Tastes in video games as you age

[Cadmus]

Used to look forward to the new technology, better graphics, more realistic games, subtler story-telling allowed by this new technology.
Now that it's all been forfeit in the name of money, I just carefully pick what doesn't look too retarded. I also stopped playing RTS and FPS games since they stopped making them. Don't play any more sports games and racing games. Mostly just RPGs or the odd hybrid.

Remember the times when you got a magazine demo CD with tons of different new genres, full of promises. Now all you get is shit grey CoD and the latest biggest shit that sells. In my youth I thought that the developers would use the best technology to deliver the best and most innovative game they could think of. Now I see they deliver what takes the least effort and makes the most money.

 

[Daemongar]

I used to play the shit out of even the crappiest games just because I couldn't afford not to. Gary Kitchen's Game Maker? Check. Pinball Construction Set? Check. Infocom's Starcross? Check.

Now I play games like folks 20 years ago would have watched television: lots of choices, something I do everyday, more ritual than real enjoyment but some enjoyment in there. Not a lot of wow factor, as games look better than ever but it's the rare game that's actually fun. Like listening to commercial radio: 99.9% is shit, but there is that .1% that is there that keeps people coming back.

Also, this made me nostalgic as all hell, so I'm posting it.

 

[Kutulu]

Used to be really into competetive shit, quakeworld, cpma etc.
A few years ago i was instant decent at everything i picked up, not anymore and im
less willing to spend much time on getting gud on most stuff.

So Multiplayer based stuff is usually not as important as it used to be, i only buy stuff
that atleast 2-3 RL friends pick up.

 

[Great Deceiver]

I used to be a fighting game fan, spent most of my time at the arcade (even owned my own arcade for awhile) and fighting games comprised pretty much 90% of my gaming time for about 7-8 years.

Competitive fighting games outside an arcade environment makes no sense to me, so I quit playing them.

I used to really like the concept of MMOs back during EQ up until vanilla WoW. Some of my best gaming memories are from vanilla WoW, in fact, but now I can't stand MMOs at all anymore. They actually make me physically ill.

I like turn based blobbers even more now than when I was younger (I've always liked them). I don't like isometric RPGs as much as I used to. I still like adventure games a lot, but think most stuff released today is too easy. I was never a big fan of story in games, but rather the puzzles and adventures today are very light on actual puzzles.

I like shmups but am not a huge danmaku fan (i.e. Cave games); I like older shmups like Raizing ones where the scenery actually matters and you have to dodge obstacles, or Raiden where shots are actually aimed instead of being a clusterfuck filling 99% of the screen where you have to slow-mo manipulate a tiny hitbox of an animu moe ship.

I appreciate simplicity now more than I used to; I've come to learn that complexity isn't necessarily correlated to complicated or convoluted systems. It has made me appreciate the philosophy of arcade action games even more.

I only play games once or twice a week now, compared to every day for multiple hours up until a few years ago. Frequently when I play now, I keep thinking about something else like reading a book or watching a movie. Games aren't very engaging anymore.

My patience for 2deep4u games is paper thin. I like videogamey stuff and videogamey soundtracks. I dislike recent "retro" efforts (like grossly overblown pixels to mask incompetent art) just for the sake of it.

I dislike open world games and prefer a tight set of rules and objectives. That has always been the case. I prefer good mechanics that serve a purpose over a bunch of pointless shit that is there just because. I hate checklists in games. I hate achievements. I hate the ubisoft philosophy that has permeated everything these days. I hate skill trees in most games, I hate that every game now needs to have a 'progression' system tied to it, even fucking Tomb Raider.

I think I miss the time when I couldn't play everything. The possibilities were enticing. Now it's all banal shit boring.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Even being older and bitter I still try new stuff and genres (even RTS and similair, where I got problems). Last 5 years was spend on tactical titles (UFO trilogy, Apeiron games, first encounters with XCom and X-Com).
I played bazillion FPP/FPS titles until 2007 when they gone console pads path and I run out of AA segment ones (Chaser, SoF2 etc). Now the only one FPS acceptable for me is Stalker, and even this one is terrible garbage, wasted potential. Or Doom wads. Can't stomach vanilla and loathe retarded Keyboard Only opiate garbage mantra.
I got decent internet connection too late (2006, short before CoD MW1 was coming ) to enjoy cool multiplayer experience, now it's only dudebros menace...

These days I dig some gold here or here, trying to play classics and whatnot. Ultima Underworld in 2011, System Shock in 2012 and dozen others are still playable and enjoyable even for people new to the genre.

