Video games are losing their magic. Can anyone else relate?

Eh...it's normal, man...

Playing Halo 2 for the first time was pretty special back then. It was the first console shooter that really changed online play for consoles forever. What game on a console had matchmaking before that? Bungie thought that up and really shifted what was going on in the online space - in general - for consoles at the time.

That was the first game where you could really just effortlessly jump online, join up with your friends, and have a blast for HOURS on end. Halo 2 is still seen as by FAR the best multiplayer halo to date to many, many people...and it'll be hard to ever overcome that feeling of nostalgia when thinking about it.

I can also sort of relate to you. As I've gotten older, a lot of games are just not that fulfilling or enjoyable anymore. I find myself craving either really deep, engrossing plots that are interesting and have some deep things to take away from them when you're done, and I also really crave social experiences in games these days.

I started playing games on my PC a lot more recently, and it feels like games are as fun as they used to be again. I don't know why, but there's something to be said about games like Amnesia (both of them), WoW, Guild Wars...I'm sort of on an MMO benge right now when I'm not working, because those games have awesome communities and they're a lot of fun. Being a part of something in a game world is a lot of fun, and I think that's why I love GW2 and WoW a lot right now...and am really looking forward to the PC version of Elder Scrolls online. Shooters are fantastic on the PC, too...and really, I'm absolutely in love with Steam. I'm pretty new to it, so it's sort of mindblowing to me right now.

They just too expensive, and being a Jew I don't pay full price for anything.

Also, it's hard to get that feeing where you're lost in a game world like when we were all kids. I remember turning on my gamecube to play Metroid Prime for the first time and thinking, "Sweet, I can play this all night. Nothing else going on."

Now, as an adult, there's a ton of things always happening and going on. It's a lot harder to pull myself out of the real world for that long, but games still help do that when they're made well enough.

In fact, really the only time I can just chill out and lose myself in an awesome narrative or game world is during the summer, when I have off (work for the school system). That's pretty much it.

To me, playing Metroid Prime is still and always will be a great experience.

I still consider it the best console game ever or at least the best I've played.

@AFBrat77:

Yep, one of the best games ever created, period.

During my teenage years, I'd play an unhealthy amount of games for a large amount of time with no break., My gaming habits started to die down at about 16 or 17, when real life started to hit me and I started working and discovering other interests. For example I started going the gym 3 times a week, I both play and watch football regularly as well as the fact I like go out or to the pub with friends. Now I'm 22 and while I'd say I still have a passion for gaming, I don't really get much of a chance to play.

Add my other interests to the fact that I started uni last month, and still work part-time. With all of that there doesn't really leave a great deal of time for games now.

I still enjoy gaming when I have nothing else do to, and prefer to game over watching films and TV. Before I started uni I still found some time for gaming, but since the workload has started getting heavy this month I've barely touched my PS3, and I have to say I don't really miss or think about it too much.

That said I'll still have spells where I play games more regularly, when GTA5 first game out being a good example, but these times are few and far between now. I'd say I've probably grown out of gaming gradually as the years have gone on.

Try League of legends.

I think I'm moving away from fps towards strategy based games.

@drekula2: It's probably due to the fact that you're getting older. I started playing video games in 1977 or 1978 with a

Telstar system from Coleco. Then I played Atari 2600 over a friend's house all the time, then my parents got me an Intellivision. Those years games were so fun because I was a kid and I played them to the point of addiction. Eventually I got a Coleco vision and then a Commodore 64 computer. Those games for the 64 were innovative and I had a sense of wonder. Over the years you just don't get shocked or see awe-inspiring games because almost everything has been done. I find some of the most fun is playing old arcade games with MAME or playing old computer games via emulators like for Amiga, Commodore 64/128, Apple II/IIGS and Atari computers. If you can forget about the graphics you can have some great fun with that old stuff.

Shadow-Phax

I think this is more to do with nostalgia maybe or you're life in general, maybe you've lost alittle interest in games at the moment? It might come back because it happened to me last year. Personally my interest in gaming has returned this year with GTA 5, Last Of Us and the heavily flawed yet interesting experience of Beyond Two Souls. I've got multiple hobbies and interests and depending on the mood etc my interest will usually be focused more on one thing so try to get some new hobbies it might ignite that passion you used to have for something else or gaming again after a while..

Pretty much this. I still remember the satisfaction getting off playing CoD 4 for the first time and since then all the fps felt pretty much like crap. Too bad this year was awful for rpg fans.

On the other hand, playing BF4 beta kind of reignited my passion for competitive fps games and now Im counting days until it releases.

Despite that I think he may have brought a point as to why people may very well be less engaged in video games. The more developers get to be exact about what they want you to see and feel while playing a game the less you are required to employ your own imagination. It's kind of the the opposite of reading a good book in a weird way.

I get burnt out with games from time to time, but I still will find games that feel "magical".

Things get old... it sucks. I have had the same experience with games, getting drunk, going out to do stuff, school and pretty much everything at this point. It makes me wonder how people find the strength to live after their youth is taken away...