Tell Us Dammit

41 responses to “Tell Us Dammit”

1. 

   Trjn

   April 12, 2012 at 11:03 am

   I’m almost always in a gaming slump. Occasionally some game will come along and I’ll play it through but otherwise I sit here, crippled by choice. There are so many games that I could be playing, playing just one means I’m not playing the rest.

   Kind of snapping myself out of this at the moment by playing Dark Souls and then having Skate 3 and Lego Batman on standby. This way I can play Dark Souls until I start tilting (such as last night when a black phantom invaded and then managed to backstab me from the front), then switch to Skate or Batman to derp around.

   It’s kind of amazing how easy it is to just do nothing and how it’s even easier to just start doing something. Yet that second step is rather elusive.

   Also, Shameless Gaming Month.

   Reply
   1. 

      Aliasalpha

      April 12, 2012 at 2:26 pm

      I got invaded by a black phantom for the first time the other day (that sounds more sexual than I intended), unfortunately for him he didn’t count on my having the Drake Sword so he died rather rapidly but it was quite a thrill fighting someone even more unpredictable & dangerous than the enemies in the game already.

      Reply
2. 

   Neo-Kaiser

   April 12, 2012 at 11:08 am

   About the start of last year, I felt like every game I was playing was the same. I was having a hard time picking up anything. Then I bought Blur and it was a nice refreshing twist to my normal gaming routine. A bit of variety is always good for the soul.
   Plus it has a Local Only Search function, which is more then I can say for even todays AAA title games.

   Reply
   1. 

      Lone Wolf

      April 12, 2012 at 11:46 am

      Blur actually had some really inovative ideas which I think AAA games could benefit from, like the ability to share your accomplishments, post challenges and (this would be a good one for RPGs and FPS, anything with a strong lot or open world) a “Last time on Blur” segment when you came back to the game which reminds you of your recent acheivements and upcoming accomplishments.

      Reply
3. 

   Nick

   April 12, 2012 at 11:08 am

   It’s good to take time off from gaming for a while. Play some boardgames or do something else. Or even play an old game you loved or switch from console to PC for a bit. But you always appreciate it more when you come back. This is easier for those of us who aren’t games journalists however.

   Reply
4. 

   PrettyTones

   April 12, 2012 at 11:09 am

   I think it’s good to have a break from gaming (or any hobby, really) every now and then. You’ll start to miss it, and soon enough you’ll get back into it and become enthusiastic again. I’m in a bit of a gaming slump myself, but that’s only because all I wanna do when I have free time is to read A Dance With Dragons…

   Reply
5. 

   Bear of the boy

   April 12, 2012 at 11:12 am

   Games are mostly all mediocre. Deal with it.

   Read a book, exercise, pick up an actual productive hobby such as drawing/sculpture/dancing.

   Reply
   1. 

      Trjn

      April 12, 2012 at 11:15 am

      Sturgeon’s Law.

      Other than that, I can only assume you’re trying to be a less than subtle troll.

      Reply
      1. 

         lambomann007

         April 12, 2012 at 12:19 pm

         Yeah, he’s about as subtle as a forty ton elephant landing on your head. 😛
         Or Trjn’s and my sarcasm sensor’s are broken…

         Reply
   2. 

      Rocketman

      April 12, 2012 at 11:20 am

      I do love me some sculpting 🙂

      Reply
   3. 

      Hanque

      April 12, 2012 at 12:13 pm

      Get off a game site, hombre.

      We’re here because we actually enjoy our chosen hobby.

      Reply
6. 

   Crispus

   April 12, 2012 at 11:15 am

   Mark, you need play something completely different, maybe a genre or series you’ve never even touched.
   You need to try “walking on your hands” you might say…

   Reply
7. 

   masha2932

   April 12, 2012 at 11:21 am

   Weird, I’m actually in a slump as well. I have downloaded a bunch of demos and PSN titles but I can’t push myself to play them. At first I thought that if I throw money at the problem it would go away but any games I’ve bought recently don’t seem to lift me from my doldrums.

   At the moment I’m watching TV for my entertainment but TV isn’t doing it for me as well. I guess I’ll just try and wait it out and hopefully I’ll feel better soon.

   Reply
8. 

   Fred

   April 12, 2012 at 11:21 am

   I play an old game that i loved and haven’t had a go at in a while. Sometimes playing the old ones that sparked your passion for gaming can remind you why you love it. Try an old Lucas Arts game like Monkey Island.

   Reply
   1. 

      Strange: The First Lady

      April 12, 2012 at 12:00 pm

      This is what I was going to say. I always find the only thing to get me out of a gaming slump is an old game I love.
      Usually I get in a slump after I’ve finished a game that was really satisfying. It makes everything else seem not as good. So playing an old game before I go back to another new one renews my perspective and acts as a gaming palate cleanser.

