And that middle-age is fast setting in

You used to play videogames all night. Your MOHAA prowess was unmatched; your skills at CoD unparalleled. You have a gaming history that stretches back beyond the existence of todays gamers. You were there at the dawn of gaming.

Time passes. Youve quietly come to realize that youre not the hard-core gamer you used to be. How do you know that a mid-life gaming crisis is setting in? Watch out for these warning signs

You prefer playing against the computer
Online gaming against real people has become depressing it exposes your faded, spoon-sharp reflexes and you abhor the trash-talk from 12-year old boys. You prefer playing offline against the computer because a games algorithms are slightly more predictable. And, once you master the scripted patterns of play, you stand a real chance of being good of actually winning. And that feels great, doesnt it? Ranking second-bottom on a multiplayer leader board doesnt.

You only play when your wife/girlfriend is out
Because you only have one high-def TV and to play videogames while shes at home is selfish and not something the two/all of you can do together.

You believe that winning isnt everything
Its the taking part that counts. Obviously. And thats not because youre not good at games. You are. But youve found that theres more to life than spending five hours every night practicing for CAL/TWL/TGL matches (The fact that your clan is getting owned every night is irrelevant.)

Its been days, not hours since you last switched on your console/PC
Because things keep getting in the way: TV, movies, books, going out to restaurants, shopping, going down the pub, DIY, dinner parties, the gym, more DIY, your girlfriend/wife/boyfriend [delete as applicable] oh, and having a job.

You like your PC, Xbox 360 and your PS3 equally
Being a more mature gamer means you have more disposable income, so you can afford the luxury of owning a PC, a PS3 and an Xbox 360. So youve become the gaming equivalent of the United Nations, calming accepting the virtues of all of them.

You remember a golden age of gaming
You often talk lovingly of an innovative golden age of gaming. You remember your CoD+[MC]nForce good old drinking all night days and the lost souls that you used to play with 5 years ago. Happy days... But when modernized versions of these gaming classics are coming, your excitement quickly evaporates. You quickly realize that, by todays standards, those cherished oldies are now shallow, repetitive and not much fun.

You avoid playing on the Wii because its too much effort
Theres no denying that the Nintendo Wii is a revolutionary games machine but well, it does require a lot of effort. Arent there times when you just want to slouch into a comfy sofa with a traditional joypad? Times when you cant be arsed with all that wiimote waving and waggling? Its way too energetic a 20 minute bowling session in Wii Sports is almost akin to a full workout.


Your FPS experience consists of spawn, run, die... spawn, run, die... spawn
The reflexes that served you so well in CoD and Quake seem to be two seconds slower than everybody else these days. You think fire, jump, spin, run, collect spinny power-up, but your fingers press fire (and pause), fire (and pause), spin and no, I actually meant jump, and oh, Im dead. Either youre slowing down, or todays hard-core gamerati are faster than you ever were.


Youve pre-ordered GTA IV but dont mind if it doesnt turn up on launch day

Wednesdays just fine. Really. Youre a bit busy at the moment, anyway. In fact, you probably wont get a chance to play GTA IV until the weekend. Youre also not bothered by the prospect of downloading the DLC for GTA IV either. Youll never finish the main game anyway.





-- Edited by THE.GREEK at 14:23, 2008-04-25