Tastes in video games as you age

[Siel]

So have your tastes in games changed now that you're older guys?

In my youth, I used to play competitive games a lot but now I can't even think about playing a multiplayer mode again.
I'm now basically a single player only guy but I'm definitely more picky before trying a game. I tend to like puzzle games now too.

 

[Excidium II]

Not really. Just got more picky since any game is just a few links away.

Back then I'd just play whatever and try to squeeze as much fun out of it because there was nothing else to play.

 

[octavius]

I used to play Play By (E)Mail when I was younger, especially in those Dark Ages (of CRPGs at least) of 1994-1996.
But it was just too time consuming to be competive, and even if I could compete with anyone game mechanics wise, I sucked at the real world diplomacy (which was even more time consuming, and which too often was decisive). Also, not good for my blood pressure.
Never tried any MMOs.

Apart from that I've found that I like TB Blobbers and old CRPGs in general, and TBS games, even more now than when I was younger.
I'm not quite as enthusiastic about shooters anymore.

I'm also in the minority who have more free time now that I'm in my 40s than I had in my 20s and 30s, so I complete more games now than I did back then.
Now I have a huge backlog of free or cheap games to choose from. Back then a brand new game could cost as much as 10% of my monthly salary. And pirating Amiga games meant lots of annoying viruses.

 

[shihonage]

Older games used to try to immerse you thoroughly. Modern games have retard UI that looks like it's made in Flash. Writing is horrid. Immersion is nowhere in sight. They are made by giant voiceless collectives, and the sense of it being "crafted" has been lost.

People get excited about the Battlefront trailer because it's WW1. But all I see are different 3D models with slightly tweaked behavioral routines.

Games failed to grow up with me. Instead, they went into atavism mode, declining to fit the lowest common denominator, genreblending - Far Cry 3 and Skyrim are the same game as far as I am concerned.

When was the last time I've seen something as dramatic as Mechwarrior 2 intro, or Descent 2 intro/outro? Or something as cool as Descent:Freespace? Or innovative, like Crusader: No Remorse, with newspaper from the future packed in the box?

I don't remember.

My 3 favorite games were Fallout, Battlezone, and Doom. Battlezone just got re-released on Steam with a new coat of paint, and I've been having a blast with it. There's the immersion I've been looking for. It still exists - in games which were designed as games, not as mere software.

 

[Ellef]

When was the last time I've seen something as dramatic as Mechwarrior 2 intro, or Descent 2 intro/outro?

Reminds me of the coolest part about installing BG1.

"Now after years of waiting, there is light....at the end of the tunnel!



Now that's a trailer.

 

[Siveon]

Well, I started playing less cooperative and competitive games on consoles since I don't have as many people around willing to sit through the horror of Mario Kart.

It's pretty much same old, same old though. Maybe it'll change after I'm finished with college.

 

[Filthy Sauce]

When I was young I liked games.

Now that I'm old I hate them....

But I still play them?

Wait.... What?

WHY CANT I QUIT YOU?!?

 

[sullynathan]

Funny, I like more games now that I grew up.

 

[DemonKing]

I don't think of my favourite genres of games have changed too much. I still like CRPGs, RTS and FPS games. I probably play a few more 3rd person action games now than I used to. The biggest problem is that finding games in my favourite genres is not always easy these days.

Surprisingly CRPGs are actually fairly common following the Kickstarter craze, but decent RTS games are quite rare. I barely play any FPS games anymore as no one seems to do dedicated servers anymore so the multiplayer experience isn't the same and there hasn't been a complelling Single Player FPS produced since maybe the original FEAR over 10 years ago.

I also like Hearthstone but then I used to play Magic the Gathering 20 years ago when I actually had time to sort through my collection and build decks, so not really a change of tastes.

 

[Metro]

Define 'older.' Most Codexers are no older than 25.

 

[Forest Dweller]

I only play games with gay romance now.

 

[DosBuster]

People get excited about the Battlefront trailer because it's WW1. But all I see are different 3D models with slightly tweaked behavioral routines.

Um, you do realize it's a multiplayer shooter.. right? And it's battlefield, battlefront is star wars.

 

[shihonage]

People get excited about the Battlefront trailer because it's WW1. But all I see are different 3D models with slightly tweaked behavioral routines.

Um, you do realize it's a multiplayer shooter.. right? And it's battlefield, battlefront is star wars.

Battlefield, yes. It's a SP/MP game, though, not that it makes any difference. Same old shit in a new skin.

 

[GrainWetski]

I like pretty much the exact same type of games. Which is mainly a problem with the FPS genre because it's just a bunch of garbage made for gamepads these days.

Obviously RPGs were in a sorry state for a long time, but the end of said decline was at least in sight and happened to some degree. The FPS decline is never-ending.

 

[J_C]

I always had the finest taste in videogames, liking fun and enjoyable games. This didn't change.

 

[Melan]

There was a time I'd happily sink a lot of time into average or meh games, just because I had time and they were there. I don't do that anymore - I'd rather not game at all than play something below a 7/10. I only buy/kickstart two or three new games a year, and try to go for a few good ones. This also means I am getting particularly picky about large-scale games. If it is something you need to sink a lot of time into, it'd better be better than good.

