I am a Classic Gamer

[SpaceHarrier]

I'm an enthusiast casual. I love every tiny detail and nuance of games. Learning about who directed the project, their influences, as well as the composer and their inspirations, and the game's reception, back in its day, its general place in history, are of great interest to me. I listen to video game soundtracks constantly. I've made hundreds of sprites out of plastic beads (a decent amount from fairly obscure games). I want to try out as many games as possible, new and old. I don't care if a game is easy or hard, long or short, licensed or original.

But I rarely complete any game.

[Cornelius]

If I'm being completely honest, I'm probably the typical milquetoast sort of gamer that so many games aim at these days. I think a lot of that has to do with the available gaming time vs. reward for my/our? generation. I was born in '78, so I've grown up with a little 2600, a lot of NES, etc. These days, though, the type of punishing difficulty from the arcadey games Nz17 enjoys just doesn't offer the same appeal; it just takes too much time (for me) to get satisfaction in those games. Combine that with the availability of games with great story and or/amazing experiences, and I guess I'm more of a modern gamer now. I had a great time with Axiom Verge, which has a great old-school feel (it is a shameless Metroid homage), but adds a cool story. Or consider Journey, which has almost no difficulty, but is a great experience. I'd say SotC is similar in that way. I still love to pull out classic games on occasion, but I have little desire for mastery of them. Although now that I look over my 'beaten in 2017' list, I had a great time finishing some classics there. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I can most definitely see the appeal of "baby food" games.

You know what, screw all that. I sometimes like a challenge, and I sometimes like something that plays itself if it offers a good experience. I played the hell out of Demons' Souls and love my Galaga cabinet (when it is working), had a great time with Golden Axe Warrior. I also loved my experience with Shadow of the Colossus and Journey and more recently, Thomas was Alone. To each their own, but I think it is a mistake to limit oneself to something of a certain difficulty. I am definitely not a grazer, though. If I start a game, I don't feel good about putting it away unfinished. This is not a good thing, as it tends to prevent me from starting games.

[Nz17]

It's not that I won't play games that aren't difficult. I've completed many lengthy and/or easy games. It's that I often find myself bored or distracted after a short time if there are too many words or the game is more than a few hours long in duration. So another way to phrase it is that these days I usually avoid games that don't match my usual criteria so that I don't walk away from them or never start them.

[YoshiM]

At this point I'm a "wish I could play" type of gamer. It's hard to carve out time to play games either at home or during a break at work.

At work I rarely take a full lunch. Maybe 10 minutes to eat but I'm typically working as I chew and I get an hour. I browse the forums for a few minutes at a time waiting for software to install or something but it's not enough to break out a DS and go.

Home I am busy with the kids, supper or my wife. She's not keen on game playing due to her ex-husband's addiction (one of his) and his outlook on a relationship ("you sit there and watch me do this") so I don't game when it's just us. When I do fire up a game system, I'm typically taking care of my 18 month old son as he tends to get clingy or wants to jump into the fray of controllers. Sure the kids will attempt to help out with the youngun's so I can get a chance but usually the help fizzles out quickly.

Could I make time? Sure...but there's a lot of others stuff I need to make time for too.

[Edmond Dantes]

Hi Classic Gamer, I am the Purple Guy.

[bb_hood]

I hate labels. I like video games.

[Nz17]

Without the labels, how do you know which game is which without trying each one? :P