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Discussion How old are you? And do you think that you'll ever stop playing games?

How old are you

  • Under 18

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 19-25

    Votes: 31 11.8%

  • 26-30

    Votes: 64 24.4%

  • 31-40

    Votes: 121 46.2%

  • 41-50

    Votes: 39 14.9%

  • 51-60

    Votes: 7 2.7%

  • Older than 60

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    262
Enpsty

Enpsty

Bob-omb
So I'm 42 and gaming has been my major hobby.
Last night I got into a discussion with a group of people (all non gamers) and all of them found bizarre that I'm still into gaming at this age. Of course I didn't care since I know it's a stereotypical argument (games are for kids only blah blah). Their main argument was that at one point I have to stop gaming which sounds so bizarre to me. My argument was that people don't stop watching movies, reading books or listening to music as they get older, why would gaming be any different?

However it got me into thinking if I'll ever stop gaming, not just stop one day more like gradually play less and less. Personally I don't think so, but what about you?
 
I'm in my early 30s. I probably will always have some form of interest in gaming but as I get older I find I have periods where I mostly tune out the industry or don't play many if any games. Then sometimes I have periods where I play tons of games for a few months. As far as hobbies go, I find gaming to be among the more expensive, time-consuming, and mentally intensive so I will probably prioritize other hobbies longterm, but never stop playing video games entirely.

Also depends on what the future of the industry looks like. Right now it ain't too good.
 
37 in a few months, and no, I don't see myself giving up gaming unless I was physically unable to.

Haven't been embarrassed about playing games since I was a teenager who was worried buying Pokemon games would make me look childish. Most of my social circle also play games, and people who don't don't give me grief for it just as I wouldn't give them grief for their hobbies.
 
My grandfather on my mom's side is 80 and has always been the oldest gamer in our family. He doesn't play all the time, but he definitely still plays. Jaws on NES, Flight Simulator, or some deer hunting game. He also loves sudoku games.

My mom is in her upper 50s and just beat Pikmin 4. She's been playing them all since Pikmin 1. She also plays Pokemon Go regularly and dominates her local gyms.

If you love it, there is no reason to ever give gaming up. It keeps you sharp, dexterous, and happy.
 
I’m in my 40s. I find my interests in gaming get less about following the zeitgeist and more about the niche aspects of it that appeal to me as I get older. And that’s ok. It’s the same with most other media. I don’t have a lot of free time but there’s more media available than anyone can realistically keep up with. I’m just quite happy ignoring most of what the AAA industry and online gaming in general is doing and sticking with the stuff I like. What’s great is that indie gaming has near endless stuff catering to just about anything. I’ve been happier with the 2D sidescrollers available recently than I have been since their heyday in the early 90s. Played some great rpgs in the last few years too.

I used to be really into music but probably bought all of two new albums in the last few years. That I still think of it as buying albums rather than streaming songs probably betrays how out of touch I am :)

My hobbies and interests are still largely the same as they were 30 years ago, that’s never changed, but the way I engage with my hobbies and media has. Time, family, commitments, work, money, those are the things that have changed for me. Whereas with gaming it’s more that some modern trends aren’t my kinda thing or what I enjoyed about the hobby. Was never big on competitive multiplayer even as a kid, and the whole monetisation of subscription models, lootboxes, bloated game design and whatever other shitty ideas to gain my ‘engagement’ and have me on a Skinner box conveyor belt just has me ‘engage’ less and less with the chunks of the industry obsessed with that. That’s not to say all of it is- I’ve played great ‘major’ games recently too. But I’m just less interested in general in ‘tentpole AAA releases’ than I was decades ago.
 
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Mekanos said:
I'm in my early 30s. I probably will always have some form of interest in gaming but as I get older I find I have periods where I mostly tune out the industry or don't play many if any games. Then sometimes I have periods where I play tons of games for a few months. As far as hobbies go, I find gaming to be among the more expensive, time-consuming, and mentally intensive so I will probably prioritize other hobbies longterm, but never stop playing video games entirely.

Also depends on what the future of the industry looks like. Right now it ain't too good.
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I believe it's one of the cheapest as long as you buy games on sales, play indies, don't get into fomo for AAA releases or spend on microtransactions.
It's definitely cheaper today than movies/series with all these endless streaming channels or even cheaper than a gym membership (at least in my country).
 
I'm 39. As long as I'm lucid and physically able, I'll keep playing video games.

