is it normal for one's tastes to be masochistic?

[Edmond Dantes]

Lately, the only genre I've been able to play is fighting games. Everything else just bores me, but I can stay hooked on fighters for hours. But here's the problem: The genre makes me fly into a homicidal rage. It was so bad that four days ago, I forced myself to stop playing them. At first I was happy, but... then I started to lose interest in gaming. So I changed my mind today, and now I'm pissed off at them again, but I'm also interested in gaming again.

Is this normal, or should I see a therapist?

[Informationator]

Lately, the only genre I've been able to play is fighting games. Everything else just bores me, but I can stay hooked on fighters for hours. But here's the problem: The genre makes me fly into a homicidal rage. It was so bad that four days ago, I forced myself to stop playing them. At first I was happy, but... then I started to lose interest in gaming. So I changed my mind today, and now I'm pissed off at them again, but I'm also interested in gaming again.

Is this normal, or should I see a therapist?

I used to play certain challenging games out of compulsion, such as Unreal Tournament 2k4 or 3. At one point I realized what was happening and stopped playing them despite the fact that I was freaking good at them. The fact was, I wasn't having any fun and wasn't gaining anything from them, so I stopped and I'm happier for it.

So, the question is... what do you get out of those types of games? Some people game just to be around friends, others game for the personal challenge, others game for the competitiveness of it. It's usually a mix. What's your driving motivation?

You want to be good at something you are not good, so what's the motivation? To beat someone else's score? To show off to friends? ...just to beat the danged thing?

Any time I get upset it's usually because my expectations are not lining up with reality. What are your expectations and how can you adjust them to make your gaming experience more enjoyable?

[Graham Mitchell]

I have the same problem. I find the fighters (particularly 2-D ones) to be fun, fast-paced and intense (esp. with a fighting stick!!). But when the opponent (be it CPU or live human) WAAAAAY outclasses you in technique, you really have no chance and it's not fun.

SSFIV made me want to throw my 360 in the street. I'd get stuck on fucking Seth (what kind of name is that for an end boss? Fuck you, Seth.) for hours and never beat him. I'd be swearing, punching pillows, and in the end I'd just have to leave or go to bed and turn it off. I would frequently then act like an asshole to my wife. I just decided this was a waste of time, so I turned the difficulty down a notch and voila!! It was fun again. Challenging, but surmountable.

I have never, EVER won an online match of SSFIV, SF2HF, or Mortal Kombat on XBL. It's impossible. Those people have been playing this stuff for years and there's just no way a noob like me could get anywhere with that, especially at 33. So, I just accept that I'm not gonna use the online portion unless it's to play with friends, which is fun.

Anyway, that's how I deal with it.

[Edmond Dantes]

To be honest, I don't really know what draws me to certain genres. Just lately I've found fighters interesting. I like the characters, the background mythologies, the special moves... I've been wondering though, if maybe the reason I like them is because they make me angry, like being so upset is better than not feeling anything at all, that sort of thing.

I don't really play multiplayer, though I did with a friend last week, and I didn't mind the experience one bit. What pisses me off about fighters is normally when the computer cheats and gets in moves or combos that it shouldn't be able to, or when you get stuck in a position you can't escape from, or when you're trying so hard to do one particular special move and you keep getting a completely different one, or when you do finally pull it off the enemy gets a cheap hit in and its canceled (happens a lot in King of Fighters 94, which is the main fighter I've been playing lately--there's honestly little point in using the special moves because they are all so slow and leave you wide open). Fighting Games are the only genre that have ever made me toss a controller. But I honestly want to see the endings.

I mean, I don't mind being bad at games--I can't beat any shmup I own (except Thunder Force III) and I love that genre. But with that, when I can't beat it, it feels like no big loss, just play it again later, learn from your mistakes. For fighters, I for some reason feel a compulsion to finish them, like I'm leaving a job half-done if I don't.

[Informationator]

Well, I'm right there with you. FPSs? I'm amazing at them. Shooters? I've beaten Contra without dying more than once. Platformers? Please.

...but with RTSs I'm incredibly mediocre no matter how hard I try and frankly, I don't have enough free time or drive to get good. Fighting games? Forget it.