I can't enjoy titles with no clear objectives (unless they're vague one) and didn't played MP games beside Red Orchestra 2.
And no matter what game and how good/bad it is - I sometimes start checking site howlongtobeat dot com and see how long it take to finish. Enjoyment decreased here but can't drop it, must be job done...

 

[Daedalos]

My tastes haven't changed. I only played the finest then, and only play the finest now.

I've always been a competitive person. I want to win, and I hate losing. So I give it my all, whatever game it is I'm at. Mostly multiplayer games.

I actually play significantly more cRPGs now and spend more time playing, than I used to back in the day.

 

[Zarniwoop]

I only played the finest then, and only play the finest now.

Yeah clearly a man of distinguished tastes

10/10 would lel again

 

[bloodlover]

My parents got me a PC quite late (I had a PS1 though) so I got into RPGs kind of late. Since I had no computer at home, I used to go to an internet cafe and play but of course I'd just play Counter Strike 24/7. I remember some computers had Diablo 2 on them but I started playing that game non stop when I got a PC.

I played a lot of RPG and TBS games in my high-school years and later in college and even now I still catch up (played Fallout 2 and finally finished BG2 this year). I don't put a lot of money into my PC just for gaming, since there a very few games worth playing every year and I still have a lot of catching up to do on the "classics".

I guess tastes and habits have changed but I still enjoy an 8h+ session of HOMM3 when my friends come to town during the holidays.

 

[markec]

My taste is pretty much the same but the game selection I play today is quite different now them before. Which I mostly due lack of quality titles in certain genres.

As an example in the old times I loved playing single player first person shooters, now I cant remember the last time I had a blast with one, if I dont count replaying old classics. Same thing with space sims, Freespace 2 and Tachyon were last ones I enjoyed.

 

[Daedalos]

I only played the finest then, and only play the finest now.

Yeah clearly a man of distinguished tastes

10/10 would lel again

You're a retard

Some random mod gave me a few tags, who the fuck cares? Everybodys a fanboy for something on this site.

I hope you never reproduce. Shitstain

 

[Zarniwoop]

Everybodys a fanboy for something on this site.

They really aren't. Most people here think everything is shit. And you're the only one that thinks everything is AWESUME.

Nice

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

I always played mostly strategies and crpgs, but over the years this focus shifted heavily in favor of strategy games. The more conscious (and bitter) I got the more I realized that even the crpgs I really liked have some serious flaws and don't come close to the longevity and fun that top strategy/tactical titles offer. Plus obviously after 2001 PC crpgs died, while strategy gaming is still going relatively strong to this day.

In second half of the nineties I also played RTS games a lot, but this genre got boring and declined quicker/harder than any other did and right now I can't stand them.

I also must be a special case since I seem to be the only adult male for whom the gaming time actually increased after my life stabilized (family, long-term job, own apartment). I don't claim I play computer games as much as I did when I was a teenager, but definitely more than I did during most of my twenties.

 

[Daedalos]

Everybodys a fanboy for something on this site.

They really aren't. Most people here think everything is shit. And you're the only one that thinks everything is AWESUME.

Nice

No I'm not.

Lots of people fanboy over something, and so do you. So keep your cancerous mouth shut. Piece of bitchtrash.

Fuckin' hippocrite

 

[Cadmus]

I always played mostly strategies and crpgs, but over the years this focus shifted heavily in favor of strategy games. The more conscious (and bitter) I got the more I realized that even the crpgs I really liked have some serious flaws and don't come close to the longevity and fun that top strategy/tactical titles offer. Plus obviously after 2001 PC crpgs died, while strategy gaming is still going relatively strong to this day.

In second half of the nineties I also played RTS games a lot, but this genre got boring and declined quicker/harder than any other did and right now I can't stand them.

I also must be a special case since I seem to be the only adult male for whom the gaming time actually increased after my life stabilized (family, long-term job, own apartment). I don't claim I play computer games as much as I did when I was a teenager, but definitely more than I did during most of my twenties.

what strategy games? Last thing I played was I think AoE3...I mean RTS no 4X or tactical. I'm really curious if there's something as cool as AoE or C&C or W3 now?

 

[Zarniwoop]

Ironic that you don't even know what fanboy means.

 

[Zarniwoop]

what strategy games? Last thing I played was I think AoE3...I mean RTS no 4X or tactical. I'm really curious if there's something as cool as AoE or C&C or W3 now?

The last truly great RTS was probably Rise of Nations. But then it's designed by Brian Reynolds so no surprise there.

Supreme Commander is also p. good. But it's not exactly modern either.

 

[Anthedon]

I used to play a lot of RTS (Dune 2, C&C, AoE and Starcraft), mostly single-player. Nowadays I'm more interested in wargames/4x/Grand Strategy.