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Like anything else, it's fine as long as it doesn't get in the way of obligations, health etc. etc. I don't play too, too often, and I'll go weeks without playing anything. It's one of a bunch of hobbies I have. Weather permitting, I'll leave the house to do a thing or if someone invites me out. The only thing that would stop me from playing new video games is if the industry goes streaming-only. At that point, I'll simply focus on my backlog.
 
Catsylvania said:
I'm 39. As long as I'm lucid and physically able, I'll keep playing video games.

IMG-1547.png


Like anything else, it's fine as long as it doesn't get in the way of obligations, health etc. etc. I don't play too, too often, and I'll go weeks without playing anything. It's one of a bunch of hobbies I have. Weather permitting, I'll leave the house to do a thing or if someone invites me out. The only thing that would stop me from playing new video games is if the industry goes streaming-only. At that point, I'll simply focus on my backlog.
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I think that’s a good point. I’m quite happy in the knowledge that there’s more games either in my backlog or that have been released and may interest me at this point than I can ever feasibly play. I have no real attachment to the advancement of technology and better graphics etc anymore. It’s nice to have, I’m curious to see where it goes, but if the games industry stopped releasing new games tomorrow, I’d still chip though half a dozen older titles a year for the next 40 years or whatever with no complaints. Seeing as that’s unlikely, I'm left with a curious eye on the future but contentment with what we have right now.
 
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I turn 41 in a couple of months so I put 41-50

I'll never stop playing games. I've done it since I was 5 and enjoy it as much today as I did back then. The biggest difference now compared to 10-20 years ago for me is that I dont care too much about the competetive nature of gaming anymore - I realize I dont have the reflexes to compete on a high level but that's alright, there's plenty of games to enjoy still - and even multiplayer at a lower level =)

And since both my kids of age is gamers I dont see myself quitting any time soon.

Also at the time of this post, 13 out of 14 votes are 26+ which is pretty cool and 41+ is the biggest option :p
 
32. Not stopping unless I become physically unable to, which I'll try to prevent of course.

Can't say I've ever even had a moment where I truly lost interest in the hobby.
 
I did.

When I turned about 17, I fell out of playing games completely. I'd play stuff (Smash Bros and sports games) against my brother sometimes when I was at my mum's and the odd game of Tetris, but over about a five year period the only game I played beginning to end was Mario 3D World over Christmas. I'd play a new 3D Mario, Zelda or Smash Bros and that was it, like someone who goes to the cinema once every three years when their favourite actor/franchise/director brings out a new film, but never otherwise. Then the Switch came out and I bought one day one, and my brain clicked back into gear. Got more and more back into games every year since.

I was A Young Woman and spent a lot of time being what I felt I was supposed to be, not doing what actually made me happy. The Switch helped change that. The thing it's taught me is I probably will fall out of playing games again, but I'll always come back round. I'll age out, and eventually, I'll age back in, because whilst it might not always be The Passion, it'll always be something that I can seriously enjoy.
 
Like most people here, I'm in my late 20s (turning 29 in a few weeks). I've been playing video games pretty much my whole life visiting cousins and having my own systems since I was 5.

I went entirely cold turkey on gaming from when I was 17 until the very end of college, and on both ends of that (from 14/15 to 17 and 22 to 25), I was playing MMOs exclusively. I missed an entire generation or two of gaming and if I didn't have a little free time my senior spring of college would probably not have gotten back into gaming. I needed out of a difficult home situation and realized that earning a good scholarship to college was that way. No more time for games, and then no time in college while I was enjoying the many fruits of my labor.

Even I'm kind of surprised that I found myself playing video games again. Some of it was justified economically: when I was 23 I was in grad school full-time and horribly broke, so I didn't have time or money to go out or even entertain at home. Paying $12 a month for one MMO was more reasonable than buying a new console and a bunch of games.

I don't think I will ever quit gaming completely, but I will certainly slow down. This year is the first year I'm feeling that: I can count on one hand the number of games I'd like to buy this year, and after owning my 2nd console (a PS4 Pro I bought in 2019, woo) I've figured out that I'm probably not interested in console gaming. Not gaming on PC is a huge part of this feeling. If Nintendo continues to deliver things like the Switch is it probably a given that gaming will always be a restorative hobby of mine after my other interests.

EDIT: I will say another factor here is my gaming tastes have changed quite a bit. Pokemon being of no interest to me anymore is a big one, but also some other changes in taste (I realized I'm not a tactics game fangirl, I'm actually just a Final Fantasy Tactics fangirl).

I'm also proud (yes, proud) to say that I officially quit MMO gaming at the start of this year. It was necessary.
 
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ammonite said:
I did.

