11 signs you're no longer a hard-core gamer.

A lot of that hit close to home. I liked this one the best, though.

You've pre-ordered GTA IV but don't mind if it doesn't turn up on launch day

Wednesday's just fine. Really. You're a bit busy at the moment, anyway. In fact, you probably won't get a chance to play GTA IV until the weekend. You're also not bothered by the prospect of downloading the DLC for GTA IV either. You'll never finish the main game anyway.

Thinking of all the midnight launch parties. When I pre-ordered GTA IV I asked if there would still be copies the next day or two.

Why do all of these "You are no longer hardcore" pieces begin, often, with the premise that they follow a long term, healthy, opposite or same sex partnership?

I ask, because my hobbies have always suffered in the pursuit of short term engagements(often referred to as "hooking up") and higher availability of such companionship breeds complacency.

I'm more hardcore now than I ever was as a kid. It's just that I don't have the time or indeed, interest, to devote myself wholly to a single game or all-night gaming binges anymore. Regardless, I buy way more games than I ever did before (even if I don't play them to completion), I own all of the platforms, and I think and talk and read and write about games all the time. Even if my consoles are not necessarily switched on during the week or if I suck at online FPS matches due to lack of practice.

I got nailed with #2 but not because I don't want to share the HDTV but because I'd rather spend time with her.
#10 too. I actually prefer board games as video games because no one down here plays board games.
#11 but only because I am getting it from Gamefly since I have 5% off and $10 in credit.

The older i get the more disposable income i tend to have which leads to me gaming more.

While i may not play as much when i'm home with my girlfriend it can be argured that is a good thing

ranalin wrote:

While i may not play as much when i'm home with my girlfriend it can be argured that is a good thing

Big Project Runway and Desperate Housewives fan?

KingGorilla wrote:

Big Project Runway and Desperate Housewives fan?

I can usually get away with playing on the secondary TV during Runway.

I scored at least 8 - and I want a bonus point for the fact that I still think that Manic Miner, Sensible Soccer and the Ultimate games are great. And that Elite has yet to be rivalled for the balance of exploration and fun - I tried X3 again last week, and the lack of a decent tutorial as well as demanding the keyboard skills of an octopus on whizz make it a bit deficient in the 'fun' category.

"Your FPS experience consists of spawn, run, die... spawn, run, die... spawn…"

I remember when I used to be able to run in an FPS...

Okay I'm sorry but why was my post saying, 'sorry double post' the one that was kept. As opposed to my meaty post on topic.

1/9 Because me no play console.

Sorry, but I think the article should be re-titled to "11 signs you're no longer a dribbling douche".

I mean seriously. Read through those. Because I'm not a frothing fanboy, have some regard for the needs of others in my household, have decent sportsmanship skills, and have no problem with most of the rest of them I'm not "hardcore".

Say that again with a Long Tom shoved up your nose, sparky.

So old, so old....I have a Xbox, Wii and PS3- the Xbox is for me, the Wii for the kids, and the PS3 for movies.

I have a confession to make- I've never, never ever played a console online.

Has any seen my dentures?

Yeah good one momgamer. I thought the same thing. I guess that's really a sign.

Ok my sign is that I only own a Wii currently and no PS3/360 and haven't built a new gaming pc in dare I say 2 years now.

Larsson wrote:

So old, so old....I have a Xbox, Wii and PS3- the Xbox is for me, the Wii for the kids, and the PS3 for movies.

I have a confession to make- I've never, never ever played a console online.

Has any seen my dentures?

I'm 22 years old and I've never played a console online either. It's not about age it's about preference.

I thought the list was funny. I don't get all the hate.

Allot of it has to do with not having the time to devote to hours of play due to other responsibilities. I still love to play games but can no longer pull all nighters playing Counter-Strike or Starcraft on weekdays! So, yeah, I'm not so hardcore anymore.

jlaakso wrote:
KingGorilla wrote:

Big Project Runway and Desperate Housewives fan?

I can usually get away with playing on the secondary TV during Runway.

