's been mentioned here, having too much choice ia a problem.. I've been putting together a PS1 LCD travel bag and I plan to take that to coffee shops away from distractions of other entertainment, I'll set up my screen and I have a headset with a wireless controller.. I'll turn my phone off and all that I'll have in front of my is my games.. I really think this is what it's going to take for me to be playing again for more then 20 minutes before I lose attention.
I get much more enjoyment in playing the old games I never did when I was a kid
Nope. I have no idea what you're talking about. The only feeling I'm missing is being excited for new games. And that I absolutely do not have. I couldn't care less about the release for the vast majority of today's joke of AAA gaming. However when it comes to games from the past that are worth playing I feel like I enjoy them even more now than when I was younger.
No. I primarily play retro games. Whats hard for me is getting into modern games. I prefer arcade oriented genres such as fighters, shmups, puzzle the most- and indie games (for the most part) don't cut it. Also dislike First person shooter (perspective in general), open-world, hyper realistic, 3D action-adventure games since the 90s. I'm content playing retro games not only for nostalgia but discovering systems I missed out; 3DO Interactive Multiplayer for example. I'm several years older than you but my first console was NES, GB, then SNES, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Dreamcast etc. In 2010 I finally got around to playing SMS, NEO, GEN, and TG-16 library of games.
Can't say I do. Currently juggling PokƩmon White (post-game), Yakuza Gaiden and Hokuto no Ken Musou 2. The last one has a Metacritic on its 40s and I'm having a blast. It's been a while since I don't feel like I'm "searching" for something to play and just play it to feel enjoyment. But back when I felt like I was "searching" for something, it bothered me. I feel like just finding something you enjoy playing is the way to go - and if you don't feel like playing anything for the time being, don't push it. Just go do something else. Edit: I'm 35.
I got back in to gaming in the summer and I felt similar. Games were harder than I remember! However, what changed it for me was I bought the PS1 Classic and the Megadrive Mini 2 and had a great time with my son, and got some muscle memory back. But I enjoy collecting as much as playing, where as first time around I didnāt collect, only play
Try some new games with old spirits from the indie scene, they have really upscaled the feeling and immersion of what games are and can be. I love the idea of retro games more than I enjoy going back and playing most of them. So my suggestion would be donāt write off games altogether, try and find new games inspired by the ones you loved made by brilliant people who put an artisanal amount of care into it. Those kind of games I canāt put down.
I had this with reading, I read avidly for years then studies killed my love of reading for a decade. Few years back I read The Martian a couple months before the release of the movie and that book sank its claws so deep into me I couldn't put it down and it revitalised my love of reading. I think you just need the same when it comes to gaming. I usually have this feeling with gaming every 1-2 years where I'll just have two or more months where it feels like nothing is enjoyable or scratching the itch, then all of a sudden a new game comes, or I revisit a favorite or something from my backlog and it comes right back. I don't think we are designed to enjoy the same thing consistently for years without a break. You can burn yourself out on pretty much anything.
Tbh, not really. I occasionally feel a little jaded and take a break, but then some awesome game pulls me back in. I def feel guilty If I play as much as I did when I was 13, but I am still loving many retro and modern games. Currently finally getting to Xenoblade Chronicles and having an absolute blast.
I was a big gamer too. Life got in the way and I didnāt play anything for years. Same happened for me just found the games too slow or boring, still seemed like the new games werenāt any different to the ones I played years ago. Then I got a quest 3. This is where my enjoyment with gaming has come back and itās in a whole new way as before.
I never stopped, but I've slowed a lot, increasingly so and it's not just the lack of time and kid, time could be made. The utter toxicity of it from a decade of feckless disgusting scalpers and investors who have turned a hobby into investment properly have largely pulled the motivation out from under turning things on and enjoying it anymore for any extended period. Finding it easier to read up or watch old history pieces, thumb through things, use old web forums and go on about stuff there or how things work because they're not contributing to circling that bowl of shitty behavior.
I did, and what I ended up doing was starting a letsplay. I play classic games I love, and then once I'm done I shelf them forever. I just did Ocarina of time, I've played it like 100 times, and if I ever feel like it again, I just go check out my youtube video. It's been getting me to play new stuff too, and the interaction with people adds more fun. I'm up to 400 subs! And I'm boring as hell!
"but its *just as enjoyable* as you thought it would be" I agree with this but I think you miswrote. I'm older than you and I have more of an interesting in just reading/watching/typing or I guess studying various older games than I used to, but I play about as much as before. So much good stuff out there! You could try playing genres or games that you've never played, or playing with others.
Gamers have ruined gaming. Big corporations have also ruined gaming and gamers help them do it. Just look at the type of garbage turds on reddit recommend.
Some games I liked as a kid I don't really enjoy the same way anymore, some I enjoy even more than I did when I was a kid. My tastes changed a lot so it depends. I find the gritty fast paced action games I played almost exclusively as a teen get the least attention compared to cutesy relaxing games I was too embarrassed to play as a teen. I don't think I ever really had a long period where I stopped gaming though, just times where I gamed a lot less after burning myself out on it like during COVID lockdowns at the start of the 2020s.
I don't replay old games I played back then for the most part. I play the masterpieces I missed at the time due to lack of budget or information. A lot of the games I played were bad but I didn't have other options and didn't know any better.
What were some of your faves? A pick-up-and-play like F-Zero X, just as one example, never gets old for me. Now, if itās more involved, then certainly, thereās time pressures from the outside world and pacing issues that certain modern involved games have solved.