The last time they mentioned his age it was 38/39. They keep changing it but keeping him and Marge in their 30s.
Honestly I wish they would age everyone up a year every decade. If they had done that we would be seeing the antics of a 13 year old Bart now and I think that could start with some really interesting character development instead of keeping him forever a 10 year old.
If you want your mind blown when Simpsons started Marge and Homer were boomers, then Gen X and now they’re millennials. Bart, Lisa and Maggie started out as Gen X (underachiever and proud of it) then millennials, then gen z, and now they’re Gen alpha.
If your only issue is that modern games suck, rather than A) Being too exhausted after work, B) Having social media-induced attention deficit, C) Being overwhelmed with other responsibilities or anxiety, or D) Simply just not having enough time, you just have to find games that are actually good. Not AAA grindfests that aim at keeping you glued to the screen getting collectibles for 80 hours, but games that are actually trying to provide you with a worthwhile experience.
Some suggestions: Subnautica, Outer Wilds (not The Outer Worlds), Disco Elysium, Pathologic 2 (mind you, this one is extremely stressful, it’s a masterpiece but most people will not enjoy it), The Forgotten City, Hades and Omori.
Thank you for this distinction! I’ve heard people rave about Outer Wilds and all this time thought they were talking about Outer Worlds, which surprised me because I thought Outer Worlds was boring. Taking a look at gameplay now!
I just got a Steam Deck, and I bought Baldur’s Gate 3. Pretty sure I’ll finish it on my deathbed. It feels like the hour here or there that I manage to play is not getting me anywhere fast.
You just gotta find the right game. I discovered Satisfactory last year and had to uninstall it after a few eeks because I was staying up till 2am playing. I am 40.
I feel the same way about Baldurs Gate 3, I’m only pushing 30 but after playing for less than 20 minutes I had a mini pre-intervention with myself like, “okay listen up you geek, remember staying up until 4am every night and surviving on popcorn chicken and coffee isn’t sustainable”
Isn’t it less fun and more preying on the addictive aspects of gaming?
It’s kinda like life Sims, ala Harvest Moon. Give just enough time to finish out your day. Extend the need to progress by fluffing out interactions. Make there be lots of little progression increments.
It’s less good game and more preying on dopamine routines. m.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yb5CINrC5EI get games have similar feel good spikes. Like loot/number simulators which are mostly idle games with more effort for how easy they are. But min/Max Effiency games like many games that have day/night stamina cycles are just keying in on that dopamine rush on a filled day, which doesn’t feel different than loot box games in the end. My time at Sandrock was my last one that felt great for a bit then you realize so much is pointless fluff gated by time dumps for no reason than to increase their playtime metrics.
(disclaimer: I didn’t make this meme, but I do share the sentiment of rapidly losing focus/mental energy when gaming now.)
Favorite of all time? The SNES. It felt like the peak of 2d graphics before the slate got wiped clean for 3d, so we saw a ton of great games from devs that had been playing/creating 2d games for decades.
Favorite currently? PC. I have a switch, steam deck, and PS5 as well, but 99% of my playtime is on PC.
I was just saying this about the SNES to my SO last night, funny enough. GBA almost matches it, and for largely the same reason: experienced 2d devs, putting out their last hurrahs before the transition to ugly young 3d
Exactly! And don’t get me wrong, there are a ton of great indie 2d games out there now, but back in the SNES days, these were THE devs. You can tell the difference in polish from having been made by the biggest and best studios.
I had to go back and read up on the early history of video games. SNES came out in 1991, and yeah - looking at arcade games, Computer Space came out in 1971.
Oh yeah, it all started with the arcades. There was a whole culture attached to it, and they were very popular.
I think it’s fascinating to learn about how the developers figured out how to do things back then, the limitations, scaling/distribution, and then the rapid arms race between customers and devs to make games harder and harder to beat. There was an excellent documentary about this on Netflix a few years ago, but I can’t remember the name off the top of my head.
I still play games frequently, but in MUCH shorter sessions. I’m also gravitating more toward slower strategic/tactical games that can be paused at any time.
