how old is too old for gaming?

hi. i know this be a bit of a subjective question but i was curious how old most of you gamers were, and if there was an age that you would stop playing games and buying gaming rigs.

i have been receiving an unprecedented amount of pressure from my girlfriend and family to stop gaming. i'm 28 years old (about to turn 29) and they tell me i'm way too old to game anymore. in fact, my girlfriend bought me a ps3 so i would stop buying gaming rigs, thinking the ps3 game will take up less time than a pc game.

i did just put an order in for a sager though. i guess it'll surprise them when it comes in.

 

I'm 25, but I'm sure I will continue gaming for the rest of my life. I am more of a console gamer than a PC gamer now, but that's mainly because consoles are cheaper than PCs (unless you get all 3 of a generation).

 

well, i'm only 19, but if i do get some free time, i love me some games i don't think i'll retire any time soon...

 

Nope never, the gaming industry will only continue to boom and increase. Its increasing so fast because of the new generations of people who grew up with videogames. I am 19 and sophomore in college and a few of my professor and TAs game who are in their 30s-40s.

Also show those people this article, I saw it on tv and it was more indepth but the article is a bit short.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/6992163.stm

I forgot the exact amount but retirements homes in england are actually buying up wiis.

 

I think the gaming industry has been revolutionized. It's no longer atari with one button and one stick. It's about Guitar hero, the Wii, and force feedback steering wheels so real it feels like your on the road.

In the 70's and early 80's it was just for kids and teenagers but with the wide variety of platforms and games available today, it's open to anyone.

Especially those born in the 80's & 90's, video games were a part of your life growing up so as new technologies change it's not a big deal to keep up.

 

I'm a TA at my university and love gaming too! Although I have to admit it does take up a lot of time. Maybe too much time

 

Well, I am 24 and I still game when I have time. Most of my time is spent with my wife. I would say that is when you are kinda "too old" to game. Once you get married you start to stray from the games cause you want to spend time with the wife . My best friend who is a year older then me games with his wife. He was lucky enough to find one that likes games with him. One of my other friends who was my former employer from when I was fresh out of high school still games. He is in his 40's with a family. We play more old school games like the Command & Conqueer series but still enjoy them. So I would say age has nothing to do with it. It is whether you have the time and money for it. Gaming is more a hobby then anything else. My wife supports it when I can but with out the time or money, I don't find my self playing as much.

 

im 18 right now, and i cant see any reason to quit anytime soon...

just tell your family to get used to it, lol (my mom doesnt like it either, and thats what i tell her, although i dont think it really changes anything )

 

You're never too old to game...

 

Some people in my clan are in their 40's. A friend of mine, his dad is in his 60's and regularly plays Stalker, Half Life 2, and the like. There's no age for gaming, it's not an industry like GI Joe or Action Man, something you grow out of, sadly most females are oblivious to this.

 

spend time with the wife, huh...20 years from now, u'd be trying to find some time to stay away from her! lol

 

45 years young, and still like pc games. Started playing space invaders when I was 16, then stopped in my 20'3 and 30's until computers got better with AGP and dedicated graphics cards (Quake 1 time, approx 1997?).

Since then I have been building my own rigs, of course I have to have something good (8800GTX c2d 6600 nforce 680i), which is by far the best rig so far.
Just about to take delivery of a Zepto 6224W so I can indulge when I am at work abroad (which is half the year). I dare not think what I have spent on 'puters over the years. Don't think I will ever completely stop, though golf is eating into my gaming time.

ps I am not a complete anorak, I am married to a gorgeous woman with two grown up (almost)children.

 

I'm 21...
I'm sure I'll never stop playing games

 

women play with their makeup and we think thats a waste of money....goes both ways, its all about perspective, my generation(17-30) grew up with games so its something we like to do.

