I’m about to retire and am looking for new things to try. Never played video games. Not pong. Not Halo. Not grand theft auto. Nothing. How can i try this out without spending a fortune?
Do you have a PC or smartphone?
What sort of things are you interested in anyway? History? Sports? Cars? Mysteries? Drama? Supernatural?
Do you like ACTION!!!, or do you like to take time and savor an atmosphere?
Are you still good with your hands and fingers? Not a surgeon, but do you still have good range of motion, such that you could use a controller or mouse and keyboard for an hour without issue?
How much can you spare for a gaming platform? Can you afford $300? $500? $1500? Or as Mijin asked, do you have a good phone with a nice size screen that will play games enjoyably?
To answer your question about spending a fortune, we’d like to know what you consider a fortune! Do you have a new I-phone? That’s a fortune. Can you only afford a used X-Box 360 from GameStop? We can work with that. Have a retirement bonus laying around and $2000?? Well brother, I don’t doubt you’ll have all kinds of options.
well one this belongs in the game room and 2 heres a website that has almost everything you’ve missed GOG.com
be sure to read the “what is gog ?” link and wait for the weekend sales when games go as low as 1.99
erm www.gog.com missed the edit window
There’s a whole bunch of games you can just play in your browser.
There are literally so many kinds of games. Are you thinking shooters, builder games, puzzle games, story-telling games, there’s a lot to choose from.
Moderator Action
Welcome to the SDMB, alnath.
We have a forum here specifically for games. I will move this thread there for you.
Moving thread from IMHO to the Game Room.
It’s difficult to advise you, because “video games” covers a LOT of ground these days. Plus you have the advantage of never having played a game ever, meaning you have decades’ worth of absolute gems to discover (while avoiding the sea of utter turds those gems, often unsung in their time, swam in). It’s like suddenly getting interested in rock music - you get to listen to Led Zeppelin for the first time, and see The Wall, and there’s Queen, and you don’t even have to listen to Limp Bizkit even *once *!
Generally speaking I’d suggest you look into PC gaming over consoles - for one thing, that means you’ll have a much larger library of games to look at ; and for another the PC gaming scene is much more varied. Plus, most console games also exist on PC, so there’s that :). You don’t need to break the bank to buy a gaming rig, especially since as I’ve said you have decades’ worth of games worth playing that’ll run just fine on a middle of the road or even low end modern PC.
Beyond that, and before we can steer you towards some games, you’ll have to tell us what you like and what you look for in gaming. Settings (sci fi ? historical ? fantasy ? zombie apocalypse ? doesn’t matter ?), what you like doing or think you might enjoy doing (shooty shooty bang bang ? thinking & puzzles ? management & city building ? good stories ? witty banter & humour ? tie-ins with movies or series ? football ? war games ? word games ? walking simulators & gorgeous vistas ? etc…)
The Humble Bundle has, well, bundles of games, as well as promos, discounts, and such.
ETA besides the games, you need a computer that can run games, of course. If you do not insist on top-of-the-line then you should be able to get one without spending a fortune.
A big question would also be ‘what do you consider a fortune’ since that varies a lot between people. One person may think nothing of purchasing an XBox/PS4/gaming computer, and another may balk at a that outlay.
If you already have a computer that isn’t useless for games, then you’re pretty much set on that front, and it’s just a matter of looking for some sales on GOG/Steam/Humble for games of various types that you think might interest you, and sniping them when they’re cheap to try out, so you can build enough experience to judge what kind of games you’re going to like and what you don’t.
If your computer is terrible for games, maybe upgrading just one part of it would be sufficient, making it a cheaper upgrade than purchasing a console or something, too.
And as someone new to games, keep in mind the variety in them is as big as the variety in, say, movies, or music. I’ve heard of some people who try some game, don’t like it, and decide they ‘don’t like video games’. That’s kind of like watching one movie and deciding you don’t like any movies ever, or listening to one song and deciding you don’t like music.
I would suggest that you check out youtube videos of different games being played, and see which ones look like fun to you. If you haven’t yet played Pong, today’s game controllers may seem confounding at first, but you get used to them!
When I read the first post, I had to check and make sure I hadn’t posted it. Also retiring, and know nothing about gaming.
I’d start playing (in general, or a particular game) if I had someone to play with/against. What’s most attractive about gaming is the interpersonal aspect. So I’m wondering if you have someone who’d want to play? A coworker, a fellow retiree, younger people already gaming? Or grandchildren nearby, or take 'em on online… hmmm, any dopers know if there’s an online community that’d be patient with a newbie that’s an oldie?
