I’m an Old Gamer and I Don’t Plan to Stop Playing!

A few days ago, I met an old friend with whom I used to play countless hours of Heroes of Might & Magic 3.

The same person that used to come by to my house during the summer at 10-11 AM and not leave until 9-10 PM because we had important matches to win in Championship Manager 01/02. A gamer, just like myself.

Eventually, after finding out about his kids, after telling him stories about my son, after talking about back pain and hemorrhoids, the rising cost of living and the fact that our bodies couldn’t handle as much alcohol as they did back in the days, I asked the question:

“So, what are you playing nowadays?”

Oh, boy, the look I received as an answer! I thought that he’s about to call the cops, to call a mental institution and plead for them to take me in. Or at least go tell my parents that I’ve been bad.

“I no longer play games,” he replied eventually, clearly disgusted by the idea. “I am, you know… an adult now”.

So, what? Adults are no longer allowed to play video games? Just because I am old, I have to stop playing?

Is there an age limit for defeating hordes of alien invaders, blowing building up or teabagging fallen enemies in online FPS games?

Well, hell no! I am and old(er) gamer and I plan to keep on playing for as long as I have money to buy me some games.

And if I no longer have them, I don’t mind jumping into the freemium crap that would keep me entertained for a while.

Heck, I can’t wait for my son – who’s 4 right now – to get older, so I can kick his ass in Mortal Kombat 28 or team up with him and wreak havoc against enemy troops in whatever Star Wars shooter will be popular when he’s older.

This would actually be like a dream come true for me: bond with my son in front of the large TV screen, having endless hours of fun playing video games.

You’re never too old for that. And I am definitely not that old. I’m almost 33, for God’s sake!

Many people my age don’t even know what career path to follow, yet they’re starting to consider themselves too “grown up” to play games.

NO, thank you! I taught my mom how to play Heroes of Might and Magic 2 when she was 50+.

She later upgraded to HoMM 3, loved Civ 2 and 3 and a few months ago I learned that she alone Googled and managed to install the Wake of Gods extension on her Heroes of Might and Magic 3 copy. This is how you do it!

I don’t think that we should ever let age or society or anybody else tell us what to do and what not to do.

I know my friend who told me that he doesn’t play games anymore because he’s an adult. And I don’t even believe him!

He’s a bachelor, he lives alone, he has a decent job but still spends a lot of time inside. You can’t really watch that much Netflix or xhamster. You need a break. You’ve been a gamer. It’s in your DNA now. You game. Period.

Of course, being an adult doesn’t allow me to play as much as I do. My reflexes are no longer what they used to be and I get owned by Russian kids in Counter Strike like there’s no tomorrow.

The way I’m living now no longer allows me start gaming sessions at 9 PM and stop at 6 AM, surprised that the sun is starting to shine (real story, happened over and over again with Gothic 2).

I am getting older and the only reason why I am not gaming as much as I’d like to is because life happens.

I have a son. I have a job.

I have health issues, I have a wife, I have mortgage to pay, I have endless sleepless nights to recover from my youth, I have high cholesterol and my eyes start hurting after playing any shooter for two hours in a row…

But this does not mean that I plan to stop gaming. No, I just have to adapt. And don’t try to make me feel bad for being a gamer.

Don’t try to make me feel bad because I still have the guts to do whatever I consider being fun! That’s not what being a grown up means. That’s not what being an adult means!

Being an adult should be about making YOUR choices and sticking to them. If I choose that I want to game since early morning til late at night this Saturday, wearing nothing but my boxer shorts, eating cold pizza and drinking Mountain Dew, that’s what I am going to do!

Especially since my wife’s visiting her mother, together with my son. (Really, you can’t actually do this otherwise if you have a family, but the point matters!)

I’m an adult now, but I’m always a gamer. Have been and will always be, even though I don’t have as much time for this as possible. Even though my skills get worse the older I get.

Well… no problem! Somebody’s got to play Farming Simulator anyways!

I’m an old gamer. Let me play!

Calin Ciabai

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16 thoughts on “I’m an Old Gamer and I Don’t Plan to Stop Playing!”

  1. I’m 46, and my wife is 39 ; I’m retired, and she’s a full-time 2nd shift (2pm-11-ish pm) hospital staff pharmacist. My wife’s “free” hours are from about Midnight to 4 a.m. , after which she has to get to sleep. Our primary hobby or “free time activity” is gaming., followed by watching Netflix and DVR’d TV. We can’t have kids, and we don’t drink, smoke, or “go out” to bars/clubs….we don’t even have any friends that we do things with, TBH. We play a ton of ESO currently, and have sunk 1000s of hours each into the previous TES single player games. We’ve played all of the Tomb Raider games…old and new….as well as the Uncharted games. We also love to play puzzle games together, like Myst, Portal, Quern, The Room/The Room Two, etc. I play pretty much every FPS-type game, survival horror, action RPG, etc. , but tend to stay way from the competitive MP/ co-op “only” type of games (sadly more and more games are going that direction.

