Ever get depress while playing video games?

[Cynicaster]

... I'm just happy that I still have them to play instead of being limited to the offerings on current systems. I appreciate what I still have, and the awesome games I can still play, instead of what has been lost by the passage of time.

 

That's me right there.

 

The old days are gone and not coming back--the sooner you come to grips with that, the sooner you can enjoy your old games in a healthy way.

 

If they make you feel depressed, it might be time to take a deep breath and step away from the VCS.

[Nateo]

I think the things that depress me most about my video game collection is just that I just can't share it with enough people. My pipe dream is to own a coffee shop/soft-bar where all these games are available to see, touch, and play.

[simbalion]

I can't say that I have ever gotten sad playing my old Gameboy or NES games, but I have felt nostalgic. We never had an Atari in the house, so the first system was when the Gameboy came out. I guess that keeps Atari and other classic consoles fresh to me. Not to say that I don't have the occasional sad nostalgic episodes. I think these can be caused by the crazy world and life we all live in now, making us want for another time when our lives were much simpler. I was born in late 1977, so I got to see a good bit of the 80's and I have to admit, I still miss that era at times.

[George35]

Not sure if it qualifies as depression or dissatisfaction, but sometimes when I'm in the mood to play, I'll end up switching between dozens of game looking for the "one to scratch the itch" but it usually ends up being way too late after I should be asleep, and I never really played anything and go to bed unsatisfied.

[chuckwalla]

Playing the old games, if anything, helps lift me out of depression.

Thinking about whom I was playing a particular game with and/or where I was playing the game helps me relive those exciting times and I feel thankful for some of those great times.

When you're a kid - you're a kid, and most of us as adults are smarter and wiser and i'm glad for that. Like many of us, I was still somewhat "wet behind the ears" and irresponsible as a young teenager and did some stupid things which i'm glad i'm passed but some things, like family reunions/holidays, old friendships, and classic video gaming are memories i'll cherish for eternity.

Just enjoy the games and be thankful you have the opportunity to play them!

Edited July 25, 2012 by chuckwalla

[genesisguy]

I never have been depressed playing old video games. My dad died when I was 19 and this was way after the NES was popular. But I had a NES as a kid and used to play it with him. So there's potential there for it to make me sad, but for some reason it never really has. Sure some games remind of times I played them with him but its usually good memories.

 

I still have my model 1 Genesis and copy of Sonic 1 that came with it on Christmas morning 1992. I guess I could turn those into sad memories too but I just tend to think about how good those days were and less about how some of those people have died.

 

I probably had about 20 NES and 15 Genesis games as a kid. So there's a lot out there I haven't tried and have little nostalgia for. It sounds cliche to say this on a retrogaming board, but those games are as new and exciting to me as a real new game on a modern console should be.

[Major Havoc 2049]

Whenever I'm bored or depressed, playing video games always makes me feel better. :-)

[iswitt]

I do get down sometimes, but not necessarily because I feel old or that I am remembering things the way they were when I was young. Maybe that will happen later in life. However, I do get depressed sometimes because I know that there just aren't many other people out there (comparatively speaking) that share the same feelings as I do toward older games. For instance, one time I was playing Super Mario 64 alone and had this really lonely feeling come over me. It was like Mario's solo mission through Bowser's castle was mirroring my solo vintage gaming habits. There was no around for Mario to share the adventure with, much the same as there was no around for me to play the game with. None of my friends are into older games. It's all about current gaming to them. I do find solace in AA though. At least most of you don't suck and appreciate gaming the same way I do.

[Atariboy]

Videogames have never really done this for me. But other hobbies have.

 

Seeing a stuffed and mounted steam locomotive is always a sad experience. A fine magnificient machine, often said to be the closest man has came to producing something that was alive, just sitting there cold, silent, and often in poor shape from 50+ years of inactivity just isn't a very pleasant sight for me.

 

With railroads being my first love where my interest are concerned, I usually find rail museums to be sad experiences when I visit. They're reminders of the way things used to be all too often things I just never had the opportunity to experience.