I do find it rather entertaining how adulthood mirrors childhood so much when it comes to the differences between the sexes. "Girls are dumb, they watch these boring shows about fashion, and these idiotic soap operas." More or less is like "Girls are dumb, they play with dolls, and have tea parties."

Pay no attention to the moron who double posted.

KingGorilla wrote:
jlaakso wrote:
KingGorilla wrote:

Big Project Runway and Desperate Housewives fan?

I can usually get away with playing on the secondary TV during Runway.

I do find it rather entertaining how adulthood mirrors childhood so much when it comes to the differences between the sexes. "Girls are dumb, they watch these boring shows about fashion, and these idiotic soap operas." More or less is like "Girls are dumb, they play with dolls, and have tea parties."

Who said those shows were boring or dumb?

Desperate Housewives season 1 was sharply entertaining. From Season 2 and on they all degraded into gross caricatures of themselves, apparently taking a clue from the vastly annoying Everybody Loves Raymond.

shihonage wrote:

Desperate Housewives season 1 was sharply entertaining. From Season 2 and on they all degraded into gross caricatures of themselves, apparently taking a clue from the vastly annoying Everybody Loves Raymond.

I have never watched an episode of it. Just not something my wife and I ever started watching. We didn't avoid it, though.

I have watched Project Runway (and Top Chef, also from Bravo) with my wife and daughter, and it is smart TV. There are shows I watch because my wife likes them, just as there are shows she watches because I do. If I am not around, she doesn't save Project Runway for me, but I have really grown to enjoy Top Chef. She doesn't want me to keep Lost for her, but she now thinks Battlestar Galactica is fantastic.

If I am trying to schedule a game for the GWJ APFB league, she has no problem letting me play during one of "her" shows. But I would never come down and ask to just start playing game. I might ask if we can watch something different, if it is something I really don't care for. That's the great thing about Tivo. We can always find something we like together.

Vector wrote:
Larsson wrote:

So old, so old....I have a Xbox, Wii and PS3- the Xbox is for me, the Wii for the kids, and the PS3 for movies.

I have a confession to make- I've never, never ever played a console online.

Has any seen my dentures?

I'm 22 years old and I've never played a console online either. It's not about age it's about preference.

Having had XBox Live Gold for 5 years (I think?), I can honestly say more often than not, there is a possibility you aren't missing that much. Gaming with distant friends and my brother who lives far away are reason enough for me to have it.

t0W wrote:

Okay I'm sorry but why was my post saying, 'sorry double post' the one that was kept. As opposed to my meaty post on topic.

1/9 Because me no play console.

My bad. When the mood takes me I delete the second of a double post. I must have deleted the one you planned to keep while you edited the other. Too quick on the draw!

Vector wrote:
Larsson wrote:

So old, so old....I have a Xbox, Wii and PS3- the Xbox is for me, the Wii for the kids, and the PS3 for movies.

I have a confession to make- I've never, never ever played a console online.

Has any seen my dentures?

I'm 22 years old and I've never played a console online either. It's not about age it's about preference.

Up until a couple of weeks ago I was the same apart from the hour I played GOW and got sawn in half regularly.

I've got into COD4 online and now I'm thinking about how much time I've wasted not being online. I should have taken the plunge years ago.

It might be a fad I get sick of but I'm wetting myself thinking about playing GTA online.

Come on, dive in.

momgamer wrote:

Because I'm not a frothing fanboy, have some regard for the needs of others in my household, have decent sportsmanship skills, and have no problem with most of the rest of them I'm not "hardcore".

Take it as compliment :). I hit loads of these dangerous warning signs of my impending senility but couldn't give a rat's ass, making me even less hardcore as I type. Oh woe is me.

I disagree with the comment on losing the twitch finger. For me it's not so much about a magical degradation of reflexes, but about unwillingness to learn the keyboard macros, walljumping combos and various "tricks" the kids inevitably find in most games.