    I will game until either the industry implodes (again), or they no longer make games I can/will enjoy….or arthritis renders me a gaming invalid.

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    • Co-op games are fun if you have close friends to play them with. Otherwise… just random people screwing your strategy 🙂 Nice to hear that both you and your wife still game. There’s no reason to stop!

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    • I’m 44 and have been playing games since pong paddles, then atari 2600 and just about every system ever since. It’s no longer a hobby for kids, which it seemed to be to me when growing up. It’s something ingrained in life. a constant for almost 40 years. The only drawback I’ve ever felt to gaming is maybe some vitamin D deficiency. 😉

      Reply
  2. I’m 46, married, kid, mortgage, job actually 2 jobs.
    Some of my peers I grew up with still play games as do I.
    Sure it’s usually only two nights a week and between 11pm and 2 am
    But i enjoy it very much so.
    Keep on gaming kid.

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  3. I’m fine with your friend not playing games but I’m not fine with him being a judgmental d*ck about it. “Um, I’m an adult….so, you know, don’t play games or whatever.”

    F**k that. I’m older than you, still play tons of games. Most of my friends that I’ve known forever STILL play games. It’s a hobby that people don’t usually grow out of but can change with their life.

    Frankly, his too-good-for-games attitude is the outdated thing here.

    Reply
    • Right on point! I am happy to see from the comments, though, that few people actually think like that!
      (Sorry I had to censor a few words, this is the editorial policy here… but I am sure it’s pretty obvious what they are :D)

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  4. I am an older gamer too…48 to be 49 in November when I join the 8th generation and get an Xbox One X…. my son just turned 26 and he has tons of game systems and games…. I started him gaming on the Sega Genesis back in the 90s and we played tons of games together… like boxing games.. he won… and Madden… I won…. and he has a 6 year old daughter and he games with her so we have 3 generations of gamers in my family…. Here’s to having money to buy what you want and do what you want.. Gaming and Games.

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  5. It’s funny, I’m in the same category as you (32 – 2 kids, no real health issues) and yet, my wife complains if I play more than an hour at a time (ever try to do anything useful in 1hr play of Bloodborne…pfftt), telling me that I’m neglecting our family. So, I started playing at night after the kids go to bed, maybe 9p-12 or 1…I work an 8-5 job in at an upper management position and I do great with less than 8hrs of sleep otherwise I’m groggy anyway.
    Now that I game at night…I’m obsessed (and Monday you this isn’t every night – it’s sporadic but the most has been 3 days in a row).
    I’m with you though… we’ll game until we die and I’ll game with both my daughter and my son – my daughter is 4 and loves gaming right now but her hand/eye sucks. ????

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    • Yeah, I know about the hand/eye coordination… it sucks! But my son is getting started on puzzles and slower paced games, and a platformer every now and then. He’ll get there 🙂

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  6. I’m 37 and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon. Video games are just another form of entertainment, like movies, books and TV. Who can tell me what kind of media I should consume. No one, that’s who.

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    • Exactly! Plus, there’s rarely the chance to be disappointed as you are when they suddenly decide to cancel that TV show you loved!

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  7. Never to old to enjoy yourself!

    I am 37 I still play games most evenings. If it wasn’t for videogames the transition from a relationship to the life of a bachelor would have been even harder, it was my online friends who helped me to stay on top of my life I doubt I would be here writing this little comment now..
    My love of gaming has grown into a love of collecting, I have an extensive collection of childhood memories that I now use to educated my friends kids (no save points and leaving the console on while you went to school to save your zelda game). I am that cool older guy who knows everything about gaming to my friends kids, and the adults. well this weekend is an example as when they are kid free we get all the old consoles out, have duck hunt competitions, mario kart sessions etc etc. the added bonus now being we can add alcohol to the equation.

    never too old to enjoy your life, its sad when you read about people who forget or think the things that make you smile are immature .

    Happy gaming peps, just think if we go to a retirement home all we need is a network connection and a console/Rig ☺

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  8. I’m 47 soon 48. Tried to quit for the sake of “sanity” since it didn’t bring me joy as much as it used to.
    Tried everything. Meditation. Drawing. Animating(at least I acquired new skills) but I’m a diablo2 res addict now.
    I consider the habits of a gamer to be dangerous to my soul. So I try to keep it under control. And yes I have a wife and 3 kids, but I don’t encourage them or anything. My middle son is very into it. And I don’t think it’ll do him good. So it’s a bitter story. But I do enjoy the thrill of gaming still. Getting updated. Seeing new stuff. The experience etc. life as a gamer is living inside the illusion. Which can seem like life, until you stop playing.

    Reply

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