I just can't seem to make time for gaming anymore


DavidBowman

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Feb 11, 2009
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Maybe I'm just getting old growing up, but I can't seem to make time for playing video games like I used to. Other things seem to always take priority now. Granted, I have a mortgage and other responsibilities that I didn't used to have when I was but a lad, but still.


For instance, my love for certain games is unending and I will replay them again and again. Final Fantasy VII is a good example of that. I've heard and read that there are other really worthy games in the FF line, such as III (or VI depending on where you live), but I just... can't seem to get myself to commit the time it takes to play them through. I never played Metal Gear Solid 4 even though that's why I bought a PS3 in the first place.


It's not as though I don't love video games, lord knows I grew up on them. I would just rather play a quick action-oriented game these days (arcade style games in particular) than to play through an RPG, no matter how rich the story might be. I can't justify spending that much time going through a game these days, though I want to. I'd love to know the full stories of some of those highly-regarded games. I think I need a novelization of them. That I could commit to.


There are so many things that fill my days. Most of them are things that I really don't want to do, but have to anyway. Being an adult is overrated. By the time I'm home from work and have done whatever other chores that need to be done, I usually prefer to just watch a couple episodes of a favorite TV show and then head off to bed.


I dunno. Does anyone else feel this way?
 
Yes and no. I do feel that my time is more precious these days, as I have a family and bills to worry about, and work really gets in the way of everything. I do play games still, but I have found that I'm less willing to commit to some of them, whereas I would have played just about everything back in the day. For example the mrs bought Dragon Age 2 for us to play, I watched her play a little of it and I just thought 'meh, it looks like ass, I'm not wasting my time on that'. The same goes for achievements in games, I really would rather just play through the story than spend twice as long trying to find hidden trophies for some digital willy points.


Sometimes I want to play everything at once and end up playing nothing. It's particularly annoying when I really want to sit down to do some amiga gaming, I end up going through roms and playing them for a couple of minutes each and moving on, before getting bored and turning it off.
 
My main problem is probably similar to yours.


I have a huge collection of games, retro and modern.


When I decide to play for an hour, I end up playing a few minutes of this, of that, of those, but rarely more than that.


I've bought Super Mario Bros, Kirby adventures, Wariolan 2 & 3, Bioshock 1 & 2 and DeadSpace months ago and NEVER played them more than 10 minutes in a row.


So, like you, David, I end up playing arcadish games.


Or tinkering my arcade cabinet to make it work (bleh, I really need money for that).
 
I am 54yo and probably have been playing video games before you were born ; stood on line at the bar to play quarter pong [winners].


Let me tell you that you go through phases with this sort of thing ,as i have.


You are going through a cycle and whatever you do, keep your games!!


I had a collection worth thousands of dollars and sold most of it [ still have my black TREAMCAST...not Dreamcast though]. Now i have regrets ..


I am sure this does not help you at all but there you have it.
 
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No time here either, but I blame my own lack of focus and/or too many distractions.


When I was a kid I had only an Amstrad CPC. No Internet. Only 3 channels on TV. No DVDs. No mobile phone. Now I have 3 computers with Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. 2 Ataris (ST and Falcon), still the Amstrad CPC. Xbox360. PS3. OP. 100+ TV channels. A collection of 150+ DVDs and BDs. Internet. Smartphone... how I could possibly find time to play? :blink:
 
I am 54yo and probably have been playing video games before you were born ; stood on line at the bar to play quarter pong [winners].


Let me tell you that you go through phases with this sort of thing ,as i have.


You are going through a cycle and whatever you do, keep your games!!


I had a collection worth thousands of dollars and sold most of it [ still have my black TREAMCAST...not Dreamcast though]. Now i have regrets ..


I am sure this does not help you at all but there you have it.


I sure wish you had been playing pong before I was born... (that would mean I'd be younger... since I was born before pong was released in '72).


*sigh*


Christopher.
 
I used to play World of Warcraft to a point that was beyond 8 hours a day (while still in school mind you). I do play less (since moving out of my parents house). I have yet to make some kids with my girlfriend so i still have a lot of time on my Hands.


Gaming is like a hobby, sometimes its the only thing you wan't to spend time on, and at other times you just don't have the energy for it. But there will also come a time, vacation, long weekend or other, where there will be time to allocate. That is where you go pick up where you've left, playing the great games that coud've been released.


I still whip out my collection of Magic The Gathering cards once in a while when i have friends to play (currently training my girlfriend to play against me! *evil laughter*).


.. but thats just my two cents on the matter. :)
 
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Sometimes I want to play everything at once and end up playing nothing. It's particularly annoying when I really want to sit down to do some amiga gaming, I end up going through roms and playing them for a couple of minutes each and moving on, before getting bored and turning it off.

I do that all the time. It's hard to stay focused on a single game when there's such a vast library to choose from.

So, like you, David, I end up playing arcadish games.


