Does gaming keep you young? - The Bear and Badger

davyK

I remember a saying - we don't stop playing when we old - we get old because we stop playing.

I'm of a mind that whilst gaming may tail off as I get older - I really can't see me ever stopping entirely. A man of my age last century would be a golfer or whatever - and while I'm not averse to trying to play golf, gaming will always be part of my pastime.

I don't want to get into quoting quacks pomping it up about benefits of gaming etc. but surely the general fantasy/escapism of gaming is good for the soul , while the mechanical bit offers benefits too - surely delivering an overall effect that would help keep the onset of old man-age at bay?

Gaming pensioners might be a novelty now - but surely the future must feature an aging gameplaying population...and what imapct that can have on family life, the games industry et al.

I feel the same as I did 20 years ago - not saying gaming is part of that - maybe all mid 40s people feel the same - but surely we are going to see less beige people in their 50s because of the blue sky Sega - style imagery we are so familiar with?

In what other pastime would somone in their mid-40s be intimate with the mechanics of a cartoon plumber astride a green dinosaur inhabiting a cartoon 3D world? What type of pensioner are we breeding?

mk64

What type of pensioner are we breeding?

Worryingly one who's handy with a sniper (apart from Tiger of course).

Mouldywarp

I'm 28 and I play video games, play with Lego and Hot Wheels and don't have a proper job. I see this as a great success. I grew up in a very stuffy, middle class environment which was filled withÂ contradictionÂ and repression. Nobody ever did what they wanted to, everyone had to act in this false way and do things that none of us really enjoyed just did them because, you know,Â that's what you did if you were middle class. I decided I would never deny myself something just because I was expected not to do it. I don't care if I'm "too old for games" in the eyes of society, I'm still going to play because it's fun. If I'm able bodied enough, I intend to continue to go out clubbing till I die as well. Hopefully I'll never have to get a real job, either.

Unlikely

Why do you not have a "proper" job?Â Or more specifically, how do you support yourself?

tigersgogrrr

mk64 wrote:

What type of pensioner are we breeding?

Worryingly one who's handy with a sniper (apart from Tiger of course).

I'm amazing with the sniper, guy!

Mouldywarp, your lifestyle sounds highly unsustainable. How?

Nexx

Amazing with the sniper? Really?... Not bad with the splaser though.

tigersgogrrr

Godlike.

Mouldywarp

Well, by proper job I generally just mean one where you have to wear a suit...

Basically, I was a student for a bit when I left home, dropped out right at the end, kept my part-time studenty job for a bit till they fired me for being a lunatic... Then ended up working part-time for a charity, that's the nearest thing I've had to a real job. But I didn't have to wear a suit and it was much more relaxed than working for a profit-focussedÂ business. Then I quit and became a student again, managed to wangle another student loan somehow.

So yeah, not really sustainable forever, but I'm hoping to become self-employed after IÂ graduateÂ so I won't have a boss and IÂ definitelyÂ won't have to wear a bloody suit. I've got friends who've managed to bum around even moreÂ successfullyÂ than me though, although it often involves having a heroin addiction so I wouldn'tÂ recommendÂ it.

davyK

A suit is definitely not a requirement for a proper job......suits can be good - means you don't have to think about what to wear - just get 5 and circulate - the old shirt and tie thing is to be negotiated but suit and no tie is quite acceptable now.

[Deleted User]

I have a proper job. I am at work wearing T-shirt and combat shorts at the mo. Yay design jobs.

davyK

One thing is for sure - us lot should make an effort to keep up as we age. The scene in the Wrestler in which Randy was still booting up the NES was as tragic as any other scene in that film.

Tempy

But that was because his game was only on the NES, right?

I was talking to Reg last night about trying to justify the setting of Resi 5 in Africa because

Spoiler:

Basically a deep knowledge of a totally fictional plot. Why do I retain that shite? Hopefully I'll lose that as I grow up, but I don't want to lose sight of the entire point of gaming, which is fun. There isn't a higher purpose in gaming that that, and I hope I don't give up on it because 'it is for kids' or some nonsense.

