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Have video games become to big?

cantthinkofone

cantthinkofone

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 25, 2004
1,285
0
Missouri, USA
Maybe its just me but i feel like i need a clone, and a 2nd xbox 360 to be able to play the games i have.

I got my 360 back in december and played my way to about 60% on GTA4. In between that i played Forza 2. Then a friend let me barrow Halo 3, i beat that on legendary in about a week and now play it on XBL a lot.

Then i got Oblivion... Maybe that was my mistake. I logged hundreds of hours on morrowind on my original xbox before the bios fragged on me and i lost everything ( i about cried). So far i have logged about 100 hours on it in the month i have owned it. I can't stop playing it.

I would like to play Ninja Giaden II. But if its anything like the first one on the xbox, i will want to put my foot thru my tv every time i play it. It took me 6 months to get to chapter 19. But the feeling i get every time i beat a boss is overwhelming. It's a bad addiction.

I average about 20-22 hours a week on my 360. I have a full time job, fiancee and newborn so i can't be on there for ever. And i wouldn't even if i could. I like the out doors.
 
People just buy too many games these days, I always used to spend that amount of time on games when I was a kid it's just I only bought 2-3 a year tops.

Save your money?
 
Well i don't spend my money on them. My fiancee bought me GTA4, friend of mine gave me Forza 2, and hasn't asked for Halo 3 back yet. I've only bought oblivion. I've wanted to play it since the day it came out.

I didn't have many games for my xbox. I played halo 2 online, and played forza and ninja giaden. That was all i could take and want. I can't believe these people who have 10-20 xbox 360 games. At $60 a piece thats just nuts. I wont buy a new game any more. Most i will pay is 35, maybe 40.
 
Too big? Nah, some people (like me) don't like to buy game after game and would rather sink hundreds of hours into a good game for 6 months and then move onto something else.

I like long winded games, games with tons of unlockables and secrets. That's why I'm applying this to my own game.
 
this is why I like online computer games. An online computer game can last you years while a single player console game will last you a month or two and cost $60 each.
 
raggedjimmi said:
Too big? Nah, some people (like me) don't like to buy game after game and would rather sink hundreds of hours into a good game for 6 months and then move onto something else.

I like long winded games, games with tons of unlockables and secrets. That's why I'm applying this to my own game.
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Same. I feel the experience is much more epic when you are really connected with a game, as opposed to hopping around from one to another.

I'm totally addicted to Forza 2 right now, which is different for me. I'm doing the three 360/three LCD TV thing this weekend. Should be a blast!
 
Games are getting somewhat too big. I still haven't fully completed very many of my games. The only games I have gotten 100 percent in are Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix, PGR3, and Halo 3. Compared to my original Xbox, I have completed over 90 percent of my games. And they are costing too much as well.

I only buy new games if I really want them, like Halo Wars, and Fable 2. Most of the games I buy though are cheaper, and a big portion of them are used as well. For my 360 I have just around 40 games - about ten of them are full priced and the rest are mixed of cheaper/used games, and another 5 games are ones that a friend gave me. For my original Xbox I have over 60 games but the most I paid for any of those games is 30.00 (most of them around 5.00). I got most of my original Xbox games when the 360 came out, so I got good deals. Don't even get me started on my older systems as well.

I usually spend around 2 hours a day playing games, some days I spend about 4 hours and some days I don't even turn my systems on. All just depends on how busy I am that day and if I feel like playing games or not.
 
I think games are getting better and better and people that didn't give them a look a few years ago are appreciating how good they are now. I have always had a console and honestly never played much. I'd get a game and play maybe 10 hours and put it down and not play another game until I bought one 6 months later. Now, I'm over 100 hours on CoD5 and will be buying CoD4 when the price drops a little more. There's something about multiplayer that makes these games so much greater than games in the past.
 
cantthinkofone said:
I average about 20-22 hours a week on my 360. I have a full time job, fiancee and newborn so i can't be on there for ever. And i wouldn't even if i could. I like the out doors.
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To be honest, I think you're gonna have to accept your life has changed. You're at a new stage of your life now, with a baby. Think about whether you want to carry on being a boy and playing with your toys, or become a man and put your toys away.

You need to put time into your relationship, into looking after your baby. My baby daughter really turned my life over, and I do really miss playing the old games I used to love, but I have to accept I'm at a new phase of my life now.

Playing on my computer too much nearly wrecked my relationship - she was on the point of leaving me. (I always turned it off to spend time with my daughter, but not so much for time with my partner). I strongly urge you to think about giving away your xBox or just don't buy any more games for it.

When you're on your deathbed, will you be thinking 'thank god for all the hours I spent on the xBox' or will you be regretting all the time you didnt spend with your baby, your partner, or being outdoors?
 
RedTomato said:
To be honest, I think you're gonna have to accept your life has changed. You're at a new stage of your life now, with a baby. Think about whether you want to carry on being a boy and playing with your toys, or become a man and put your toys away.

You need to put time into your relationship, into looking after your baby. My baby daughter really turned my life over, and I do really miss playing the old games I used to love, but I have to accept I'm at a new phase of my life now.

Playing on my computer too much nearly wrecked my relationship - she was on the point of leaving me. (I always turned it off to spend time with my daughter, but not so much for time with my partner). I strongly urge you to think about giving away your xBox or just don't buy any more games for it.

