OldBoy

I'm talking after maybe taking a long hiatus, respite if you will from playing for one reason or another. That one game that got you itching to play again...

I know many of you play continuously, but there might have been a time (wedding, birth of child, school, work, etc...) that you just couldn't play for an extended time or simply was uninterested in playing (like i was) and then there was one game that gave you back the "itch".

I haven't played a game for at least 8 months and for no particular reason, but because I just didn't feel like it, didn't have that urge or desire to pop in and play. I have games that I have never played and that I do wish to play in the future, but just didn't.

I bought the new South Park game thinking I was going to pop in and play, but for some reason didn't. I popped in Halo 4 for a bit, but just didn't give me the itch.

Then, I saw clips and for one reason or another (never having played the originals) got excited for Wolfenstein: The New Order for the 360.

Played a little and happy to say one of my hobbies that I used to enjoy is back. I am still very early on, but it has everything I like in a shooter: The exploration, the shooting, some stealth and probably so much more. It gave me back that "itch" and now, I look forward to playing a little bit a night.

Once again that desire to have fun and lose myself in a game for a short amount of time is back.

So what game gave you back the "itch" after taking an extended break?

Dan

I played a ton of NES, SNES, PS, and PC games in the early days, but that all trailed off as I got into my early 20's.

I'd say Burnout 3: Takedown on PS2. Before that, I had a long lull in gaming, as I was more focused on movies and music. But I played that game at a friend's house and knew I had to have it. So I bought a PS2 in late 2004 (after my dad passed), and got that game and Prince of Persia immediately, which I also loved.

After that, I did get a 360 and a handful of games (including Burnout Revenge) but didn't really play a whole lot until 2008, when I bought the special edition of Fallout 3 on a whim (or my then-girlfriend, now wife bought it for me... I can't remember). I've been playing games pretty regularly since then.

cleaver

When Arkham City was coming out, I hadn't gamed in a while, but I had to go back and finish Arkham Asylum so I had the backstory but also to tide me over until it came out, then I had to play Arkham City, then I had to play something else to tear me away from Arkham City.

Randy Miller III

Haven't played many classic games in awhile, but all it took was five minutes of Super Metroid to get me hooked again.

starseed1981

Gears of War. After the 2002-2003 PS2 era I basically gave up gaming as a hobby. But seeing that bad boy in HD at Best Buy made me turn the page.

shizawn

Hmm, I'm trying to think of a time when I stopped gaming for an extended period, but I don't think there was one. I got into PC gaming in 91 and while I don't play as much as I did in those first 5 or so years, I don't think there was ever a period where I just stopped.

I guess you could say the period after I stopped playing the Atari 2600. I pretty much stopped playing games at home and it wasn't until I saw King's Quest V on a friend's old 286 that made me beg my mom to get a computer. The rest is history.

Jory

I was a hardcore gamer for about a decade, from the late 80s to the late 90s. Video games were my life. And then, almost overnight, my affinity for gaming seemed to disappear. It was just one of those passions you suddenly fall out of love with. The last game I played to completion was Metal Gear Solid 2.

A couple of years ago I very slowly started getting back into gaming. I already had a PS3 that I was using primarily for DVDs and Blu-rays, and I started picking up games here and there for it. I stuck mostly to newer installments of franchises I was already familiar with: Grand Theft Auto IV, Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter IV, Twisted Metal.

I also bought a Wii U a while back because I wanted Mario games, so I grabbed New Super Mario Bros. U, New Super Luigi U, and Super Mario 3D World. I also got Rayman Legends, yet another new installment in a series I had already been familiar with.

I had no interest, and still have no interest, in newer stuff like Assassin's Creed, Dead Space, Halo, and whatever the hell else is popular these days that I don't even know about. Just about the only newer games i really like are the ones in the Lego series. Lego City Undercover has been my favorite Wii U purchase so far, and I just started Lego Pirates of the Caribbean on the PS3.

Aside from the games already listed, it's been Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection and more recently Midway Arcade Origins that have been getting play from me, so I think I've now crossed over into the "get off my lawn" phase of my gaming life.

funkyryno

I took a roughly 12-month hiatus from my Xbox 360 -- basically paid Microsoft of for a whole year of Xbox live without using it. I saw a smoking Black Friday deal on a Last of Us PlayStation 3 bundle. I picked it up and was hooked on that game. Played all the way through it and then moved onto Tomb Raider and Bioshock Infinite. Now I'm just waiting for something new to hook me.

Rob V

I've never taken a long hiatus as my gaming time is so sparse anyways... But South Park: TSoT is the first game in a long time that I actually crave to play. Before that it was The Last of Us.

