Am I getting old or what is wrong with me?

[Velshin]

As someone nearing 40 myself, I can relate.

Game stamina does decrease as you age. I used to play the same game for literally all my free hours, for weeks at a time. But my body can't handle sitting still for 10+ hours anymore; I simply fall asleep if I do that. I need to walk about a little, take breaks, make a decent dinner or whatever it is to break up the monotony. You can combat the headache by drinking ample amounts of water (have a water bottle available!), and replenishing your falling energy by eating (at least more often than every 10 hours). But it is certainly a stamina issue.

More interestingly, the ability to get genuinely excited about something will dabber off. That's just part of getting older. You've seen this shit before, you know. So what if it's a goddamned gorgeous game with eyecandy graphics aplenty - the gameplay is just like that previous game you played, and you already mastered that, so this game isn't really much new. XP bars and talent trees, with minor percentage damage upgrades? Yawn. Old news, not really exciting. It's too easy to lose interest quickly, probably even before finishing the game.

Combined it makes 10+ hour gaming sessions much more difficult.

BUT!

Every now and then, you find a game that is so genuinely good that you rekindle that spark. I guarantee you these games exist, the last for me was factorio and Mario Odyssey (despite not even really liking 3D platformers that much). These games are just very long inbetween. In addition, I still get genuinely enthralled in game stories. And when I do, I almost always finish the game, even if my body is telling me that I'm kinda done with this type of gameplay. My brain just says "no, this is too good. Keep going". Case in point, both Persona 5 and Trails of Cold Steel certifiably qualifies.

Treasure the games you enjoy. Forget off the ones you don't. There will always be something great out there. Look forward to them, because you will likely never grow out of them. Unless you want to

Indeed you are right about rekindling that old spark specially when I just recently starting to play Trails of Sky series ! (finished the first chapter and now I am playing the second one and will also play cold steel when I finish the third trails of sky!)

Yeah I guess when I was younger I had no problem consuming every single game I play no problem at all but nowadays because of experience and expectation got much higher more and more I became more picky when it comes to games at least that is part of it, the other part is simply age and stamina as you said.

[Danner]

Indeed you are right about rekindling that old spark specially when I just recently starting to play Trails of Sky series ! (finished the first chapter and now I am playing the second one and will also play cold steel when I finish the third trails of sky!)

You are gonna have the best december ever, man

I sometimes wish I could erase my memory of Chrono Trigger and replay it.

[belfpala]

For me it comes down to three things: I need the right mood, the right game, and the right time.

To unpack that, I have to be in the mood to spend my free time on a game instead of other things. The game itself has to immerse me. And I actually need to have the free time available in chunks, because when I start playing a game I don't stop.

The last times these things happened all at once were probably Skyrim or Mass Effect 2. Before that, probably Fallout 3. It doesn't happen often, is what I'm saying. I haven't even upgraded my system since I played Skyrim, which was actually a couple years after it was released.

I have a huge backlog of great games my friends keep yelling at me to play. I also have a huge backlog of great books my other friends keep yelling at me to read. WHAT TO DO?

[PhantasmagoriaX]

It's human nature. As we get older we're supposed to move to being parents and focus on taking care of our kids not being gamers.

Well I am a parent and my daughter is being brought up as a gamer

[Velshin]

Well I am a parent and my daughter is being brought up as a gamer

Awesome! I like that let us inspire our children to our own gaming culture! you have my respect sir/milady.

[Alvito]

You don't have enough energy to be lazy and sit for hours, that is pure gold thanks.

[Akka]

39 here, and I've the same "game stamina" as before. It hasn't changed at all.

What HAS changed is that I find less and less game able to "awe" me and engage me for such length of time. But it's less to do with AGE and more to do with EXPERIENCE.
If you've never played a game, every new one will feel incredible and a new experience. When you've played hundred, lots of things feel like "déjà vu". Compounding this is the fact that the game industry has become more and more formulaic, so it feels all that much "business as usual".
Few games are able to "surprise" me now.

[whywhatwhowhenhow]

Been gaming for over 3 decades since the Atari 2600. I still have the time, but not the motivation. Just can't be arsed and lost all interest. Since quitting WoW I don't play any games anymore. So you're not alone on this.

Still struggling to fill that gap though. TV these days sucks! 200 channels of shit and adverts.

