Adult gamers - have you noticed your reaction time slip with age?

I am old and the games are getting faster.

I’m getting close to 29, and I noticed it most when I downloaded the NES version of *Punch-Out!! *a few months ago. I used to be able to get to Mike Tyson with relative ease, only to have my ass handed to me (that’s one game I’ve still never beaten), but after I downloaded it I had a hell of a time getting past Soda Popinski. Not sure if I even managed that, now that I think about it. I really want to get *Punch-Out!! *for the Wii, but I’m concerned that it’d be a waste of $50 if my reflexes have slowed that much.

I’m 32, and I’m not as good as I used to be, but it’s not really reactions (well, not all of it), but the lack of practice, as others have mentioned. With a young daughter and work, I don’t get to play video games that much. Maybe one or two hours a week, when it used to be a couple hours a day.

The only reaction I’ve noticed slowing is my “throwing the controller” reaction. Some things get better with age :slight_smile:

I’m with Gonzomax, my reflexes are fine, it’s just the games are getting faster. Although I am getting behind the curve with controller complexity. Too many buttons! Pretty soon using controllers will be considered baby toys.

I averaged .281 on the speed testing thing. In my defense, I’m using a crappy laptop thumbpad thingy. Get me on a real mouse and I’m sure I’ll go faster.

I hope… :frowning:

:wink:

Quite the opposite - now, in my early 30s, I’m better than I was in my teens, or even my early 20s at twitchier games.

I still suck at FPSes, but that’s because I don’t really LIKE them, so I don’t play them often, so I don’t really ‘get’ them - but action RPGs, fighters, rhythm games, platformers…those I’m actually not bad at.

Still not competitive - I usually can’t finish the hardest difficulty levels - but I’m actually finishing games I couldn’t when I was younger.