eXcentris

The two fastest growing "gamer" segments are women and people over 50. So no, people won't be "growing out" of video games, quite the contrary.

Matthew Chmiel

My wife keeps telling me, "You're going to be 30 soon, shouldn't you start getting out of video games?" And I follow it up by telling her to go fuck herself and to keep playing her Neopets.



At 27 and working anywhere from 40-50 hours a minimum a week, video games are my way to unwind. While I'm married, my wife and I don't plan on having children for a multitude of reasons. One week, I could devote anywhere from 20-30 hours a week to gaming. Another, next to nothing.

Breakfast with Girls

Same here. I still do at times, rarely... but I get to thinking about all the time I'm wasting. "I should really get to that thing I need to do...", "there's that book I wanted to read...", etc.

When I was younger, even in college, I wanted to maximize my money and would read reviews before buying a game because I wanted to make sure it would last awhile. I tended to play a lot of Japanese RPGs for this reason.

Now it's exactly the opposite. I prefer short games because there's a shorter commitment; I can get in and get out. If a game is longer than 20-30 hours it really has to be "worth it" for me to invest that kind of time.

Matthew Chmiel

I'm just a Jew and unless it's a game that I need on street date (like Call of Duty), I just wait for the eventual price drop. I do the same for any type of physical media, let it be video games, Blu-rays, whatever. Unless it's a limited edition or I need it right this instant, it can wait.

I picked up Borderlands 2 on street date (granted, on sale) and I just finished the game this week. I want to buy the content add-on pack or season pass, but I'm just waiting for a sale at this point. Thankfully, Major Nelson mentioned Borderlands 2 will be one of the titles on sale during the Marketplace sale next week... so here's hoping the DLC will be too.

I picked up Far Cry 3 for $29.99 shortly after release and I've still maybe only played an hour of the game. It's $19.99 this upcoming week at Best Buy, and I could've saved $10.

ltrain

My wife would love it if one day I "grew out" of playing video games, but I don't see it happening anytime soon. I'll be 36 this fall and still enjoy playing games regularly, especially with how far the technology has come in the past 30 years. I grew up playing in the arcades in the 80's and 90's along with Atari, Intellivision, Nintendo, etc. and I haven't regretted it yet!

We don't have any kids yet so things may change when I hit that milestone...

Pizza

Yes. I did so a long time ago.

atrium

Please explain this phenomena.

Are there no games that interest you any longer (feel that the industry has gotten stale)? Or is it a time or money issue?

orangecrush

That is exactly how I feel.

Pizza

I lost interest. I was madly hooked when I was younger but I grew up on the short and sweet style video games rather than the ones that take a serious time commitment. I got into them for a short bit, such as Metroid, but it was too much work finding cheats to try and finish a game.
I'll still occasionally play a game, but I don't even really like the old short ones anymore either. My wife loves them, especially the ones for the phone such as Sugar Crush and Marvel War of Heroes. I enjoyed Draw Something for awhile but I am an artist.

orangecrush

For a point of reference, I am 32, have 4 kids and will be married 10 years in August. Video games are by far my favorite pass time and hobby. But, over the course of the last year or so I have been cutting way back on the time I spend gaming. I came to realize that I wanted to be much more intentional with my time and focus on being a good dad and husband. I have about 4 hours a night during the week to eat and spend time with my family. So, I only really game a couple of hours a week any more. I also find that as I get older I am more satisfied/fulfilled by doing, for lack of a better word, productive things with my limited time.

story

I was thinking about this earlier today, in fact. I think I'll play video games so long as I have interest, time, and the scratch to buy hardware/software. That said, I know I'll probably play less as the people I enjoy playing with the most start to slow down or go away, as well as the games I like the most having their servers get shut down (BFBC2 for PS3, for example). I also think that if I am blessed with many years of life there will come a point when my mind or hands won't be able to play games like I used to and I'll have to stop.

foxdvd

I am a gamer for life...it even says so under my name.

stingermck

Maybe one day. I think I like the idea of video games more than the idea of actually playing them.