[Linri]

i think that you might just be getting bored of the games you are playing

i think the most i can play is about 4 hours before i begin getting bored or want to do soemthing else

the longest time i think i ever gamed was like 7am - 3am when i was in highschool, and i was playing runescape grinding out levels lol

[Pratt]

I can barely manage 2 hours max these days. Same old games with a new coat of paint. Same with movies. Getting old, man.

[Enthusiastic Steward]

I'm 35 and could happily spend a day parked in front of my computer. In practice though with how busy everything else is I'm lucky to have an hour a day total.

Part of that also is that I get to play so seldom sitting down for a long session is at this point a novelty, don't know if I could keep that up if I was doing it every day.

[belfpala]

You don't have enough energy to be lazy and sit for hours, that is pure gold thanks.

/glances at many office workers.

Hmmm.

It's not energy. It's other tasks. In my case, at least.

But yes, that's true. When I try play games these days, I'm often alt+tabbing out because I remembered something I needed to email, then again because phone call and I need to check a spreadsheet, then again because my roommate is going over the house budget, then again because it's my turn to make dinner, then again because I need to go into work... then I come back and the game is still paused.

15 hours later, maybe 1 hour of gameplay.

[LoLcano]

Hey everyone, just some information about me first:

I am a 34+ years old male video gamer. I have been a hardcore video gamer since the 80s (Amiga, NES, and Master system era). I mostly play RPGs.

Now here is the issue, back then when I was like 11 to 20 ish years old I had no problem playing video games for over 12+ hours straight (I know this is super unhealthy but yeah). Nowadays I can barely play video games for straight 4 or 5 hours I know this is still considered a lot of hours for the average video gamer but as I said I am still a hardcore video gamer but yeah these days I can only play for like 4 maybe 6 hours at max then after that I start feeling tired, headache and losing focus...so the question is...is it because I am older now and don't have the same energy as when I was young and teenager? or is it something else?

Thanks for reading.

Yeah getting old sucks , nowdays if i play anything more than 2 hours per day(non stop) i start to get headache

[belfpala]

I'm 35 and could happily spend a day parked in front of my computer. In practice though with how busy everything else is I'm lucky to have an hour a day total.

Part of that also is that I get to play so seldom sitting down for a long session is at this point a novelty, don't know if I could keep that up if I was doing it every day.

This, exactly. See my post a few above yours.

[Enthusiastic Steward]

This, exactly. See my post a few above yours.

I agree as well with also needing the right game. I keep 'trying' Stellaris but I just get a game set up and then get pulled away. By the time to come back to it I don't remember what I was doing or haven't really invested anything so change my mind about what I want to play and start over. And so on. I think I would really enjoy it if I could actually get into it, but at this rate I may never know.

[belfpala]

I agree as well with also needing the right game. I keep 'trying' Stellaris but I just get a game set up and then get pulled away. By the time to come back to it I don't remember what I was doing or haven't really invested anything so change my mind about what I want to play and start over. And so on. I think I would really enjoy it if I could actually get into it, but at this rate I may never know.

Maybe a tip from my dad? He used to get up early to play my Legend of Zelda or Final Fantasy. He'd write down where he was and what he was doing before he left for work. Smart man. I'm not that dedicated.

[Gravity2015]

lol its funny you mention this, i am 29 - and sometimes i prefer to just sit back in my chair with a glass of Guiness and log into twitch to watch other people play games i enjoy ....

[Enthusiastic Steward]

Maybe a tip from my dad? He used to get up early to play my Legend of Zelda or Final Fantasy. He'd write down where he was and what he was doing before he left for work. Smart man. I'm not that dedicated.

But the 20-30 min I have to drink my morning coffee and have breakfast before everyone else is up is my only WoW time.

As for writing it down that's good, but with Stellaris its more I spend the time setting up my empire, start the game, do the initial start-up, then get pulled away. Since I haven't really done much, I'll usually change my mind about what/how I want to play and start over. But I'm also old and senile, easily confused by all these flashing pixels.

[AeneasBK]

33 and recently picking up Borderlands 2 with a friend over skype was happily playing for over 12 hours at a time.

Maybe you just need the right game again, I'm guessing you played Witcher3 loads if you're a fan of RPGs but I hear its a good one (of games that came out in the last few years). Dunno what to suggest though.

[SLSAMG]

lol its funny you mention this, i am 29 - and sometimes i prefer to just sit back in my chair with a glass of Guiness and log into twitch to watch other people play games i enjoy ....

At your age that brings you enjoyment? Sounds depressing af tbqh...