I’m going to dip one toe in and try some PC or online games. I’m kind of afraid I won’t be wild about gaming. I grew up at a time that computers were only used for work, and I don’t automatically think “Oooh, a computer… I’ll play on it!” But I hope I like it – really want to find some cool games with intriguing stories and gorgeous graphics now that I’ll have time to play.
I don’t know about that; watching videos of games might not necessarily give him the right idea.
Sicks Ate has the right idea- what is the OP interested in? If he’s a big history aficionado, then he might like games along the lines of Crusader Kings, one of the Total War series, any number of web-grognard style computer wargames, etc…
If he likes military simulations, there’s Arma III or (less realistic) the Battlefield and Call of Duty games.
If he’s more of a builder-type, then Minecraft or Kerbal Space Program might be up his alley.
If he likes fantasy literature, then there are scads of games in that genre. If he likes zombies, there’s the Left 4 Dead series, and games like State of Decay 2.
And if he likes horror movies, there’s Dead by Daylight.
Basically the idea of “video games” is like saying “I want to get into watching movies” or “I want to start listening to music”. Way, way too broad to really direct anyone without more information.
There are plenty of those - just stay away from the more competitive and mainstream games. Things like Fornite, Call of Duty, Overwatch… those communities are fucking toxic even when you’re a great player with catlike reflexes.
But if you’re mostly interested in the community/social aspect of gaming you could start looking at the MMORPG scene - it can seem off-putting at first because it really has its own lingo and culture which can seem arcane at first ; but most people who play them are cool and patient. As well they tend to be reasonably paced and you’ll feel useful to the team as long as you’re not a complete muppet :D. So, games like Elder Scrolls Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Star Trek Online, Knights of the Old Republic Online (that’s Star Wars-themed), Final Fantasy XIV… Or, if you like spreadsheets and cutthroat business, maybe even EVE Online (though that one’s pretty niche, admittedly).
Another community you could look into is Vermintide 2, although it’s a bit more hit and miss. If you play with random players all the time you’ll often play with obnoxious people or the aforementionned complete muppets. Sometimes they’re both at the same time. But it’s easy to tag people you had fun playing with or who helped you figure things out and play exclusively with them. The game’s quite frantic however, so be warned about that.
I think playing on a console would be your best bet. At the risk of being…I dunno…agiest? I guess? With a console, you can guarantee having a bigger screen by easily plugging into your TV and making seeing the action of the game much easier.
Also, with a console, you don’t have to worry about whether your computer is powerful enough to play a new game. If it’s on a disk, it’ll play.
Lastly, consoles let you go to redbox and rent a game for a day or two and test it out without having to buy anything.
The MMO is actually called “Star Wars: The Old Republic” (Knights of the Old Republic was an older, single-player game).
Speaking as a former player of SWTOR, I’d advise against it, if one is looking for a social community. The game used to be that way, but it’s been suffering from serious neglect at the hands of its developer (EA / Bioware) for the past couple of years, as nearly all of Bioware’s development resources had been devoted to the launch of Anthem.
As a result, the player base in SWTOR has shrunk dramatically. I was an avid player of the game for several years, and it had a vibrant community, across role-playing, PvP, and raiding. I’ve barely played it in the past year, and most of my friends who were playing have moved on to other games (particularly FFXIV); the few people I know who are still playing SWTOR tell me that it feels like a ghost town, compared to what it was.
:smack: D’oh ! I knew that.
For the OP, I know you’re retiring and all, but one issue you might want to consider when asking advice is–How much time do you want to spend playing video games?
That became an issue for me and it’s one of the reasons I rarely play video games any more.
The way a lot of games are (or historically have been designed) required you to spend hours upon hours to (1) play around just so you could achieve the level of skill required to make a decent attempt at playing the game or (2) make any headway.
A lot of games are designed to keep the player in the game for as long as possible as often as possible. This can be a revenue issue. The income structure of many game companies means they make money only when people are in the game.
Now this might not be true for all games, but it’s something you want to consider and perhaps include in your requests for recommendations–how much time and “work” do I have to dedicate to this game in order to enjoy it?
Everyone is giving such sensible, vague answers, and they have great advice.
I am going in the opposite direction.
Stardew Valley. You want Stardew Valley.
Wii Sports apparently feels so much like the real thing that some nursing homes bought Wiis with that game for their retired folks who couldn’t really leave.
Personally, my favorite games are Super Mario Bros. 3 (for NES) and Skyrim (which is on lots of systems, but I have it on XBox 360). (I’m 37.)