      Reply
9. 

   Hugo the Hungarian Barbarian

   April 12, 2012 at 11:22 am

   When in a slump, SKYRIM!
   When burnt out from overgaming, SKYRIM!
   When the end of the world is nigh, SKYRIM!

   Reply
   1. 

      Nick

      April 12, 2012 at 11:28 am

      Playing Skyrim took me to my current gaming slump. So no, I don’t think so.

      Reply
   2. 

      Nomea

      April 12, 2012 at 4:19 pm

      I was also in a bit of a slump before playing Skyrim. Unfortunately due to the PS3 bugs it landed me right back in one and I am finding it hard to pick it up and play again. Getting a bit of a buzz out of Kingdom Rush at the moment.

      Reply
10. 

    OZ Damien

    April 12, 2012 at 11:23 am

    Jump outside your gaming comfort zone and play something you normally wouldn’t.

    Alternatively, I always love reinvgerating myself with a trip to the massive timezone on the Gold Coast. I get sick of spending money on tokens to play, so look forward to console/pc again more.

    Reply
11. 

    Leigh

    April 12, 2012 at 11:27 am

    Not really a ‘slump’ in those terms but I missed the early 00s gen completely.

    I did not want to buy any new consoles (kept playing the heck out of my 64, also was at Uni during this stage), none of the games of that period got my enthusiasm up, and I really lost touch with the videogames zeitgeist altogether.

    Reply
    1. 

       Aliasalpha

       April 12, 2012 at 2:32 pm

       Check out gog.com, sounds like the ideal solution to your knowledge gap & the games are mostly $6-10 so even if you don’t like them, its not much money wasted (and you often get things like soundtracks that you may like even if you don’t like the game).

       I prescribe Planescape Torment, Broken Sword: Shadow Of The Templars & Prince Of Persia:The Sands Of Time

       Reply
12. 

    Shane

    April 12, 2012 at 11:32 am

    Previous gaming slumps have been resurrected by:

    * Starcraft
    * Starcraft
    * Demon’s Souls gifted to me by Strange
    * Starcraft

    I’m just about ready for another break, though, I think. When Mass Effect 3 is done, I think I’ll put the controller down for a couple of weeks. Just like any hobby, interest can ebb and flow. It’s normal, go with it.

    Reply
13. 

    Beavwa

    April 12, 2012 at 11:33 am

    I know the feeling, Trjn put it perfectly with ‘crippled by choice’, and no build-up to get you into a particular game. It was easy to get swept up by SKYRIM fever when that was just about out, and that energy helped to focus on other games around that time too – dark souls, skyward sword, saints row, etc… I guess that energy has gone since there’s nothing coming out soon that excites me that much.
    I’ve been falling back to minecraft a fair bit lately as an easy way to wind down at night after work.

    Reply
14. 

    Koppenflak

    April 12, 2012 at 11:41 am

    Mmm. Yes. I sympathise, Mark. I’ve been in a gaming rutt for a while. Star Trek Online still holds my casual attention and I log on here and there to complete a few duty officer assignments, but I confess… there is one game I am trying.

    The Old Republic.

    As I understand Bioware had the courtesy of realising how much the end of Mass Effect 3 sucked, so they didn’t bother including one in The Old Republic at all!

    *rimshot*

    Reply
15. 

    CF2K

    April 12, 2012 at 11:49 am

    I’m the same, it’s really hard to get motivated. I blame the AFL starting up again lol.

    Reply
16. 

    Chris Mac

    April 12, 2012 at 11:49 am

    yeah I’m over Skyrim. after about the second Dragon. I’ve been going back and rediscovering games I’ve somehow missed. most of them are only $10 on ebay. things like Borderlands which was awesome, or Valkyrie.

    Reply
17. 

    Thom

    April 12, 2012 at 11:53 am

    Hi Mark,

    I’m in a slump too – did yours start with ME3? I found myself underwhelmed. The story was OK, but the game play felt so familiar. After that, I started looking through my (MASSIVE) backlog for something that might feel fresh. I came away empty handed. Last time this happened, after completing GTA: San Andreas, I didn’t game for four years (with the exception of Zelda: Twilight princess).

    Reply
18. 

    Effluvium Boy

    April 12, 2012 at 12:13 pm

    I need to get back on my PS3 and finish Arkham City.

    Reply
19. 

    Hanque

    April 12, 2012 at 12:19 pm

    I only ever experience slumps when the trees don’t bear much fruit that I’m interested in, so to speak.
    However, with recent release schedules and full-time hours limiting game time, I do not see myself ‘slumping’ any time soon.
    Too much on the pile.
    It’s daunting, but at the same time I enjoy the journey ahead of me.

    Example; I’m only NOW sinking my teeth into Borderlands and I’m loving it. Only at Level 20 (from memory) and I still have the main story + all DLC to chew through.

