a08andan

Contributor
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A disease is spreading among gamers

Do you often think back on memories of a time when you were young and the best thing you knew was to play video-games? Do you feel like the games of today isn't as fun as they were when you were growing up?

Well, you might suffer from "gamer-fatigue", as I would like to call it. To suffer from this can be serious, from a gaming perspective. (I'm not comparing it to any diseases like cancer or AIDS, because it simply isn't a disease in that sense).

You eagerly await the launch of a new title, and when your game finally arrives, you sit down with it for a few hours, but soon you start to feel like it wasn't what you expected or you immediately start to compare it to another game in your favorite genre and without any thought, tell yourself that the other game is better.

Let me take an example. World of Warcraft. How many times haven't you heard someone say: "This MMO sucks. It just tries to be World of Warcraft. It is a FAIL. It sucks" and so on. What people don't realize is that playing games several hours a day, year after year, will make you less sensible to new games, and possible new genres. You are so used to a certain game or genre, that you immediately when playing another kind of game, deem it "crappy", "low quality" or simply "Not as good as X".

Have you really thought about exactly what it is that makes that new game "bad"? Can the case be, that you simply can't appreciate it in its own merit because you are so used to playing another game in that genre? That feeling that no new games is as good as games used to be, is what I call "Gamer-fatigue".

So how should we avoid this? Well the most obvious "cure" would be to not play games as much, but lets be serious, who on n4g would ever consider that option? :)

The other, not so obvious cure, would be to make gaming social or more like an "event". Make the time you play games more special, cook some special snacks for your gaming session, invite friends to play non-cooperative games together (take turns). Help each other.

When you think a game is bad, write down what it is that is bad exactly and try to motivate it. Phrases like "It's crap because it sucks" isn't a good way to explain whats bad btw ;) This may seem like a lot of extra work, but it can be very rewarding. You might discover that you don't actually think that a game is bad, you just judged it by its cover (or the first 5 minutes). The joy of gaming can come back, but it takes work. See it as a relationship. This concludes what I wanted to say today. Please add your own thoughts and what not below and give tips how to make gaming even more enjoyable :)

Cheers!

dinkeldinkse4683d ago (Edited 4683d ago )

Too many people hype games up, but are severely dissapointed when they finally play it.

It is a way better idea to underhype a game that turns out to be awesome then overhype a game that turns out to be meh.

Terarmzar4683d ago

Were you reading my mind =)?
I was thinking the same and here is an examples
When i seen Test drive unlimited 2 coming out i was really excited for it and once i got my hands on it, it just wasn't fun liked the first one was.

Dramscus4683d ago

Reviewers of all media get this pretty bad.
They get really excited about anything thats different from the norm.
Hopefully if more gamers get to this point we'll see more sales of weird and quirky games.

SilentNegotiator4682d ago

This article is ridiculous. What's wrong with expecting games to get better? Why would I want a game that is trying so hard to be a pre-existing game that I already have? If that's a disease, I hope they never cure it.

I think you've confused "gamer fatigue" with devs/pubs putting out the same games over and over. If they started releasing more unique, innovative, original, and better constructed titles, this "disease" wouldn't really have to be issue here.

Frankly, this just sounds like more post-DNF "renaissance" talk. But reviewers are still giving away 9s and 10s like a man in a chicken costume giving away flyers, and still is incredibly under-critical. And some individual opinions on the internet of games "being bad because they're crap" (or however you put it) don't mean anything when it comes right down to it.

But without any real specific examples, other than WoW-clone (oh gee, that narrows it down to a million titles), I don't really know where you're coming from.

a08andan4682d ago (Edited 4682d ago )

Well I think it is obvious I can't mention every single occasion where this is possible. And where do I mention that you shouldn't expect a new game to be better? And I am not saying that you should want a game that you already have. What I am saying, or trying to, is that a lot of gamers might miss out on great games because they "decide" that they don't like it to quickly when there is actually more to it. You are kinda missing my point.

Even if developers puts out the same type of game over and over, if you look at them individually are they really "bad" or do you simply think so because you are used to playing that type of game?

Redempteur4682d ago

i kinda agree with the original poster ..judging a game by his own merits isntead of comparing it to another is something that is lost these days .

Yes i'm expecting games to get better years after years .. but i can play good games after playing great ones ...

Tigerfist4683d ago (Edited 4683d ago )

Judge the product by what it is instead of justifying it's flaws. Once you've seen good you won't want bad and once you've seen bad you won't want more of it either.

If people don't like something they simply don't, why should they justify it or loose any more time with it?

curtis_boy4683d ago

I was a Gran turismo fanatic and after all the hype and delays it fainally was in my ps3 playintg on my 50" hd 1080p tv and it WAS SO BORING!!!!!!! THE GAME WAS CLEARLY rushed but the point is HYPE makes you think your gonna get a kick ass game!!

theonlylolking4683d ago

GT5 is the best sim ever. It is not as much of a improvement over GT4 but GT4 is just as good if not better than Forza 3.

curtis_boy4683d ago

cant really disagree with you though because It is not really a step up from GT4 but calling it a sim is not a good idea play a real sim like iracing or rfactor

soundslike4683d ago

LOL man, are you trolling or just illiterate?

MidnytRain4683d ago

I don't see how one racing sim can be so much more boring than the next. They play nearly identically.

4681d ago
MidnytRain4681d ago

GT5 is AWESOME! I get addicted to winning the seasonal events.

InfiniteJustice4683d ago

***Phrases like "It's crap because it sucks"***

That's a good line lol.

And I agree with what you're saying, I've definitely suffered from this - especially with RPG games. I suppose in a lot of ways you can get tired of RPGs much faster than you can other genres, simply because there are clear, deciding factors in what makes an RPG good. Like the story, or characters, or the combat system - so it's really easy to play one brilliant RPG, then play one which just can't measure up to the previous.

Then you start to think, well, if this game is the best, why should I even bother wasting my time on anything else? It's probably a good job we all have individual opinions in the end... Maybe.

soundslike4683d ago (Edited 4683d ago )

Unfortunately this is something people probably have to come to realization on their own.

But with any of the above people WILL force a square peg in a round hole even after making the connection that the peg is not, in fact, round after all. You can use euphemisms all you want, but I'll call this state of mind what it IS : being jaded.

"Tired, bored, or lacking enthusiasm, typically after having had too much of something"

Remedies for being jaded:
1. Do something else
2. Drugs (which ultimately leads back to being jaded but on/with drugs)
3. Start ranting on internet about fanboys and conspiracies to give games lower reviews

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