I honestly don’t see how the average working class adult find that time. I feel like gaming is a luxury for rich/middle-class teens.

  • SilverShark@lemmy.world
    17·
    3 days ago

    Adult here. I have now over 10 years of experience as an adult, although closer to 20 years of experience playing video games.

    There are two realizations that are needed to understand the relation of someone in this life style who is also a fan of video games.

    First, no I do not have as much time as I used to have to play video games. In school and university times I would easily play over one hour per day on a week day and much more on a weekend. But nowadays, I spend 8 hours per day on a weekdays working on my job, plus a few hours doing house work. So can’t play as much as I could.

    But second, I also want to do other things. Nowadays I actually read much more then I used to. I also try to do other hobbies, and try to do social activities much more. I tend to spend more time with other people too. So out of my free time that I would use for video games in the past, I actually allocate that time for other activities.

    I still absolutely love video games. They are a part of my life. But I probably play two to four hours per week only. These hours are few but highly meaningful anyway.

    I think part of the journey for me to become an adult, to have a job, responsibilities, and such, has also been about broadening what I do, so it doesn’t upset me that I can’t spend so much time on video games, but rather it makes me happy that I have a fuller life.

    • BitsAndBites@lemmy.world
      2·
      2 days ago

      This response resonates to me. I would also add that after working all day looking at a computer screen and my mind is tired I like to enjoy other activities away from a screen. If I do look at a screen in the evenings, many times I dont want to think about a game or have to make choices for a game character. The times I really enjoy games are on the weekends. I imagine one day being an old man and getting to play video games all day again like I did when I was a child.

      • SilverShark@lemmy.world
        1·
        2 days ago

        Oh yes definitely. We get way to much screen time. And I also feel the same when I sometimes don’t really want to think too much in the evening. I’ve come to not play certain games I deem a bit too much. Elden Ring comes to mind. I like souls like, and I did play Lies of P recently which I enjoyed. But Elden Ring looks way to long and might be a hard game.

  • deathgrindfreak@awful.systems
    3·
    2 days ago

    Yeah and the only way I’ve been able to make it work is with the steam deck since it allows me to hang out in the TV room with everyone. Sequestering myself away in a dedicated room is over I’m afraid lol.

  • HeyListenWatchOut@lemmy.world
    English
    51·
    2 days ago
    1. Cook at home and eat healthy
    2. Sleep enough hours every night
    3. Cultivate and maintain healthy non-familial relationships
    4. spend meaningful amounts of quality time with family
    5. Work at a full-time job 40+ hrs a week
    6. Play video games or engage in other hobbies

    Choose 3

    You cannot effectively do the rest.

    I do 4, 5, & 6.

    I slept 3 hours last night and have an embarrassing number of Uber Eats deliveries each month… but on the bright side I count the video game time sometimes as “cultivating healthy relationships” when I can get ahold of my fellow gaming dads who don’t go to bed until after 1am… 🫩🥱

    • dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works
      2·
      1 day ago

      1246

      If you don’t get the full 40 a lot of stuff fits.

      I’m my case my job is both creative and technical so I sometimes need to just let stuff marinate in my head. I can feed my chess hobby or cook during that time. I’ve got 2 kids under 5 so after 5p it’s parenting only until they go to bed.

      Edit: notably there is still no time for video games

  • cley_faye@lemmy.world
    8·
    2 days ago

    Yes. But I worry about your premises. Except for a few thing, gaming is not a 10 hour long experience every time; you can just easily slip-it in any free time. Not having the time to play video games sort of implies you never have free time, which would be concerning.

    Maybe I’m misunderstanding the question and it is not about having time to play video games as much as will to play video games. Interests can shift over time; for some people, it’s playing different types of games, for other, it’s having different hobbies over time.

    I think the same way people have to be a bit social, they need a bit of “me” time here and there. All things in balance and all that. But the material “time” needed to play video games? Yeah, it’s there.

    • kassiopaea@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      2·
      2 days ago

      I can’t speak for everyone but for me, I’m not going to sit down and play a game unless I can do it for at least an hour or two. Almost all of the games I have aren’t the type where I can just pick something up for 15-30 minutes and not leave completely unsatisfied because I couldn’t actually accomplish anything.

      As far as actually having free 1-2 hour blocks? Ha. Yeah, right. I mean, maybe after work on the rare occasion that I can put off the things I need to do for a bit and the stress about them later, keeping me from playing anything for another 2 weeks… that’s the best-case scenario for working full-time and I don’t even have kids.

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 @pawb.socialEnglish
    991·
    4 days ago

    I cannot answer this question. I am a 40 year old kid, not an adult.

    I have lots of time. Other than work, I don’t do anything but play video games, watch videos/movies/shows, and shitpost comments on Lemmy. Got no money to do anything else I would like to do. Ain’t got no friends IRL to do anything with.