    It’s a meaty task going through ones giant bck-log of titles, but I would much prefer that instead of “Hmmm, there’s nothing to play…”
    THAT’s a true slump to me.

    Besides, if that ever happens, there’s always online SF IV or playing Half-Life 2…AGAIN.
    Bless those games…

    Reply
20. 

    FatShady

    April 12, 2012 at 12:20 pm

    I was in one last week.. but Bastion saved me… awesome little game that one. Picked it up months ago and never played it.

    Reply
21. 

    Peacemaker

    April 12, 2012 at 12:37 pm

    my last gaming slump occurred mid way through last year and took me all the way to november. we all know what came out in november. anyway it was enough to end the slump and i have had a steady supply of gaming goodness since

    Reply
22. 

    Crazyguy1990

    April 12, 2012 at 12:48 pm

    I’m going through a gaming slump right now, actually.
    Any game I try to play, I put away five minutes later.
    Maybe I should jump back into Rayman Origins….

    Reply
23. 

    MrTaco

    April 12, 2012 at 12:55 pm

    I’m in somewhat of a slump at the moment I guess. But a weird one. I haven’t touched my Wii in months, despite a pile of games sitting next to it. 360 is more or less the same. But my 3DS has hardly been off for the last of those months, mostly due to me being stuck on Resident Evil Revelations. Except stuck in a bad way. I really really really want to move on from it and start playing Shinobi, but I just can’t tear myself away, because it’s not “done” yet. I beat the game, got up to Abyss level in Raid mode, then ran through the game on Normal to collect the handprints and do the herbless run while I was at it. That was a freakin effort and a half, and I’m still missing two god damn handprints. So now I guess I could try fly through it on Casual, but that still leaves me needing to complete Hell mode. And there’s still Raid mode to complete. Then on top of that I just bought Kid Icarus, Pac Man & Galaga and Cave Story.

    In short, I can’t bring myself to play any of these games because I don’t want to be not playing any of the other games. Buh? :/

    Reply
24. 

    Stevorooni

    April 12, 2012 at 1:40 pm

    Go back to where it all began and play some classic console games! 2D Sonic and Mario are the way to go.

    Reply
25. 

    Inquisitive

    April 12, 2012 at 2:03 pm

    Number of people in slumps directly proportional to the quality of the major games released since last October

    Reply
26. 

    js

    April 12, 2012 at 2:11 pm

    Went through one after finishing high school for a couple of years, but gradually came back.

    Had another one after beating Skyrim. Absolutely drained me for a couple of months afterwards. Funnily enough, I’ve been craving going back to it recently.

    Reply
27. 

    oggob

    April 12, 2012 at 2:31 pm

    Was in a mini slump, mainly because I didn’t know what I wanted to play, originally was behind on my Creed and played ACII when AssBro came out, so finally polished off everything in AssRev and didn’t know where to go from there, I couldn’t decide.

    It was actually all the Mass Effect 3 hate that picked the game for me, I didn’t get into ME on the XBOX, but in the end picked up ME2 & ME3 on the PS3, first time playing through ME2 at the moment and 42hrs later I’m still dominating through. My next issue will be going straight into ME3, or replay ME2 as a Renegade.

    Reply
28. 

    Marathon

    April 12, 2012 at 2:49 pm

    Get involved with the online community for the game you think you want to play more of but can’t get the motivation up to so. That sometime helps as you have people to discuss the narrative or take part in wide ranging meta-campaigns online and in game. Depends on the game of course.

    Reply
29. 

    Blueboots

    April 12, 2012 at 5:14 pm

    Same here. In a slump too. Nothing really interests me. Should maybe pickup Mass Effect 3, but couldn’t really be arsed. If I start playing anything, I drop it after 10 minutes or so. Just can’t get into anything. Not really all that excited for Diablo III, AC III either. It’s all meh. I’ve just taken up my other hobbies and started reading more. I think Skyrim pretty much killed me off. Played that pretty constantly for around 3-4 weeks. I just need a break from the screen I suppose.

    Reply
30. 

    N0NEoftheAB0VE

    April 12, 2012 at 9:01 pm

    I’ve been slump free since 2009 and part of the secret is to switch up your games often – I never try to play anything to completion in one stretch, I’ll do a level, then do something completely different, I sometimes make an exception if I know I’m reaching the end of the game, like my recent Halo Reach Bender on the last 3 chapters! Always follow multiplayer with single player, don’t pile on FPS upon FPS, instead do a platformer or a beat-em-up, or some weird downloadable game.

    Reply
31. 

    Nick Karras

    April 13, 2012 at 8:32 am

    Im currently in a gaming slump from school but i find playing handheld gaming consoles and then going to play a console game works for me.

    Reply