As I’ve gotten older, I’ve noticed something weird. When I was a young one, I could sit down and play Zelda or slog through Sonic Adventure DX for entire afternoons with my eyes glued to the screen. As I’ve gotten older, it’s been harder for me to devote as much time to games as I used to. However, I still check my favorite gaming sites and YouTube channels CONSTANTLY. I’m always looking for news, bits of gaming history, and weird games I’ve never heard of. I charted out the amount of time I spend, and it seems that of the time I devote to games, only 25% of that time is actually playing them. The other 75% is reading about them, watching videos, or listening to podcasts. Does anyone else relate to this??
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think I enjoy buying stuff on steam more than playing it.
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I’ve found that I do a lot more research as I get older before I go and buy a game. I’ll sit through and watch streams, ask people questions and read a few reviews before going for it. Steam though, those sales kill me, I get a bunch of games that I end up never playing.
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I think it’s pretty easy to hit this state if you read stuff about games during downtime at work and don’t play every night.
I do this whenever my schedule gets too hectic. There are plenty of times where it makes more sense for me to watch someone stream a game while I do something else than to play it myself. When my time is especially limited, or when money is tight, I also find that watching streams/listening to podcasts/reading critiques helps me make better purchases. That’s key when I only have time/money to play one game a month or so.
There’s also just inherently entertaining people out there playing great/terrible-but-hilarious games that I can’t or won’t play myself.
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This started happening to me the past few years. My playtime has dipped but I still consume the same amount if not more video-game-related content.
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I’m kinda at a same point. I think as I’ve grown up its become more about being a part of a community (gaming) than the pastime of gaming itself for me, and a lot of that is due to time constraints. I don’t have the time to spend all afternoon playing a single game very often because I’m an adult, I’m getting a Masters, there is Shit To Be Done. So instead in the small moments in-between things I read about gaming and keep up with the news as a way of staying connected to this passion of mine. Also as game journalism continues to grow there are more and more legitimately interesting articles to read that aren’t just “standard” reviews, which helps!
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It’s called Being an Adult. 
Yeah, but only because my work/commute schedule is like exhausting and so it’s easier to sit and read something as a fall asleep than it is to play something and potentially drop a $60 controller or a $300 handheld on the floor
This is true for me right now, but I’ve actually always liked hearing about games vicariously. One of my favorite parts of Waypoint radio is hearing them go through their experience of playing a game.
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I totally get this. I spent sooo many hours as a teenager watching my best friend play games. Now I’m in my 30’s and while we get together every once in a while to play, I spend a lot more time at work with a Let’s Play in the background. After looking at a screen all day for work, I often prefer to read a book when I get home.
I do think the community aspect has taken precedence over the play itself sometimes for me, which is why I’m so psyched about this forum going up. I still love games, but how I’m engaging with them is changing, and that’s cool with me.
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Another one here. Work, commuting, and parenting take it out of me, so playing for more than an hour a night even if I have the time is usually pretty exhausting. Listening to podcasts on the commute is way easier mentally, especially before I’ve had my coffee.
I watch and listen to video games stuff waaaaaay more than I play video games. Lately I don’t play any video games at all aside from some phone games to get me through the work day. Playing video games just isn’t appealing lately.
Yes, definitely.
I’ll happily read all about them, check gaming websites multiple times everyday, watch streams… but actually playing a game?
Can’t work up the energy.
Though there have been some notable exceptions lately.
- Breath of the Wild - I took a week off from work for this game and crammed in 120 hours of play.
- Overwatch - I find it easy to jump in a play a few matches. It requires no commitment.
I started Persona 5 and stalled after six hours… Tales of Berseria made it to 20 hours before I stopped. This is normal and it’s not good!
