I realize I am the exact demographic that should play video games like crazy. When the Blizzard company’s board meets — they probably use pictures of me when they discuss ways to better market their product to computer geeks. I should be every game-producing company’s ideal target.
As it turns out, I’m just not a big gamer. Bear in mind it’s not because I don’t WANT to enjoy gaming. I just can’t seem to get into it. The closest I get is the occasional First Person Shooter game that I can play for 10 minutes and quit.
I don’t think it’s a bad thing that I can’t get into computer games. In fact, it’s probably very good. It just seems like I SHOULD be into it, ya know? How about you? Do you game?
(BTW — I do actually enjoy vintage gaming. Arcade games, NES, and even some SNES games. It’s just the new complex games that lose my interest quickly. Is that strange?)
#1 by Michelle K on January 18, 2009 - 9:24 pm
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Solitare and T*I*M. Otherwise I actually dislike most video games.
Poor hand-eye coordination, a dislike of being hurried, and a tendency towards motion sickness pretty make me a prime candidate to hate them.
#2 by Jason Wertenberger on January 18, 2009 - 9:28 pm
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I’m not a gamer either. Computer games left me behind when first-person shooters took off. I do like an occasional game of Civilization or Nintendo DS/Wii type game.
I use to be a big fan of Lucas Arts adventures (Monkey Island, ETC.) before they stopped making them.
The really odd thing is I have had a subscription to PC Gamer for years and listen to their podcast.
#3 by Konstantin on January 18, 2009 - 9:28 pm
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Blizzard = Diablo III .. can’t wait.
#4 by Patrick Haverkamp on January 18, 2009 - 9:42 pm
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I love FPS’s but I rarely get to play these days, every once and awhile I enjoy some guitar hero world tour.
#5 by Mark on January 18, 2009 - 9:54 pm
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I used to love FPS games; but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve lost most of my taste for them. Probably because my reaction time is down and I’ve had less spare cash for PC upgrades to be able to run modern FPS games.
I’m also a bit cheap so I don’t tend to go for the latest console systems. Though I did end up buying a Wii last year and have been enjoying it greatly. Specially the Lego games (Lego Star Wars, Lego Indian Jones, etc..).
I’ve also played Rock Band/Guitar Hero at friends’ places and enjoyed those as well but haven’t picked up it yet (cheap + pricey controllers = delay in buying).
#6 by Tom Beauchamp on January 18, 2009 - 10:00 pm
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I love to game. At 37 I am just outside of the current target market (24 to 36). But most of the games coming out at least get a little of my attention. I love playing Command and Conquer Generals with my 8 year old. I love to pull out Diablo II: LoD and hack and slash for hours. I even love a lot of the current crop of MMO’s and FPS’s (L4D is Amazing!).
What I don’t love is the amount of time you have to sink into gaming these days. WoW left me behind at the new expansion. There is a huge boundary to entry in Counter Strike and other competitive FPS’s.
Is there a such thing as “Hardcore Casual Gaming”? If so, please sign me up!
#7 by William P. on January 18, 2009 - 10:16 pm
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Yes, but only very simple and free stuff such as Frozen Bubble and Icebreaker. I really enjoy Maelstrom and am starting to play Pingus.
Hey, I started playing computer games in the early 70s: “Spacewars” on an SDS Sigma-7 mainframe!
I bought a copy of Portal for $9 on closeout at Circuit City but don’t have anything that will run it. Looks like fun so I will just hang on to it in case I ever have a Windows machine with good enough hardware to run it.
#8 by MWT on January 18, 2009 - 10:35 pm
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Diablo III … yes.
I have motion sickness issues too, and don’t like games that have too much 3D panning (which is one of the reasons I’m kind of “meh” about Starcraft 2). Though 2D panning is mostly okay. As long as the trigger isn’t too sensitive, and I have good control over when and how fast it happens.
There are quite a number of games that don’t have a time pressure component. They can be very laidback to play. Diablo 2 has been my game for that for several years now, but lately I’ve become interested in some civilization-building games (Rise of the Middle Kingdom
), which have a pause button to allow you to take as much time as you need deciding what to do.
I’ve never done any FPSes.
There are people who play games for the same reason they read books – there’s a storyline to explore. Starcraft was good for that – it has an outstanding universe with engaging characters and plotline in the single-player campaign. Maybe that’s what you could try aiming for, Shawn.
#9 by Vince on January 18, 2009 - 11:21 pm
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Because I’m on the computer so much with work, it’s just not my idea of a way to relax. I own a few older arcade games that I occasionally play, but when I have downtime I usually want to read, rock out to music, watch movies, or spend time with friends or family.
#10 by Jeri on January 19, 2009 - 1:33 am
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Nope. Gaming bores me silly. Maybe it’s because I have poor hand-eye and am destined to be rotten at them, but I’ve never played one that I can pay attention to for more than 15-30 minutes – or am particularly compelled to pick back up again.
I’m surrounded by gamers, though. The hub likes strategy & arcade games; the eldest likes RPGs and WOW; and the youngest likes FPSs and the occasional RPG.
#11 by Justin on January 19, 2009 - 6:00 am
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I’m in the same boat as Michelle K & MWT: The graphics kill me. I tried OpenArena a while back, and actually enjoyed it, until I almost passed out. At that point, I hung up my controller.
I agree about the older games – I still have an NES and a Sega around somewhere, and every once in a while I like to play. There’s just something about being a ½” tall Italian plumber…
#12 by mattw on January 20, 2009 - 8:09 am
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I don’t get to game as much as I might like. We have a Wii, which gets used a couple times a week and a NES/SNES thingie in the basement that is really fun to play every once in a while for a few days and then we lose interest because we’ve played all those games so many times.
What I miss is all the tabletop and card games we used to play when we weren’t all so busy with life and whatnot.