Refreshing my need for gaming

I have been a "gamer" since I was basically old enough to pick up a controller. I can remember back when my parents and I used to play Atari 2600 all the time. We had a little red notebook that we kept a record of high scores in. It was a lot of fun, and was just a great way to really and truly bond with my family as a whole. These memories I will cherish until my mind dissolves into goo and I can't remember my own name.

I have played literally countless games spanning decades of systems. I have always considered myself "hardcore" even when that term has started to take on a stigma that I do NOT enjoy. It is this long-standing love affair with games that makes me very sad to say, I think I'm just about done.

Since my son was born almost four years ago, my time with games has slowly started to taper off. In the beginning, I attributed this to just the sheer lack of time due to having a new child to raise. The more time goes on, the less I think that is true, however. My son is now almost four and pretty self-sufficient and my time with games is still slowing.

Aside from Borderlands 2, I have spent WAY less time playing console games meant for me. Now, the majority of my play time is spent with mobile (Vita/3DS) games. This is largely due to the fact that I will play them at work, or laying in bed at night. I just can't find the time or the urge to play console games anymore.

My hope is that things have become so stagnant in the console market that I just haven't been (ahem) stimulated by anything recently. With the recent release of information about the new PS4, I felt a bit of a spark in the gaming part of my brain I haven't felt in a long time. I don't know if this is just because it is something new or if it is the thought that things may change a bit, or at least enough.

When the WiiU was announced and released, I swore to myself that I wouldn't get caught up in the zeitgeist. I forced myself to stay away from looking to far into the "future releases" that Nintendo was panning. Much to my advantage, this worked out for me. The release was pretty lack-luster and the trickle of new games has all but dried up so soon after launch. This leads me to begin a "wait-and-see" mentality for the releases of the PS4 and the "Durango" this coming holiday season.

I truly want to believe. I want to be excited about the coming system releases. I want to be ready to spend gobs of money on both, but ... I just can't. At least not yet. This new generation of consoles has to reinvigorate my love of console games. If nothing draws me in, then I will be very sad to know that my tenure of "hardcore" gaming is over.

The amount of bullshit posturing between the console developers and the consumer has gotten out of hand. While I may be the only person that isn't upset with "Online Passes" and "Always Online" possibilities for the new consoles. It's the mentality of the console developers and publishers that they can do what ever they want and the consumer has to accept it. That bothers me. I hope in the very near future that my concerns are shown to be unfounded, but I don't hold my breath.

It's been a good twenty five years of solid gaming, and I really don't want it to end on a bad note. The one silver lining in all this is that I can always fall back on my collection of NES, SNES and older PS2 games to at least keep me company, should the rest of the market shove it's core audience and consumers away.