The Glade 4.0 :: View topic - 5 Ways to tell you're getting too old for games

Of course, not every game is "beat it in an afternoon" length. The very next notch up the scale of game length is the "you will never **** see everything even if you play it for three years" games. Skyrim is promising "over 300 hours of gameplay". Games like that have endless tricks to stretch out the game experience forever and ever -- from assloads of side quests, to the promise of a completely different experience if you go back and choose a different character class or skill set (see: Borderlands) .
You can always spot these bloated games immediately, because you have to invest 10 hours in the intro mission that teaches you the menus ("What, you mean Fallout 3 isn't about a dude who spends his entire life inside this **** underground vault?").

But more does not mean better. I didn't have to skin too many coyotes in Red Dead Redemption before I realized I was playing a time wasting simulator. Now please, somebody tell me if this letter icon on my map will actually advance the **** main story, or is just another side mission to earn $35 so I can buy bullets for the next side mission. Since when is entertainment about making the audience wander around aimlessly so you can boast about the sheer tonnage of hours you gave them?

But the Truth Is...

Boredom is a young man's disease. For me, every minute I spend playing, more **** is piling up in my work inbox. No, I don't need a game that will kill time. I need a game that will give me the most possible fun in the precious few hours of spare time I get in a week. Trust me, if you ever see me reopen my World of Warcraft account, it means I probably got fired from my job.

And this is when I realize that these are the games I specifically asked the industry to make 15-20 years ago. Back then, one of a game's selling points was the amount of hours it took to beat it. A 40-hour RPG was a big deal, and even after you beat it, you still wanted more. There are RPG's I've beaten a dozen times. Grinding and leveling was such a "rinse and repeat" set of motions, there were times when I'd snap out of a daze and realize that I had been killing the same monsters for three hours, increasing ten levels on autopilot. I fantasized about endless games that you could just get lost in.

Well, game developers listened to the 17 year-old me. It's just that by the time they got around to figuring out how to make a 300-hour game, I had a job and three kids, and 300 hours represents every minute of gaming time I'll have available to me in the next three years. In other words, selling me that game is the same as taunting me, reminding me that the same obligations that let me afford to buy games also prevent me from playing them.

#3. You Miss Game Storylines That Were Actually Compelling

When's the last time you actually cared about what happened in a video game? Between the stiffly-acted cutscenes and bullshit recycled plots, you can't help but wonder what happened after the golden age of Role Playing Games in the 1990s and early 2000s.
I got absolutely hooked on a series of Nintendo games called Dragon Warrior in the 1980s. Jump ahead to 1994, and regardless of the day you arrive, you'll find me camped out in front of a Final Fantasy III (or FF VI, for you purists) marathon that lasted five years. When we got a hand-me-down Playstation, the first thing I bought was Final Fantasy 7. In 2000, it was The Legend of Dragoon, or the more aptly named "Final Fantasy with an Extra Button."

And what modern game can possibly match that amazing 20 minute-long ending cinematic for FFIII that wrapped up the storylines for each of the characters we'd come to know and love in the course of beating the game? And then again while beating it eight more times?
Now, all of those deep, engrossing games are gone, replaced by "point and shoot" games for the kiddies who could care less about story and just want action, action, action, hitting the "skip" button half a second into each cut scene. If they're playing Mass Effect, maybe they keep watching to see the ****.

But the Truth Is...
Let's go back and watch one of those cut scenes from Final Fantasy III/VI:

Huh. That seemed... way more powerful when I saw it as a teenager.
And even weirder, I watch my kids play games now that barely have a story at all, yet they're transfixed. It's almost like they're seeing something I'm not. For instance, I let my kids mess around in a Grand Theft Auto game (supervised) and the first thing my son does is steal an ambulance. My youngest daughter then pretended to be injured and dialed him on her pretend cellphone. He drove the ambulance around town until she told him, "I'm there on that next block." He'd then pull over and pretend to pick her up... and drive her to the actual in-game hospital. The whole trip, he'd bark out things he'd heard on medical dramas and pretend to save her.

"Be advised: incoming six year old female, acute myocardial infarction, BP steadily dropping..."
Wait a second. Is it possible that those old games didn't do anything magical with their programming to create "immersion," and that, like my kids with GTA, I "immersed" myself in those games because I was playing them at a time before I was dead inside?

I can play a zombie game now, and I just see a bunch of boring, repetitive enemies. My kids can't even be in the same room with me -- they find those games terrifying because they're imagining themselves in the game, fighting the zombies.

Number 3 is far more compelling, but I hate to admit he's probably right. A lot of the allure is probably in us, not in the game.

