As someone who's also written about games before then I soon found out it wasn't as fun as I thought. I like to write about games, but the issue is that to build any sort of reader following, deadlines must be met and quotas must be filled. Having a schedule made the writing feel like work, and then I felt I had to play certain games whether I wanted to or not and that made them far less enjoyable. If it is no longer fun to write about them or fun to play them, I decided the effort was not worth it in the end. As an aside, this is one reason why I've never applied to NWR.
If you feel the same way as I did then my advice is to not continue if you don't find it fun. It won't be worth it and it won't be fulfilling.
Now as for games themselves, I have also been feeling similar disenchantment, which I think stems from a variety of factors. A big one is that I feel that in general, the industry has steered away from the kinds of games I like (most notably platformers, especially 3D ones) and onto ones I don't like, such as war games. This even extends to the style of games as I prefer fantasy over any sort of realism, and there's been much more of a shift towards realism as the technology has increased. Not only that, but there has been increased focus on story, cutscenes, and presentation, and less focus on actual gameplay. Then we get into things like bad business practices with DLC and systems with multimedia capabilities, and it all adds up to an industry that just isn't appealing.
The other side of things is that, having started playing videogames back in 1989 at the age of 3, I've basically lived through the evolution of gaming and have already experienced so much. I've stomped that Goomba, I've felled that Gohma, I've saved that princess, I've grinded those characters to be powerful enough to take down the big bad and save the world. Therefore, naturally, there aren't really any new experiences to be had or anything groundbreaking left. I've felt the limits on games were lifted during the GCN/PS2/Xbox/Dreamcast generation, and from then on games have all seemed the same. Though the last time I was truly impressed by a game was on the Nintendo 64; the leap into 3D was huge, and nothing can ever compare to that. Not that I expect anything to. Still, even if there are ways gameplay could yet be expanded, I don't feel like it's being pursued; games still have the same amount and sort of content as systems released 14-15 years ago, and heck, sometimes even 20 years ago, in exchange for focusing effort on better graphics. Or at the least, this applies to games I like (meaning not stuff like GTA). Even Nintendo seem to fall guilty of this at times.
To a lessor extent, gamer culture has played a role as well. It just feels like as time has gone on, there has been increasing negativity about games, and more console wars than ever before. It isn't enough to just like a game, it has to be proven why so-and-so game is better than some other game, and such-and-such sucks if someone doesn't like it. Now, I realise it could be argued I'm contributing to negativity from things I've said above, and maybe that's true. But I try to not post about all that and focus on what I like. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but I make an attempt. And, it isn't like I want to stamp out those kinds of games I don't like, I'm fine with them existing. I'd just like some more balance in what gets released. In any case, I don't consider myself a "gamer" because it seems to carry a negative connotation now and I don't want to be associated with some of the people who call themselves gamers. I try to not talk about games with people I meet or even my friends and family, as if there's some shame in it. And that's why I still visit places like this, because for better or worse, it's the only place where I can have conversations.
Anyways, I should probably cut it short here before I make myself look even worse. I have no idea if stating my experiences will help you out, but I figured I'd share.
Topic: A Dilemma Regarding Video Games... (Read 4046 times)
