What keeps you gaming?

[Revan]

They're cool, and a brilliant way to melt stress and relax with because of the fun factor. Nothing better than making a cup of tea (British, sorry) on a chill Sunday morning and simply mowing down some zombies ganados in RE4 with a mine thrower for 2-3 hours before getting on with the rest of the day.

I'm not an omnivorous gamer by any means. I prefer to own a small collection of them consisting of my absolute, diehard favourites and only buy about 1-2 new games per year which really 'pop' for me according to my taste. That's how I've rolled for a while so I don't think anything has changed much. I did use to eat up anything, including popular titles which didn't interest me but I felt compelled to play because of their following, which I don't do anymore. I now prefer to stick with the cream of the crop that I know I'll return to again-and-again.

 

[pilman]

I grew up a gamer in the era of adventure games point and click of the 90s and with games like doom, wolfenstein, quake, command and conquer, starcraft, warcraft, tomb raider, duke nukem, halflife, tekken, street fighter etc.

As I became older and started working full time, ended up married and had a son, my time has been more limited and I simply find myself playing less titles but taking my time and enjoying them more. The last couple of years, I had played Civilization V, I played Tropico, more indie games that are shorter like subnautica, kona, solaris, some new adventure games like broken sword, a new beginning, the pillars of the earth, I played max payne 3, sleeping dogs, wolfenstein the new order, the new doom, yakuza 0, shenmue I & II, and most time spent on kingdom come deliverance which all these games i played on and off over the last couple of years.

 

[Dietsoap]

I’m aware most of us are past high school age and are likely in our thirties on average, and I know some of us are in our forties. At one point, I thought I’d grow out of gaming and I yes and no have. I largely still enjoy retro games, and I am casually into modern games. Most of our folks probably thought we’d grow out of it, and we haven’t, I just want to know why?

From my experience, it represents many memories, but mostly with how I bonded with my youngest brother, who is of the autism spectrum. We didn’t understand the condition as we do now, and he is still verbally limited and isn’t like the savants you see in pop culture. He didn’t really start talking until he was in kindergarten, and even today, he can only use simple sentences and you have to use simple sentences with him along with pictures and gesture.

But if there is one thing that has bonded us, it is most certainly gaming. He’s practically Jimmy from The Wizard. He can beat the NES Ninja Turtles game and can make quick work of Mike Tyson in Punch-Out. Granted it took him hours to master, but at 31, he still enjoys largely playing anything between the 8-bit and 16-bit eras. I feel if it wasn’t for gaming, my family and I wouldn’t get to know his true personality and talents well. He also likes to watch episodes of Nick Arcade and if there’s a game that interets him from that show, he’ll ask me or my other younger brother to get him a copy. Just the other day, I got him El Viento and can’t wait to give it to him.

Last, if there is anything that keeps me gaming. It just keeps me from going insane. I work long and hard and need time to wind down. I need gaming to keep me into another world and do destructive and/or constructive stuff. It keeps my mind active in a different way. Yes, adulting is hard, but sometimes you need to be in touch with your inner child to stay grounded.

I'm not much of a sap, but I have to say that was a really sweet story. I'm happy for you and your brother to be able to bond in this way.

Anyways, I just find them fun. That feeling of action and direct control beyond your body is like nothing else aside from maybe driving cars (which is obviously a lot more expensive). I guess I'm like a lot of other people here though in that I have a sort of preference for "retro" stuff. Even the newer stuff I like seems to have an arcadey core or something along those lines.

Personally, I don't really like the "retro" label for a lot of this stuff since I don't consider late 80s and 90s all that retro, but I guess that's just part of getting old lmao.

 

[Nathanial Essex]

The story. I have pretty much given up on multiplayer games since I got a PS3 (when MGS4 came out). I used to play the likes of Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Halo, FIFA and others quite often but don't bother now. I literally have 4 friends on my PS4 list and only play with my brother on specific games. The cost of gaming and bad industry practices means that I primarily by AAA games like Red Dead as I can't afford to gamble on other games which I may not like.

It is my main form of entertainment and I do miss the days when life was a little more care free and I could dedicate entire weeks to a game and enjoy playing and meeting with random players online.

 

[Jeff]

At 35 I seem to not have the same quickness and motor skills sharpness I did half my lifetime ago. What keeps me coming back are games that tell a great story that you feel connected to the character unlike any movie can because you are involved in his/her actions. I like games like Last of Us and RDR2, and of course, Shenmue. Script writing and acting are starting to truly rival movies now.

 

[Kiba]

Having nothing else to do. Or having something important I should be doing.

At 35 I seem to not have the same quickness and motor skills sharpness I did half my lifetime ago. What keeps me coming back are games that tell a great story that you feel connected to the character unlike any movie can because you are involved in his/her actions. I like games like Last of Us and RDR2, and of course, Shenmue. Script writing and acting are starting to truly rival movies now.

And some ways dramatically exceed films in terms of Bresson/Tarkovsky-like subtlety intensified by interactivity, such as, if I were think of a few examples off the top of my head -- Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Hollow Knight, To the Moon....