How do you play videogames?

Pixelated Sparkster

Pixelated Sparkster
Silly question but I am curious how other people play video games. I do not only mean by the platform of choice but what videogames mean to players. Is it a quick entertainment for brief periods of time, or is it a dedicated part of your lifestyle in which you can not see yourself not playing video games.

I find myself dedicating 2 hours a day playing video games, like how a person would watch a movie or tv for a day. I often love to play 2-3 games at a time, and dabble in other videogames to see if there is anything else I would like.

Like I used to play Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled and Jurassic World Evolution as my primary games in 2019, then I would experiment with different games like Fire Emblem for the GBA, Yoshi's Island for the SNES, Super monkey ball on GC, and Grow Home on PS4. I feel like I have a game I could sink hours of my life, but I still want to try some different means of play to keep things fresh. I often enjoy games that is not only fun and engaging, but that I could see the designers behind the game show their passion to the project, as now I often find tricks and easter eggs that makes me feel like I understand the point of view of the Devs and enjoy their products more behind it, and that's fun to me!
 

kilvenny

kilvenny
With a wife, job, three kids and other interests gaming is strictly when time permits. I do MS Sudoku, jigsaw, word game and solitaire daily puzzles when I can to keep my brain working. Elite is my go to game when I have me time. My daughter likes puzzle games so we've been doing The Room series together as a sofa game when we can. I have a number of casual games on the phone for when I am sitting doing nothing.
 

Iskariot

Iskariot
Pixelated Sparkster said:
Silly question but I am curious how other people play video games. I do not only mean by the platform of choice but what videogames mean to players. Is it a quick entertainment for brief periods of time, or is it a dedicated part of your lifestyle in which you can not see yourself not playing video games.

I find myself dedicating 2 hours a day playing video games, like how a person would watch a movie or tv for a day. I often love to play 2-3 games at a time, and dabble in other videogames to see if there is anything else I would like.

Like I used to play Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled and Jurassic World Evolution as my primary games in 2019, then I would experiment with different games like Fire Emblem for the GBA, Yoshi's Island for the SNES, Super monkey ball on GC, and Grow Home on PS4. I feel like I have a game I could sink hours of my life, but I still want to try some different means of play to keep things fresh. I often enjoy games that is not only fun and engaging, but that I could see the designers behind the game show their passion to the project, as now I often find tricks and easter eggs that makes me feel like I understand the point of view of the Devs and enjoy their products more behind it, and that's fun to me!
Click to expand...

I have never thought about playing games being a dedicated life style, but perhaps I should.
I play games to distract myself, to fill the emptiness of my existence, as a means of escapism.
 

Mole HD

Mole HD
I'm supposed to be retired sigh but run a busy farm with my wife, 2 sons and youngest daughter...who do 99% of the day to day running of it between them, I just shout a lot and throw tools around the workshed.

I suppose I spend more time in front of the PC than many...since I never have a set time for gaming but simply play as long as I feel I want to. Depending on the game, the sessions could be up to several hours or I may flip between titles during those sessions depending on whatever my online group of friends feel like playing when they appear online. I class my gaming as a hobby...much like my motorbikes... and I'm fortunate and old enough to be able to enjoy those freely as and when I please. Work wise...I'm busy when I'm busy and in front of the PC when I'm not...

I never understand those folks who think retirement is a bad thing...I love it. Doing what you like when you like is pretty awesome ;)
 
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Dutchman141

Dutchman141
I've been a gamer as long as I can remember but since I'm retired I'm able to put a lot more hours into it.
I love the simplicity of consoles, just turn it on and play, no more hasling around with drivers and such, the only things I miss are good flight sims and a proper hotas.

Like Mole said, retirement is fun and I'm glad I could retire at such young age, I'm only 54 now and been retired for a couple years already.

Playing from my comfortable chair on a big 4k tv screen and 5.1 surround sound is just plain fun and very relaxing, I can't realy imagine my life without video games.
Fortunately my son agrees wholeheartedly and my wife doesn't mind at all.
 

Chris Simon

Chris Simon
I've never played videogames just as "light entertainment".
It's my favourite hobby and my entire entertainment. I don't play sports (anymore), I don't watch TV (don't even have one for the last 20 years), I read a couple books a year, but I only have a handful of favourite authors.
So apart from a couple of documentaries on Youtube here and there, gaming is and always was my jam.

