So, I essentially skipped a generation. Glad? Guilty?

[Jmustang1968]

I am more in Luke's camp. While there are days I don't play a game, it has been an active hobby of mine since I was 4 or 5. My gaming and collecting habits have changed over the years though.

As a kid I played whatever incould get my hands on from borrowing from friends, rentals, and birthday presents. In college I was heavily into MMOs which has mostly died off in the past few years. Since 04/05 when sports games went online, I have been heavily into hardcore sim style online leagues.
A couple of years ago I started collecting again. I had kept a relatively small rpg collection up until that point, but had passed down my older systems to my younger brother. I eventually found a few in storage in the garage. Now collecting is a big part of my hobby as well as juggling going back and playing some missed classics as well as soke of the new stuff that comes out and intrigues me.

[Key-Glyph]

When I was a kid, the concept of "keeping up" with current systems didn't exist in my mind, and so feeling guilt over missing out on something didn't exist either. I skipped the SNES entirely without batting and eye, for example, and when I finally did buy one in the 2000s my only reason was that I'd just experienced A Link to the Past and wanted my own copy. I never thought to pick up a console back then because I felt out-of-the-loop, or solely because I was curious to experience a certain new technology.

As an adult, though, I can understand the benefits of keeping up with the times for both of those reasons. I can appreciate video games from larger perspectives (history, society, business), and although I prefer to do so with old games, I see how interesting it is to watch those facets develop in the present. I can also appreciate the benefits of staying informed of technological capabilities, regardless of whether or not they are a part of a product I myself will enjoy, or even use. A system still has to prove itself worthwhile to my style before I'll purchase it, no matter if it was made in 1986 or 2006 -- but I can find it objectively interesting now in a way I never would have as a child.

I think the lack of "guilt" in childhood can be largely due to the impossibility of owning or even experiencing every system available, though. If you're lucky you can buy (or get gifted) one console of a particular generation as a kid, so you choose (or are given), and that's the end of it. Your friends have a certain system, so that's what you play at their house, and that's that. When you're an adult with the means to pick up more things, you have to decide to opt-out instead of opt-in, which means you have to come up with your own justification, instead of having one fabricated for you. Defending "why not" can be more difficult than "why," when both options are equally plausible.

[Retrogamer0001]

I will be skipping the 8th generation and generally feel pretty great about it. I have more games at this point than I can ever possibly beat, and it will be nice not having to shell out wads of cash constantly to build and maintain a game library. In fact, by this time next year, I think I will have stopped buying games entirely and will be completely focused only on playing.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I don't plan on "skipping" the 8th generation completely, but I plan to focus solely on the 3DS, Vita, and Wii U.

The Xbone and PS4 don't seem to offer much except for "new games" - well there are plenty of retro games that are "new" to me that I can play without shelling out $400/$500 for another console.

Perhaps in a few years I'll get a PS4 Slim or Slim Bone or whatever. We shall see.

[Retrogamer0001]

I don't plan on "skipping" the 8th generation completely, but I plan to focus solely on the 3DS, Vita, and Wii U.

The Xbone and PS4 don't seem to offer much except for "new games" - well there are plenty of retro games that are "new" to me that I can play without shelling out $400/$500 for another console.

Perhaps in a few years I'll get a PS4 Slim or Slim Bone or whatever. We shall see.

I tend to agree, I think a lot of games for the PS4/XB1 will just be more of the same for the next few years. I don't really feel the need to play another iteration of Halo or Gears of War, even with the updated graphics. The 7th generation felt so complete to me that I'm sure I'll have enough to keep me busy for years and years to come.

[Haoie]

I always skip a generation.

Just like diabetes?

[Nyukki]

Slim Bone

Cool name.

[EvilRyu2099]

I didn't buy a 7th gen console until I signed on these forums oddly enough.. June 2010 I got a PS3 then I basically got every other console second hand or over amazon.. Before that it was strictly PC and PS2..

[Luke]

I always skip a generation.

Just like diabetes?

I think that's good looks or hair loss.

I'm still "discovering" games for the PS2, so I have a lot of gaming to do before even considering a new "generation".

[o.pwuaioc]

I didn't buy a 7th gen console until I signed on these forums oddly enough..

This is me. I got both a Wii and DS in 2013, and I still don't have any other other 7th gen systems. I will eventually get them all and the one thing I getting for 8th gen will be a3DS. I'm happy with that decision.