Agreed, it’s easier to jump back into those games, too. One thing I hate is picking a game back up after a week and spending the first 20mins figuring out what I was doing last time.
I did install a Sega Genesis emulator on a old laptop during the Xmas break to play some NHL94 and 95 with modern rosters.
That was a lot of fun. I also installed Pirates! Gold after a day and it was fun to revisit these games from my youth.
I loved the ability to save stats.
However after a couple of days I’ve not really played them again since. It only cost $14 for the Sega controller so it was worth the price. I don’t think I could buy 2 beers at a bar locally for that.
Trying to learn how to play a Final Fantasy game in your late thirties is like trying to learn brain surgery on a worm. I don’t know how I had the patience for any of that shit back in the day.
Bruh, I’m 33 and I started playing Subnautica for the first time a few weeks ago only to realize that in the first day I accidentally played for 10 hours. You just need to find the right game for you to revitalize your interest in gaming. Whatever that game may be!
Subnautica just does that to you. I completed an entire hardcore playthrough in a single session once (Mostly because I already knew what I was doing but it was still like 14-15 hours straight).
Is VR in subnautica an actual way to play or just a once in a while gimmick. I’ve had it in my library since back when it was beta and have never played more than a few minutes. Installed it since it does VR through steamlink but haven’t played yet.
I honestly couldn’t say as I startled playing the normal version. But as spooky as that game can get, I don’t think I’d even want to try VR version lol.
The vanilla VR implementation in Subnautica is very old and kind of tacked onto the game as an afterthought. You have to play with a regular controller and I found the menus to be in the most eye-strain spot possible.
I know there is at least one VR mod to fix it and bring in motion controls but I’ve never tried it.
Dang. I thought maybe since it gained so much support and got so big since from when I got it in a $15 indie humble bundle that it might actually be a good one. I’ll finally try it tonight.
Have you tried the VR mod for Firewatch? I just got it on a random steam sale for $2, played a bit on my steamdeck, and was thinking the entire time I wish this was VR.
I haven’t gotten too far in, so I want to get the VR mod installed and restart. It’s so good so far, though the intro really does suck, like emotionally. I think it’s a perfect format for VR with the walking/ basic interaction format, nothing too complex, and great comfy visuals. I hope it works.
Sometimes, I feel like I should wait until things get better and fixed, but sometimes that leads to me missing things. I wish there were more open source, hacking, development, just community for VR. I’ve used it since Google cardboard and things really have never taken off. I think with steamlink now streaming to quest headsets, that really help.
I think you’ll come to realize that it isn’t your attention span but rather the amount of mental energy you have left after working a 9 to 5 for 5 days a week
I know I’ve been playing BG3 recently and I’m struggling a bit with the mental energy required to play it after work. It’s something that really requires full attention for a long period of time and a lot of days I’d rather just do something simpler.
That’s definitely a large aspect for me. But, another large part is that the games just seem to be less fun. Online play has gotten so competitive that half the time people just rage quit, and single player games have just become grind machines with pay to skip options.
No, I’m not going to spend my limited free time getting a virtual job gathering wolf pelts. No, I’m not going to give you real money to avoid being virtually employed by an NPC.
I feel like game mechanics that were originally designed to immerse you into the game are now just being used to pad the game time. I won’t even buy a game anymore unless I can mod it. I refuse to spend extra hours of my time just because the only realistic aspect of the game is a limited inventory.
Those kind of games exist, but so does every other kind. And you aren’t forced to play only new games. Literally every game ever is available for you to play. Every person that says stuff like you seem like you think the only games available are the most known and most recent AAA games. It’s like only going to the most recently opened restaurants in your area, especially chain brand ones, and complaining about you not liking the food and then deciding that all food is like that.
I find I focus even worse when I’m high, I just want to get up and do stuff, like stretch or exercise. I definitely didn’t do that when I was younger and smoked, so idk what’s changed.
If retirement homes don’t have videogames when I’m old, I’ll lobby for voluntary euthanasia. Aging is a straight negative. Arguments about it making life meaningful are copium. I can have a meaningful life of gratitude without my body falling apart.
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