It’s strange. Ever since I got sick and on these new meds, I’ve lacked little focus and most of all desire to play a videogame. I’ve played a little of Immortals of Aveum. Minimal at best and I want to play it and Starfield, but lost all motivation.

So, my question is: have you ever lost the desire to play and did you do something to overcome it?

I get burnt out since games take so long to beat now. I take breaks and do other things for weeks to month. I actually stopped gaming from around 2010 to 2018. I started back when one of my friends bought a PS4 and I bought one so we could play together online.

I don’t game every day or even every week, and that helps prevent it from feeling like a burden or obligation.

I would say that I like to change up what I play, so if I finish a large open-world game, I’ll follow it up with a shorter game or two as a palate cleanser.

Unless gaming is your one and only exclusive form of entertainment, then sure it's happened that I don't really feel like turning on my PS5. There are just so many entertainment options and it can get so overwhelming.

I haven't had the desire to play anything since I beat Diablo 4. I'll probably start up again at the end of the month when Phantom Liberty comes out.

My gaming time is limited, so I like to be able to play in short bursts and still make progress. If I get stuck on a boss or something, I’ll take a break for a few days or longer before trying again.

Sure, it comes and goes. And I play much less during the summer than during the winter.

I forgot to add that after getting promoted recently and working a different schedule, I only have two days a week to video games. I don't play on days that I work. I used to work 3 long days and 2 half days and I would play after getting off work on my half days and days off. I do enjoy the time I have to play now, but I still get burnt out on these 50-100 hour games.

Glad I’m not the only one. I thought there was something wrong.

Yeah, when I was in college. And it never really came back. My wife plays, but I never got back into it except for playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

SNES and Genesis 4ever!

Sure, every now and then.

Easily I go weeks not playing. I've been playing Far Cry 4 for years

I have been so busy with other things that I haven't played anything seriously since June.

I'm only 25 hours into TLoZ:TotK... and that's the last game I played.

I haven't touched Forbidden West in over a year (I'm about 45% of the way through it).

I have a stack of games to go through that I'm telling myself I can't buy anymore until I play them.

I hope to play sometime today... but we'll see.

I have been playing video games regularly since I first played Pong at a cousin's house sometime in the late 70's. Played regular as a kid on an Atari 2600, friend's NES in high school and my 7800, Sega Genesis all through college, PlayStation 1 as a young adult, and was an early adopter of the OG Xbox. Even had a kid and instead of quitting like most of my friends did, I probably played even more with the online clan component being invented. I have owned every Xbox and PS console so far (though I still do not have a PS5 yet). My kid is now in college studying to be a video game developer and we talk video games all the time.

So, no... I have never lost the desire to play. If anything, I don't have enough time to play as much as I would like.

I promise you; I will be playing games in whatever nursing home I end up in.

No, I always want to play but rarely have the actual time.

Not really. It's pretty rare that I don't play at least an hour each weekday night and then 4-5 hours each weekend day.

I have to wake up at 4a daily to make sure my soon gets a feeding tube feed and water before school so I can game 1-1.5 hours M-F (can't really do much around the house with everyone sleeping) and then I have to get on the pickup line an hour before it opens because I have to wait an hour whether I show up an hour before or at the time it opens (because it's full of cars by then) and this way we make it home by 3:30p so he can get another feeding tube feed in time, so I can game 30 mins to an hour there on the Ally or with the phone 5 days a week, and then I do my dailies with Disney Speedstorm in the late afternoon (that's only about 20 mins) so I get to game a lot.

for those that lost the desire for a time or two, how did you get back to playing? i'm looking for something to motivate me, but i am having a hard time.

I go long stretches without playing. If I don't want to play, I don't, you don't have to play.

I definitely play in spurts. I’ll go through periods where I’m super into a game for as long as it takes me to beat it, and then there are times where I go long stretches without touching a game.

Either that or in one of those stretches I’m playing something super basic and familiar that I’ve played over and over (my Game & Watch Super Mario Bros. for instance).

thing is, i really want to. i just haven't had the urge/desire to pick up the controller and get into something, but the desire is there, just not the motivation...

I have to amend my previous post… since it’s too hot to go walking outside here in South Texas, I have been playing Beat Saber on my Meta Quest 2 almost everyday this week to get my exercise in. I forget that that is considered “gaming.”

It’s different for each of us I would guess.

For me, it’s just habit and laziness. It’s much easier for me to get out my phone and doom-scroll than go upstairs, make sure the controller’s charged, the gaming system is updated, finding the disc, grabbing the headset, etc. Then I have to remember where I am in the game, what to do next, check DVDTalk… 😉

Plus, I know that when I sit down to play, if I don’t have a 4-5 hour window, it’s not even worth it.

Maybe that’s why I sunk 300+ hours into ACNH, it was a grab and go game that was easy to pick up and put down and play in small chucks of time.

Like I said, it’s different for everybody.

However, if I’m playing with one of my kids, it’s much easier to sit down and play.

If you 'really want to' but 'don't have the urge or desire' to, then you probably don't really want to. Just do something else!

I do. I can pay attention to a movie, but for the life of me can’t focus on a game.