Or tinkering my arcade cabinet to make it work (bleh, I really need money for that).

My arcade cabinet needs more money and work poured into it as well, but alas that will have to wait a bit longer. MAME made one of my childhood dreams come true. How cool is it to have an arcade cab? Mine is built out of an old Gauntlet Legends 4-player cabinet (My cabinet). What's yours comprised of?

You are going through a cycle and whatever you do, keep your games!!


I had a collection worth thousands of dollars and sold most of it [ still have my black TREAMCAST...not Dreamcast though]. Now i have regrets .

I still have everything, even though it takes up a lot more room than I'd like. I have 3 Matell Electronic Intellivisions even.

I still whip out my collection of Magic The Gathering cards once in a while when i have friends to play (currently training my girlfriend to play against me! *evil laughter*).

I still have thousands of those cards from way back when. I need to find a buyer for them as I have no use for them anymore.
 
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[…]


My arcade cabinet needs more money and work poured into it as well, but alas that will have to wait a bit longer. MAME made one of my childhood dreams come true. How cool is it to have an arcade cab? Mine is built out of an old Gauntlet Legends 4-player cabinet (My cabinet). What's yours comprised of?

You are going through a cycle and whatever you do, keep your games!!


I had a collection worth thousands of dollars and sold most of it [ still have my black TREAMCAST...not Dreamcast though]. Now i have regrets .
I still have everything, even though it takes up a lot more room than I'd like. I have 3 Matell Electronic Intellivisions even.


[…]
Gauntlet Legend is a nice cab, good looking and have lots of space in it.


From what I see on your photo, you kept the original panel and probably the original monitor, good decision!


I think dedicated cabs like that one should be kept in their original state.


The cab I've got is one of the early generic cab (Jamma cabled) that equipped most of the pub in France and Belgium.


Got it a few month ago, the monitor is still untested.


It needs new joysticks and buttons (current ones are leaf switch, I hate those!). And since I want to put a Neo Geo in it, I'll have to add a fourth action button for each players and a "select game" button.


The power block is as old as the cab, I think I'll have to buy a new one. It'll spare me some stress when I plug fragile A-boards.


The Jamma A-board that was in the cab (a Xain Sleena bootleg) have some components desoldered but my soldering station (the one my dad used to make his first hi-fi amp) is officially dead.


BUT I now own a fully working Neo Geo 4 slots A-board and 4 games
laugh.gif



So, as soon as I'll have a hundred € to spend on entertainment, it will be spent in parts and tools to fix the lady
wink.gif



(I dont have a good photo, but a slightly blurry one can be seen here, the screen was removed to work inside)


About old consoles, I had to buy some of them back, because each time we moved to a new house, they where lost or my parents got rid of the too old ones.


Now I even own consoles and games that I never owned when I was a child.


I consider videogames as an important part of the modern society, so it's important to keep a memento of the early years of this new media.
 
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:unsure:

I am 54yo and probably have been playing video games before you were born ; stood on line at the bar to play quarter pong [winners].


Let me tell you that you go through phases with this sort of thing ,as i have.


You are going through a cycle and whatever you do, keep your games!!


I had a collection worth thousands of dollars and sold most of it [ still have my black TREAMCAST...not Dreamcast though]. Now i have regrets ..


I am sure this does not help you at all but there you have it.


I sure wish you had been playing pong before I was born... (that would mean I'd be younger... since I was born before pong was released in '72).


*sigh*


Christopher.
:unsure:

I am 54yo and probably have been playing video games before you were born ; stood on line at the bar to play quarter pong [winners].


Let me tell you that you go through phases with this sort of thing ,as i have.


You are going through a cycle and whatever you do, keep your games!!


I had a collection worth thousands of dollars and sold most of it [ still have my black TREAMCAST...not Dreamcast though]. Now i have regrets ..


I am sure this does not help you at all but there you have it.


I sure wish you had been playing pong before I was born... (that would mean I'd be younger... since I was born before pong was released in '72).


*sigh*


Christopher.
;) i 2nd that sigh!!
sorry double reply.
 
I fell out of love for gaming once. Twas quite ironic, really because I was living in Japan at the time.


Never again will I let myself drift away/apart from my passion...my love.
 
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I've put video games behind other forms of entertainment for my shrinking free time. I put them behind spending time with friends and family, books, and mindless internet surfing but still ahead of watching movies and TV. When I have time with others I want to play board games more than video games, BGs seem to offer me more memorable memories. I also like to go places rather than play video games now even if it is just a walk to the park. It is weird telling my 10 year old nephew he should go outside rather than play his DS, why the heck would I go outside when I was 10 rather than play video games? I now realize that I wish I spent more doing other things than playing video games.


School, work, and/or bills/debt have killed most of the time I used to have to play video games and they are not on the top of my list on how I want to spend free time. I still enjoy them every once in a while though.
 
Exactly. I still enjoy them, but they're low on my list of priorities. I think I'm just lamenting that realization.
 
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