Have you improved as a gamer?

Something I noticed just recently going through the God of War collection, I think over the years, I've improved as a gamer. Whether it be with patience, reactions or strategy. The first time around, I was dying alot with some of the bosses. The second time around, I was dying alot less or not at all. Considering the gap between the first time I played through it and this time (4 1/2 years), I don't think its because I was familiar with it.

Wipeout is another example. I stopped playing Wipeout HD over 2 years ago and recently I just purchased Fury and I had to start the game from scratch. If anyone is familiar with the wipeout series, I think its one that, if you have a very long reast period, its hard to pick up at the same level you left off. This time around, I'm winning alot more races and time trials than I did before.

So, do you feel like you've improved as a gamer over the years?

I remember playing Mike Tyson's Punch Out! on the NES when I was 7 or 8 years old. Back then I could get to the final boss- Mike Tyson. But I could never beat Mike Tyson. A few years ago when I was about 26 or 27 I played the game again. Unfortunately I couldn't beat Super Macho Man and I couldn't even get to Mike Tyson. So it appears that after about 19 years of gaming my skills have depreciated.

I guess I have improved. Once upon a time walkthroughs were my salvation and now I don't need to use them.

I remember playing Mike Tyson's Punch Out! on the NES when I was 7 or 8 years old. Back then I could get to the final boss- Mike Tyson. But I could never beat Mike Tyson. A few years ago when I was about 26 or 27 I played the game again. Unfortunately I couldn't beat Super Macho Man and I couldn't even get to Mike Tyson. So it appears that after about 19 years of gaming my skills have depreciated.

MindsEye

No. But I just like to have a fun time playing a great game..

its actually a very interesting question. I was actually discussing this with a good friend of mine. I call him #2 coz he hasnt got as may trophies as I have. Anyway.... I myself dont think that I have. Take a game like FIFA for example. I was Ok to a bit above average on FIFA08. I could beat crap players but not good ones. FIFA10 comes out and Im less than average on it. I think there is some relation to your skills as a gamer and the updates in technology. The better a game gets, the more crap i am at it! I lack the patience to learn the combos, tricks etc etc and usually just come out all guns blazing or as a one trick pony.

I guess this counts as improving, well it does for me.

1. I used to not be able to play Resident Evil games, or any other scary games, due to me getting scared and chickening out before even playing 10 minutes of it. Now I'm able to play Resident Evil for hours, instead of minutes. I'm pretty proud of myself.

2. Most of the time, I end up getting a game, and not finishing it. Sometimes it's because I get another game, and play that one, and sometimes it's because I get bored. Now, I have been playing and finishing more games then before.

Those are my two. I can't really think of anything beside those, so I hope this counts.

I remember playing Mike Tyson's Punch Out! on the NES when I was 7 or 8 years old. Back then I could get to the final boss- Mike Tyson. But I could never beat Mike Tyson. A few years ago when I was about 26 or 27 I played the game again. Unfortunately I couldn't beat Super Macho Man and I couldn't even get to Mike Tyson. So it appears that after about 19 years of gaming my skills have depreciated.

MindsEye

I know what you mean. I've been playing a lot of the games I used to play when I was much younger as of late. It's amazing how much more skill is involved in those games in comparison to the games of today. Racing through Super Mario Bros, Ninja Gaiden, UN Squadron, Mario World--for the most part without losing a life. Games today are just too forgiving.

I used to go BALLISTIC everytime I lost at a game, but now I'm just enjoying the game no matter what happens. So yea I think I improved.

its actually a very interesting question. I was actually discussing this with a good friend of mine. I call him #2 coz he hasnt got as may trophies as I have. Anyway.... I myself dont think that I have. Take a game like FIFA for example. I was Ok to a bit above average on FIFA08. I could beat crap players but not good ones. FIFA10 comes out and Im less than average on it. I think there is some relation to your skills as a gamer and the updates in technology. The better a game gets, the more crap i am at it! I lack the patience to learn the combos, tricks etc etc and usually just come out all guns blazing or as a one trick pony.

Maccas4177

I'm actually going to come nto bat for you on this one and disagree with your comment. When we first started playing Fight Night 4 online, I used to beat you quite easily and I spent the entire fight chasing you around the ring. Now, it goes the distance and is very hard to tell. So I think you can and do change over a period of time.

Having said that, your FIFA skills have diminished. Having beaten me 8-1 in one game to me beating you 3-2 was a massive fall from glory. Well, that and you swearing at the TV

More than anything, I think I've grown more patient & determined as a gamer. I've been gaming for 20+ years and my biggest issue was that I'd always start a game & either get frustrated and/or bored, and then give up and move on to the next game. It was a vicious cycle, and I never got around to completing/beating most of my games. Now that I'm older, I find that I'm able to stick with games and get a lot more out of them. As far as skill goes, that has definitely increased due to all my gaming experience over the years, but I think my improvement is mainly due to my patience.

As an example, as a kid I use to play "Mega Man 2" on the NES for hours each week, I was addicted to that game. I never did beat it. I would get to Dr. Wily's castle and would quit in frustrating on the first stage. I'd do this over and over for years. I pulled out my NES a few months back and sat down and completed the game, something I was truly proud of at the time, because it literally took me approx. 20 years to do.

No, I suck just as much as I did at the start. But if I play a game over and over and over nonstop for days on end I eventually start getting better but that's fairly rare as I spread out my gaming time.

I'm definitely better. I flailed through most of the N64 games I played when I was a kid. One of my more unnerving experiences was picking up Donkey Kong 64 10 years after its release. I struggled with that game so much when I was 8/9, but the greatest challenge now is figuring out what those grainy N64 graphics are supposed to be :P

I think I have become better at playing games over time. Although sometimes I wonder, after playing multiplayer battlefield Bad Company.

8000 kills later, I believe I'm better at that game, but my patience is not.

I've definitely gotten leaps and bounds better, but I think a lot of it has to do with age. When I was 8-13 or so, I almost never beat any game except Pokémon. I never beat Ocarina of Time until a couple summers ago, something like 8 years (at least) after I started my game file. I also have to resort to walkthroughs and game guides far less often than I used to; in the past I couldn't beat anything without one.

As far as first person shooters go though, I feel as though I've been severely inhibited in my ability from playing Counter-Strike for upwards of 10 years. Sure, I'm good at CS, but it's got a very different feel to other shooters and if you hand me a controller to aim with, I might as well just be using the arrow keys on the keyboard... I'm that bad with a controller lol

That is a difficult question to answer. In some ways, I would have to say....No. Today's games seem to be a lot more frustrating than when I was playing Atari 2600 games. Because of this, it is hard to gauge improvement. As I continue to play the frustrating games of this era, I am sure that I will eventually make a noticeable improvement though. Suffice it to say that I am working on my patience and am mixing in some old school games whenever I need a break. :P

I'm probably getting better at it over time, but it always feels like I'm getting worse at gaming. I guess it's the fact that I've moved on to play games of different genres then I'm used to.