Supermallet

I've gotten to the point where I can only play a few hours a month, if I'm lucky 3-4 hours in a single week. It's not a lack of desire for gaming, just too much life to handle and fit gaming in like I used to.

As a result I haven't played many games. The last game I finished in its entirety was Arkham Knight. So I think I'm going to change my approach to gaming. Instead of getting several 10-20 hour games and playing them through, I'm going to focus mostly on 40+ hour games and play them through over the course of several months. This would be stuff like Skyrim, Fallout, The Witcher, etc.

I've been doing this for Assassin's Creed whatever the subtitle is (the London one), and I've found it's allowed me to enjoy many of the game's side missions without feeling like I'm overdosing on it or that they are a hindrance to the main story. In fact, I'm almost loathe to go finish the main story because that gets me closer to having to find a new game, and I've been enjoying this one enough to stay in it. I know at any point I can go play the main missions through, and I also know I'll finish the game, so there's no desire to marathon game through the night like I used to do.

How do you guys make the most use of your gaming time? Am I the only one feeling a time crunch?

Also, if anyone has any recommendations for sprawling console games worth my time, I'm all ears. I do have The Witcher III and Fallout already, but not the re-release of Skyrim (I was lukewarm about the first release and I'm not sure I'll bother). I am a backer of the Pathologic remake, but that got pushed to this fall. Then again, in the time it takes me to complete The Witcher and maybe Fallout (I just don't love Fallout as much as some of you here do) that may be fall of this year.

mewmartigan

I am kind of in a similar situation and have been for a while. Basically I will buy a game and play absolutely nothing else until I finish it...otherwise I end up with a bunch of half finished games. Playing through Witcher 3 took me quite a while but it was worth it.

I have been playing a lot of Overwatch lately but just borrowed FF XV from my brother. A game like Overwatch is nice because its very "pick up and play". No story to remember or what what quest you were doing...just a 12 or 15 minute match and its a ton of fun.

You should definitely check out Mass Effect Andromeda when it comes out in March...should be a great, sprawling game. Blood and Wine expansion for Witcher 3 is long and is supposed to be awesome too...its on my list to get.

K&AJones

Well....considering how old I am and all, my time gaming is about the same but for other reasons. Frankly no desire, time or money to get out, shop, eat out and plus several of our friends are the same way. Not to mention we don't care for crowds which on the weekend hasn't gotten worse not to mention traffic. And the malls are a joke as nothing more than a 10 to 21 year old hangout with people running and bumping all over the place.

But I have seen many friends on my list not play for several days or longer. In fact last night I was just glancing and even saw some who haven't played in a few weeks or months. Some have families with kids in the mix and kids ARE a full time job not to mention a real job. Some are having their kids play in their place...know several like this.

But like you said it's both time to play and style of game(s) to play where you have to find some balance...and time. For me gaming is an outlet...in the comfort of our rec room, in our home away from all the hassle and bustle outside. Buy a game.....that's it...no gas, no driving, no crowds, no more money...nothing but me, the game and maybe some friends or random players. For those with kids and all, yea...there's more in life to do and enjoy. Then around 9-10 at night sneak in, fire up the game and then fall asleep with controller in hand after a long, long day.....that's life

RichC2

I have a ton of time, I just find myself getting bored more easily. Especially with so many games moving toward open worlds and the like, running around and exploring rather barren landscapes is boring to me. FPS games have rapidly removed the fun in killing things somehow. Franchises run on and on and on.

fumanstan

I've basically done the opposite - as my gaming time has decreased, I find myself far less interested in 40+ hour games and more interested in tight ~10 hour games with a strong story that I know I can get through and complete without forgetting what the hell is happening, or games I can play in short bursts like Overwatch or Forza.

