re: Anyine else feel like they have aged out of video games?

Same here. About to be 42. Most if not all the new games just seem like trash and uninteresting. Diablo and fallout have and I guess always will my go to games. More so diablo even though 4 has been a huge let down so far really but i have hundred of hours in it.

I need a new fallout game desperately. I have hundred of hours into 76, Played through 3 about 6 times along with multiple playthrough of New Vegas and 4 but havent played in a couple years. Played a good bit of battlefields. Im on the fence about 6. They really get me pissed at times and my reflexes and eyesight arent as good as it used to be for sure. I wanted to play ncaa but its not on PC still FML. Elden Ring was great playthrough but I never got the expansion.

I played Path of Exile 2 and its fun. New league comes out this month with new expansion and end game. I tried Baldurs gate 3 (never played any of the D&D universe) but was trying new things out and i hated it. Turn based combat fricking sucks.

Starfield was good for a few hours but def not worth much after that. I played the oblivion remaster and it was nostalgic for a while but then lost its luster as well.

I NEED A NEW GAME IN MY LIFE lol

35 this month. I got a gaming pc during covid and have been enjoying old RTS"s like dawn of war and command and conquer. Plus a ton of other games like Starship Troopers, Arma, CS, and Tarkov. I feel like I missed out on pc gaming with how limited I was by whatever was released on console.

Im excited for GTA 6 and was excited enough to get an Xbox x for the cfb game that released last yr but this thread gives me feels. The games have changed and I've changed. Old buddies don't play online as much but finding a good discord for a game can be a huge factor. RP servers for starship troopers and arma keep me coming back.

Not aged out but I have less time for it.

I'll be 38 in 6 months and I started my gaming life with Nintendo (SNES, original fat Gameboy, N64), then transitioned to PS1/2/3 and Xbox 360 before ultimately switching to PC in 2014/15 or so. Now I am back on Nintendo with Switch 2 and enjoying gaming more than ever.

I still play Overwatch 2 on my PC but that's about it... it's also an old build from January 2019 and I really do not see myself building another gaming PC - need help from a friend to do that anyways and he has a baby now.

I guess I am just enjoying some old Switch 1 games on my Switch 2 (Odyssey I just beat) since I never had the old Switch. About to start DK Bananza.

Guess I've come full circle.

Part of the issue is games are insanely too intricate now. I gotta pay attention to a health meter, stamina meter, food meter, water meter, special attack build-up meter, navigate a skill tree with 459 possible skills to upgrade, upgrade/craft my armor, find special stones/runes that upgrade them further, upgrade/craft my weapons the same way, collect loot to sell, collect in-game currency, collect premium currency and figure out how all the game's systems work with each other so I can fight and die to the same "boss" a dozen times before I "git gud" enough to figure it out so I can repeat all these processes one hundred more times to "beat" the game..only to realize I'm only 18% complete with "everything" in the game and I have 9 of 72 trophies/achievements.

It's too much, but apparently that sells. I noped out of RDR2. I just don't have the ability to lock out my wife and kids for 3-4 hours to give my full, undivided attention to a game like that.

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Yeah, it sounds like gaming losing its luster for you is likely just a symptom of the larger issue you're describing. And like you said, it's become extremely common, unfortunately. Between social media and short form video content, people's attention spans are getting absolutely crushed. Other than a full detox, I would suggest some exposure therapy, though I wouldn't choose something that supposed to be fun, like gaming. Every day, find a long form news article about something you find at least somewhat interesting, and make yourself read it. The whole thing. You can take breaks to just sit, but you can't take a break to do anything else, and especially not to pick up your phone. Start with full fat NYT-esque articles and move into long form New Yorker-esque articles. But like I said, the most important thing is that you turn off notifications on your phone and don't pick it up. Doing so is the root cause of the issue.

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I've had to do similar things. When I'm going to start a game, I completely move my phone out of my reach. Too easy to just waste what little free time I have just scrolling.

Don't really feel aged out. Just not as much time for me to play and I find myself less and less interested in newer titles. Expedition 33 is great, but most gaming time is playing older games instead.