 

if your girlfriend is pressuring you to quit games, i would suggest a new girlfriend, how about finding one that loves games....problem solved
...and they lived happily ever after

 

I've been gaming since I was 5 - raised on Doom and Quake. I don't anticipate quitting any time soon, but I'm only 18

 

That is so true. When I found out my best friend's wife plays games right along with him, I was dumbfounded. I could count how many girls I have seen at every LAN party I ever went to in high school and post high school on one hand.

I think more like 10-15 years it will be finding time away from the kids. I am not going to say that I will always want to spend time with her, but that is why she supports me playing some. She said that I need a hobby or something to keep me from getting sick of her. So far it has worked. When I am not in the mood to watch TV or spend time with her, I go in and play some games. Keeps the marriage healthy

Okay, I am 20 years younger and I played games from the era before that. Then again, my first computer was an apple //e . My next computer after that was when My dad finally upgraded his business to a pentium and brought home our x486.

 

:tongue: :laugh: :yes:

Yep! I'm lucky!!! my girl love PC games

 

I must admit, I play less and less games nowadays...I am not sure if its because I got busier and older, or recent games are becoming like boring high-budget Hollywood movies, though.

 

As long as one is not obsessive or compulsive about it, and it does not adversely affect relationships with others, most things know no age bracket if they provide pleasure.

"Act your age" is perhaps one of the most confusing statements ever uttered. By definition, one is always acting one's age. Any other interpretation is granting permission to be controlled or measured by someone else's standards other than one's own.

 

Q: How old is too old for gaming?

A: When you can no longer see what's on the screen.

 

Very profound. I agree!

 

Tell that to Tommy.
"That deaf dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pin ball !"

 

Never... I'll be gaming until I die and even then I'll be finding a way to do something similar in the afterlife...
(woohoo, possess someone and then game!)

I suggest you get the girlfriend to play with. If she won't, find another girlfriend.

Some people think female gamers are rare... not so much anymore.
After having a RL gathering of my Lineage2 clan it became pretty obvious that the women are not lacking in any way shape or form...

My wife is now more addicted than I am to gaming... both on computers and PnP.

That's right, we circle the wagons and get a bunch of 30-ish-yr-olds playing PnP D&D.

If you are attached to this girlfriend AND gaming, then simply list it as "your time". Everyone needs time to themselves sometimes, and gaming can be yours. She has no more right to dictate what you do in "your time" than you do for hers.

 

lol, now I know you are around my age...mid 30's and I enjoy some gaming though my wife doesn't really understand. I tend to play when she is busy or not around. Most of my friends/co-workers (30-45 yrs old) like to play games...albeit of the console variety.

 

DAMN. very wise.

 

Not that you're too old to force you to stop gaming, but real life kicks in. Example, medical school is my priority in life, so if I have to study or go to volunteer or work in the lab, I can maybe game for about 2 hours in a 1 month period max, its life, prioritize for it. Also, going running, hanging out with friends, trips etc is more important.

 

You're never too old to game. My first computer was a Comodore 64 and my favorite game, M.U.L.E.

It's more a question of balance. As sprtnbsblplya said, "real life" whatever that is kicks in and you have other things/people you need to see, do, be. It doesn't mean you need to stop doing something you enjoy. It may mean spending less time doing it.

It's a question of what yout priorities are. If you want a realtionship with someone, it requires work and compromise on both sides. It's time intensive. She needs to see gaming is something you really like. You need to see she wants to have some of your attention focused on her.

If it doesn't work, you decide if you want to accommdate her or look for someone with tastes more in line with love af gaming.

Enough pontification. Let the games roll on.:wink:

 

Actually, I'll turn 50 this week

 

Well actually when I saw your Frank Zappa quote I suspected that you were...ehmm, more seasoned that I, but I didn't want to make too big of an assumption

 

If you're young enough to watch a movie, you're young enough to game.

 

I'll continue to game for the rest of my life...only on breaks though...

Nice avtar HavoK. Isn't that dawn of war? space marines? I think...