When I turned about 17, I fell out of playing games completely. I'd play stuff (Smash Bros and sports games) against my brother sometimes when I was at my mum's and the odd game of Tetris, but over about a five year period the only game I played beginning to end was Mario 3D World over Christmas. I'd play a new 3D Mario, Zelda or Smash Bros and that was it, like someone who goes to the cinema once every three years when their favourite actor/franchise/director brings out a new film, but never otherwise. Then the Switch came out and I bought one day one, and my brain clicked back into gear. Got more and more back into games every year since.

I was A Young Woman and spent a lot of time being what I felt I was supposed to be, not doing what actually made me happy. The Switch helped change that. The thing it's taught me is I probably will fall out of playing games again, but I'll always come back round. I'll age out, and eventually, I'll age back in, because whilst it might not always be The Passion, it'll always be something that I can seriously enjoy.
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Similarly, when I was in my early 20s I also largely quit gaming for 5 years or so, mostly as I was broke, moving around and starting my career. I thought ‘I probably won’t return to it’. But then in my late 20s I settled down and picked up a DS for the commute and I was back. A year later I’d grabbed a PSP and PS3 too. Same has gone for various hobbies- I loved comics as a young kid but found the edgy 90s just wasn’t what I wanted from them. But more recently a friend recommended some runs and now I pick up the books occasionally. My wife said I looked very content one night after our kid was in bed, I had the cat on my lap, a drink beside me and one of the Daredevil trade paperbacks in front of me. I think it’s natural, healthy even, to drift in and out and back again to the things that make us happy, as our time and mental space for them allows.
 
46 here. Started on an Atari and a Pacman arcade machine. Still play as a hobby and as a way to keep up with friends. Hopefully have another 40 years to play...
 
I turn 28 in just a few days! Games are a deep passion of mine, and it's not an exaggeration to say there's literally never been a day of my conscious life where I did not think about or want to play a videogame. One of my very earliest memories in life is watching my older siblings playthrough Ocarina of Time (I was probably about 3 years old).

I saw a lot of my friends "outgrow" games in high school and college, and for a while I thought maybe something was wrong with me. Games kept getting more ambitious and exciting and more cool projects I was interested in kept getting localized, so I only ever got more invested in games as the years went on. What I realized though is that all my friends who felt they outgrew them came back to the hobby in their own time. It seems like it goes in phases for some folks, and that's totally fine, even if I don't relate.

The last bit I'll add is that my parents insisted I would stop enjoying the fun things in life once I had to pay taxes and work. Fuck that capitalist mindset that only values financial productivity. Joy is one of the things you can produce too!

(Paying bills/taxes does suck though fr)
 
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Mid 30's and gave up gaming in the drab yellow years of the PS3 both from the games coming out and the price of PS3 being more than $1000 at the time in Australia. Switch got me back into gaming and then PS4/PS5 as well. I'd say no, but the AI shit might drive me away, or a loss of physical games might reduce my involvement but i do enjoy it a lot, but i wouldn't say i'm a hardcore gamer by any means - play something most days but there will certainly be downtime between games im interested in where i'll focus more on other things i love like film/tv/music/tennis etc... too
 
32. I really don't know.

I had a pretty long stint where I fell out of the hobby from 2007 until around 2011 (but my interest at this point was more nostalgia focused). I really got back into gaming after finishing university in 2014 and have probably played more games as an adult than I did as a kid growing up.

I've been in a weird situation for someone my age where I actually do have a lot of free time so if it stays that way I don't think I would see myself falling out of the hobby (especially since I still have friend's who also play games).
However, once my current lifestyle changes I could easily find myself playing less games and falling out of the hobby to a degree.

Likewise, with the current state of the industry I find a lot less to be enthusiastic about. As is, there are not a lot of upcoming games that seem interesting or exciting to me and with less games coming out in general I could find myself getting bored.

Mekanos said:
As far as hobbies go, I find gaming to be among the more expensive, time-consuming, and mentally intensive
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I really agree with this and I find I struggle more with committing to games sometimes as I get older because of these factors (namely the time-consuming and mentally intensive parts).
 
I am in the "19-25" bracket, so it's easy for me to say "yeah I'll do this for the rest of my life".

I dunno what else I'd move to tho lol. I imagine a lot of people in this bracket will grow to be "elderly gamers" honestly.
 
I'm 41 with a wife and three kids and I feel like my whole personality revolves around gaming lol. I will never stop and I don't care what others think.
 
33 and I've mostly lost interest in games outside of a few franchises. All I really care about is Mario, Yakuza, Dragon Quest, and an occasional dive into retro stuff. Reading and movies have really taken over as my main hobbies.
 
