Did You Ever Ditch Gaming?

[Anononymphenom]

I became bored with games during the PS2/GC/Xbox era. I would just play them less and less. Incidently, it was also the first time I really had a lot of disposable income and could buy any game I wanted (had all three systems too). Funny how that works. I remember playing the shit out of games for the SNES when my parents would buy me a new one once every couple of months. But with the 128-bit generation, I would just buy games by the shovelful and get burnt out on them within a week. So I kind of stopped altogether.

Then I got back into it when the 360 came out. EB had some crazy deal that let me trade in the systems/games I never played anymore for an X360 and like 5 games. It was ridiculous. I really enjoyed the 360 for a while, thought it did a really good job of modernizing old-school kind of game play, especially with the inclusion of the Xbox Live Arcade. I only had it a few months though, before selling it to a friend in order to finance a spiraling cocaine addiction and a penchant for designer jeans (mmmm Diesel).

That was maybe 2 years ago and I pretty much stopped gaming after that. It was only recently that I got back into it. I love shmups and had always wanted to play the Saturn and it just so happened that a buddy of mine lent me his. I ebayed Dragon Force and Burning Rangers and was kind of disappointed that they didnt really hold up over time (anyone interested in the aforementioned games?). There's still a lot of games I'd like to play on the system though, especially imports.

More recently still I've been bit by the Dreamcast bug. I just love all those arcade games and have such fond memories of the original short-lived DC experience (got mine Xmas '99, best Christmas ever). In possibly the worst trade ever, about 3 years ago I exchanged some 20-30 DC games and all my controllers/vmus for a quarter of weed, figuring I could just burn/cheaply purchase all of it later if I wanted to play again. And while I have burned more than my fair share, some of the games I traded away are a real hassle to burn so I may have to just buy them again (RPGs mostly). I ended up buying a controller after a tremendous burn-a-thon (went through an entire spindle of cdrs ), now I'm just waiting on my vmu to arrive so I can start saving some high scores!

[Gamerforlife]

I think I sort of ditched the gaming scene right about the time I discovered this site. I'm more into retro than current stuff. Honestly though, within the last two or three of months I have drastically cut back on the amount of gaming I do. It's not that the love isn't there anymore. There's just other things occupying my mind lately. In the past couple weeks, I've found myself playing maybe once a week if even that. And usually it is just a pick up and play game like Rez, The Red Star or Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks that I can put down after thirty minutes to an hour.

Gaming is in my blood, so I'm not going to worry if I leave the scene or stop playing for awhile because I know that sooner or later I'll get back to it once other things in my life clear up some more free time. I've sort of realized now that being a gamer doesn't mean I need to be playing something all the time. It's only one part of who I am

I have to say one thing though. Next gen gaming has really dulled my appreciation for gaming quite a bit. I'd love to go back to the Dreamcast days or the 16-bit era(when arcades were still popular too).

[nick944]

I'm stubborn. There were a couple periods where it seemed like 99% of everything being released was garbage, but despite that, I kept trying them desperately looking for that awesome 1%. Kinda similar to my outlook on life actually. Most of the time I hate living, but I continue to live just to experience the rare good times. I don't wanna miss out on them. They come along every once in a while.

That is exactly the same as me! Especially for the Wii =_= I'm not playing much at all right now, due too school and friends, though I still play ocassionally.

[disorderlyvision]

after my second ps2 quit on me i pretty much gave up on games for 2-3 years. it was only in the last year that i started picking up some older consoles and really got back into gaming.

[Pingfa]

Yep. Figured I could be doing more constructive things with my time and playing games is more of an impediment than anything. I concentrated on personal studies and thinking constantly. However, as the story of the learned man and the Zen Teacher ends, "if you do not first empty your cup, how can you taste my cup of tea?"
Sometimes I need a break. Video gaming is for personal relaxation time, and I like a good challenge.

[profshiny]

By the time I finished high school in 97, I was still just using Genesis, NES and 2600. I stopped playing the first year or two of college, until I bought a used Saturn with maybe a dozen games in mid-99. The Saturn was my primary system until mid-to-late 2001, when I got into emulation, rediscovered my love for games, bought a Dreamcast, started playing a friend's PS2, picked up a SegaCD and 32X, a few months later got a GBA, a GameCube, and began playing a ton. I've slowed down a lot since getting married, but I've at least kept current: I have in the past year purchased a PS3, PSP, and GBA Micro which probably gets the most use of all of my systems since it fits in my pocket easily.

[Haoie]

I've currently ditched playing on my DS, for reasons unknown.

[equalsign]

About a month after the Wii was released I ditched gaming for a good year or so. After playing Cave Story I got sucked right back in .

[profshiny]

About a month after the Wii was released I ditched gaming for a good year or so. After playing Cave Story I got sucked right back in .

Amazing how a good puzzler can do it, huh?
Every few years, Fire 'n Ice on the NES absolutely absorbs me for a few days.

[gennss]

well i played heavy nes until 90's, never owned a 16 bit system but my friends did. I did hte pc gaming thing but in high school and post high school i occasionally played ps1 at a friends, but usually didn't do much gaming.

I always loved it, but never put time into it. I started up again around 02/03 i think with the dreamcast.

Sad part is i worked at best buy during dreamcast, ps2, gamecube and xbox launches and never bought any of them.

i wish I would've bought dreamcast new.