Do you guys think you'll ever be too old for gaming?

[Gamerforlife]

I haven't be on here in awhile. I felt like I rubbed some people the wrong way so I got away from the forums for awhile, but I had this thought in my head for awhile and thought it might make a good subject for discussion.

Do you think you'll ever reach a point where you're just "too old" to play video games. Will you still love the hobby when you're 40, or 50, or 60 years old or will you have moved on to other things.

When, if ever, do you think will be the age when your fingers aren't fast enough, or your reflexes, hand eye coordination, etc. just aren't cutting it anymore.

I've been getting into collecting old games for awhile now, but I keep wondering. Should I be doing this? Will I look at my big collection of games one day and think, "What was I thinking buying so many of these things?"

I find myself wondering about these things because it seems like ninety percent of the gamers you run into are anywhere from 13 to maybe early thirties. It seems like a hobby that really is aimed at the youth, which makes me wonder if games will still appeal to us when we hit somewhere like middle age or older.

I guess the real question is, is gaming just a young person's hobby? Or is it just a generational thing? Since people today are "children of the digital age" does that mean gaming amongst older people will be more common than it was in the last generation?

Just some food for though, I'm curious to see what everybody has to say.

[racketboy]

I'm already progressing that way.
Most of the time, I get more enjoyment in writing about games and watching my wife play.
Multiplayer is the one thing that keeps things fresh.

[executioner]

Never!!! I'll be and trying to finish every game I have. Well gaming will get bigger and bigger and I think since there is a lot of gaming oriented for people around 20 to 30 since we were like the first generation of video gamers maybe developers will focus more on making more games for our market as we grow older. Seems logical cause they'll be making more money.

Actually I can see a lot of games that would be highly interesting and enjoyable for people around 40 right now, its just that society for them or even for us sees gaming the wrong way, as bad influence, not been productive, that its for kids and some other countless stuff that pressures people to leave it as they get older. I'm 28 and have a lot of active gaming friends and don't see them leaving games ever just like me.

To me its just like metal music, lots of people change to more mellow stuff. I'll be 80 playing games, watching anime and headbanging to some crazy sutff with the grandchildren.... if my wife lets me.

[opethfan]

My Grandad, who's in his 70s now, got REALLY into Wii Sports when he was visiting last month. I just gave him my old computer, and he says "Oooh, I've gotta get some games for this now"

[fastbilly1]

I view that I will be gaming for many years to come. I really have two goals in my videogaming and if they are met to a wide degree I may shuffle into the shadows. Those goals are:
1. Own and beat all of the Zelda games.
2. Beat every game supported by MAME .103u - beat meaning Highscore or finish the storyline

On the first one I am doing pretty good - I have beaten all but Phantom Hourglass, and currently own all but said DS game and the CD-I ones (foolishly let my friend sell them to someone else). For the second I got to Air Inferno in write ups and somewhere in the Cs on playing. Sometime I might sit down and work on that, my one fan is still waiting.

I feel that gaming of some kind will always be with me. Be it boardgames, videogames, cardgames, roleplaying games, etc, games have and will always be a part of my life. Like Racket, nowadays I have more fun writing about videogames then playing most of them, but atleast once a month I usually go overboard on a game or two and sink alot of time into them. Recently both Pokemon Diamond and Titans Quest have drawn me in. I like to think of it as catching up for time missed.

In college we use to pretty much run a lanparty in one of the computer rooms every Friday. My gaming for the week was usually spent in one 5-36 hour session, and they are simply some of the most fun I have ever had. If I can find another hobby that can give that kind of experience I might take it up, but so far nothing has come close.

So in a really round about way of answering, I believe it is possible, but not for me - not unless I get really motivated to start playing through mame again...

[RadarScope1]

I can see where you're coming from, gamerforlife. I was in a few game stores today while my wife and her sister were shopping at the mall, and there were plenty of young kids running around. It does make you feel old, or think "why am I doing this?"

But it's funny, I actually feel that way less and less these days. I know for a FACT I would regret selling stuff from my collection. I felt that regret before and I'm not going to let it happen again. And I have a lot of friends my same age whom I talk games with the same way I'd talk about music or sports -- it's just something we're into. And more and more people are getting into it all the time. I got a shocker this weekend when my brother-in-law told me he just got a 360. So there's someone else who I didn't figure was into games that I can now game with.

As for the physical limitations -- that shit scares me! Luckily, we'll have a LONG time before we have to worry about that. Look at it this way. If there are a lot of old people who can still play the guitar, play the piano or knit, I think we'll be able to pick up a controller even in our old age.

[kinn]

Its a good point.

I think that gaming was aimed at the the young teenage market before. But with the current generation I believe that they are aiming for the young adults as well. I believe that as the developers themselves get older, it will may reflect in their games and thus appeal to the older gamers. So in time, with newer consoles their target audiences will include the older folks as well.

Personally, I did kind of lose interest in gaming around the time the 360 came out and I did question myself about it. But now Its seems I'm back into gaming 100% again.

As for being too old pysically to play games i.e. reflexes, hand eye coordination etc I'm not worried. By then I'm sure we will have some new forms of controls, like mind control perhaps!

[philipofmacedon]

I don't really see it happening.

I play all sorts of games: card, board, and video. I play poker every week with my father and his friends, who are all in their 40s or 50s. One guy is well into his late 70s. The idea that you might be too old for card games is totally foreign to them. I don't see how board and video games are really much different for my generation.

I do think that I become more jaded about games as I get older. Maybe this isn't such a bad thing. When I was younger I had time to play every cookie cutter RPG. Now it takes more to excite me. But there are still more A grade titles to cull from decades of gaming history than I have to play. Go play Chrono Trigger right now, seriously!

As far as lacking physical ability, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I hope that growing up playing video games will have trained your brain to work well. Surely video games provide more mental stimulation than 95% percent of the TV we watch (and that's what it seems is all the generation preceding me does.) Maybe you won't be owning people at FPS but if you lead a healthy active life there's no reason you won't be holding a controller for years to come. If your eyesight goes, get a giant TV like my grandmother has. She's got cataracts in her eyes, but her TV is big enough to enjoy.

I hope when I'm old and wrinkled to have the time to play violent FPS with the other nursing home inmates and my grandkids when they come to visit.

[pixelbender]

Never will be too old! For one, I recon I won't be allowed the time I need to play most of the games I want until I retire! I don't ever get the time to play Doom all the way through like I did when I was a kid.

[kinn]

I do think that I become more jaded about games as I get older. Maybe this isn't such a bad thing. When I was younger I had time to play every cookie cutter RPG. Now it takes more to excite me.

I think this is what I'm afriad of the most.