I don't see a problem with being terrible at things. My roomate is great at video games, but he HAS to be great or he can't be happy. I score 99,000 in Joust. He spends the next hour playing and scores 140,000. I don't give him the satisfaction of seeing me bummed and he's so busy bragging on himself that he doesn't notice anyway. He just can't stand the thought of anyone being better than him, but the fact is, there is always someone better, so I don't sweat it and don't waste my time for ego boosts. At the end of the day I can be happy on top or at #2. He can't. So, which guy are you going to be? :P

At the end of the day, my philosophy is to have fun, be incredibly competitive, but don't waste your time for ego. If you like the challenge and you want to keep getting better, go for it! If it's just making you angry and you're not even sure why, maybe it's time to take a break.

One tip... If you're going to spend a lot of time playing fighters, you'd better get a proper joystick (Super Advantage, Capcom Fighting Stick, etc.). ...Certain combos are MUCH more reasonable with a joystick vs. with a gamepad where it's hit or miss.

[Sunnyvale]

I feel the same way about RPG's as the OP does about fighting games, except I didn't lose any interest in gaming when I dropped em. I end up not having fun, grinding through them, all so I feel like I won.
So I quit playing the damn things. Every now and again, when I'm paying for attention to drinking and smoking then actual play, I'll drag out FF1. Besides that, shmups and platformers.

[k8track]

Turn off the TV, go outside, get some fresh air, take a walk, meet a girl.

[Robocop2]

I do the same thing honestly and its with the same genre as the OP. Shmups also to a lesser degree.

[SpaceHarrier]

Edmond Dantes, I feel kinda the same.. I love fighters but when I get stuck hard, I Hulk out and become a raging beast.

I twisted a PS2 controller in half after battling I-No from Guilty Gear X2 for upwards of 45 minutes. Didn't even think it was possible, somehow I gained superhuman strength for a moment. I never won a single round against her. That was several years ago. Still never beat that bitch. I watch videos on Youtube where people beat her with ease. Doesn't work for me. I just have to put the game aside and try again another day.

Interesting phenomenon though, if I do manage to play beyond the rage, I sometimes manage to completely destroy the opponent right after my fit subsides.

Not I-No however, that bitch.

[treismac]

This is sorta strange but sorta relevant: I use to have a masochistic practice when playing Street Fighter Alpha 3 where I deprived myself of a much needed cigarette until I beat a character that was repeatedly stomping my head into the ground. When I finally triumphed, it was such a relief as self loathing and nicotine deprivation gave way to triumph and a satisfying victory smoke. I no longer smoke and it's been ages since I've gotten down on fighters like I use once did. Back in those hazy days, I'd burn one down after defeating Bison (pretty sure it was him) and walk around outside, looking at the stars as I replayed the battles in my mind. This was my way, I suppose, of making it up to myself for punishing myself earlier by withholding cigarettes.

[Drixxel]

Fighting games definitely grind my gears, too, once I've invested a bit of time into them. I agree that there's an oddly palpable sense of failure in being unable to best a particular foe, it makes abandoning the game seem like an ego slap and that's weirdly motivational.

Apart from fighters, I find some masochistic fun in setting absurd challenges for myself when the game isn't challenging enough on its own. One of my favourites is trying to beat Gradius III on SNES after maxing out speed before spending on any other upgrades and then maintaining top speed for the rest of the game. Control becomes hummingbird-like and the game is difficult in a really silly way.

[Gameguy]

Turn off the TV, go outside, get some fresh air, take a walk, meet a girl.
Avoid asking girl home with intention to make woman-suit out of her skin. It's common courtesy.

[treismac]

Avoid asking girl home with intention to make woman-suit out of her skin. It's common courtesy.

Such weird customs you Canadians have. Here in the Deep South, it would be insulting not to, at the very least, make some mittens out her shorn hair. ;)

[Sunnyvale]

Avoid asking girl home with intention to make woman-suit out of her skin. It's common courtesy.


