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How old are you?

Twenty-one.

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What are you doing for living?

Not much. I mostly do odd jobs (I just recently built and sold a bunch of systems to a local business and did some networking stuff for them) and I have a semi-regular job with a family member. I'll most likely be starting school again soon, so I'm trying to avoid making any serious commitments. As long as I can afford car insurance and gas I'm okay. :)

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Why are you playing games?

Because I enjoy them? I'll just mirror what roots said. There's nothing special about computer games; they're just entertainment. I play games for the same reason I read fiction or watch movies and TV.

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For how long have you been playing games?

Probably since I was six or seven.

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How often do you play games?

I find that I alternate between playing games a lot and hardly playing at all. A year ago I was hardly playing anything besides the occasional game of Alpha Centauri or X-com. Then some friends started playing World of Warcraft and I was addicted to that for about eight months, probably playing it at least two hours a day. That got me back into the spirit of things, and even though I quit WoW I've been playing a whole lot of Battlefield 2 recently. I've also been on a bit of a sim binge - I'm really liking Silent Hunter III, Il-2, and the re-release of Falcon 4.0 at the moment, I've been playing them a whole lot.

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Don't you feel you could have done something better than playing games even casually?

Er, like what? If I wasn't playing games I'd probably sit around reading the internet or watching TV or something. I don't really understand why so many people seem to think that games 'cut into' other activities. I play games when I'd be home anyway, so it's not like there's a much more productive use of my time.

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Do you think that everything is OK with modern games or you think that they are lacking something horribly?

Neither.

Some modern games have a lot going for them. Like I said, I've been playing Battlefield 2 a lot recently. It has some major flaws (and balancing issues), but it's also one of the most fun multiplayer experiences I've ever had. I used to love playing Quake II online and playing Doom with my neighbor when I was younger, but as nostalgic as I get thinking about that stuff I know games like BF2 are far superior and a whole lot more fun. I think multiplayer games are as good as they've ever been and constantly moving forward, even if the steps they're taking are more evolutionary than revolutionary.

I also think there are plenty of great, modern 'classic' single player games. The Total War series, for example, is great. If it weren't for the fact that I feel each iteration in the series is a serious improvement over its predecessor I'd probably still be playing Shogun, and I can certainly see myself playing Rome a few years from now (unless something better comes along).

That said, I don't think games are as creative as they used to be. Even games that I love (like Rome and Battlefield 2, for example) don't put many new ideas or gameplay elements out there - they just improve on previous games that followed the same formula. There seemed to be more 'creative' games in the early and mid-90s. Keep in mind that I'm not talking about quirky or odd games (like, say, Katamari Damacy), but rather games that didn't easily fit into any particular genre easily. Of course, part of this was the fact that many genres hadn't been pioneered yet, but I don't think that's all there was to it.

Ultimately, I don't know what can be done about it. PC gaming is probably more popular now than it's ever been in the past and that's true because big publishers exist to put a lot of money behind titles. With that kind of initial investment games need to have a substantial return, otherwise the publisher will inevitably fold. Highly creative or niche games just don't fit into that model since they won't generate extremely high sales, almost by definition.

Beyond that, I don't think independent games can adequetly fill that void, even though there are plenty of excellent indie games out there. Games require more 'skilled content' (art resources, voice acting, sound effects) than they ever have before, leaving a lot of lone developers unable to produce commercial-quality stuff easily or cheaply. I think this has probably had the effect of stifling a lot of independent development and is probably why there are so many abandoned projects out there. I don't really have any solution, though, and I guess I can't complain as long as there are still fun games being produced - whether or not they're really doing anything interesting or innovative.

Heh. That turned out to be a lot longer than I anticipated, but I felt like using your last question as an excuse to rant.

Q. Who still plays games?
A. I would, were I not so busy trying to make them. :P

Q. How old are you?
A. 30

Q. What are you doing for a living?
A. Im a Maintenance Technician, doing 4 12-hour days a week, aside from my primary roles as homeowner, husband, and father of 2.

Q. Why are you playing games?
A. I enjoy the mental stimulation of an interactive medium. :D

Q. For how long have you been playing games?
A. Frogger on the Atari 2600, circa de 1979.

Q. How often do you play games?
A. Rarely nowadays. Before I started my game dev project, I would say around 10-15 hours a week.

Q. Don't you feel that you could have done something better than playing games even casually?
A. Yeah, SLEEP, lol. Since Im so busy during the day, most of my game playing happens at night after the family goes to bed. But I enjoy games enough to sacrifice a few hours of sleep for them.

Q. Do you think that everything is OK with modern games or you think that they are lacking something horribly?
A. Of course, otherwise I wouldnt be trying to make one myself. :D I think they are made to make as much money with as little effort as possible, with too little character customization and environment interaction.

Q. How old are you?
A. 24

Q. What are you doing for a living?
A. Professional game programmer.

Q. Why are you playing games?
A. Fun and competition. I'm pretty competitive when it comes to my gaming, I like playing fighting games and FPS games against other people.