 

[skacky]

I played a lot of competitve MP games a few years ago (mostly CPMA, Natural Selection, UT99, Team Fortress, Brood War and StarCraft 2) but I grew rather tired of it after a while. I mostly only play SP or coop games nowadays.
As far as genres go, I played a lot of platformers, RTS and a few FPS when I was younger but I mostly only play FPS and RPGs nowadays. I haven't touched an RTS in a while.

 

[Bumvelcrow]

I used to play the shit out of even the crappiest games just because I couldn't afford not to. Gary Kitchen's Game Maker? Check. Pinball Construction Set? Check. Infocom's Starcross? Check.

R U calling Starcross shit?

I used to be very elitist when it came to my RPGs. Anything worse than the current high bar was not worth soiling my hands with. Now I'll go back and play all those games and really enjoy them. Most modern games aren't worth my valuable time (rapidly diminishing as my mind and body decay).

I also used to play a lot of action games because that's what all the mags at the time recommended. I wasted so much money on games I couldn't stand. Now most RPGs are action games.

 

[you know what time it is]

I remember reading walkthroughs to IWD and Arcanum on the last pages of a game journal (Igromania afaik). Shit was fascinating to me, I barely remembered tips and tricks mentioned in them, but I was enthralled by the games themselves. Eventually I got a PC and bought IWD/Arcanum and Fallout among other things (p. sure Incubation, Bedlam and Lands of Lore were one of the first purchases)... them tastes never really changed much.

Old adventure games were great too, Full throttle, Kyrandia, Quest for Glory etc. (Sierra and LucasArts had that shit on A LOCK)

Not gonna lie, I played a lot of MP games (WoW, Counter-Strike, Star-Craft, first three Quakes, Ultima Online etc.), mostly to scratch my competitive itch (since I injured my knee pretty bad around the time CS/SC were popular) or to fuck around with a bunch of friends. Though, WoW was an experience.. Bullshitting with a German about WW2 as a kid living in a remote Siberian town (in 2004) was priceless, not to mention howling with Swedes in TS or discussing certain kickboxing techniques with a Dutch feller.

In almost 17 years of playing I never really got into first person RPGs (though I used to mod skyrim into a perfect hobo heaven, but it doesn't really count), I remember being amazed by Morrowind, when you left that ship, big ass flea-like creatures, living world and dudes falling from the skies. But after talking to a few NPCs I quickly realized that every one of them is an almost identical sheet of wikipedia articles. That was an instant dealbreaker for me, since I was coming off of my first Planescape Torment playthrough. In retrospective, looking at modern TES games, Morrowind was a masterpiece.

The only thing that changed with age is that I started to appreciate UI and design that much more, hence why certain things like Battle.net 2.0 is a neverending source of butthurt for me. Or GTA5 interface... mother fucker I want to punch in a dick the person that's responsible for it.

Spoiler

However, the first 'coming of age' sort of thing that happened - was Heroes of Might and Magic IV... that's when, deep down I knew that things will never be the same again.

 

[Daemongar]

I used to play the shit out of even the crappiest games just because I couldn't afford not to. Gary Kitchen's Game Maker? Check. Pinball Construction Set? Check. Infocom's Starcross? Check.

R U calling Starcross shit?

No. Absolutely not. A very, very well made text adventure. Just not the kind of game I would have played if I had more resources. What I was poorly trying to articulate is that I took games and beat the hell out of them out of necessity for novelty. In that light, adventures like Zork, Starcross, and quite a few others are games that I really didn't care for the genre but played them again and again. They were all I had, borrowed from friends and whatnot.

 

[Severian Silk]

I didn't know video game RPGs were a thing when I was young. (Despite watching some kids play Bard's Tale a few times.)

So I played Super Mario, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, Twisted Metal, Tekken, etc.

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

Back in the day I played mostly of games that aren't complatable or have infinite replay value like RTS skirmishes, FPS botmatches, Civilization 2 custom scenarios and rarely finished longer games.

Nowadays it's exactly opposite, I prefer limited experience and finishable games. I dropped multiplayer games, fighting games, platformers, RTS games (can't stand them at all now, with exception of Dark Colony, Z and Dune 2K from time to time) and now I'm focusing mainly on RPGs and SP FPSes.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Funny because I get same thing. I finished a dozen of FPS titles in this and previous year and stopped with multiplayer despite getting decent internet for it. Already bored with MP, even though I get into MP too late thanks to adsl in 2007.
Maybe it's caused by large piles of games, urge to finish most/all of them? Who knows.

 

[an Administrator]

I haven't aged yet so