[almightytodd]

I kinda feel like at the birth of the home computer and videogame age the question was, "How can we use new technologies to improve the quality of life for human beings all around the world"? Now, it seems that the only question that is being paid attention is, "How can we use technology to return a higher share price to our share-holders when we make our next quarterly report"? That does make me a little sad...

[Keatah]

Any new innovation seems to start as a piece of art or prideful creation. Then it gets dehumanized and turned into some corporate vehicle for buffing up the bottom line. This is american business.

[d-tec]

I like playing my old games, especially if they were too hard for me when I was younger. So I like to give it another shot

the results are different. sometimes it is super easy, and I start to think that I must have been dumb as a kid but some games are as hard as ever and it feels like nothing has changed. haha!

 

about the depressed part........I don't really get that feeling......of course my memory comes back and I think about what I did around that time and who I played that game with and sometimes it sucks of you play a multiplayer which you used to play with your besties back in the day and then you realize they are not around anymore or your now buddys are not as good as this as your old firends and the game kinda sucks if you don't have the right people

[HatefulGravey]

Certain games make me remember times when everyone would gather to play games. Online gaming is killing the social aspect of gaming in a way only someone that lived in a different time could understand. We used to have Mortal Kombat parties and everyone from school would stay up all night playing in a big tournament. Sometimes my uncles and I would sit up all night playing Mario Kart 64 and be so into the game that we wouldn't notice the sun coming up. Things like this just don't happen much anymore and I miss that badly. Part of this is just the friends I had then that are still around now are all adults and its harder all the time to find the time to get into this kind of gaming but a lot of it is just the change in gaming culture I think.

 

People that learn that I'm into classic gaming like I am are often in a hurry to talk about the games but I'm shocked at the number that have no desire at all to go back and play them. Depressed, no, but I do miss the good ol' days sometimes.

[Keatah]

Playing the early 8-bit stuff from around 1978 through the early 90's generally brings back good memories across the board.

 

Amiga and anything from PII-266 through the end of the P4 era was pretty much like getting farted on.

[godslabrat]

I get depressed that I don't have the time to play games the way I used to, and that I sometimes feel "rushed" to beat a game so that I can move on to the next one. As a kid, it would take me years to beat a game, and I thought that was totally normal.

 

I also feel sad that many people don't see the relevance of the older consoles anymore. I finally have full 4-player setups for the NES, and no one to enjoy them with me.

 

It's also sad to think that some of my equipment will fail, and repairs will prove very difficult. My NES controllers don't feel as tight as they should.

 

Classic games make me very happy, but the realities of this hobby are ever-present.

[GodzillaIsMyCopilot]

Years ago I used to feel nostalgic, often in the sad way, when playing old games. Now I'm just happy that I still have them to play instead of being limited to the offerings on current systems. I appreciate what I still have, and the awesome games I can still play, instead of what has been lost by the passage of time.

 

This.

[ahuffman]

I get depressed that I don't have the time to play games the way I used to, and that I sometimes feel "rushed" to beat a game so that I can move on to the next one. As a kid, it would take me years to beat a game, and I thought that was totally normal.

 

I also feel sad that many people don't see the relevance of the older consoles anymore. I finally have full 4-player setups for the NES, and no one to enjoy them with me.

 

 

This. I'm glad that I have the money to spend on my collection, but hate how much time I spend away from it. I often feel rushed playing through a game or even just selecting a game to play. I feel pressured to "waste" as little time as possible, since I don't have much time to begin with. This causes me to feel depressed sometimes.

[Petran79]

I get depressed because I remember playing those games, mostly Atari 2600, NES and Amiga classics with my brother or friends and acquaintances. Also MS-DOS games till they were abandoned in the late 90s.

 

Even watching them or being watched by others when playing solo also meant something.

But playing alone, really those games lose their charm a lot. I remember playing most games with my brother together and he was watching me or vice versa,

 

I also didnt enjoy arcades when I went playing alone. With friends it was the best.

 

Online play tries to mend some things, but really nothing makes up for the absence of a person near you. Only perhaps if there is both a game window and a video conferencing video on the same screen when you can watch the opponent live. I played like that with my brother on GGPO.