FFXV has been the exception, but the story is so bad that forgetting where you left off wasn't a problem

I'm lucky in that I can play some games at work, but other then that it's really just trying to get in an hour of play at night after the wife goes to bed. And maybe a few hours on weekends. After the holidays I made a point on my vacation time to just get video game time which was nice.

mattysemo247

That's how I played through the Mass Effect series. Since each one took me several months to play through the game and the DLC, I played through one game a year for the past three years and plan on playing through Andromeda this year. I usually have a couple games in rotation depending on how much time I have set aside. I usually try to pick one night a week where I can play around three to four hours once the kids are asleep. So that is usually my longer game. If I only have an hour or so when they are taking naps or something, that will be a game I can play quick sessions with (Overwatch, Forza, etc).

starseed1981

Very interesting subject. The truth is that a great majority of what's happened in the gaming ecosystem this generation has turned me luke warm on the hobby. I'm less enthusiastic about this generation and its prospects than anything that has happened in the last 30 years. At this point, time is the most valuable commodity that I have and frankly I have zero interest in allocating it into things that are over monetized, un-finished, etc. Most of my "hobby time" is now allocated to books and television shows I support.

So with regards to gaming specifically this generation I've changed in two ways: more accessible titles and abandoning ship. Unlike the OP, I've completely veered away from epic quests that take months to complete. Quite the opposite actually, I've mainly been attracted to games that can be finished in under 8-10 hours and don’t have complex systems. I’d much rather play a TellTale game than something like Skyrim at this point. Or I'd rather jump into some Call of Duty MP matches than do some RPG quest. The other thing that I’m doing more and more this generation is quitting games. This is something I’d never consider doing in the past but now have no issue with. I’ve probably abandoned 2 dozen triple-a titles that I paid full retail for because I didn’t think they deserved my time. Even with the previous generation this would be considered blasphemy for me personally.

Adam Tyner

I'm mostly in the same boat. I'll still invest staggering amounts of time into open world games (even ones that don't deserve it like Dead Rising 4), but I'd say somewhere between the 10-15 hour mark is my sweet spot, and I try to bridge open world titles with more snack-sized games. I also try to limit myself to just a few 'big' games per year.

I used to do the same thing. I wouldn't even want to venture a guess as to how many games for the original Xbox I started and never finished. I've been trying to be good about this in more recent years, and there are only a handful of unfinished games I've picked up over the past few years (ZombiU, Need for Speed: Most Wanted U, and NES Remix come to mind; not sure there's anything on the Xbox One or PS4 like that for me).

My other "rule" is to avoid a backlog.

milo bloom

The majority of gaming time I get nowadays is two iOS games that I can play for a few minutes at a time (Smurfs' Village and PokemonGo).

We have a bunch of games at home, and my wife is the bigger gamer than I ever was, and of course my son loves to play Minecraft, Terraria and the like. Even when there's time on the weekends, I find myself more interested in watching an episode of MST3K or reading.

Rob V

With my limited time and kid commitments, the idea of gaming is much more appealing than actually playing. I enjoy getting in to some quick, easy games (Dead Rising 4 for example) where saves are plentiful and I don't get frustrated... but those games and my free time are few and far between.

starseed1981

Good point. The older I get the more I want easier titles and plentiful check points.

Rob V

^^ Expanding on this... I love MP shooters like MW, CoD, Battlefront... but GODDAAAAMN do I get pissed playing them. I don't know why I even bother half the time as my k/d ratio is mostly below 1 and I usually turn off my X1 in frustration. I end up having more anxiety (over something so dumb as a video game) when the whole intent was to decompress for a half hour.

DaveNinja

Same for me. I play the games where I can play for an hour without having to remember whats going on in the story. Mainly, I just play Overwatch now and before that CS:GO.

Supermallet

For me the reason for preferring the sprawling epic games is it's kind of like reading a huge book over many weeks. I may not be able to do it all straight through like I used to, but now I get to anticipate my next trip into that world. I don't get the same feeling with shorter games, even if the story is good.

