Kotaku
There are signs you're getting old: Baldness, yelling at people who play music too loud, that cummerbund of gut that's been piling up like credit card debt since your freshman 15. And then there are signs you are really old, which means you can't hack it as a serious gamer anymore. TechRadar has a list of 11, and, like, eight apply to me. Harsh.
Most hurtful was "You've pre-ordered GTA IV but don't mind if it doesn't turn up on launch day." Oh come on. I have a life, I have a job, I probably won't even have everything moved in by Tuesday ... why does that make me such a backslider?
So here's the list, and I'm curious what's the youngest applicable age for any of them? "You fondly remember a golden age of gaming ..." That qualifies Dreamcast fanboys, much less guys like me who loved ... oh never mind.
11 Signs You're No Longer a Hardcore Gamer [TechRadar]
Comments
Thanks for making me feel even older than my 39 years.
"You find the idea of videogames based on board games perfectly acceptable
Anyone for a game of Carcassonne tonight? The wife's out until 10pm and I'll be online after I've had my dinner…"
BAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH! That made my day!
I must be a young whipper snapper, none of that applies to me.
which isn't surprising since I am only 20
D@mn, in only 23 and i feel already not hardcore anymore...
My biggest sign is that I've lost interest in new games.
I keep playing games and thinking things like:
"This isn't as deep as System Shock II".
"This isn't as fun as Dungeon Keeper"
"This isn't as hard as lemmings on taxing"
"This isn't action packed as Duke Nukem 3D"
And then I get a black look from someone and they go: "what games are those?"
And I go "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
*sigh*
So yes basically, you know your getting to old to be hardcore, when your so hardcore theres always something you've played before you thought was better.
I relate to too many of those. LOL. But I never really considered myself a hardcore gamer, just a gamer. :)
I dunno, I don't see preordering GTA as something that's that hardcore. It's very mainstream. Now preordering a niche Atlus RPG?
"You prefer to play against the computer"
Maybe not so much against the computer, but definitely with it. I prefer to have my destiny in my own hands instead of stupid players that don't listen to what you tell them or go off on their own all willy-nilly. So in that regard...guilty.
Oh man. I'm not that old. Although they were right on with their commentary about not wanting to play my Wii. I didn't even pre-order GTA. Just not that interested right now.
6 apply to me, though I don't know that I was ever a hardcore gamer. And how can the NES/Genesis days not be considered a golden age? Or the Genesis/SNES days for that matter? However, I believe after several years of Playstation-induced mediocrity, we have entered into a new golden age. Kids will remember the online and graphics v. innovation/motion control debates much like the mature/blast processing v. quality and quantity days of the late 80's and early 90's.
@SwimOdin:
LOL. I pre-order Atlus games all the time. I'm usually the only one too.
Almost all of these reasons strike me as "You're not an ass".
I'm 25, and five of them apply to me. I prefer playing against the computer because online generally costs money AND I'd have to deal with douchebags I'm better off avoiding, I know that winning isn't everything, I've actually gone for months without turning on my own console (hey, just finished being a grad student), I recall a "golden age" in gaming back in the NES days and still think some of the best output was from that era and the SNES era, and my FPS experiences were based on Doom/Quake/GoldenEye. Maybe I am getting old. Could also be a matter of having different priorities, but maybe this is that elusive "growing up" crap.
Hey, I'm nearly 21 years old! This list is so not fair. I look back to the "Golden Age" of gaming. I think video game board games are okay. I like playing against the computer. Yes, I do die often in an FPS. I'm not a hold hag yet...am I?O_o
6 apply to me and I'm only 21, so. . .
I think this list only affects a small few. I think its safe to say that most of us on here are somewhere between hardcore and casual therefor we're exempt.
7 of those apply to me, and I'm only 21.
I guess when my friends say I'm a geezer in spirit, they weren't joking. :p
So apparently, in my game, the cure for hardcore gaming syndrome was graduate school... If only it worked in the reverse direction.
I feel so old now.
@TOCATL: Me too, though I'm only 21. Let me try to refute the ones that apply to me:
"You only play when your girlfriend is out"
Simple: I respect what she wants to do, and I like to get laid.
"It's been days, not hours since you last switched on your console"
See above.