I still enjoy when I play, but the time decreases each year. 34 here btw.

Trevor

I doubt it, although the amount and type of gaming I do changes frequently.

I started with a Pong system, then one of the first Atari 2600s. I played hours a day at times, collected them obsessively, made it on to the GamePro TV sow with a high score, subscribed to all the mags, built my own PCs for gaming, etc. Gaming was a primary hobby from age 10 to age 45, though I spent less time on it the more I dated.

Free time changes drastically when you get married. I used to occasionally spend entire weeks doing nothing but game, eat, and sleep. But the past two years I don't think I've gamed for more than an hour at a time. I still get in 5-10 hours a week, but it's 10 minutes here and there throughout the day on my iPad.

I still buy the occasional Xbox game, thinking I'll get back to smaller gaming binges, but I'm not positive that will happen.

mhg83

Marriage sounds great!

JTH182

Haha, no kidding right? I think some of these wives better hope you guys don't outgrow THEM!

nodeerforamonth

Nope! I'm 46 and started with Pong and never stopped or slowed down.

kd5

I'm 57 and still play from time to time. Even though it's only Super Nintendo and PSOne, the games I own are fun to lose myself in sometimes. I worry that I might be wasting time I should be spending with my wife but she assures me the little bit of time I spend playing doesn't bother her. Working 2 jobs, I don't have alot of free time anymore, she understands my need to unwind from time to time. Makes me love her even more knowing she supports me like that.

Mok

I just turned 42 and still love to game, I have noticed my gaming time changed. No way could I play for more than 2 hours. I remember playing oblivion for 8 hours straight, no way I could do that nowadays.

RichC2

Also, fwiw, gaming is a relatively inexpensive hobby (seriously, $400 up front for something that should last 6 years or so, $60/game, as long as you don't go crazy with buying games). So it's actually a benefit if it keeps you sane.

I say that as I've gotten older and tried plenty of hobbies, they're all expensive as fuck (fuel for boating, golf clubs + rounds of golf + beer, snowboarding day lift tickets are generally close to $100/day + travel, skydiving is absurd (lets say $8000 start up, $125/day after that), scuba has a ton of gear plus boat use, surfing has a $500 start-up fee and is weather and location dependent, kayaks cost money, cars 'nuff said, racing, etc; )

I used to say I had videogame ADHD, but I think I may just have ADHD, period.

K&AJones

Thank God I'm not alone....I'm not working two jobs however but the wife supports me playing games. When she sees me playing she'll always ask quitly if I'm online playing with friends. Of course she always smiles and laughs when she see's our grandson over playing because he gets so animated and vocal. She doesn't mind because I'm home and safe instead of blowing money at bars or stripclubs with co-workers. At home, with the wife, grandson on weekends and online frinds...priceless.

sven

I've definitely lost interest but I don't think I've "grown out" of gaming. I'm still as immature as ever.

Deadman31

I dont think I have grown out of gaming as much as the consoles have kind of lost me nowadays. I just want to turn on the system and play a game but first there is an system update to download, then game installs then DLC so you arent even getting the full game. Not to mention a game will come out and four different stores will have different exclusives and its all just a bunch of extra crap I dont really want in a system.

LosingMyMind

Grow out? Probably not. But burnt out, definitely yes. It happens a lot. This is probably the longest I've gone without feeling burnt out. About a year.

mattysemo247

I don't see myself ever "growing out" of video games. But as I do get older, they become less and less part of my daily life and activity. Like others have already said, with a wife, two kids, a full time job, and a house to maintain, the time just isn't there like it used to be. The one thing that I have found myself doing is just being involved with the culture more. It's easier to read up on more things, keep track of what's going on in the industry, and listen to podcasts than ever before. So while I might not be able to play as much, I feel that I am more involved and informed then I have been able to in the past.