[spocktra]

Havnt played many games for a few years and recently got a cube.It has taken me over a week to get 28% on starfox adventures.Are the modern games harder and bigger or am i getting worse with age.

[hpoom]

Depends on how may hours a week you are finding. It took me 23 hours to compleat starfox, I did it last week (this week I started metriod prime again, have compleated once over a year ago and now want to try again). I am expect Metroid Prime to take me 20-25 hours.

My Starfox compleation took about 4 weeks as I know find 4-5 hours a week to game. So if you are similar then you are about right with 23% on Starfox in one week.

[Epicurus]

If it's any consolation, im 24 and I gave up on Starfox after one hour.

[Tejstar]

When playing my younger cousins it seems as if I'm rubbish, I just use the excuse that I don't get as much time to practice!

[Battlestar]

Hand to eye cordination will diminsh if you dont practice. It also starts to go as you get older. I am 30 years old now. I have been playing consol games since I was 15. I would like to think I can still keep up with the best of em, but only with continued pratice at a certain game will I become top notch at it.

[Tejstar]

The only game I would say I'm half good at is Enemy Territory.

[spocktra]

Must be getting old,i forgot to save at a critical point the other night doh!.40% on starfox now.

[fritter]

age has nothing to do with it as long as you keep playing games fairly regularly - once or twice every couple of weeks is fine for 'maintenance' lol. If you wanna be top of the online multiplayer stuff you've gotta practice quite a bit though!

I'm 30 (been playing games since I was about 7 or 8 or so), and it makes no difference - I still clock games fairly quickly.

Only real difference is I don't tend to play single player any more - only so I can unlock multiplayer stuff on console games - it's much more fun kicking your mates arses, or vice versa. You can't laugh at a computer game when you beat it with style, and if a bot laughs at you after messing you up, it just not the same as a human doing it

[Tejstar]

Originally Posted by fritter

age has nothing to do with it as long as you keep playing games fairly regularly - once or twice every couple of weeks is fine for 'maintenance'

I do think it's a time thing, I certainly don't the get the time I used to in terms of playing games. I remember I used to buy loads of rubbish and complete them all, my buying now is a lot more focussed on games I know I 'll enjoy playing through. However, that doesn't mean I don't go for quirky, quitethe contrary it's the quirky games I buy the most!

[spocktra]

I finished starfox adventures in the end,took me 3 weeks.Playing 3 games at the moment Metroid prime,mario kart ds and yoshis island.All old i know but great fun.Really enjoying my ds,ordered animal crossing and phoenix wright.

[Tejstar]

You must be good at multi-tasking, I find it difficult to manage 1 game at a time let alone 3!

I don't think I've got any worse since I've gotten older (I'm 26 now) but I'm certainly not as patient as I used to be, if I get stuck I don't try and try again like I used to (more like stuff this crap now) and I've become more picky with what I play.

[CrispyXUK]

Yeah but not being a kid anymore you can just go out and buy a new game if you get stuck , I try to finish most of my games but am still playing; Metroid Prime, Fahrenheit, Metroid Prime 2, ICO, Shadow of the Colusss & Paper Mario 2

[Tetlee]

I think I've become more rubbish at games with age At first I though that over the years games have just gotten tougher, but recently I got to play some of the oldies such as Manic Miner, Monty Mole, Dizzy etc. Christ were they unforgiving, I wouldn't have the patience to even attempt completing those games today

Maybe I've simply past my prime

[Tejstar]

But that's the thing, it's all about patience with difficult games. As you get older you lose that patience as there is to much going on.

It's the same with movies, I used to enjoy Cinema from all over the world when I was a bit younger. However, nowdays I'm lucky if I get to watch a few films a month - therefore when I do sit down it has to be something I know i'll enjoy!

My god games have definately gotten easier, Dizzy was solid, and some of those old Megaman games drove me nuts!

[AMc]

The other thing that happens is you end up with less time.
I used to play games all the time, now I'm lucky to get 2 hours a week (partner, kid, demanding job).
Without practice it gets harder and some of the bits of GTA San Andreas are so irritating that I can't be bothered to waste that 2 hours doing the same thing over and over.

I actually managed to play for pretty much a whole day yesterday (minus breaks), first time in ages!

[Tejstar]

Originally Posted by Sarah Nya

I actually managed to play for pretty much a whole day yesterday (minus breaks), first time in ages!

Those days for me are long gone, I’m lucky if I get 3 hours in a week!

[Stinja]

Ditto. Well playing on a TV console at least, i sneak in way more hours on portables than "proper" consoles now.

Less time due to commitments, slowing reflexes (most noticeable in twitch-FPS games), and "seen it before" means new games often dont get the appreciation they deserve. Does this make newer games harder? Partially. However game difficutly levels have plunged, and things like being able to save anywhere make a joke of some games.

But us older gamers also have the benifits that come with age; patience compared to the additive-filled kiddies, experience and cash. Online real twitch-reflex games seem harder than before, but in slower tactical-shooters i do much better. Bigger TVs and surround sound give an edge over kids playing on 14" mono sets. Combined with a seemingly more paced ability to attack or defend than kids than must run about mean i can still compete happily.

The big thing i notice now is i dont complete games to 100% anymore. I enjoy the story, the experience and whatever else it has to offer and thats it. If a game is poorly executed i stop playing - time is too precious to waste trying to find hidden goodness in a game.

[Tejstar]

Originally Posted by iZed

If a game is poorly executed i stop playing - time is too precious to waste trying to find hidden goodness in a game.

Very true, for the first time in my history of video games playing I sold a game after only giving it a couple of hours of playtime. The game in question was PD0 and thought the level design was very poor in singleplayer and therefore promptly sold it. Never done that before, I normally just keep it thinking I'll go back to it but with PD0 I just knew I'd never go back to it. It may have got better, but I just don't have the time to find out.

[Epicurus]

It's a shame you did that. The single player really is poor, especially when you consider how good Goldeneye and Perfect Dark were on the N64. But by selling so soon you missed out on what for me has been the most enjoyable multiplayer game on the Xbox so far.

[Tejstar]

Originally Posted by Epicurus

It's a shame you did that. The single player really is poor, especially when you consider how good Goldeneye and Perfect Dark were on the N64. But by selling so soon you missed out on what for me has been the most enjoyable multiplayer game on the Xbox so far.

I did try the MP part of the game but couldn't get into it (maybe as I didn't get through the SP part of the game I wasn't used to the controls), but you're right I didn't give it much of a chance. I was single-minded after being so disappointed with the single-player that I just wanted to get rid of it.