When you're on your deathbed, will you be thinking 'thank god for all the hours I spent on the xBox' or will you be regretting all the time you didnt spend with your baby, your partner, or being outdoors?
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I think you mis-understood me. By 20-22 hours a week, thats in 7 days. And even at a average of 3 hours a day, i don't play my xbox 3 hours each day. I do play it while my daughter is sleeping and my fiancee is at class. But when she wakes up i stop playing. Usually i will get a hour or two in a night. Then the weekends it might get turned on in the morning, or late at night.

I guess i should keep a log and see how long i really do play. And its not a straight session. I might get one match online in halo 3 done before she wakes up and needs some attention.

Don't worry, i do spend time with them :)
 
its not about the money or anything for me but after playing oblivion and logging 100 or so hours, it made me take a step back. Because in reality you do not accomplish anything playing video games and you do not better yourself it makes me sick to think that over 4 days of my life were spent staring at this screen when i could have been active and doing something....i hate thinking about it.
 
EB66 said:
its not about the money or anything for me but after playing oblivion and logging 100 or so hours, it made me take a step back. Because in reality you do not accomplish anything playing video games and you do not better yourself it makes me sick to think that over 4 days of my life were spent staring at this screen when i could have been active and doing something....i hate thinking about it.
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+1

That's how I ended up with 10+ games that I haven't finished. Now I rather spend my free time reading or writing music.
 
I haven't played a video game console since Max Payne on PS2 came out. That was because I was in high school and I needed something to kill brain cells after having such a hard curriculum. It's funny. I got it the PS2 and games as a gift, only to give them back to the person lol.

I had a DS Lite and it was fun while it lasted. I did like the shorter games but it went unused after awhile so I sold it.

Frankly, I don't like it.
 
floyde said:
+1

That's how I ended up with 10+ games that I haven't finished. Now I rather spend my free time reading or writing music.
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recording music with my mac is a great middle ground for me because i still am making progress and enjoying something while being able to use technology and computers which i like

i stayed at a guys house in texas for a month training and didn't hardly have good service on my phone and no internet, i don't even think i pulled my laptop out of the bag more than a few times to check email and stayed outside pretty much all day every day.....never felt better in my life
 
EB66 said:
its not about the money or anything for me but after playing oblivion and logging 100 or so hours, it made me take a step back. Because in reality you do not accomplish anything playing video games and you do not better yourself it makes me sick to think that over 4 days of my life were spent staring at this screen when i could have been active and doing something....i hate thinking about it.
Click to expand...

True...but you can also say the same thing about watching tv shows or movies or watching sports or going out to sports games. If you view and treat games like your other sources of entertainment, you'll be fine. They're just like any of those other things. You're accomplishing something in the same manner as having read a book or having watched a movie.

This is true of single player games with a story and a distinct beginning and end. However, opened-ended games, like MMO's and other online multiplayer games are more of a problem. They are the type of games that can make you feel like you wasted the limited time that you have in your life. That is why I don't play those types of games and stick to single player ones....where there is a definite end point...where I can then put it down, like a book, and move on to something else. Not so with open-ended games.

It's all about moderation. People who watch tv or movies or go out to baseball or basketball games can also say that they wasted their time when they could have instead done something creative or "active." It's all about moderation. Don't make your life about just gaming....but don't stop gaming completely. You can spend time doing everything you need to do in addition to what you enjoy doing. It just takes smart allocation of your time.

Don't let children get in the way of your life. Yes, they depend on you. Yes, it's important for their development that you spend time with them. However, never make your life just about the children. Your life and your interests are just as important as them. You need to dedicate some of the time in your day, just to yourself. Be it relaxing, be it watching movies or tv show....or be it gaming.
 
Antares said:
True...but you can also say the same thing about watching tv shows or movies or watching sports or going out to sports games. If you view and treat games like your other sources of entertainment, you'll be fine. They're just like any of those other things. You're accomplishing something in the same manner as having read a book or having watched a movie.

This is true of single player games with a story and a distinct beginning and end. However, opened-ended games, like MMO's and other online multiplayer games are more of a problem. They are the type of games that can make you feel like you wasted the limited time that you have in your life. That is why I don't play those types of games and stick to single player ones....where there is a definite end point...where I can then put it down, like a book, and move on to something else. Not so with open-ended games.

It's all about moderation. People who watch tv or movies or go out to baseball or basketball games can also say that they wasted their time when they could have instead done something creative or "active." It's all about moderation. Don't make your life about just gaming....but don't stop gaming completely. You can spend time doing everything you need to do in addition to what you enjoy doing. It just takes smart allocation of your time.

Don't let children get in the way of your life. Yes, they depend on you. Yes, it's important for their development that you spend time with them. However, never make your life just about the children. Your life and your interests are just as important as them. You need to dedicate some of the time in your day, just to yourself. Be it relaxing, be it watching movies or tv show....or be it gaming.
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ill agree with that although i think that open ended games are easier for me to play in moderation because you don't feel the need to move forward in them as i did in oblivion

i can just play a couple tracks on mx vs atv or play some halo 3 with some friends which brings me to another point, i think multiplayer games are a much better experience because it brings in other aspects like hanging and having a good time with friends and doesn't make it all about the video games
 
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