And now that I'm stuck home 24/7, games make up a considerable portion of that. :LOL:
 

GraphiteGB

GraphiteGB
For me if a single game does not keep me at it for hours at a time the game is junk ( and I made a mistake in getting the title... ) or very old
If im rushing to do some thing else instead the game has FAILED to be a good game to get me to play it in my hobby...

The gameplay has to be enough to last months and this includes wanting to Boot a game while burning the food im cooking while using the lap top to remote play it from the console while in the kitchen...

If the OP is playing multi titles in that 2 hour play time... I don't do that...
Only 2 hours a day play time...
Nope 3-4 hours play time on a single game in day when games are GOOD... Average and older title games yes I can be playing the games for shorter time frame...
Brand new zero day release I work out how to play for a lot longer and do other task first to allow longer play times...

IF PS+ release a good title that I may actualy play it screws up my month... (but thats unlikely to happen very offen.. )
Same when Playstation Now Reset every ones access to allow them to get yet another free 7 day rental of games for a limited time that put a spanner in the works badly...
Same happened when publisher did special offers and gave games away for virtualy free 27p to cover the platform holders licensing fee that pushed the other titles play time out the window...
 

[VR] optimal_909

[VR] optimal_909
kilvenny said:
With a wife, job, three kids and other interests gaming is strictly when time permits. I do MS Sudoku, jigsaw, word game and solitaire daily puzzles when I can to keep my brain working. Elite is my go to game when I have me time. My daughter likes puzzle games so we've been doing The Room series together as a sofa game when we can. I have a number of casual games on the phone for when I am sitting doing nothing.
Click to expand...

Same and so much this. Beginning the 3rd week at home (office) and barely can play more than usual.
I just wish to have 2-3 days with nothing to do and just sink stupid amount of time in gaming.
 

Noddie

N
Funny - I recently plunged and bought GTA5. To be honest, I played it for around 30 minutes failed to see what the big woop is and it's basically just a graphical refresh of earlier games, so I refunded it. I got the impression Rockstar felt they needed "Even MOAR!!!" in it. But, crucially, nothing new... I didn't really dig GTA4, either, but I did like The Lost and the Damned and the Ballad of Gay Tony. What I really liked about them was their compact size, tight writing and lack of padding. It was like a really GOOD action TV series.

I'm a casual player. I play for fun. If a game isn't fun I don't play it. If I don't like something in a game, I don't do it. I want entertainment from games, not a second flipping job. I don't need it to be massively complex and clever or graphically wizz-bang, I just need to enjoy it. If I stop enjoying it I don't play it any more and I don't buy any more in the series. I don't owe the developers, or the game, my time. Maybe I got all I could from it? - I don't care. If it's less than an hour or so, I'll just refund it on steam.

I recently pulled out carrier command for DOS and thoroughly enjoyed it. To be honest, after the first few minutes you don't even notice the graphics. I've also played through Limbo and really had a blast. Except for the ending, which is kinda a punch in the guts (it's well done, but so sad).
 

Pixelated Sparkster

Pixelated Sparkster
I am really loving these responses. I actually love reading them as it feels like gaming is more widely accepted as a form of entertainment than I expected it to be. I grew up being the only dedicated gamer in the family but I am often reminded how people perceive it as a playtime for children that should be outgrown or a waste of time altogether, so it feels like taboo at times when whenever I bring up that I play video games to people around me.

Really loving the stories of retirement and how it opens the doors for more gaming hours, I started collecting videogames that I would enjoy playing growing up as I plan on the day that I stop working to dive into the library I always wanted, and if not me, my family and friends who wish to play the same videogames I grew up with!

I think I got fully invested in the medium once I can look at who worked on the video games we play. It is an awesome growth from simple vectors in atari and nes, to more fluid and dynamic engines that cater to any preference we like. Unfortunately, we are in a time when the world is in a pandemic, but I am glad I invested in a hobby to escape from the new constricted lifestyle.
 

Arioch

Arioch
I’m an early riser so I usually get an hour or two in VR before the rest of the family awaken and start requiring my time.

I usually get an hour on my laptop later in the day, which I use for my older games - currently several months into games of Frontier: Elite 2, Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis, and The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall (the Unity remake).

I’m also fitting in a lot of the ZX Spectrum version of Elite courtesy of an emulator on my Nintendo DS, 5-10 minutes here and there is just enough for a quick Anarchy run.
 

rootsrat

Volunteer Moderator
rootsrat
Great topic!

To me games are proper passion. I absolutely LOVE to do it and the more immersive the experience, the better. I love simulators or games that try to add a bit of tedious realism - I love Red Dead Redemption 2 for example. Or in Skyrim - always was installing mods that add needs, diseases, various animations for the little stuff like lockpicking etc.