Such weird customs you Canadians have. Here in the Deep South, it would be insulting not to, at the very least, make some mittens out her shorn hair. ;)

http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n629/ConneticutLeatherCompany/rosie31.jpg

[ubersaurus]

Honestly I thought this was going to be a thread about going out of one's way to play terrible games, like the majority of the VIS or CD-i libraries. Which I have done...

[kevifray]

certain games i would play till the brink of absolute breakdown or exhaustion simply because i for whatever reason enjoyed it. the original prince of persia quickly jumps to mind.

[Rickstilwell1]

Any game where I mess up will make me yell at it. Depending on how often or detrimetal the loss is to my ability to completing the game determines how angry I'll get. There's nothing wrong with being masochistic with anything. It helps you vent out other pent up emotions along with the new ones that come from the game alone. I think that's why I feel so happy after I finally complete a game that took a lot of work. I'm really proud of myself for beating all 4 King's Field games recently when I always used to get lost and die all the time.

Even my musical tastes are masochistic. I never care what a singer's voice sounds like much as long as I like the music in the background.

[Edmond Dantes]

One tip... If you're going to spend a lot of time playing fighters, you'd better get a proper joystick (Super Advantage, Capcom Fighting Stick, etc.). ...Certain combos are MUCH more reasonable with a joystick vs. with a gamepad where it's hit or miss.

This is one thing that annoys me in general. When I fail at a shooter, I can't say "well its not like I didn't know that obstacle was there," and at the same time I can learn from the mistake and try not to repeat it next time. If I'm drunk or not feeling well and can't quite manage, oh well.

With fighting games it always feels random. So Chin Gentsai's rolling punch goes under Andy Bogard's fireball thing (forget the name at the moment)? In a platformer this would be information I can build on to come up with a winning strategy. But since this is a fighter, I have to worry that I won't get to pull off the move in the first place, or if I do that Andy might have some counter that I don't know about, or that possible only works when the CPU is doing it. Or my buttons might just spontaneously stop working, like what happened during a recent bout (I posted about it in the Modern Gaming section).

I've got two (maybe three) arcade sticks I'm thinking of having modded with Happ or Sanwa parts, but its gonna be awhile since I really can't afford it just yet. And I'm so scared that I'm gonna go through all that labour (or pay someone to do it for me) and then its gonna turn out to not help in any way, shape or form.

[AceAerosmith]

Avoid asking girl home with intention to make woman-suit out of her skin. It's common courtesy.


Such weird customs you Canadians have. Here in the Deep South, it would be insulting not to, at the very least, make some mittens out her shorn hair. ;)

Silly, silly foreigners. Thankfully, U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Services is good at keeping the crazy ones out. Wait. Oh yeah, 9/11. Never mind.

[Smashed Brother]

I used to be ridiculous with the fighting games. I would spend hours upon hours learning every stupid rock-paper-scissors-like techniques about which move can cancel-avoid-defeat whatever move is coming at me, as well as crazy combos that would exploit the weird quirks in the programming.

I've given up on fighters (haven't spent any time with them in recent years), but I still enjoyed seeking out and playing difficult games. Playing through DMC 3 and Ninja Gaiden on the hardest difficulties was the norm. However, I couldn't get anywhere on the hardest difficulty in Godhand. No matter what I do, that game is impossible on hard. I have seen Youtube videos of people blowing through this game on hard, but all I can say is WTF?

I still enjoy playing a difficult game moreso than easy ones. Whenever I play anything now (very rare), it's usually a shoot-em-up or an old difficult arcade game.

[Edmond Dantes]

Yeah. It's not that its difficult that matters. Its why its difficult. If its hard but for a legitimate reason, that's good. If it feels like the game is just bullshitting you, it gets irritating really quick.

[treismac]

I know that many hardcore fighting game enthusiasts swear by arcade sticks, but I much prefer a control pad. It is so much quicker to move the thumb in a dragon punch patter than to get the wrist and hand to do it. My special move accuracy is substantially higher with the control pad as a result of the economy of motion.

[Rickstilwell1]

Yeah if you've never gone to an arcade all too often and used a joystick there, and haven't grown up using one at home, you're not going to do any better at a game using a joystick than a d-pad. It all comes from years of experience with one or the other.