Spoiler:

Author:	Darkroland [ Thu Sep 15, 2011 7:17 pm ]
Post subject:	5 Ways to tell you're getting too old for games
http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-to-tell-youre-getting-too-old-video-games/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=fanpage&utm_campaign=new%2Barticle&wa_ibsrc=fanpage It's like he wrote the article just for me! Quote: Of course, not every game is "beat it in an afternoon" length. The very next notch up the scale of game length is the "you will never ** see everything even if you play it for three years" games. Skyrim is promising "over 300 hours of gameplay". Games like that have endless tricks to stretch out the game experience forever and ever -- from assloads of side quests, to the promise of a completely different experience if you go back and choose a different character class or skill set (see: Borderlands) . You can always spot these bloated games immediately, because you have to invest 10 hours in the intro mission that teaches you the menus ("What, you mean Fallout 3 isn't about a dude who spends his entire life inside this underground vault?"). But more does not mean better. I didn't have to skin too many coyotes in Red Dead Redemption before I realized I was playing a time wasting simulator. Now please, somebody tell me if this letter icon on my map will actually advance the main story, or is just another side mission to earn $35 so I can buy bullets for the next side mission. Since when is entertainment about making the audience wander around aimlessly so you can boast about the sheer tonnage of hours you gave them? But the Truth Is... Boredom is a young man's disease. For me, every minute I spend playing, more ** is piling up in my work inbox. No, I don't need a game that will kill time. I need a game that will give me the most possible fun in the precious few hours of spare time I get in a week. Trust me, if you ever see me reopen my World of Warcraft account, it means I probably got fired from my job. And this is when I realize that these are the games I specifically asked the industry to make 15-20 years ago. Back then, one of a game's selling points was the amount of hours it took to beat it. A 40-hour RPG was a big deal, and even after you beat it, you still wanted more. There are RPG's I've beaten a dozen times. Grinding and leveling was such a "rinse and repeat" set of motions, there were times when I'd snap out of a daze and realize that I had been killing the same monsters for three hours, increasing ten levels on autopilot. I fantasized about endless games that you could just get lost in. Well, game developers listened to the 17 year-old me. It's just that by the time they got around to figuring out how to make a 300-hour game, I had a job and three kids, and 300 hours represents every minute of gaming time I'll have available to me in the next three years. In other words, selling me that game is the same as taunting me, reminding me that the same obligations that let me afford to buy games also prevent me from playing them.

Author:	Raltar [ Thu Sep 15, 2011 9:32 pm ]
Post subject:
Easy solution to not having free time is to not have a family. I am so glad I am a selfish bastard.

Author:	Wwen [ Thu Sep 15, 2011 9:44 pm ]
Post subject:
I like. I don't have a family, but I gots other **** to do. Having 3 systems and a backlog of games is just a waste of time and money. I don't think I'm getting too old for games, I've just learned to budget my time more wisely. When I get to old to move around maybe I'll fire up World of Whatever again and play till I die.

Author:	Rorinthas [ Fri Sep 16, 2011 12:24 am ]
Post subject:	Re: 5 Ways to tell you're getting too old for games
Number 3 is far more compelling, but I hate to admit he's probably right. A lot of the allure is probably in us, not in the game. Spoiler: #3. You Miss Game Storylines That Were Actually Compelling When's the last time you actually cared about what happened in a video game? Between the stiffly-acted cutscenes and bullshit recycled plots, you can't help but wonder what happened after the golden age of Role Playing Games in the 1990s and early 2000s. I got absolutely hooked on a series of Nintendo games called Dragon Warrior in the 1980s. Jump ahead to 1994, and regardless of the day you arrive, you'll find me camped out in front of a Final Fantasy III (or FF VI, for you purists) marathon that lasted five years. When we got a hand-me-down Playstation, the first thing I bought was Final Fantasy 7. In 2000, it was The Legend of Dragoon, or the more aptly named "Final Fantasy with an Extra Button." And what modern game can possibly match that amazing 20 minute-long ending cinematic for FFIII that wrapped up the storylines for each of the characters we'd come to know and love in the course of beating the game? And then again while beating it eight more times? Now, all of those deep, engrossing games are gone, replaced by "point and shoot" games for the kiddies who could care less about story and just want action, action, action, hitting the "skip" button half a second into each cut scene. If they're playing Mass Effect, maybe they keep watching to see the ****. But the Truth Is... Let's go back and watch one of those cut scenes from Final Fantasy III/VI: Huh. That seemed... way more powerful when I saw it as a teenager. And even weirder, I watch my kids play games now that barely have a story at all, yet they're transfixed. It's almost like they're seeing something I'm not. For instance, I let my kids mess around in a Grand Theft Auto game (supervised) and the first thing my son does is steal an ambulance. My youngest daughter then pretended to be injured and dialed him on her pretend cellphone. He drove the ambulance around town until she told him, "I'm there on that next block." He'd then pull over and pretend to pick her up... and drive her to the actual in-game hospital. The whole trip, he'd bark out things he'd heard on medical dramas and pretend to save her. "Be advised: incoming six year old female, acute myocardial infarction, BP steadily dropping..." Wait a second. Is it possible that those old games didn't do anything magical with their programming to create "immersion," and that, like my kids with GTA, I "immersed" myself in those games because I was playing them at a time before I was dead inside? I can play a zombie game now, and I just see a bunch of boring, repetitive enemies. My kids can't even be in the same room with me -- they find those games terrifying because they're imagining themselves in the game, fighting the zombies.

