I don’t spend a ton of time on YouTube, but when I have time to sit and watch, I focus on video game-related content. Sometimes I watch playthroughs, other time, news and updates catch my attention. For whatever reason lately, however, my feed has been filling up with laments about gaming and getting older. How the cruelties of “old age” fog up our rose-tinted nostalgia glasses when it comes to playing games, or rather, the lack of playing them because of time. Being an adult means that there’s no time to play, boo hoo and all that. Although, maybe the problem isn’t completely adulting = no time, because, as these narrators often spout, games today are huge, complex timesinks that require too much effort. Also, there are too many choices. Too many choices to play alone or with friends. Too many choices that are often broken on arrival. Doesn’t the AAA game industry (never mind the vast array of indie game developers) care about me and my time??

Well, I think we all know that answer to that. But once I let go of the initial wave of scoffing that comes about after watching such “woe is me” content, I’m reminded of a two things that re-instill reality. For one, I could easily say, “been there, done that.” Honestly, there’s nothing easy about becoming an adult. While everyone’s path to old age—which is unavoidable, and we won’t go into things that could change that—is different, there’s one truth that’s universal: with adulthood comes responsibility. All dirges over not having enough time for fun and hobbies as an adult, including my own, boil down to the fact other needs have to be prioritized first. I wish life could be otherwise, but, it’s not. Sorry.

While I don’t feel bad for folks who putting out this content with relation to (lack of) gaming as an adult, I do understand the need to produce it, to vocalize or expound upon a blank screen one’s feelings. That’s just being human in the Internet age. But, when it comes to games especially, not being able to fully participate in the pastime in the way one wants can feel like a personal affront, because it’s easy to feel like “you”(as a kid) helped shaped the gaming industry, and now it’s letting “you” (as an adult) down.

Going back to those nostalgia glasses, so many of us pine for those “good old days” when we were young and had nothing to do but play, play, and play some more…and maybe do some occasional homework. Right now, a good portion of the adult and spanning-into-adulthood population grew up alongside the burgeoning game industry. We sunk tons of time and (our parent’s) money into games that evolved rapidly from pixels to bits. The industry ebbed and flowed just like any other, but players kept playing. They moved from arcades to home consoles to home PCs and back again. With each crash came a new dawns that we witnessed, decried, and reveled in. We were there! We were there to support the industry, foster new players, quell the naysayers, and make gaming great again (sorry) time and time again. Without us, the industry would be nothing!

So, I get it. I get that it’s easy to take things personally when industry that, in a sense, “you” helped build pushes you aside and tramples on your aspirations. Yes, our own ravenous appetite for more games has led to some consequences that come along with industry-building – greed, low quality products, and poor working conditions, to name a few – and yet, we keep playing. We, the adults, that is. Kids too, but they aren’t shelling out the dollars for games and subscriptions and that one-of-a-kind console release. We might complain about where our money is going along the way to “growing up,” but no great industry has ever sailed smooth seas to progress. Fact is, we stick by games and the people who make them, for better or worse, because we want gaming to thrive for future generations. With video games, it really is personal.

Lede image captured by author during PS5 gameplay of The Talos Principle 2 (© Croteam, Devolver Digital.)