Sometimes You Just Get Tired of Playing Video Games

Kotaku - I've been a huge gamer for the vast majority of my life, some of my oldest and fondest memories are when my older sister got a Sega Mega Drive and we played Sonic the Hedgehog, Ecco the Dolphin, The Lion King and many other games constantly when we were children. I'm 23 now, however lately I've been feeling very distant from gaming, and I can't explain why.

[Megaton]

Happens to me a couple times a year. I just don't feel like even looking at games.

[OpiZA]

Can definitely relate to this

[karlowma]

Been there many times. I think partly it's due to the availability and ease of access I have to games now, versus when I was a child. I'm not wealthy by any means, but I can (and do) purchase just about every game and console that I want, constantly looking for that "amazing experience" that I remember when I was a kid. The problem is that I don't really feel a commitment to finishing anything anymore. If the game I'm playing just isn't doing it for me, I'll quickly move on, or, if there is something else waiting in the wings, I'll start thinking about that, and want to play it instead.

There are still games that really draw me in. A few in recent years have been Journey, Portal 2, Bulletstorm, Xenoblade Chronicles, Rayman Origins, and The Witcher 2, which I'm playing now.

I think the feeling of fatigue is pretty normal, and a sign of the times, but I do keep looking for, and occasionally find, those rare gems that take me back to my gaming addict heydays.

[bahabeast]

always happens, sometimes i use my ps3 for netflix onli and goes on for weeks at a time untill i find something new or mabe if me and some friends have discution on a game wen i get home im playing it,

[ChunkyLover53]

I usually take a break from gaming a few times a year. I'm currently taking a break, during those times I usually catch up on shows or movies that I've missed. I'll eventually make my way back to gaming.

[vikingland1]

I'm actually in the " take a break from gaming" mode right now. I'm RPG'd out right now. I think it's because I played so many this year Skyrim 250 hrs, KOA 150 hrs, Dragons Dogma 100 Hrs,ME 1,2&3 120 hrs. Sigh... I need a life.

[Somebody]

Same here. Last March I had a whole week of holiday and I was so hype about ranking up in BF3. Instead I spent more time watching Youtube and reading gaming sites that whole week. Looking back I realized that happened almost in all recent holidays.

Only in the last couple of months I've been rather serious in completing my games. Not really sure why. Now that Steam Summer Sale is on, I'm looking at some of the newly added games and thought how the hell am I going to finish these?

[UnitSmiley]

Happens to me a few times a year. I remember when I was younger I would play Kingdom Hearts every single day without a memory card. I would get home from school and play it all the way up to about the 3rd or 4th world, then i'd turn it off for bed, and do it all over again the next day.

Anymore though I find myself saying "I can't be bothered" or "ugh I don't feel like doing that." I think it's because as we grow as people, we grow as gamers. And I think we become a bit jaded due to playing/being exposed to so many games these days that when we inevitably run into a reused or overused game mechanic/plot device it loses it's charm.

The best thing to do to fix this is take a nice long break for awhile. Do other things to entertain yourself, don't even think about games. Then when you finally do come back whether it be a few weeks or a few months later, play a game of a genre you aren't too familiar with. Change it up a bit.

This will always happen to us, but eventually the desire to play comes back. Gaming will always be there no matter how different it may be in the future, so there's no harm in taking a break every once in a while. Doesn't make you less of a gamer for getting a little tired of your hobby, it makes you human.

[Hicken]

I don't really notice it, as gaming isn't my only hobby. My primary passion is writing, and I spend a lot of time reading, as well. In the past, when my health allowed me to, I'd spend a good 3-4 hours each day at the basketball court; back then, I never got bored of anything, because there were so many things to do.

But being older now and having slowed down, I DO notice periodically that there are times when I don't feel like doing much of anything I like to do; I chalk this up, usually, to my depression, though, and not my having gotten bored with anything in particular.

I can see, though, that if gaming was your biggest (by far) or only hobby, it's possible to get tired of it.