Thankfully, the FPS genre seems to be growing up with me. It doesn't take superb reflexes to fire a rocket launcher that locks on, to nuke an area, put up shields, surround the place with spawn hosts, deploy turrets, or plant mines in the least likely places. A game like Quake Wars allows me to counter the unrelenting vigor of youth with deceit and treachery of old age.

momgamer wrote:

Sorry, but I think the article should be re-titled to "11 signs you're no longer a dribbling douche".

I mean seriously. Read through those. Because I'm not a frothing fanboy, have some regard for the needs of others in my household, have decent sportsmanship skills, and have no problem with most of the rest of them I'm not "hardcore".

Say that again with a Long Tom shoved up your nose, sparky.

I suppose from a certain standpoint, the difference between a gamer and a hardcore gamer is the same difference as between a hobby and an obsession. I don't think that's an unfair definition, but then I'm on the "hobby" side.

I got 5, but only because I didn't pre-order GTA. I'm not that interested, and I don't tend to care enough to preorder games anyway.

Hobbes2099 wrote:

Ok, quick question;

On average, how many hours do you guy play on a weekly basis?

I'm 30 and play about 2-3 hours a day. Playing on weekends is now a distant, fading memory.

What about you guys?

E Hunnie could help with this estimate, but Smash Brothers indicates I put 10 hours into the story mode since I started working on that last week. I'd guess that puts me at about 5-8 hours per week.

I may be in trouble because I have always abhored (sp?) the incessant ramblings and innane chatter of the 12 year olds that go around tea bagging people in shooters.

I personally play hal0 online for the very reasons others avoid it. I find those kids freakin' hilarious. The game's decent but high pitched sqeauling of moronic insults is hilarious. Then I go play uno.

You know it's funny, I thought I'd get more matches than I did, and the matches I got tended to come from technicalities.

You prefer playing against the computer

I always have. I have never taken any console online-- not even my PSP, except to search for a FAQ for Phantasy Star on the Sega Genesis Collection. Don't much care for interacting with other people. If I did, I would have picked a more social hobby. Like quilting.

I played Half Life online once. Never heard the sixteen bullets that killed me.

You only play when your girlfriend is out

Doesn't apply to me, because I'm married with an 11 month old daughter. Change it to "you only play when your 11 month old daughter's asleep" and then we have a match.

It's been days, not hours since you last switched on your console

Match. I consider myself lucky to get in some gaming once a week-- and that's counting a PSP as a console. It's literally been months since I fired up the PS2 or the Gamecube.

You believe that winning isn't everything

No match here. If it doesn't matter who wins, why do they keep score?

You’re the oldest person trading in games at GameStation

I'm going to call this one a match because I've never heard of Gamestation. The only time I've heard the word "gamestation" before now was when my father mispronounced Playstation a decade ago.

You like your Xbox 360 and your PS3 equally

Calling this one a match because I don't have an XBox360 or a PS3, and probably never will.

You fondly remember a ‘golden age’ of gaming

Finally, a legitimate match. I miss the 2600 days a bit.

You avoid playing on the Wii because it’s too much effort

Tack on the words "to find a freakin' Wii" to the end of that sentence, and we've got a match. I'm still unconvinced that the Wii actually exists. I've never seen one in person. Oh, I once say a woman carrying a box that allegedly had a Wii in it, but for all I know the box contained coleslaw and barbecued ribs.

Your FPS experience consists of spawn, run, die... spawn, run, die... spawn…

Assuming this refers to online gaming, calling it a match because of the one time I played Half Life online.

You find the idea of videogames based on board games perfectly acceptable

Why wouldn't I? Match.

You've pre-ordered GTA IV but don't mind if it doesn't turn up on launch day

No match-- don't have any interest in GTA IV, and don't have a system that could play it even if I did.

I'm beginning to think I never was a hardcore gamer, which is surprising considering I have the largest collection of Jaguar games in captivity.

Actually, the Wii is made of coleslaw and barbecue ribs. But it works just as you would expect a video game system to. Truly, the Japanese are lightyears ahead of us in technology.