"You like your Xbox 360 and your PS3 equally"
Not being a fanboy = old-timer? Harsh, TechRadar.
They forgot to add: You think that the articles on Kotaku are fine, but can't understand why people click on the links to read the comments
@peAr_nectAr: Dude, didn't you know that getting laid is soooooooo not hardcore?
GTA is on my Gamefly list, and it will likely ship when it releases...but that means I won't get it until Thursday, and you know what? That doesn't make me cry.
If anything, I feel older than the person who made up the list.
I'm officially over the hill rofl. I still feel the tug to give into old habits and desires in gaming but it's definitely on the back burner compared to other stuff these days. I almost enjoy watching my boy play games more than playing them myself.
Almost. :)
#12. You buy the sequels to games you haven't even completed yet.
Case in point: GTAIV is on preorder and I haven't even finished San Andreas. Or Vice City. Or III.
@Gospel X: Agreed. You will fap to female characters, and you will LIKE IT. :D
21 and most of that list applies to me.
But, we're from the Old School. I remember CounterStrike when I was the youngest guy on it, or plugging away for hours on Half Life mods!
I remember playing the original RE games at parties and rocking out to Zelda and Sonic with my buddies on the Genesis and SNES.
My first system was an NES and I could rock your world with my Excitebike skills!
I'm only 25, and find at least half that list applies. That's bad, right?
Wait wha?
I'm 22 and that list makes me feel older, btw awesome pic, I was about to pick up a usea Dreamcast on a market on Thursday, but they didn't have a tv were I could test it =/
Still, I got Zelda for the NES for around $3 so it wasn't all bad.
It's more of a list that details ways to point out how you don't have enough time for games and games alone, which is, oh I don't know, EVERYONE?
These are all depressing. Hopefull these signs wont hit me for another 30 years
I can't complete games anymore. Heavenly sword and COD4 are the last game i have beaten.
@ShaggE: If you were really hardcore, the gender wouldn't be an issue, he's not called Solid Snake for nothing...
I'm 15 and the only one that applies to me is you remember the golden age of gaming...if you think gaming is as good as it was 10 years ago your just a noob in denial...
I don't even have GTA IV pre-ordered, does that mean I'm not a gamer?
OT: Did anyone else see the dreamcast at the beginning of Forbidden Kingdom? Sweet to see some people in mainstream culture will acknowledge the Dreamcast existed.
Ouch, I feel your pain to Owen! At least we ARE still gaming :)
I am 27 and I think my gaming is more mature now.
@D Mitsuki: Maybe #12 is "You don't use the word 'noob' or any variation of such."
funny that because I consider a few of those things signs that you ARE a hardcore gamer
8 of those apply to me... I just turned 20...
Oh god, my grave approaches...
@D Mitsuki: er and idk if the gta apply's to me because i didnt even preorder it i think gta is stupid...
Apparently the only video games that matter are FPS, because that and GTA are the only actual game examples they use.
Conclusion: Stupid ass list from closet PC gamers with no life.
@Cruithne: Ha! That's hilarious... and true.
I especially liked the first point in the linked article, the one about preferring to play against the computer. I find that online gaming with strangers is a lot like going clubbing these days: everyone there is so young (and, arguably, "stupid") that you just feel out of place.
Yes! I'm not too old after all.
Not many of those apply, but I'm far from hardcore these days. Playing against computer? Well I detest playing against people I don't know over the internet, but I certainly play with people I know. Winning isn't everything? More like wasting your life searching for every bit of the useless extra content isn't worth it. "Golden age" of gaming? Certainly there are classics, but those are minority of the published games at any given time and new classics are born as we speak, there was no golden age. In general gaming has developed quite nicely, back at the day a bad game was so horrifyingly bad that it was impossible to play it, these days bad games are just a bit ugly or boring.
@peAr_nectAr: I love the word noob and 1337 speak, I just don't try to use it as much here, even though irl i speak 1337 and call my teacher nubcakes and such
they forgot:
No longer chose games over food/sleep
I consider myself too old for hardcore gaming not because 6 of the 11 signs apply to me but because I'm at a point in my life where I should be getting a life and finding a full-time job.
@ara: I think gaming is going through a reccesion, once people stop only caring about fps and huge big franchise's, well get some new fresh clean idea's that people will buy and not shun because you don't shoot stuff or it doesn't have Final Fantasy ( insert large number here) on the box.