33

I don't think I'll ever stop. I remember falling out of the hobby for a few years when the Wii came out but that was because I had so much other things grabbing my attention at the time.

Gaming defined my youth, helped me go through many hardships and is a thing that makes me somewhat able to relax. Or the opposite. Gaming just has too many layers for me to lose interest.
 
I guess the way I engage in games has changed now that I'm old and dying. I have checked out of a lot of the AAA stuff and consoles, and I mostly focus on indie/social/competitive stuff even more. There's a lot more retro and general hobbyist stuff coming in to fill the gaps. I've also picked up a lot more movie/reading/research time instead. I think at some point it's only natural and healthy to wanna branch out that way eventually. I'm never not gonna basically be playing a bit of something every day, but I've diversified more.
 
I'm 34, and I think I'll be down to clown 'til I'm dead in the ground. My interest in games fluctuates all the time, and I'm sure that'll continue, but to my memory I don't think I've ever "quit" video games at any point. I have definitely lost interest in "keeping up" with the industry or anything like that. I just play whatever.
 
Phosphorescent Skeleton said:
33 and I've mostly lost interest in games outside of a few franchises. All I really care about is Mario, Yakuza, Dragon Quest, and an occasional dive into retro stuff. Reading and movies have really taken over as my main hobbies.
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I feel like I'm too invested in video games and playing a variety of them for this but at the same time you are doing exactly what I aspire to, down to the franchise choices probably lol (definitely Mario and DQ)
 
Early 30’s here.

I’ll probably always play video games so long as I am physically able to. Though the “how” and “what” has certainly changed. When I was younger I felt I needed to play every major video game release that came out. I needed to stay in the know about it all. I grew up listening to video game podcasts that featured reviewers and journalists talking about the latest games, and I wanted in on that.

When I got to my late 20’s I realized that, no, I don’t. I’m not a games journalist or critic. I don’t need to blast through the latest games as soon as they’re out because that’s not my job and I’m not getting paid for it. I don’t need to play everything even if they’re not really my thing. I don’t need to play games I don’t enjoy. Last but not least: I can just replay games I already know I love.

So nowadays I just play what I want, when I want (which is to say, when I have time) and while I still keep up with reading about new games and whatever, I don’t play any of them. Nothing about 98% of modern video games appeals to me. So I just don’t play them! And that’s fine.

I’m gonna go back to replaying Pikmin on Switch now
 
Mid 30’s. I don’t see it, but I’m sure I’ll have to slow down. My kids are 2 and it’s getting tougher to find solid blocks of time.
 
0
Every year I get more tired of this industry and this hobby, thinking maybe I’m just over it.

But every year there’s at least one really cool game that makes me realize “it’s not me, it’s you”. It’s not that I’m getting tired of games. It’s that there’s too many dumb companies making boring, average games.

When done well, video games are still the coolest shit on the planet, so I doubt I’ll ever stop playing.
 
Mid 20's.
A few years ago I would have said no way.
I was the sort of person who was a little confused when I would see people saying they could only play games for an hour or two before getting bored. For me if I had the time I was happy to play a game for however long I had.

Recently though that's changed, for so many games I can only play for an hour or two before I feel like I've had my fill. I'm less interested in games in general, and so often the games I am playing I'm only playing because I'm playing with friends, etc.

So, I'm not sure. I do love games, and I think there will always be certain franchises that I'll want to play but I do see myself falling away even further in the future. Who knows though.
 
0
I'm slightly surprised to 'see' all the fellow millennials here.

The interest level fluctuates but I don't really see myself leaving 'gaming' fully as a hobby. I actually ended up playing more games now since with disposable income, I can afford to indulge myself a bit more. I'll probably keep playing till I get priced out of the hobby (then I might just switch to sailing the seven seas to get my fix).
 
0
I am 37! Gaming is my primary hobby and I do not anticipate retiring from gaming. Although my tastes has shifted away from AAA, I get almost every first party Nintendo game that’s released.
 
42 here and I don't think I will stop playing, but rather I now try to be more selective of the games I play because of time and money.

Enpsty said:
Last night I got into a discussion with a group of people (all non gamers) and all of them found bizarre that I'm still into gaming at this age
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I found this funny because when I changed jobs recently, one guy in my area told me the same but every free minute available he had, he was playing on his phone one of the puzzles games with colored water and called him on that but he said it was different because he wasn't spending money on it
 
31 next month, and no. Gaming and reading are my two main hobbies. I also love sports and music. Gaming is something I will never pull away from.
 