That is one of the reasons I love Elite so much - it is one of the most immersive games I've ever played! But it's also one of the reasons I don't like Elite, because it uses way too much handwavium for other stuff, which feels like in small details the game's world isn't very logical and integral (see the link in my sig).

I love rich lore and well built worlds - I think Dishonored series is one of THE best in that regard and I've not played any other game that would pay so much attention to making sure the world that the player is playing in feel like a proper, complete thing, rather than disconnected parts.

I role play most of my games. Even if it's an FPS shooter or whatever, I will always try to act as if the whole thing was real, if the game allows for that (i.e. quite easy in GTA 5, but not quite possible in Wolfenstein games).

Games are the biggest passion in my life (art is not far behind!) and Elite is the biggest passion in gaming for me :)
 

PiLhEaD

PiLhEaD
...and on a more serious note. I have a non-terminal but life-limiting disability, and am effectively retired. When I'm enduring a sticky patch a favourite computer game is a nice 'safe place' for me to go and get out of myself.

In these moments, with horrible associated 'brain fog', I revert to open-world FPS games that I have played a myriad times - particularly STALKER series and various Far Crys. They provide me with 'somewhere to go' and to an extent 'someone else to be'. I have a good friend suffering severe PTSD and he uses games in the same way - given his background realistic modern-day FPS are a complete no-no, but he loves Skyrim, Civilisation and Total War.

On better days I'd rather be out getting fresh air, but will often find myself on the PC, and for an evening will often prefer this to watching the TV - although mnetion a Harry Potter film is on, and I'm there.

And sometimes it's just fun to hang out on the forums nattering away about this and that.

Games currently on my very new PC are:
  • NMS (a really great game, very chilled, and to my surprise I really enjoy the base-building)
  • DCS (very enjoyable but I'm rubbish!)
  • IL2 Cliffs of Dover (very enjoyable and I'm not completely rubbish... just... don't watch me land...)
  • Cities Skylines (great when I'm in the mood - which you can say about any game I guess - but it really needs mods to be fun)
  • Elite Dangerous (haven't played it in ages, but then I was in at the original beta, so I have had my many hours-worth of fun - pertty much just waiting for New Era)
  • Far Cry 5 (loads of hours in this game - it's just a very pretty place to go and shoot bad-guys)
  • Kingdoms and Castles (nice simple, light, fun, easy, relaxing - after you've got some walls up)
  • Metro Exodus (very enjoyable, but I've played it through and have little inclination to play it again)
  • Arma 3 (try as I might I can't get in to it, even second time around - due for an uninstall, again)
  • Project Cars 2 (cannot get to grips with the gamepad interface, nor could I get EdTracker working, pity, I wanted the Gran Turismo experience for my PC)
  • Civilsation VI (picked this up for free from Epic Games - perhaps it's not quite my cup of tea but it's fun now and again)
Italics indicates likely/upcomming deletion.

As Noddle said "I want entertainment from games, not a second flipping job" - fun is something that some game developers seem to take a masochistic view on, whereas others (HG) seem to understand what's enjoyable and accessible and how to deliver it.

I'm really looking forward to Microsoft's new Flight Sim, but I'm not going anywhere near the alpha and beta - I did that with Planet Coaster and have barely touched it since release.

e. I've re-read that at it sounds a bit grim. It's not meant to, I'm pretty happy overall and fully know how lucky I am.
 

Pixelated Sparkster

Pixelated Sparkster
That makes sense: "I want entertainment from games, not a second flipping job" is what I associate with any hobby.
Like I love art, and chose a career path in graphic design, it is fun but work tends to feel like work some days. So instead of drawing in my free time, I would rather play video games as it allows me to fully escape from my tense days and allow me to cool off any built up tension from work. Sometimes it actually does the opposite effect and I could be inspired by a video game and use it in my next project.

I really like the list you showed, I tried farcry primal on the PS4 and was sucked into the prehistoric world. I stopped playing the game afterwards as it was during university and I felt lost coming back.
City skylines has been on my mind alot. I feel like I should sit down and play as it felt a bit complex to start off, but I want to get to a modern city builder similar to that of simcity 4.
Have you tried two point hospital? I have started playing it a lot recently and I love the charm that the game has. It is similar to a graphically enhanced sim hospital, but it has a good number of bells and whistles that makes me stick around much longer :D

No worries! It's not grim at all, I am happy you got to share and am glad that you are pretty happy sharing :)
 
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