Bollockoff

I actually fancy wearing a suit more often after pretty girls telling me they "liked the smart Bollockoff" at a recent wedding.

fullspectrum

Tempy don't you ever stop. Our Astrea ramblings were some of my favourite internet words ever.

That post you did in olde english about skyrim I think it was, has also been re-read and made me laugh several times. So yeah, keep knowing pointless stuff pls.

Elmlea

mouldywarp wrote:

Â IÂ definitelyÂ won't have to wear a bloody suit.

I wear a one-piece romper suit affair to work, and certainly have a "proper" job. Â

I think deliberately bumming around getting into student debt, and planning to become self employed not because you have a business plan or an area you like, but because you don't want to wear a suit, probably means you need some help.

Nice suits are extremely comfy and very very pleasant. Â Do you not like to shower either?

Brooks

Nice suits are also not cheap.

Elmlea

Even average suits are pretty comfy.

Mouldywarp

Elmlea wrote:

Do you not like to shower either?

I'll shower, but I'm not going to brush my hair!

[Deleted User]

Gaming probably doesn't keep me young but malted milk biscuits do:

malted+milk.jpg

Even better are the chocolate ones!

Kow

Gaming makes me feel old. All these modern games are shit, not like real games we had in the good old days. Kids these days wouldn't know a game if it bit them on the arse.

Bollockoff

What will be the future equivalent of smoking a pipe when we're older? I think I imagined Kow doing it as he says that.

ayns

Our own kids know what decent games are, right?

Elmlea

Mouldywarp wrote:

Elmlea wrote:

Do you not like to shower either?

I'll shower, but I'm not going to brush my hair!

Go on then, I'm really interested. Â Why the resistance to getting a "proper" job and the utter distaste of the idea of wearing a suit?

JonB

I think I'll keep playing games as long as something's released that pushes the envelope in one way or another. There's a lot of potential still there, and at this rate it'll take a hell of a long time to realise much of it.

davyK

Tempy wrote:

But that was because his game was only on the NES, right?

I was talking to Reg last night about trying to justify the setting of Resi 5 in Africa because

Spoiler:

the progenitor virus which is the strain that the T-Virus is from was extracted from a flower that a tribe used in a coming of age/warrior ritual, and wondering if this was as big a hook as the Spanish Royals discovering the Las Plagas spores.
Basically a deep knowledge of a totally fictional plot. Why do I retain that shite? Hopefully I'll lose that as I grow up, but I don't want to lose sight of the entire point of gaming, which is fun. There isn't a higher purpose in gaming that that, and I hope I don't give up on it because 'it is for kids' or some nonsense.

Can remember reading a post somewhere in which a middle-aged man related the trial of Magneto in some detail - suffixing it with a statement to the effect that his wife would not be impressed with him making such knowledge public. We should all revel in it.

davyK

Plan M wrote:

Gaming probably doesn't keep me young but malted milk biscuits do:

Even better are the chocolate ones!

Rediscovered the joys of malted milk after getting them "for the kids". Also Farleys rusks - deja vu in a box.

MattyJ

I've been playing games since as long as I can remember and certainly see no reason to stop as I'm getting older.

Mouldywarp

Elmlea wrote:

Mouldywarp wrote:

Elmlea wrote:

Do you not like to shower either?

I'll shower, but I'm not going to brush my hair!

Go on then, I'm really interested. Â Why the resistance to getting a "proper" job and the utter distaste of the idea of wearing a suit?

Ok, the suit is purely symbolic, although I genuinely hate wearing them. And shirts. And don't even get me started on ties, the way they suffocate you like a chain around your neck. When I see people commuting to work that's what I see, slaves tethered to each other by the neck, briefcase in hand, off to another day of repeatedly bashing themselves in the face for noÂ comprehensibleÂ reason.

To be honest with you, the whole "real job" thing wasn't supposed to be that serious, although I stand by the sentiment if not the practicalities.

Kow

You can be gainfully employed and never have to wear a suit. Tbh, I've never liked them either, mostly for the types of jobs they represent. But I still make plenty of money.

Mod74

davyK wrote:

Also Farleys rusks - deja vu in a box.

You know there's a trillion calories and an EU sugar mountain in each disc, right.

adkm1979

How old are you, Mouldywarp?

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