Time left to play games?

No cure.
Its like magic. Once you learn how the tricks are made, you start finding the explanation to every trick. In fact, it ruins the 'magic'. Now you are the magician and your mission is to trick your audience.

Luck!
Guimo

Yes, I hardly play games as much as I used to. And when I do, I end up running around looking at how they implemented certain features, trying to break things thinking, "they could have improved this here, I would have done that there" etc. It doesn't stop me from getting into games I really enjoy though, I just finished half life 2 and thought it was great.

Cures...multiplayer games. When I play Halo 2 with friends I don't have time to analyze things, I must frag!

i havent even played a game since i started programming over a year ago. im done with playing games.. no time.. must.. code [grin].

Developing games is definetly a work-intensive endeavor, so my gaming time has definetly gone down as well. Even so, I still dedicate some time to playing video games (especially the ones in the genre I develop). It's always good to see what other developers are doing.

So far I've played halo once, for ten minutes this month.. and it was on a LAN game.. ALONE.

That's it! I haven't played anything else, and now I ... I feel so cold.. and alone.

Quote:

If you don't love to play them then you won't love to make them

I'm not sure if this is true or not. I know some guys that spend all of there time building motorcycles and they hardly ever drive them.

World of Warcraft has put my personal game devlopment at a dead halt :( At work we are encouraged to play games to help inspire us, show us what works and what does not.

I had a cycle. I used to play games a lot, even when I didn't have time for it. Then when I started to develop games and I reached a state where I hardly played games any more. These days I play games every day (almost) and devlop games every day (almost).

That's life.

I usually go back and visit old games, playing them for a few hours, and then putting them down for a few weeks, in order to move on to another game. I don't play many new games for more than a few hours either (hence the reason I don't buy them anymore).

I do usually try and go in-depth into one new game at least once a year, though. I think this year will be Metroid Prime 2.

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Original post by noaktree Quote: If you don't love to play them then you won't love to make them I'm not sure if this is true or not. I know some guys that spend all of there time building motorcycles and they hardly ever drive them.

i agree. i absolutely love game development and programming - it has been my passion ever since i learned what a variable was. however, i can safely say that i do not love to play games. i dont know.. i just, kind of lost any passion for playing games. probably because there is sooooo much code to write, theres no time for that crap [grin].

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Original post by Drastick World of Warcraft has put my personal game devlopment at a dead halt :( At work we are encouraged to play games to help inspire us, show us what works and what does not.

SAME!!! Ever since I started playing that I've done no hobby code (although I still program every day at work, I just now don't code more when I get home). Befor WoW though (which is more addictive than crack) I used to be pretty balanced between playing and coding. It would go in waves - I'd think of something cool then spend a week/fortnight coding it up, then i'd go back to playing games for a while then code. It was never one or the other, but I would definatly focus more on one side for a while befor it shifted back. Also the fact I play online with many of my friends means that I always get asked to play which takes far less effort than starting yourself :P

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Original post by Guimo Its like magic. Once you learn how the tricks are made, you start finding the explanation to every trick. In fact, it ruins the 'magic'.

Maybe your a glass is half empty kinda guy but I like playing games just as much as I did befor. Infact now I get even more impressed when I see some really cool stuff that I couldn't code myself because I know how much work is involved. My favorite game of all time (which I have been playing a few times a week for years and still do) is Quake III. I've even written a few little mods and mucked round with the code and I've never got over it. My perspective on games has definatly changed but its not been a "ruines the magic" experience, its been an eye opener which enriched my experience more than ruined it.

I too play much less games than I used to. If this is down to me learning game development and programming or other things I can't be sure. However, I my taste of games has shifted, and this I think _is_ due to me developing. I used to like space sims (X-Wing etc) and RPG's, but now I've shifted to quick games with a gimmick. I love Ikaruga although I don't play it that often. I like F-Zero GX, and what I've read about Mercury on the PSP has certainly piqued my interest.

Hmmm... I'm the other way... I'm programming all day business apps, when I get home I either stay well away from computers or play games. I'm finding it hard to get down to any of my own game project coding.

My friends and I make the same constat (business industry only):
- When we work all day, it is hard when coming home to play games. We need to relax. But still we could manage a week-end of games and game programming.
- When we add to that a girlfriend (later a wife and some kids) the time spent for games does fall down to an evening per week (provided the dishes are washed, the kid is in bed, the trash is out, the wife permits an evening on computer, and so on ...).

As for cures ....

Ghostly yours,
Red.

I think its the same in other industries as well. When I was at school a few years ago I was doing Film stuides which was cool but whenever I watched a film was analysing how shots were composed and all this other stuff. It was ruining my enjoyment of the movie.

The only cure is to stop what your doing. A year or so after I'd finished that course I could enjoy movies again lol

I play games to find out whats hot and whats not.

When I made my last game( here it is - the Victoria Cross again! ), I spent 50% of my time coding and 50% playing the game(s) that served as my inspiration.

Playing games is quite a vital practice in making a great game...though make sure you only play games that are relevant to the one you are making. Its of very little use to play Final Fantasy when you are making a football game...^_^

So as long as the game is relevant - its not a complete waste of time.

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Original post by Anonymous Poster I think that a game made by someone who didn't actually play games anymore couldn't be good because they aren't a gamer anymore, just another out of touch coder.

i really fail to see the logic here.. ive been playing video games for over 15 YEARS of my life (and dreaming about making my dream game for 3+ years..). ive been programming and game deving for a little more then a year (and havent played games since). how would i suddenly "forget" what a good video game and video games are like...?

Before i was into game development i played video games a lot. As I became more cursious about what makes games, i found myself read more and playing less. I never really stopped playing video games its just that my love for games has made me become a developer. Growing up i use always tell myself if this happened it would be so much better ... well now im doing something about it.

To Anonymous Poster- You can the gamer never leaves the developer. Its just our priotities change and our ambitions some times get the best of us.

It's the ultimate irony of being a game programmer. I don't think it will make you a bad game designer to not play that many games, but it is always nice to play games for reference. I still find games fun, but I don't have as much fun with them now that I know how they are made. It's like watching a magic trick when you already know how it's done.

Here are some great games you should play if your interested in looking for a cure [grin]:

1. Halo 2
2. Burnout 3
3. Resident Evil 4
4. Metal Gear Solid 3
5. Super Mario 64 DS