I've lost the magic...

Over the years the magic I use to have for games has been running out. I no longer can sit through and play games throug out the night. The last game I stayed up all night to play was Eternal Darkness so kudos SK!

To try to find the magic again I picked up a used SNES (my SNES died) and went ebaying. I went back and picked up the games that made me want to play. I'm right now playing Lufia 2.

If you lose the magic I really suggest doing this. I makes me feel "young" again...well I'm only 20 so I'm not old.

I did that last year with a Dreamcast. Purchased it and a lot of games on eBay, took a break from my PC for a week or so, then felt refreshed when I came back. Was wonderful...

I know exactly what you mean. I think it''s a combination of me getting older and new games not being as good as I thought they would be.

Of course having PC problems only perpetuates this for me, which sends me to my PS2 or Cube. My freaking PC crashes all.... the.... time. I can''t play any game what so ever, have spent hours trying to fix the problem and nothing to show for it. Except this post.

The PS2 and Cube never crash, and there is nothing like a game of old faithful...Madden football, to refresh me.

There aren''t to many games that I will do that for anymore either. To tell the truth I probably game less now than at any time in the last ten years because of work and school, so when I do get an entire day to myself just for games it really feels like a treat, and reminds me just how much I love gaming.

I''ve found that taking a couple of months off in the summer and getting out to do other stuff really help keep the hobby feeling fresh.

This is why MAME is just so cool.
I like to visit old arcade games every now and then to remind me of just how far we have come.

I have to agree, that as I get older (don''t know about the wiser bit) that I am more picky about the games I play.
I now look for games to provide me with not only fun and enjoyment, also something that I haven''t played/experienced before.

I''ve also lost the magic, to say the least. I used to think that I had just become a jaded gamer, but it''s far beyond that. I''ve been gaming for a long time now, nearly 14 years, and I think age is factoring into it. With age, I''ve gotten more picky about games and I, too, am only really seduced by innovation in games that is also fun. My own personal top 5 games of all time were either innovative or genre-busters, games that reinvented the wheel.

Like the rest of you, my PC isn''t helping things. It''s a measly 800mhz with 512MB of RAM and a Geforce 2... not much of anything these days. This leads me back to my consoles which are a constant source of dissapointment. Even good console games don''t usually have me for more than two hours a sitting, which is nothing compared to my 24 hour EQ marathons. EQOA doesn''t do it for me either... I have about 1/8th the stamina for that game that I had for PC EQ, and the sad thing is, it''s about 8 times easier to level in this one. I dunno, I keep thinking that maybe my parents were right all these years, and I actually will outgrow gaming.

Depressingly, it''s starting to feel like it.

Nah I don''t think it''s too depressing. There''s a heap of cool stuff happening on this side of the screen anyway. Maybe you should grab some more hobbies, and only play games when genre-busting epics come out. I''ve just got into some mad fitness streak and although it''s kinda out of character, i''m actually loving it.

I''m really start to regret spending heaps of cash on games i _thought_ i wanted to play.. oh well.

I''ve got pretty bad these days as well. A lot of games that get 90+ don''t even make me bat an eyelid. Sad really. I''m just gonna go play Ultima Underworld again...

I go through distinct phases of this as well. Usually following up on a different hobby alleviates it to some extent...reading, movies, etc.
Seems to me it''s not just us, though. The whole ''gaming scene'' has changed a bunch, and I think over time one just gets burnt out on it.
Don''t even get me started on the PC upgrade routine. There''s a reason I don''t buy computer games anymore, and the refurb nightmare happens to be it.

I am feeling very burnt out as well. I just don''t get that Toyota Feeling anymore when playing games. I don''t even think I am going to buy the new GC Zelda game. I bought the original NES/ROB the robot combo right when it came out before Nintendo was popular. I have been playing games forever.

I think part of the issue is there are no new ideas. I see improvements or variations of past games, but nothing that makes me feel the way I did the first time I played Zelda, Metroid, or Kid Icarus. Even the original Pro Wrestling on NES filled me with so much enjoyment. I may even be playing simply out of habit at this point.

