For me growing up more meant realizing what I actually like playing and focusing on that. I used to try and play all the big games, which was super dumb. Now I stick to Western RPGs and more open shooters, with some retro platformers and adventure games on occasion, and that's IT.

Yeah, me too. I used to play everything I could get a hand on, but nowadays there are just RPGs, adventures and every now and then a strategy game.

Yeah, me too. If a game has boobs, I'm gonna like it.

I know, I know....

Let me point you to an old Cracked article.

True. Haven't seen the video yet, but the backlog thing is definitely a market problem. These days for the retail price of one AAA title you can get 10 slightly older AAA titles (sometimes less than a year old) or 100+ indie titles, and you can do that from the comfort of your armchair. That's something that just wasn't possible ten, twenty or thirty years ago. Oh, and I forgot about the increasing number of games you can get for free (not only F2P games, but full games, like Metro 2033 or what GOG gives us.)

That is hilarious, I like this quote here:

The video makes a few points in a bland and generalized way.

For me, the biggest trait in being an older gamer is the sharp die-off of a lot of zeal, obsession, and hunger I had for the hobby from my teens up to mid-20s. Also indifference to most games released after a certain year, and new ones in general. Though the occasional exception slips through the gate from some quirky indie-dev.

My ego isn't wrapped up nearly as much in gaming as it was and I'm far more likely to simply quit a game if I'm not having fun instead of stubbornly sticking with it, determined to overcome it from sheer will. This is related to a lot less raw time spent gaming as well.

And my attitude toward gaming has cooled off and is compartmentalized. As well-designed, crafty, and inspired many of my favorite games have been, I don't pretend having played or beaten them is a divine accomplishment in life.

What gooberking & Ivory&Gold said about prolix gaming "fluff" and writing, most definitely. You feel like you've read it all before, just in another context with different details.

This happens with other media forms too, particularly music. I voraciously exposed myself to a great deal of music at a younger age, and consumed reviews, music journalism, internet databases--the works. But eventually there was a pronounced point of diminishing returns where with every "new" band or singer/songwriter I heard my reaction was: "Not bad, nothing new. 'X' meets 'Y' by way of 'Z'" Thankfully, every once in awhile some (new to me) band/group still knocks my socks off.

Ew, story. Lord, make it stop.

When I was a kid I really liked "story" games, but nowadays I have little patience for games that want to be watched instead of played. You can tell a solid story without getting in the way of the game, but it takes a careful touch (example: the Dark Savant trilogy). It's to the point with me where I tend to steer clear of games that are chiefly acclaimed for the story, because I figure they'll be painful to sit through and won't have much else going for them.

I don't think that has to do with me being a "grown-up," though, because I am no such thing. I just have different taste than I used to.

Well for me, things that changed now, compared to when I was a kid include:
* I basically do only play games when my gf is away or studying (luckily she is away for most of this year);
* Now I do alphabetise my games (virtually), I didn't give a shit I was a kid;
* When I was a kid, I hated when a game ended, now I am reluctant to buy a game that is longer than 4 to 6 hours;
* I skipped through text bubbles when I was a kid, now I read them;
* When I was a kid, I played gameboy on the bus. I wouldn't now.

You kids today, with your so-called "grown-up" problems.

Oh, and turn down that looping soundtrack... and get off my tall grass! :p

According to this, I used to be very old but got gradually younger as time went on.
I play a lot more than I used to, I'm a lot better at it, I started enjoying multiplayer instead of singleplayer...

Regardless - the video lost all credibility when consoles got mentioned. That's about as far from my life experience as one can get.

Less interest, less tolerance and less time (in that order). Nowadays I usually spend more time fixing things (technical or gameplay rules) than actually playing or even trying games I had never played before only for the sake of hoping to see something entirely different. In a way it's quite depressing.

Took me a while to realise (probably because I read the thread before watching the video) that they're talking about a grown up gamer as opposed to a kid, not about older gamers. I think that the main difference in my gaming as a grown up as opposed to a kid was that it became more of a solitary experience, where if I had company it was online multiplayer. It's not 100% the case, I was still playing with work mates (because I had some nice jobs where people could officially game during work time), but as a kid I remember more cases of going to a friend to game, or gaming with my little sister.

Well son, back in my days, I remember some classmates having a heated debate about which system was superior: Amiga or Commandore. Back then, I had no idea that computer use would end up being mainstream, so I didn't care about what system was best.

For what it's worth, I've always liked both multi- and singleplayer. Of course, multiplayer back then meant skipping homework in favour of beating Nintendo World Cup together with my buddy or smack talking strangers during Street Fighter 2 while standing in a puddle of sticky, stale Coke.

I also like to think that two decades of playing FPS games have improved my skillz.