Probably older than most here, or even in this thread.

I'll probably never lose interest entirely, though I definitely play much less than in previous years and am very selective with what will get my time. I've not been too thrilled with major releases te past few years and how things are trending, but maybe that's just the old speaking.

My tastes haven't changed much. I like fast and I like difficult. I'm surely much worse these days but I'll still play Smash every week with some of my younger family and maybe go to a local as the resident geezer. I finally tried Returnal recently since it is on PSplus and that game is one of the all time greats in my opinion. And most lately I've been playing a ton of Remnant 2 with one of my other old fart buddies. It's a ton of fun
 
Derachi said:
Early 30’s here.

I’ll probably always play video games so long as I am physically able to. Though the “how” and “what” has certainly changed. When I was younger I felt I needed to play every major video game release that came out. I needed to stay in the know about it all. I grew up listening to video game podcasts that featured reviewers and journalists talking about the latest games, and I wanted in on that.

When I got to my late 20’s I realized that, no, I don’t. I’m not a games journalist or critic. I don’t need to blast through the latest games as soon as they’re out because that’s not my job and I’m not getting paid for it. I don’t need to play everything even if they’re not really my thing. I don’t need to play games I don’t enjoy. Last but not least: I can just replay games I already know I love.

So nowadays I just play what I want, when I want (which is to say, when I have time) and while I still keep up with reading about new games and whatever, I don’t play any of them. Nothing about 98% of modern video games appeals to me. So I just don’t play them! And that’s fine.

I’m gonna go back to replaying Pikmin on Switch now
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Exactly this. Once you detach yourself from the ‘must keep up with the latest hotness’ and realise that there’s plenty of games that don’t cost £60 a go, and that the hobby doesn’t require you to ‘keep up’ with all the latest crazes and biggest titles in order to talk about it, It’s relatively cheap as hobbies go. I played a great indie NES-homage this week, ‘Prison City’. Was £7. Would play again.
 
Past 55 here.

It's not too much of an exaggeration to say that my life has been defined by video games. I was about 10 years old when I got hooked on Asteroids and Crazy Kong at the local 7-Eleven, and I got into computer programming so I could make games. While I never got into the game biz, I've also never had a moment since where I didn't have a console, computer, or portable somewhere within reach. And aside from finally realizing that my twitchy reflexes aren't what they used to be, I don't see any reason why I'd stop playing them -- I'm only semi-joking when I say that I keep playing X-Com 2 to keep myself from developing early onset Alzheimer's. :LOL:

RodneyPump said:
I'll probably never lose interest entirely, though I definitely play much less than in previous years and am very selective with what will get my time. I've not been too thrilled with major releases te past few years and how things are trending, but maybe that's just the old speaking.
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Amen, brotha. I find it's a little harder to get into newer games these days because they tend to be filled with post-purchase gimmicks that annoy me, but that just means I'm more selective with what I play.
 
I'm in my late 20s, and I play more stuff now than ever. the indie space, especially on pc, is home to such a variety of weirdo shit pushing the medium in cool new directions
 
late 20s, I'm pretty sure I'll be playing video games unless/until I'm physically unable to do so

I've come to the realization over the past few years that video games are just straight-up my preferred form of media; some people are constantly going to the movies, some try to keep on top of every prestige TV show, others tear through books, and I unabashedly love video games. My interest level and specific tastes have ebbed and flowed over the years, but even if they completely stopped making new games tomorrow, I think I could still comfortably spend the rest of my life finding new things to play or new ways to play old things
 
33....weird question, it's like asking if i'll ever stop reading or something like that, sure there might be times where i'm not feeling it and don't for months but I don't see why I would ever stop completely

I guess I would probably stop playing games if I became blind, I feel like it would be too much of a hassle at that point to be worth the effort
 
0
38 here, I game as much as time allows with a busy adult life.

I have found in the last few years (Basically since Switch released) that I much prefer playing games portably so I only use Switch and Steam Deck these days. Also, again thanks to Switch, I’ve tried different genres and types of games I never thought I’d be interested in.
 
30.
I used to play games a lot but since my mid twenties my gaming time has decreased for sure. Sometimes i find myself not booting any game for 3 months straight which was never close to happen in the past.

It's a combination of working full time, prioritizing other things and having played through so many games already.
As to whether i'll ever stop playing games altogether, who knows? There are many Nintendo first party franchises that i'll stick with for a long time i think so not anytime soon. But i might drop AAA games in the near future, other than some selected few games.
 
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