Once upon a time, I was into CRPGs with complex backgrounds and deep worldbuilding. Today, I appreciate the simplicity and abstraction; often, less is more. Some games get away with complexity, and benefit from complexity, but many games are better off staying simple. Grimrock was a good RPG because it didn't want to do more than what the designers were capable of. It struck a right balance. I am careful with text-heavy games, not because of the text itself, but because there are few good writers in gaming, and because heavy text often conceals elementary design problems.

I have grown to enjoy a good classic FPS, which I didn't really appreciate in the 90s. Didn't like the violence, didn't have the skillz. That has changed.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

when i was young i played things like x-com and jagged alliance. now that i'm an old fart i enjoy playing things like x-com and jagged alliance.
other than driving games, which i just can barely stand (except for wip3out), i like quality games regardless of their genre.
maybe i'm not much into adventures anymore, but after monkey island who needs anything else?

 

[Starwars]

Back in the day, I would play pretty much anything. And I was into both computer games as well as consoles.

Nowadays, I tend to pick my games more carefully (well, except for crazy sales). At the same time, I think I'm a bit more relaxed towards gaming nowadays than I was a few years ago. I don't really care as much about games being perfectly tailored to my tastes. 10 years ago, I would've been supremely butthurt and angry about something like Shadowrun: Returns for example. Nowadays it's more like... well, I got some enjoyment out of it and it didn't cost me a lot of money so it was worth it.

I definitely find that I can't keep up with the anger of the Codex anymore.

 

[Mustawd]

For me at least, the idea of a 100+hr game just seems too daunting to pick up.

Most rpgs kind of peak at around 40-50 hours if done well. If not done well then it's usually 20-30 hours. So I see a game with 100+ jrs pf gameplay and I know at best that half of that time will be spent mostly with filler.

Long story short, I'm more apt to play a 20 hr rpg than a 100+ hr "epic"

 

[I'm Big Into Anal]

well, i dont play space invaders and defender down at the fish and chip shop anymore

 

[PulsatingBrain]

My taste is quite similar, although I prefer turn-based combat most of the time now. Then I preferred action or RTwP.

Some of my habits have changed. When I really like a fight or just a certain area in a game, I'll make a save near or before it or whatever, and I'll replay it many times trying to do it perfectly, or just differently. I don't think I would have had the patience for that when I was a little child.

 

[Azalin]

There are some differences because like most people I have less free time as I get older because you know,life.

That means that I am more picky than I was when I was younger,on one hand I drop games much more easily now,I will no longer put in dozens of hours of my precious free time in a meh game just to finish it when I still have 20+ games in my Steam/GoG library I haven't even touched yet.On the other hand because of time limitations 5-6 hour long gaming sessions are a lot harder to achieve I tend to gravitate towards games that are capable of offering me smaller and easier gaming fixes without too much hassle.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Older games used to try to immerse you thoroughly. Modern games have retard UI that looks like it's made in Flash. Writing is horrid. Immersion is nowhere in sight. They are made by giant voiceless collectives, and the sense of it being "crafted" has been lost.

People get excited about the Battlefront trailer because it's WW1. But all I see are different 3D models with slightly tweaked behavioral routines.

That's not really your tastes changing though, that's just games becoming shit.

Far Cry 3 and Skyrim are the same game as far as I am concerned.

My tastes HAVE changed, but it also has to do with games getting shittier.

My favourite genre used to be adventure games, I'd spend AGES on them. Today I don't have the patience and will usually just get a walkthorugh. BUT, playing old adventures from my younger days or even stuff from that era I never played, I suddenly DO have the patience again. Why? Because the games immerse me. Zork Nemesis with its 320x240 graphics feels far more interesting than Double Fag Adventure or the bazillion Telltale episodes I have. I played Mission Critical only last year or so and it was one of the best adventure gaming experiences I have ever had (apart from the space combat sequences which are skippable), true story.

RPGs I still like, they only recently came back with things like WL2, D:OS and Pillars of Eternally Reloading due to SHIT COMBAT.

RTS, they don't really exist anymore except for the declined sequel to the one that started the decline of all of them, Starcraft 2. I'll say it again: when a game gets such a large competitive community that it starts inventing its own jargon, it's automatically shit. "micro" and "macro" and "APM" are not real things faggets, fuck off.

Define 'older.' Most Codexers are no older than 25.

Oh god really?

No wonder this shit is happening. The Codex is full of millennial scum. I told you we should have built the wall.

 

[Mozg]

I have an opposite thing with multiplayer: I am much better at accepting being a 70th percentile kind of player that gets 10-0 shitcanned by the real dudes in the first few tiers of skill, which generally lets me enjoy the games more than I used to when I was hyper competitive.

Critically, I've lost a lot of give-a-fuck since the AAA hegemony is over. Now I mostly want to see Bethesda plow into a ditch for good somehow.

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

Like others said before, I tend to be more picky about the games I play, no time for average stuff except maybe when it has something that serves my special niche interests - I'm playing Star Wars: Rebellion right now and while the game is not bad, it's really not up there with masterpieces like Master of Orion or Alpha Centauri, it's Star Wars though so it makes the cut.

Also I'm very reluctant to play games that take longer than 40-50 hours to finish. A time killer like The Witcher 3 is a nightmare for an OCD "do every quest and explore every nook and cranny" person like me so I tend not to touch games of this type. I prefer to have as little filler content as possible in my games.