Did you ever Fall out of Gaming for a while and why did you get back into it?

[mark1982]

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I'm sure everyone on VGCollect plays games a lot, but was there ever a time where you fell out of the hobby for a while?

Ever since I was young I was always into video games, my first console my parents got me was an Atari 2600 and my life pretty much was always surrounded by games. My friends, family, magazines I read, you name it.

But there was one part of my life when I started losing interest - High School, my Junior and Senior years. This was about the end of the PS1 era and PS2 was about 2 years in already. I preferred spending my spare time socializing with friends, partying, spending time with my high school GF and never thought I'd get back into gaming. I only had my PS1 and N64 with me and all my old games were stored away, at this point I didn't even play games anymore.

After I graduated I had some spare time to kill before I had to start college, so I decided to spend it at my brothers place and he had a PS2. I played a few games here and there, but then I read an article about Knights of the Old Republic in a gaming mag... I remembered thinking to myself "What the Hell is this? So many dialogue options! Light and dark paths!" I had to check it out.

It was only available on Xbox, so I took out my savings, bought me an Xbox and Knights of the Old Republic. And that title single-handedly revived my love for gaming, and till then I have never lost interest again. 

So I thank you BioWare of old (don't like new Bioware stuff...) Knights of the Old Republic showed me the path again.





So VGCollect, any of you fell out of the hobby for a while and what made you come back?

[bikingjahuty]

Yeah, from about 2004 until 2008 I didn't play many video games or own very many either. I attribute that to finishing up high school, starting college, and having various personal problems in 2005 and 2006. The only games I can remember playing during that 4-year period were Half Life 2, Mass Effect, Mario Galaxy, Smash Bros Brawl, and Project Gothem Racing.

[chrismb]

I played a lot of video when I was a kid but from age 13 to 16 I didn't really have a stable home and had to move a lot so I wasn't able to play as much as I wished.

[wolfen]

I played a lot of video when I was a kid but from age 13 to 16 I didn't really have a stable home and had to move a lot so I wasn't able to play as much as I wished.

Same for me. For a couple of years my family was basically homeless and I had no choice but, to give up videogames. Thankfully that is not the case anymore and I'm actually playing more games than ever.

[kashell]

There were lulls here or there, but (thankfully) I never fell out of the hobby for a long duration.

[betelgeuse]

I had a falling out with a sibling and got away from gaming for awhile. It started out with online games, simply because I didn’t want to see them online. I stopped playing almost everything shortly after that.
I still purchased the games I was interested in, but didn’t play them.
That phase has past. I deleted their profile and moved on.

[rodnick]

I was born with an atari joystick in my hands and never stopped since!

[jce3000gt]

I lost interest from around 2004 to 2010 with only a few games I enjoyed in between, mostly on PC and PS2.  In 2010 I bought another XBOX 360 3 years after selling my first one and ever since that point I've been passionate again about it.  Almost more now than when I was a kid if you can believe it.  Which is why I'm concerned about where we are headed as an industry.  But I digress. 

[NickAwesome]

Yeah for a while after college, I stopped playing and collecting for the most part.  Almost ended up selling my whole collection.  Just developed other interests.  Then my brother convinced me to give it another go, and I started dating a girl who liked gaming and I decided to get back into it.  And then I got really into it.  Once I start working full-time after the bar and start having kids, I'll probably have to slow down significantly again, so I'm enjoying this while it lasts.

[bunnybear]

Short answer: yes, all the damn time. Why? Life happens.

Longer (but still not introspective) answer: In high school.... I just sorta of lost interest around 1993, but I got back into it hard in 1994 when I saw a friend playing Final Fantasy III. I rode that wave to Chrono Trigger and beyond. But then with the release of the Saturn and PlayStation I fell out of love again, as the crude polygons just weren’t (then) enticing me. I was also fiercely focused on getting good grades in university, and it wasn’t until 1998 when Metal Gear Solid and Gran Turismo hit that I ultimately plunged back in. Even then, I kept my gaming systems at my parents 500 km away while I was in school. I didn’t bring my consoles to campus until my very last year when I had perfected my study regime and knew gaming wouldn’t interfere.

I enjoyed the PS2/GC/Xbox era fairly guilt free for a few years, but a professional postgraduate program again saw me put gaming down (not drop it, but just ignore it) for years. It wasn’t until 2010 that I got back in and bought a PS3. I played off and on and even got a PS4 (in 2016) but it wasn’t until this past year that the hobby has brought me back fever pitched. Funny thing is, I have less time to play games now with my responsibilities in both my career and life as a parent than I ever did previously, but I’m not sad. I’ve struck a nice balance, and play when I can (this is why I like handhelds so much) but don’t regret that it will never take a priority over my family, nor would I ever want it to. It’s just a hobby. If I had to quit, I’d walk away anytime knowing it was fun while it lasted, and not have any regrets. Obviously, I don’t intend to do that without some provocation. I get a lot of satisfaction just talking with like minded hobbyists and looking for older titles I missed during my off periods.

[mark1982]

Great posts in this thread guys 

So was there a spark that re-ignited the passion? as in a specific game or console or was it more of the idea of collecting games again?

[jce3000gt]

So was there a spark that re-ignited the passion? as in a specific game or console or was it more of the idea of collecting games again?

it was more a series of games for me and all on the XBOX 360.  I moved away from PC a lot and moved more towards console at that time. 

[pzeke]

Yeah, from time to time; I’m sure this happens to everyone, at the very least once. For instance, I’m currently going though it. I’m actually considering participating in the 52 games challenge to see if I can spark some motivation.

As for re-igniting the passion, it depends. I like to watch gameplay videos to help me rekindle the flame, but often I will play a favorite, like, say, Mega Man X or a Pokémon game, and that usually helps me get back in the game (pun definitely intended).

[droaa]

There was a period of time I want to say 2 years ago where I was going through a phase where I just wasnt playing at all and my collecting was just not there. For those who have been here for a while, I was on this forum under a different name but same profile pic. That old account was deleted during said time because it got to a point where I didnt even want to know what I had. As it stands, things are better and I came back under a new name and rebuild my archive here.

[Cartagia]

There was never a time when I wasn’t playing at all, but the late 90s - early 2000s was when I played the least.  I had a N64 but I only had 2-3 games.  It was the end of high school / beginning of college so I just didn’t have time.