Are you a slave to your console games?

[shardian]

I've noticed lately that I hate getting frustrated with games. I have very little game playing time, and want it to be enjoyable. Back in the day when playing Madden, GTA, or Gran Turismo; I would realize I was no longer playing for enjoyment, but just to 'complete' the game. My console playing is pretty much limited to the DS now, and I tend to sample games. I'll find one enjoyable and really like it, but then the difficulty will ramp up quickly or the game becomes overburdened by side quests and collections. Anymore, I will just quit playing the game when I sense I am no longer having fun. That IS what games are meant for: Enjoyment.

[shardian]

Feel free to offer ideas for new choices.

[Daniel270]

I have to agree with you.... when a game quits being fun or at least enjoyable, I'm forced to quit and find something else.  World of Warcraft was very much like that.  I enjoyed it for roughly a year, but I started getting annoyed, then angry, at how other people played when quests required certain dungeon runs. 

It's the same with console games.  When a game gets to the point where I'm more upset and frustrated because it's either too tough to finish or the puzzles more complex than I'm willing to work with... I end up quitting and finding something else.

Life's too short and stress only eats away at it.   Put the game down and walk away.

[SavannahLion]

Back in the day, I played (console) games and mastered them. I could rent almost any game and finish the game in less than 24 hours and master the game in 72 hours. There wasn't a title I could say that I couldn't master. Only reason I ever bought titles was either because the rental store wouldn't carry them or I wanted to have a "relaxing" time to play or replay them with friends.

That was then. Now, I class myself as a "collector." I stopped buying new games that reviewed well sometime back in the 1998 or so when I found some games were scoring high and sucking low. Too many review sites and magazines lost their integrity. Back in the mid-90's, EGM was king for reviews. No other mag at the time could successfully pick out sleeper. Now? I doubt any reviewer actually understands what a sleeper is supposed to be. I trust only one site now but they're not regular reviewers and they don't always have the same tastes as I do.

Anyhow, I digress. I buy games I hope play well or based on personal reviews from individuals. My luck isn't all that great.

Combined the above with the severe lack of time to actually play any games, at all. So I end up buying titles and never opening them. I'd say that about half of my Wii/PS2 collection are unopened. I can only focus on a handful of games at any one time anyways. The time to finish a particular title ballooned to weeks and the last title I mastered was Half-Life.

My gaming life kind of sucks I guess.  

[Hoagie_one]

I love my wii.  I do. But I find my time is lacking and find more interesting things to do with my time.  This makes me sad, but works out well becasue I'm doing more important things.  I find myself getting more enjoyment on hacking systems and running homebrew versions of Mame or emulators than actual console games.

I used to beat every game I played and bought any game that had any buzz, now, I think i finish 2 a year...maybe.

Seriously considering selling my Modded wii and buying a motorcycle, lol.  Not even talking about buying a 360 or PS3 unless I need a media player or blue ray player for the living room.

[northerngames]

I just finshed gears of war and it was not all it was cracked up to be in the reviews.

have not played it online but the game itself looked more like a xbox1 game and there where only like 6 weapons that did pretty much the same stuff.

only like 5-6 different enemy charectors through the game.

I wanted to finish it just to see how good it really was and it is one of those games where after you finsih the first and second level you seen it all and the fun factor is gone by level 3.

I wanted to see if it got better and it did not lol.

all the splinter cells where way better for me.

[pointdablame]

I'm a mix of a few choices and comments in this thread.

If i find a game has lost its fun, I'll most definitely stop playing it.  I have never been one to finish a game solely to finish it if it got extremely frustrating.

That said, I have gotten pretty good at knowing what games I'd personally enjoy so most of what I buy I wind up liking and wanting to finish.  I will (usually) only play one game at a time until I beat it.  The problem with this now that I don't have the game play time I had as a kid is that I keep buying games but have no time to play.  I've got a backlog of games to be played sitting on my desk that will probably last me a year +, yet I'll still occassionally grab a used game or two.  I have tried to avoid buying new lately to save some cash, but it's still silly staring at these 12 games on my desk that are just waiting to get played.

[ark_ader]

I have a ton of games for my xbox, 50 games for the PSP, 10K+ for the pc in all shapes and sizes.

When I get through to all those games I'll buy some more.

Oh BTW did I mention I have a full and happy life away from computers and consoles?

No?

Probably the reason I have so many unplayed games.

 

Put the game down and read a book or go hiking. 

Life is too short.   

[pointdablame]

Put the game down and read a book or go hiking. 

Life is too short.   

Isn't that exactly what the OP was saying since he doesn't have much time to play games anymore?

[ark_ader]

Put the game down and read a book or go hiking. 

Life is too short.   

Isn't that exactly what the OP was saying since he doesn't have much time to play games anymore?

Just reiterating.  But thanks for the effort to try to correct me. 

[fjl]

I was about the same. As a young tyke I'd play games to death and replay them to death. Now if a games takes too long I get bored and never finish it. Thi has happened with some of the RPG like Final Fantasy, Legend Of Zelda. Thats right, I have Twilight Princess and never passed it. I believe I made it to the end temple but I'm not sure. I never bothered with the side quests cause those certainly bore me. Now I mainly find myself playing quick games that I can play and drop at anytime. This is mostly reserved for online games such Counter-Strike or MarioKart. And most of my puzzle games on the DS.

I have the new Mario game for the Wii and have yet to play it. I feel it would take up too much of my time to start a long quest type of game that requires playing from start to finish. So those quick online games that get me nowhere have become more my style.

 

[SNAAKE]

i quit playing when fun factor is gone. and I ONLY play good games now a days mainly because I dont have time to play everything. back in the day I played lot more and gave everything a chance(not counting straight up $hit tier games)

[ahofle]

I have the new Mario game for the Wii and have yet to play it. I feel it would take up too much of my time to start a long quest type of game that requires playing from start to finish. So those quick online games that get me nowhere have become more my style.

I've actually found SMG pretty good for a quick 15-30 minute game.  Each mission usually takes only a few minutes after which you can save and then continue or go do something else. 

[Hoagie_one]

I have the new Mario game for the Wii and have yet to play it. I feel it would take up too much of my time to start a long quest type of game that requires playing from start to finish. So those quick online games that get me nowhere have become more my style.

I've actually found SMG pretty good for a quick 15-30 minute game.  Each mission usually takes only a few minutes after which you can save and then continue or go do something else. 

I concur.  I beat Galaxy, but not every star.

[fjl]

Yeah, I guess I'll try Galaxy soon. I'm finally off school.

[danny_galaga]

i ticked 'reviewed games'. i only have old consoles but the principle is the same. eventually i'll get a wii and i'll still mostly listen to the reviews, including what people have to say here...

[hypernova]

Need an option for "I only play games from certain software developers (Square, EA, Nintendo, etc.)"  That's what I do.  I play FFs mostly and the big N titles-Metroid, Smash Bros, etc.)  I'm playing FF8 again right now.

I'll stop playing a game if it's bad, but I've only encountered one that made me do that.  I can enjoy most every game I play.

[Paul Olson]

I spend most of my free time working on my mame cab or my sedicated cabs. I actually play games very rarely. Lately I have only been playing donkey kong and rock band. I just got my trackball configured and played a couple games of centipede; I will probably play a few more tonight, it was fun.

I haven't finished a game in years. I think Dungeon Siege was the last game I finished.