Maybe I should do a short game in between each long one as a pallet cleanser.

maxfisher

I went through a good 6 months of progressing disinterest in gaming in general, but recently have been on a bit more of a kick after playing through Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Dead Rising 4 and then getting into Lego Dimensions. I think the abundance of good-to-great tv shows is partially to blame for the previous slump. I usually have 2-3 hours a night between when the wife and son go to bed and when I crash. That time used to be almost exclusively gaming, but for a while there, it switched over to almost exclusively binge watching shows I'd find on Netflix/Amazon Prime or pick up on Blu-ray. Now I typically game for 1-2 hours and then watch 1-2 episodes of an hour-long show. My current sweet spot for games seems to be ones that take 15-20 hours, or 1-2 weeks to get through. I've actually been holding off on Skyrim and abandoned Fallout 4 because the longer experience has lost some appeal to me.

RichC2

The bigger, sprawling games these days usually aren't heavily plot driven and have your nearest missions noted/saved with details so I'd agree it's easier now than ever to pick-up and play one of those over something faster paced.

But it's also more of an escape, where as the faster paced shorter games have driven goals, narratives, in mostly linear worlds, the open world titles let you live and breath in a different universe for a while -- and if that's what you're into it's awesome.

Adam Tyner

You are definitely not the only one. Quoting an NPD analyst:

slop101

Yeah, I haven't given it much thought but now that I think about it, I've also been playing the longer type games (open world, over 20 hours), as the more challenging games, even if I get good at them, if I don't play them for a while, I suddenly suck.

For example, I love platform games, but most of them have a steady increase in difficulty, which is fine if I'm playing it consistently. But if I start one, and then don't get back to it for a couple months, I'm in no shape for the middle of the game. Bloodborne is the same - I fucking love that game, but I got near the end, for one reason or another, I set it down for a while, and now I can barely get past a rudimentary enemy, forget any bosses. It's almost like I need to restart it and re-learn it. Whereas with Witcher or Fallout, they're easier to pick back up if I stopped playing for a while.

K&AJones

Bloodborne is a lets say...unique brand of game that more of less had me loving & hating it at the same time Two of us are around at the 70-75 complete mark but haven't picked it up in months. Some games started to get that "grind feeling" which produces a "I need a break" feeling....There are times I feel overwhelmed which that too just says, "I need a breather and a bit of time away"......or I'll jump into some game I know I can play for a short time and quit out if I need to.

We still have several "Unfinished" games and about every month here comes one that you've been looking forward to and you are caught in the middle. Games like Skyrim, Fallout 4 and The Witcher almost need a few days here and there to keep you going without any falloff.

fujishig

This is the same for me, when I take a long break from a game with complicated controls, there's a barrier for me coming back to it because I have to relearn the controls. Who knew that I'd actually miss those physical instruction books.

davidh777

Yep, that's why I played the heck out of Shadow of Mordor. It was easy to pop in for a half-hour and kill a bunch of orcs without having to re-learn any controls. When I was committing suicide just so I could generate more enemies to fight, I figured it was time to quit and play something else.

Supermallet

Well I doubt I'd get that far into any one game (except Pathologic which absolutely fascinates me), but it's interesting that the trend is going that way. I can almost see why people get so sucked into MMOs.

Raul3

I've been doing that for at least a couple of years.

I usually have two games, a shooter and sports game. Games that I can play in 10 mins bursts or something like that. I made exceptions, like with Fallout.

This year, with a lot of stuff at work, even when I have time at night, I'm too tired to play any game. Sometimes I try to play, and get my ass kicked really bad, so not a good way to end the day.

slop101

Forgot to mention, that Destiny is a game I played a lot over the last couple years, not so much because it was an amazing game, but unlike a lot of games, it was perfect for quick sessions that I could just do here and there, step away from it for a while and still come back to it without feeling left behind.

OldBoy

I fucking wish I can play more. Work is crazy. I just don't have that urgency. And for some fucking reason I keep buying them. I really desire to play, don't get me wrong but when I get the time I just want to chill watch the news, some Seinfeld and watch 1 movie.