You avoid playing on the Wii because it's too much effort I prefer a good game pad and a comfy seat. Not sure this is really age specific.
Your FPS experience consists of spawn, run, die... spawn, run, die... spawn... ouch. Most genres actually. It never used to be that way... really.
Alot of the ones on that list hit home
ok so... because i own a Wii, 360, and a PS3 and like them all i am no longer "HARDCORE". God someone needs to teach these people this casual gamer and hardcore gamer crap is a bunch of load. Anyways back to Metal Gear Online Beta.
I'll be going to pick up my new mini-van at 3pm today..
They forgot that one on the list.
Fuck this makes me feel old... and I'm only 23. Fuck it. I loved my Dreamcast. And my Genesis. And my NES.....
I'm 19 and I only nodded 1 that applies.
I still got it baby!
@peAr_nectAr: Wanting to get laid? So not hardcore.
As long as I am eager to read all the comments about gaming on Kotaku I am young. :-)
@Raziel Dune: Thats right, money and not being a idiot fanboy bashing consoles makes you not hardcore, how dare you realize good games are on all systems and they all have somthing to offer! I would have that aginst me if i could actualy afford a ps3, damn i need sum money
Your FPS experience consists of spawn, run, die... spawn, run, die... spawn…
This is me. I have co-workers that have reset their rank in CoD4 several times. Me, I'm at like level 18 or something (I've owned the game for at least 4 months if not longer) because I only get a chance to play (maybe) a few times every month.
Married 13 years (come July), 2 daughters (5 and 8), part-time maid (I have dishes on weekends and I make the girls' lunches every morning), full-time job, freelance graphic/web designer and earning a Bachelor's degree with two online classes every quarter.
Then there's the weekly TV time with the wife on Thursday's watching "Gray's Anatomy" and "Ugly Betty" not to mention the movies we rent from Blockbuster online. Somehow I manage to squeeze in a basketball/football game when I can.
I'm also gaining weight (my face is starting to get round and my gut is like an unattended lawn) so I'm hitting the gym and shooting the rock around a few hours after work at least twice a week.
I still manage to fit in some PS3 time but the system feelin' the most alone is my PSP. The battery ran out almost two weeks ago during a potty session of Ridge Racer and I haven't charged it since. Also have Lego Star Wars (barely half-way through that) but I haven't booted up that UMD in over a month.
@peAr_nectAr: Who in their right mind want to have sex with an actual person in this day and age? Thats so unhardcore.
Damn. 2,4,6,7, and 10 all apply. The only reason I didn't nod to 11 is that I didn't preorder GTA IV. Damn, I'm old.
Sorry, but not caring about GTAIV IS a sign of being a hardcore gamer. Only immature 12 year old types find it's mediocre "not good enough to be a racer, too poorly controlled to be an adventure, too ugly to be a fps" style of games.
Only 2 apply to me. The days without turning the machine on, and the PS3 360 equality thing. I'm 25.
"you have to use your hands? Thats like a baby's toy!"
*One of the kids goes on an epic journey to destroy the The One Ring
i'm 26, and that list hurt.
I feel very old now.
You know, I preordered Final Fantasy XII. Its still sealed.
Currently I am more looking forward to listen to my audio books, while I still have so many games to play. Fact is, that my free time is VERY limited and gaming feels more and more like a waste of time.
Wow, now im sad.
You prefer playing against the computer
I've been that way for almost 30 years.
You only play when your girlfriend is out
Married a woman who games. Not a problem.
You're the oldest person trading in games at GameStation
Probably, but I don't care. Hell they know us at the local Gamestop. When I'm in alone they ask where my wife is, and vice versa.
You like your Xbox 360 and your PS3 equally
Nope, simply because I don't have either. They're currently, IMHO, a waste of money. I'll get them both eventually, but probably not for a year or so. I'm still hundreds of games behind on the other consoles we have, so I'm not exactly worried.
You find the idea of videogames based on board games perfectly acceptable
One word: Chess. How long has that been out on a computer? My definition of hardcore is different from most. To me a hardcore gamer is one who games, without regard to the type of game. If it's fun, they'll play it, no matter how others view that.