I have already started not buying any game at full price because I never feel satisfied any more. I am now realizing I need to be selective with the types of games I buy. I can''t deal with anything quest oriented any more. I need quick down and dirty simple action at a good price. Maybe I will feel better when my all time favorite game series comes to GC Mario Kart Online.

I''m with Gorey on this. I go through phases of not even wanting to look at my console/PC normally I''ll just kick back and read or tool about on my crosser for a month or two and then go back. Also getting some older games that you haven''t played in a long time can help, I picked up a copy of Suikoden2 a couple of days ago for £5 and dusted off my PS2 I''d forgotten how good some of the older PS1 titles could be.

Well, I guess that happens to everyone, but lately it seems to happen more often. I think the reason is that games just aren''t as good as they were before, and we are playing a lot of them.

My family has a PS2, 3 PCs, and a dreamcast. The one that gets the most play is the dreamcast, because I got one of those CDs that has nintendo Roms. My family has spent the last 3 months playing old classics like Contra, Dr. Mario and Super Mario Brothers. Why? When they spent like a week on Ratchet and Clank, a couple of days on Sly cooper, and they didn''t even like Jak and Daxter enough to play it?

Me, I get a great game now and then that makes me want to play a lot. It''s Age of Mythology right now. But I have a bunch of games that I''ve gotten through only because I like having my Hardcore Gamer card (tm)

Let me look at my stack of games that I''m going to sell, because I don''t think they''re keepers:
Neverwinter Nights. I trudged past that. I hated it after the 2nd episode. Myth 3. The camera kills this game. It''s awful, it''s uncontrollable, and the actual game is boring. Swat 3. Too Generic. Hitman 2, not fun enough. Wolfenstein, too generic. Ghost Recon, bleh. Warrior Kings, ugly, boring and too standard. Jedi Knight, mediocre with a few fun levels. Empire Earth, fun for a while but not a lot of depth. Homeworld the first, it''s just not as good as Cataclysm, it gets boring. Unreal 2, defines ""Generic Shooter"".

I think the problem really is that great games aren''t as ""common"" as they were before. I mean, I remember when I was younger I bought Darklands, System Shock, and Ultima VI in the same week! I didn''t sleep for three months, and I still keep the manuals. This past two months I bought 7 games, and they''re all going to be sold.

We like games, we buy a lot of them, but most are mediocre. We''d probably enjoy our hobby more(and save money) if we played only the 98/100 rated games, which are pretty rare.

Thats kind of where I''ve fallen Mex. I have all 3 consoles and an aging pc. But I realize i only end up buying the grade A+++ type games (gtavc, metroid, zelda, splinter cell). And on the pc side I dont buy games I dont think will be huge online(bf1942 was my last pc purchase) The sad thing is even resorting to being hyper selective, I still dont have enough time to play them all.

I had the same feelings up until last fall. That was when I got my XBox (first console I bought after the Amiga :)) and I finally found some interesting games again. Until now I have bought at least one game every month and the list still does not get any smaller :). But it is true there are times where you just have to leave the pc/console alone and go out for a ride or something similar. And after a week you suddenly feel the urge of ''mmh how about finishing that level in Splinter Cell now''. Works just fine for me.

You lost the magic? They got a pill for that, you know.

Ulairi, Thanks!

Glad you liked ED so much! One of our main goals is putting the magic back - this is why it is in our credit logo at the beginning of games. It is great that we did this for you with ED.

Many games have not done it for me lately as well.

The good news is that there are many new and innovative games coming down the pipe that hopefully will catch the magic for you. I am not sure about some of the other groups out there but I know that our team is working very hard to put the magic in everytime.

Hopefully in time the magic will come back.

Thanks for giving me some hope. I will try to check out ED.

If you lose the magic I really suggest doing this. I makes me feel ""young"" again...well I''m only 20 so I''m not old.

Jeeze, that makes me feel old! I''ve been gaming for longer than you''ve been alive man. I got my first system in 81 when I was eleven.

I got my first system in 81 when I was eleven.

I think I got mine around then too it was a standalone machine with 4 games on it, the only one I remember being pong, oh and it had those odd pre-joystick twisty dial controllers. Mind you I was only 9 then