Have I Lost My Gaming Mojo? 418
danabnormal writes "Increasingly I'm being frustrated in my attempts to find a game I want to play. In an effort to catch up, I've been using my bog standard Dell laptop to dig out treasures I have missed, such as American McGee's Alice, Grim Fandango and Syberia. I don't often get the time to play games, so I like to have the opportunity to dip in and out of a title without feeling like I'm losing something by not playing it for periods of time. But when I find a title I like, I make the time. Heavy Rain is the last game that gripped me, that truly engaged me and made me want to complete it in a single sitting. I'm tired of the GTA formulas, bored of CoDs and don't have the reaction time to think on my feet for AOE III. Is it about time I tossed in the controller and resigned myself to the fact that the games I want only come out once in a blue moon? Or have I just not found that one great title that will open me up to a brand new genre? Lords of Ultima is going OK at the moment — is there anything of that ilk I've missed? What are your thoughts? Do you stick to a particular genre? Are you finding it harder, as you get more mature, to find something you want to play?"
Try Minecraft (Score:2, Informative)
Game Design (Score:5, Informative)
As a student of game design, AAA console titles are generally designed to be conservative in gameplay and copy what's out there, polish it a bit, and sell it with new art. Now, that's not even close to being ALL of what's out there, but if GTA IV, CoD, and Mass Effect 2 aren't your cup of tea (and you do enjoy Heavy Rain) then the big-advertising-budget titles will likely never appeal to you in the way it sounds you want them to.
If you're willing to buy a game without a proven track record, look at the indie scene (Steam has a good starting selection) and some of the other great titles that have been passed over like Beyond Good and Evil or Psychonauts. They're usually more Grim Fandango or Alice than the bigger games, and you might like them more.
Have I Lost My Gaming Mojo? (Score:2, Informative)
Cave Story immediately comes to mind. It's worth a look, if you're into old-school platformers.
How about text adventures? (Score:5, Informative)
There are lots of them available. The 2010 IF competition just finished, so there are a bunch of (free!) games of varying quality levels, genres, etc available.
Re:Chess (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Chess (Score:2, Informative)
Re:What you've missed (Score:2, Informative)
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed had a good story and fantastic gameplay -- the spiritual successor to Jedi Academy.
The Force Unleashed has about as much in common with Jedi Academy as it does Tie Fighter. TFU is much more similar to Devil May Cry and God of War.
Re:Make some kids (Score:4, Informative)
So fully agree.
Besides, we're almost 7 billion and rising fast. This isn't sustainable...
Good Old Games (Score:3, Informative)
It's probably not so much that you've lost your "mojo" as your preferences have changed over the years. Also, you probably have less time to kill now than when you were younger.
You didn't specify how old you were when you were at your peak, but I'm guessing you were a heavy gamer in the late 90s or early 00s. You'll find a ton of games from that era from Good Old Games [gog.com] that ought to keep you busy for a while. There are lots of games there that I couldn't afford and/or my machine couldn't run decently back then. You could also try free retro-clones of your old favorites.
I agree with the other posters that you ought to try your hand at writing your own games, maybe surprise yourself in the process.
Re:Yeah.. (Score:4, Informative)
You have no idea how you'll change between now and 60.
Its possible that by 60 you'll have found there there are things other than games that are fun.
That's your mom's lawn, sonny.
Re:Chess (Score:4, Informative)
More important things like buying a riding lawn mower to prune your suburban lawn? Getting older doesn't mean that you must sacrifice video games as an entertaining outlet. It's not so different than watching films or television. Actually, I find myself less and less interested in on-going television shows as I get older... I fall asleep during them. Watching television is such a passive experience, there's nothing to keep me interested.
RE: Have I Lost My Gaming Mojo? (Score:5, Informative)
I have this exact same problem. I'm 35 years old, and I've been playing Arcade/Console/PC games since the age of 12.
Over the last 3 weeks I've been scouring the web for reviews, spanning back as far as the mid 80's for gems I may have missed. More and more I'm convinced that I've played every game worth playing.
My favorite games throughout my life so far have been:
(the times when I discovered or played them, not necessarily when published)
Age 12-15: The Bard's Tale, Wasteland, Ultima, Pirates!, Might and Magic 2, Dungeon Master, Gold Box AD&D, Castlevania, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Punch Out, Super Metroid
Age 16-24: Dune 2, Warcraft, Warcraft II, Tie Fighter, Mechwarrior Vengeance, Counterstrike, TFC, Diablo, Everquest
Age 24-30: Diablo II, Nethack, Moria, Angband, Zangband, Civilization 3, Baldur's Gate II, Age of Empires II, Shadowrun (Sega Genesis), Half-Life, Daggerfall, Fallout 1&2, Far Cry, X-COM UFO Defense, Battlefield 1942, WoW
Age 30-35: Master of Magic, Master of Orion 1&2, KOTOR, GTA Vice City, Jedi Knight Academy, Pirates 2, System Shock 2, Deus Ex, Thief Gold, Fallout 3, Might and Magic VI&VII, Wizardy 8, Titan Quest, Torchlight, Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, Borderlands, Mount and Blade Warband
There are hundreds of other titles & sequels I've tried which I don't consider worth listing, I'm sure I forgot a few that are.
But I feel like I've seen it all, and that innovation in computer gaming has stopped.
I'd like to believe I'm wrong, and I'm sure there are some great indie titles I would enjoy (Mount and Blade Warband was a wonderful surprise), but it's taking me more time to find a game worth playing than to actually play the game. I don't remember that being a problem before.
Re:I'm 31 (Score:3, Informative)
Firstly, there is Scotch, and there is Single Malt Scotch. *Never* mix the two up (nor mix them in a glass). Scotch is a 'Blend', Single Malt is from a single cask. What you want to acquire a taste for is Single Malt. They are hideously expensive since the yuppies found them years ago, but we can work with it. I won't go into all of the different distilleries, there are web sites that do it better, but I will note that you want to learn on a light scotch first. The cheap way to do this is go buy a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey. It is made the same as a single malt, but because it is Irish it can't be named a scotch. Because of that it is reasonably priced and in spite of that it is very very good.
Offend everyone and pour a shot over a few cubes of ice. Let it mellow for a minute and sip it gently. If its too strong, let it mellow a while longer and sip again. The melting ice will bring it to your palette after a while. The next pour, get brand new cubes, don't use the old ones, and start again. After you get used to it, you can start investing in real single malt. Try Glenmorangie, a nice light scotch. Buy the 10 yr old and for now ignore the older stuff. The older stuff (12, 18 year old) are incredible, but like fine wine you have to be able to have something to judge them against. There are single malts that leap off your tongue like air itself and single malts with depth like you have never tasted. One word of caution though. There is a single malt scotch, Laphroig, avoid it like the plague. I say this as a part owner in the Laphroig Distillery. Laphroig is the smokiest, peatiest of all the single malts, it is like chewing a bit of Scotland itself. It is wonderful and rough and fire and smoke. You will get there one day, but for now avoid it, it would ruin you on scotch.
Oh, and never mix a single malt scotch with anything, save water, maybe. If you are looking for a scotch liqueur Drambuie is one you might try, me I cant stand the stuff, sweetened scotch - blech.
Good luck on your journey, Here is a very well written book about single malt scotch [amazon.com].