Q. For how long have you been playing games?
A. 1985-86 or so, starting with a Sega Master System and NES.

Q. How often do you play games?
A. I play about 10 hours a week I'd say. More when I get really addicted to a game, less when there is nothing really interesting out. Right now nothing has caught my interest, I've mainly been playing Street Fighter 2 (original) and Halo 2 online.

Q. Don't you feel that you could have done something better than playing games even casually?
A. Sometimes, but I try to balance my game playing with other activities. I feel less guilty that way. But it's not like you can be constantly working out or playing sports - you have to rest in between workouts, a decent time to sneak in some game playing. :)

Q. Do you think that everything is OK with modern games or you think that they are lacking something horribly?
A. I'm going to disagree with the majority here. I think a lot of people are somewhat blinded by nostalgia - myself included! I often find my self reminiscing for the "good old games" I grew up with. But honestly, I think it's bullshit. There were garbage games on the NES and SNES just like there are garbage games now... similarly there were good games back then and good games now. "Absense makes the heart grow fonder" as they say. As people age their interests change which is natural and normal, but looking back at our times playing games I'd say most of us will think about the old games and how fun they were but perhaps are no longer interested in gaming giving a skewed feeling towards today's games.

Old games can reach legendary status in people's minds, I think. For me, some games I look back on with mass nostalgia include: Megaman, River City Ransom, Contra, Super Dodge Ball, Mario games, Metroid, Castlevania, Street Fighter 2, Doom 2.

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Q. Who still plays games?

A. I do! I do! I do! I only play games that I can't stop playing. That said, I'm very picky with what I'll play.

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Q. How old are you?

A. 30

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Q. What are you doing for a living?

A. I write client-server database software.

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Q. Why are you playing games?

A. Rarely it's to view the latest and greatest in technology, most times it's because the game appeals to me on some level.

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Q. For how long have you been playing games?

A. 24 years now I guess, started out with an Atari 2600.

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Q. How often do you play games?

A. Not much lately, mostly due to the carbon copy crud that obscures the good games.

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Q. Don't you feel that you could have done something better than playing games even casually?

A. I don't see how. If I didn't play games, I wouldn't be pushing myself to learn more about how they're built, which aids me in my day job to some level. (At the very least my boss just loves it when I show off my 3D engine).

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Q. Do you think that everything is OK with modern games or you think that they are lacking something horribly?

A. You get some rare gems that are just awesome (and for me recently that means KOTOR). But for the most part they're just cookie cutter quake-doom-0.5 life wannabes (albeit 0.5 life 2 was actually quite good). Sometimes I wish the hardware was a limiting factor again... Back in the day it forced gamedevs to be a lot more creative (yeah I know there were crappy games then too, but there were a lot more original ideas then as well). It's like music, you have to wade through tonnes of crap to find that really good/talented band that makes you keep listening. And in that vein it's subjective, and very much depends on your personal tastes.

Alright, alright. Since it's so slow in here, I'll do the answers.

Q. Who still plays games?
A. The number increases every day, believe it or not. Currently, movies and TV are probably the largest entertainment groups. But I believe everything will eventually be dwarfed by video games. Except that they may not always be called video games.

Q. How old are you?
A. 24.. err no 25. Wow. I'm 25.

Q. What are you doing for a living?
A. Programming, modeling, animating, writing, designing, and composing. All for one little world.

Q. Why are you playing games?
A. Some might say that the meaning of life is to enjoy it. So far, I've enjoyed about 500 lives. I've saved the world, conquered the galaxy, and kissed the princesses.

Q. For how long have you been playing games?
A. Since.. errr, since the Atari 2600. I believe I was around five years old.

Q. How often do you play games?
A. Every waking hour that I'm not developing games or procrastinating on GameDev.

Q. Don't you feel that you could have done something better than playing games even casually?
A. Absolutely. Developing games. But my brain needs a rest every five hours or so. There's no better brain rest than going berserk against the combine or GTA police force.

Q. Do you think that everything is OK with modern games or you think that they are lacking something horribly?
A. Some of the new games coming out are going to be terrific. Including the one I'm building [wink]

Q. Who still plays games?
A. Yep, I probably fall into the hard core gamer category.

Q. How old are you?
A. 26. That makes me feel old.

Q. What are you doing for a living?
A. I'm a profesional games programmer working on PS2 and Xbox.

Q. Why are you playing games?
A. I enjoy playing games. Mainly strategy games, Civ is probably my favourate game.

Q. For how long have you been playing games?
A. Um since I was about 8 when I got my first computer a Commodore 64. The first game I had for it was Paralax and Terra Cresta.

Q. How often do you play games?
A. Um I recon I must clock up about 10 hours a week.

Q. Don't you feel that you could have done something better than playing games even casually?
A. Na. I got a job out of it :)

Do you think that everything is OK with modern games or you think that they are lacking something horribly?
A. Yes and no. Big publishing companies pump out yearly updates to flagging brands and swamp the markets. But the indi sceen is hotting up again so I think the long term look for the games industry is good.