Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Tales of an Aging Gamer: Why Don’t I Pick up a Controller as Often as I Used to?

posted by martyb on Monday January 07 2019, @07:43PM   Printer-friendly
from the Figured-it-out dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

ArsTechnica:

Gaming was like breathing. It was the biggest part of my life as a teenager, one of my priorities as a college student, and eventually one of my most expensive “hobbies” as a young professional.

Then all of a sudden, after thousands of hours spent playing across genres and platforms, boredom hit me hard for the very first time in my early thirties. Some of my favorite games soon gave me the impression of being terribly long. I couldn’t help but notice all the repeating tropes and similarities in game design between franchises.

I figured it was just a matter of time before I found the right game to stimulate my interest again, but time continued to go by and nothing changed.

Is it that games have failed to innovate, or that real life is ultimately more engaging?

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Tales of an Aging Gamer: Why Don’t I Pick up a Controller as Often as I Used to? | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 146 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday January 10 2019, @11:32PM (1 child)

    by Freeman (732) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 10 2019, @11:32PM (#784722) Journal

    What you've described is what I would call a pretty decent system. What Google Play and the iTunes Store have is a hive of Scum and Villainy, so to speak. With Apple's offering being slightly less scummy. I have purchased a game or two on mobile that were reasonable, 1 time purchases. Android / iOS, etc, gaming is a semi-passable affair in general. Nintendo's handheld is designed for gaming. It's not overly priced, has lots of fun games, and you won't be terribly upset when your nephew tosses it on the ground. It's also, one of the last kid friendly ecosystems. Kids don't need to be able to run up a $500 bill on a game. It's illegal for a 5 year old kid to walk into a Casino and play a game. Loot boxes, virtual money for virtual items, etc, should be treated exactly the same. Much the same addictive traits as gambling, but without the extremely tiny possibility of a pay-out. Which actually makes letting your 5 year old kid gamble, the more responsible thing to do.

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   2  

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Pino P on Friday January 11 2019, @04:54AM

    by Pino P (4721) on Friday January 11 2019, @04:54AM (#784893) Journal

    Having "lots of fun games" doesn't help when the particular indie game that a friend recommended isn't ported quite yet because the developer is prioritizing its resources, and you instead see this on the buy page.

    PC with GNU/Linux or Windows
    Buy on Itch.io
    Android phones and tablets
    Buy on Google Play | Buy on Amazon Appstore
    macOS, iPhone, iPad
    Join the mailing list to be the first to know when the preorder campaign begins.
    Other platforms
    We are seeking a publisher. If you represent a licensed publisher on another platform and are interested in business opportunities:
    Send us a message