 

I'm 35 and I play games regularly (my first screen based gaming experience was Pong on a black and white TV Game machine then Atari, Colleco Vision and so on), my fiances father is 62 and he just finished building his gaming machine and recently bought a Wii and is currently playing resident evil on it.

you're never too old..

 

yeah you're NEVER too old..but if you do feel that way..i'll be honoured to take your spankin' new sager

 

wow...62 and still going on. Nice.

 

I'm 23 and I've pretty much given up as I'm bored of pc games these days. I think that's due to a change in circumstances, I'm now more concerned about my Job, my partner, getting a flat, a motorbike and other bigger better things.

I guess I have spent so much of my life in a fantasy world I now want to do things for real rather than in a fantasy land of pc games.

Still if pc games do it for you I have no problem with people buying gaming rigs and gaming away til whenever you want.

 

Sounds like it's time for a paraphrase of the gun owner's quote: You'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead fingers.:yes:

 

Good God, don't let my wife see this thread!!! I'm 39 and looking for a new gaming notebook.

 

I can do that...Quite easily...Looks like...THe other guy will take it from you...then i'll take it from him...>.> <.<

 

LOL BRING IT >

NEVER I'm going first MUAHAHHAHAHAHA

 

ah, what a great thread. I've been thinking about this before i even saw this thread. I think i'll be playing games forever, but I also took a break when i was around 23 to do the "real life" things.

I'm 30 now and married, have a house, etc. So its back to playing games, on a schedule tho, lol. I think our generations X and Y have grown up with video games as part of our lives.

 

^ off topic but nice M3 is it yours?

 

I started playing video games at an age of 7. Gaming was always something social for me. I always played Zelda Ocarina of Time with my friends and we had a lot of fun together.

Same counts for 12-18th years. At an age of 19, LAN games were popular. So again with friends = fun.
Now I have not much time for gaming. If I game then it is usually with my friends at Saturday for a LAN party.

But you are never too old to play games. But you are too old to play 4 hours a day. I dont care if you are 40-50 or 60, playing a few times in the week is lovely.

 

Funny, If you are like me you will likely go back to some of those imaginary worlds after you get those things you are looking for...

No one says you can't have all that AND game if you desire...
It's a matter of balance.

That and I found a little imagination time goes a long way to making the stress of the job, the significant other, and the other "bigger and better" things easier to handle as long as you don't over-utilize it.

Frankly, letting my wife into my fantasy world made for a better relationship for both of us... we both feel closer and she gets the release and perspective the imaginary world allows as well.

A healthy imagination is a very good thing.

 

Wow... I take off for lunch and come back to 2 pages of reading :S. Real life does get in the way but I can see how the more seasoned people find more time. My life is still hectic from settling into my carreer, finishing my degree, and starting my family. Once that settles down, I can see me gaming more. As far as gaming rigs though, That just sucked up all my money and now that my expenses are higher, I just can't justify the price nowadays. Plus, I sit infront of a computer all day long, work on servers, unix boxes, and switches all day. Last thing I think about when I go home is more computers But I would have to admit, I like My Wii just got it a couple weeks ago and LOVE it!!!

 

My girlfriend likes them too, but only some of them - Unreal Tournament and Battlefield 2 is all she plays really.

 

and people say nerds/geeks dont have girl friends

 

^^a generalisation, but i guess it holds true some of the time.

i play on the week ends with mates, but again, its generally for the social atmosphere. a chance to catch up with mates, crack open a beer, and do something we enjoy doing.

i also play online with a couple of guys from work in their 30's. but for an age limit, i think its just when you find more important things to do with your time.

i'm 19 by the way.

 

I'm 15, started gaming when i was 6...probably won't stop till 90
I was born to video games starting with Doom and Quake. Graduated to starcraft and civ 3, then switched to Warcraft 3 and WoW. Currently playing rise of nations, empire earth II, and Civ 4

 

some nice games. except the wow part.