Author:	Neksar [ Fri Sep 16, 2011 12:39 am ]
Post subject:	Re: 5 Ways to tell you're getting too old for games
I enjoyed that cutscene, actually. In fact, I enjoyed it quite a bit more than cutscenes I see nowadays. Perhaps I'm still young enough not to be completely dead inside, but my imagination made the scenes quite a bit more compelling than something voice acting and actual animation can deliver. It's kind of the same principle as that horror trope wherein the monster is never actually seen.

The Glade 4.0 https://gladerebooted.net/

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Author:	Wwen [ Fri Sep 16, 2011 12:49 am ]
Post subject:
As you get older you realize there is nothing new under the sun.

Author:	Hopwin [ Fri Sep 16, 2011 7:05 am ]
Post subject:	Re: 5 Ways to tell you're getting too old for games
Rorinthas wrote: Number 3 is far more compelling, but I hate to admit he's probably right. A lot of the allure is probably in us, not in the game. Spoiler: #3. You Miss Game Storylines That Were Actually Compelling When's the last time you actually cared about what happened in a video game? Between the stiffly-acted cutscenes and bullshit recycled plots, you can't help but wonder what happened after the golden age of Role Playing Games in the 1990s and early 2000s. I got absolutely hooked on a series of Nintendo games called Dragon Warrior in the 1980s. Jump ahead to 1994, and regardless of the day you arrive, you'll find me camped out in front of a Final Fantasy III (or FF VI, for you purists) marathon that lasted five years. When we got a hand-me-down Playstation, the first thing I bought was Final Fantasy 7. In 2000, it was The Legend of Dragoon, or the more aptly named "Final Fantasy with an Extra Button." And what modern game can possibly match that amazing 20 minute-long ending cinematic for FFIII that wrapped up the storylines for each of the characters we'd come to know and love in the course of beating the game? And then again while beating it eight more times? Now, all of those deep, engrossing games are gone, replaced by "point and shoot" games for the kiddies who could care less about story and just want action, action, action, hitting the "skip" button half a second into each cut scene. If they're playing Mass Effect, maybe they keep watching to see the ****. But the Truth Is... Let's go back and watch one of those cut scenes from Final Fantasy III/VI: Huh. That seemed... way more powerful when I saw it as a teenager. And even weirder, I watch my kids play games now that barely have a story at all, yet they're transfixed. It's almost like they're seeing something I'm not. For instance, I let my kids mess around in a Grand Theft Auto game (supervised) and the first thing my son does is steal an ambulance. My youngest daughter then pretended to be injured and dialed him on her pretend cellphone. He drove the ambulance around town until she told him, "I'm there on that next block." He'd then pull over and pretend to pick her up... and drive her to the actual in-game hospital. The whole trip, he'd bark out things he'd heard on medical dramas and pretend to save her. "Be advised: incoming six year old female, acute myocardial infarction, BP steadily dropping..." Wait a second. Is it possible that those old games didn't do anything magical with their programming to create "immersion," and that, like my kids with GTA, I "immersed" myself in those games because I was playing them at a time before I was dead inside? I can play a zombie game now, and I just see a bunch of boring, repetitive enemies. My kids can't even be in the same room with me -- they find those games terrifying because they're imagining themselves in the game, fighting the zombies. Lol this was going to be my counterpoint to the first one. A 40 hour RPG is awesome if the story is compelling but he raises a great counter-point to it in this number three.

Author:	Numbuk [ Fri Sep 16, 2011 3:27 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 5 Ways to tell you're getting too old for games
"But more does not mean better. I didn't have to skin too many coyotes in Red Dead Redemption before I realized I was playing a time wasting simulator." Annnnnnd..... I quit seeing any weight behind what this guy had to say after that. This article is not about a person who is too old for games. This article is about a person who is too curmudgeon-y for games because he is an older gamer. There's a difference. Here's the biggest tell of his entire article: "I was playing them at a time before I was dead inside..." Growing older doesn't make games any less fun. This guy is just depressed that his life is pure ****, and is projecting that outward onto current games and gamers. Hey, it's not the world's fault your marriage sucks and your kids hate you, and that you work too much to support them financially. You got into that mess yourself. You bought into the lie that marriage and kids would make your already depressed self happier. You tried to fill that void with video games before that, and they worked better at doing so because you could shut them off at the end of the day. Sorry that you can't do that anymore. Sucks to be you. Get some therapy.

Author:	Darkroland [ Fri Sep 16, 2011 7:10 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 5 Ways to tell you're getting too old for games
I disagree. Skinning the first coyote in red dead? Awesome. Skinning the 100th one? Seen it, 99 times.

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