Dubya

After playing the Sega Genesis non-stop from 1990 to around late 95 I did buy a Sony Playstation but honestly never got into it all that much. I figured my game playing days were over but I decided to get a PS2 since I was hearing so much about a game called Grand Theft Auto III. I had been playing games since the early days of Atari and I had never had so much fun playing a game. I am not sure if I will go forward with another new system but I did play the hell out of the PS2 which led to the XBOX360 and more games than I care to admit buying.

Deftones

i worked at a video game store from 1998 - 2001. i was out of games pretty much that entire time since i was totally burned out. i basically bailed on the ps2/xbox era. i came back w/ xbox 360 and call of duty 2.

Lastblade

Dark souls 2

nickdawgy

When I was heavily into World of Warcraft a few years back, it was Skyrim that brought me back.

foxdvd

Not really a game...(maybe a little) but divorce got me back into gaming...

MR Round

Got the last Tomb Raider game and Assassins creed 4 and I started on them and now im hokked on buying games again

OldBoy

So, I have been in a big rut lately, gaming wise. Even though I loved it, gave up on the new Doom, then thought Red Dead would get me back, but it didn't sad to say. But downloaded the BioShock collection on the One and have been loving Part 1. Finally, got that itch back and been playing at least 1.5 to 2 hours a night (my limit).

So anyone been in that same rut recently and a certain game got you back?

majorjoe23

I owned a Genesis in middle/high school, and played the GTA games on a friend's PS2, but I didn't own another system until my now-wife bought me a DS and Brain Age in 2007.

Dan

Definitely in a similar rut lately.
Figured Forza Horizon 3 would get me back into it. I loved it the first couple days I played it, but I haven't gone back to it. Bought PSVR... loved some of the games, then stopped playing with it (mostly because I need to charge my Move controllers, and keep forgetting to do so... I need a charging stand...). Dishonored 2 is coming up... I've avoided reading/watching pretty much everything about it for the last couple months in anticipation, but I'm worried it'll end up like FH3 for me.

I think part of the issue is my setup. Since moving, I just haven't been as happy with my living room setup as I thought I'd be. It's fine for TV, merely OK for movies, but sucks for gaming. My PC setup is a bit more convenient, and I LOVED playing the new Doom, but again, I trailed off and never went back.

I'm hoping for something to get me to dive back in to these games, though. My backlog is absurd at this point.

james2025a

I have been a gamer since i was around 5-6 years old and the advent of the very first arcade machines and home systems. Since that time i have owned many many systems and computers and played thousands of games. The one time in my life where i had a break from gaming was when i was dating my wife and we got engaged. I stepped back from gaming for about 6 months and it was the release of the PS4 that got me gaming again. I had played the hell out of the PS3 and there wasnt much released that really appealed to me at the end of its shelf life, so the break didnt mean that i missed out on much. Now i am back to solid gaming and the wife is usually pissed about it.

Michael Corvin

Never had a rut. Been gaming since I had an Atari 400. Kinda slowed down a bit when kids were born, moving, etc. but never taken a hiatus.

Adam Tyner

I haven't had too many gaps since I was a tiny little thing.

At least for console gaming, the biggest gap for me was between the Genesis and the original Xbox. I was a PC gamer in between for most of that time. Believe it or not, it was previews of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer game that pushed me over the top. I bought an Xbox after I read about that, grabbed Halo, and fell in love. In the space of 3 years or so, I somehow amassed more than 70 Xbox games.

I tried to buy a GameCube a few weeks after launch, having no idea that new consoles were in short supply. I was always late to the party and never ran into that before. (Got an NES in '88, got a Lynx in '90, got a Genesis in '92.) So, the GameCube was almost my reintroduction to console gaming, but I bought a bulky portable DVD player with dismal battery life instead. I did get a GameCube later on.

RichC2

PSVR in general, it's a nice escape from reality like videogames used to offer me when I was a kid. Makes me actually look forward to going home and playing a game, usually I just fire stuff up as a time killer.

But there have also been a handful of games that I've really enjoyed over the last few years (Bloodborne, Doom and Tomb Raider come to mind)

JuryDuty

I'm a sucker for the Tomb Raider franchise. That got me back into gaming after a long break.

But the game that did the most for me was Destiny. I just loved the title and posters and when I got it, I couldn't stop playing for months.

On the iPhone, the only games I've installed and played regularly are Plants vs Zombies 2 and Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. Otherwise, I never quite had the iPhone game bug.

slop101

I don't understand the question. It's like asking, meals that got you eating food again...