It has been a while GOG, it really has, at least in regards to starting a thread on here and the like. Anyways, it is safe to say that I love video games I mean why else would I be registered here purchasing games and what not? Lately though... I just haven't really gave too much of a damn about video games to be perfectly honest. It's hard to describe, I keep on seeing new releases and just not really caring like... at all, partly because of disinterest and my opposition to a lot of modern video games. Every time I see them I just see something that just seems to not be very genuine, pretty much a jaded, rose-tinted view on video games as some would describe. Combine that with hanging with people that REALLY enjoy let's plays and me being incredibly negative towards the art of let's plays getting to me when they talk about it, it seems like the video game medium as of late seems way too popular(?) for me to handle, if that makes any sense.

It's not so much me hating how video games have become mainstream, but just seeing too much of it gets to me. I have tried ignoring newer stuff in favor of older games I like and ones I missed, but even on that level I have lost interest it seems. I just can't get myself to really go nuts like I used to over titles I enjoyed and would have enjoyed when I did nothing BUT play video games at one point. If anything I have found more fun GETTING older games to work instead of playing them which should not be the case if you ask me. It just seems like after the whole Sarkeesian/Quinn/Gamergate thing and the reaction to that kind of painted video games in a different light to me and I feel like I am just wasting time on something incredibly silly. The best I can put it is that I am failing to see how video games, or media in general, can get taken that seriously and I am losing interest because I am seeing through the facade. I know video games can be silly fun, but seeing people take them so seriously takes the fun out of it for me.

Sorry for the novel of a story there, but that is pretty much how I feel towards the medium as of late and I am conflicted about it. I mean I still enjoy loading up games on occasion, recently I got SiN and its expansion and having a blast, but I just don't really care anymore thanks to the factors mentioned above. Is this a result of age or just burn out from the medium as a whole? I am currently in my early twenties so the age thing seems a bit ridiculous all things considered, but that's just me.

I don't get your problem, honestly. I play games because playing games is fun, if it stops being fun I stop playing. Same with reading, traveling, or any other hobby. If videogames news are not fun, if let's plays are not fun, why not ignore those and focus on the fun things (like, you know, actually playing the games).

There are times when I'm really into games, or a particular concrete game, and put tons of hours into it. Other times, I don't play anything for a month because I'm into something else, and later on I'll come back when (if) I feel more like it. You do whatever is fun for you as a hobby, that's all the is to it IMO.

Guess my issue is losing the fun factor out of it because of outside things that are eating at me.

There's nothing wrong with getting other hobbies. Variety is the spice of life.

Sounds like you've been jumping in too deep. I enjoy games and have no idea what this Gamergate thing is, have no interest in knowing, everyone keeps talking about it but it all seems unnecessarily confusing. You know how you can enjoy movies without caring who wins the Oscars? Just do what you enjoy and ignore the fluff.

So just play the games you enjoy, and when you feel like doing something different, hang out with your friends and family, ring up your mother and tell her you love her.

Hardcore gaming is still fairly uncommon. I feel you have got tired not of games but their slandering on mainstream media and such media attention makes one think games are very mainstream. I kinda know how you probably feel. It feels like you knew and loved this industry so much all these years and then suddenly current events seem to invoke the thought that you weren't involved at all. If that is how you feel; then I recommend going solely complex indie for a few months and then re-evaluate your position. There is still plenty of anti-mainstream Bohemian and strange games in that market and finding a good one will probably be worth your while. I mean; check out the Crusader Kinds games; it has only one audience which is a super hardcore group. Similar with Styx: Master of Shadows or lesser known AAA games like Splinter Cell or Age of Empires.

Just take a break.

For me, it changes periodically, usually in cycles of a few months. Right now I don't play that much myself, I'm more into music. But I know that changes. It might be next week or after a month or two, I'll play more again.

I never stop buying games though, lol.

Pretty much, I mean one of my favorite games of last year was experiencing Crysis for the first time after building a pretty decent gaming PC that could run the bloody thing. That should tell you something there, I was having more fun with a 2007 title than something like Watch Dogs, which I did play. It was... ok but not near as bad as everyone made it out to be or as amazing as Ubisoft wanted us to believe. It was so painfully average that it felt sterile and forgettable. Music has been a thing for me as of late, been building up the music collection again after getting away from CD purchases for a long time. Trying to get back into other things but after some events in my personal life, I am trying to get stuff sorted back into order and it is kind of tough to get back into other things. The major thing is working out again, haven't been regularly doing that as of late.

It's definitely age factor,I mean early twenties that's getting bloody old...

I would say that too if I didn't see people older than me into the medium. :P

You'll be right,you need a holiday or a change of scenery:-)

Just keep in mind that you're talking about video games on a video game forum in a somewhat critical way... so you're stepping on a sacred cow with most folks. Are you just getting old or do games suck now? No, it's not age. The entire gaming industry is jaded, corporate, and on a pay-product model that is on the ropes. Early access, DLC extravaganzas, Steam only exclusive AAA titles that turn out to be crap anyway. Gaming certainly isn't the simple, back room nerd hobby that it once was. It's a billion dollar industry now... and a lot of it frankly sucks.

But it's like that with any hobby. The older guys get burned out on the changes, and one by one they drift away and are replaced with a new generation that has fresh eyes to everything. Then they gradually get burned out or just get older and the process repeats itself.

As a somewhat older gamer myself, I highly recommend building new interests... sure, keep gaming on with what games you like, but don't paint yourself into a corner by being too single minded. Pick up bowling, fishing, painting, music, writing, reading, glass blowing, sky diving, whatever you want. But if you feel alienated from the gaming hobby, you're not alone. You probably also won't like the changes down the road. The things we all disdain about the gaming industry aren't going away.

Gaming is not for everyone. Time to make some changes to your life, maybe?

I think it’s just some sort of sensory overload that you are going through. In the 90s and early 00s it was much harder to come across info on new games and new games to actually play. Now that we’re older and more cynical gaming seems to be everywhere, much thanks to the internet itself. There’s so much to read about and play, also thanks to the size the industry took since then, that you can get completely overloaded and feel tired of it all.

The huge marketing campaigns that frequently lead into utterly broken releases are also very heartbreaking and tiresome for someone who has been following the industry for so long.

All that can easily amount to us suddenly not caring at all.

For example, I can barely remember most of the game stuff I see around the internet nowadays, but there are still games that I read about in magazines in the 90s that I remember vividly, even though I may not have seen a single still from the game. I always enjoy reading and watching about these games even if they utterly suck, because, in a way, I’m satisfying a curiosity that have been there since my teenage years.

I do that too. Install the game, find the latest patches, maybe some interesting mod that won't mess up original gameplay like a texture pack and widescreen patch, fix settings so I don't have to do that and test the game and leave it in optimal condition only to jump into another game and do that same instead of playing one that I've fixed. Not a waste of time in my opinion as I enjoy fixing games, but it's a pity nonetheless because sometimes I want to want to play a game if that makes any sense but I'm not in the mood so I don't.

While I personally don't care much with the whole social side of gaming, sure it's a pity not more is focused on single player games but I've enough as it is it's not an issue, but what really bothers me is the focus on hype. This completely undermines immersion to me. This is a great motivator for me to wait until it have dialed down. It doesn't help too that I've a certain irrational dislike for the ad/marketing industry even outside of video gaming.

This illustrates me rather clearly Cutting Edge but I don't do it primarily to save money but to avoid the damn hype (and bugs).

Line P1na said, stop paying attention to the gaming phenomenon / media and focus on the games themselves. You say that you're having a blast with a game, which means that you still enjoy gaming, so forget the nonsense and carry on gaming.