  • masterspace@lemmy.caEnglish
    703·
    4 days ago

    if you don’t have kids, you should have plenty of time for video games.

    If you do have kids that can become harder to justify.

    • LNRDrone@sopuli.xyz
      30·
      4 days ago

      Until the kids grow up a bit and then it can be bonding time. My kids are in early teens now and we have been playing video games together for years now

        • anomnom@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          2·
          2 days ago

          My 7yo and I are playing Sonic 2 on my old Wii. He’s playing tails to get the hang of movement, and loves beating robotnik. Plus I need his help on the half pipe challenges. It’s pretty fun.

    • Cyberwolf@feddit.org
      71·
      4 days ago

      Bro, I don’t have kids but I do have a wife and I already feel like I don’t have time. 💀

      • tamal3@lemmy.world
        6·
        3 days ago

        No kids here. Last night as we were falling asleep my partner said, “I really need to play Counter Strike tomorrow.” I fully respect that.

        • Cyberwolf@feddit.org
          31·
          3 days ago

          Blessed be you. I wish personal space wasn’t such a controversial thing inside PF a relationship.

          • masterspace@lemmy.caEnglish
            71·
            3 days ago

            It’s not, that’s a you and your partner thing. Healthy relationships have space for independence and personal hobbies in them.

          • tamal3@lemmy.world
            3·
            3 days ago

            I think my best advice is just to talk about it. Bring up that you want to play more video games, but it’s hard because you want to spend time with your partner, too. I’m sure my feelings were hurt at first, but I realized it wasn’t about me. Make it about you and not about them. Do you have your own space in the house? That is also really helpful.

    • LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      62·
      4 days ago

      Where would I ever get time for that? I don’t have kids but I’m genuinely curious. In-between chores, upskilling and work and S.O., I have absolutely zero time to just sit down and game, and even when I do, I have no energy.

      • masterspace@lemmy.caEnglish
        51·
        3 days ago

        A significant other should not prevent you from enjoying your hobbies.

        Most of the people I know who don’t have kids and ‘don’t have time for gaming’ in reality just have a significant other who looks down on gaming and makes them feel bad about it when they do.

        • LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          2·
          3 days ago

          Nah my S.O. is down to game and does so more than me because she’s unemployed, but I on the other hand don’t have the time for it.

      • null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        6·
        4 days ago

        I had kids a couple of years ago.

        Before having kids I didn’t really have time for “gaming”, but I did lounge around watching TV for a few hours before sleep.

        Now with kids it’s pretty much the same dynamic, but that few hours down time is interspersed with tending to the kidlets.

  • kubok@fedia.io
    51·
    4 days ago

    The “average adults” in my bubble all complain about not being able to game, but somehow know all about the popular TV shows of the moment. And of course Formula 1 and the many football leagues (world football that is, not ‘American’ hand-egg).

    It’s all a matter of priorities.

    Also, as my kids are a bit older now, we sometimes game together. My son loves coop Portal and my daughter enjoys it when I play Valheim. She loves watching me explore the game world.

    • arrow74@lemm.eeEnglish
      6·
      3 days ago

      I know what gets me is being too tired to commit to a game mentally after work.

      Then the weekends get filled with chores

      • kubok@fedia.io
        1·
        3 days ago

        It won’t get better if you have any kids. I bought Valheim for the casual exploring, but it got a bit more intense than that. :-/

    • dil@lemmy.zip
      5·
      3 days ago

      Yeah id be at the bar for hours with ppl whod be like how do you get time to game lmao, like I just don’t goto the bar every night

        • dil@lemmy.zip
          2·
          3 days ago

          one of the most, for bang for your buck, depending on the game you buy, but I also have plenty of games I bought and barely touched when I was very into gaming.

    • Drigo@sopuli.xyz
      1·
      2 days ago

      Many games people play, like counter-strike, League of Legends etc is all games you can’t pause. That’s really where the problem comes. If you kid wakes up, you have to leave the game, which sucks and even have penalties. So most choose to not play, because of that and watch tv series instead.

  • pyre@lemmy.world
    6·
    2 days ago

    in my experience, adults yes. adults with kids, not for a while.

    you get to play some games again when your child starts sleeping longer hours at night. if your spouse is ok with it you might be able to go to sleep later and play a session. just make sure your spouse is ok with it. even better if your spouse also plays.

    and hopefully when they’re old enough you’ll play together anyway.

    if you have another child only a year or two apart however that’ll set you back a couple years probably. 2x children is like 4x time sink for some reason.

    • PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca
      1·
      2 days ago

      When my child was a baby I played tons of games, because they napped so much.

      My wife and I would each take an 8 hour shift alone while the other person napped, and an 8 hour shift together. While I was alone and my child was napping for a couple hours at a time, I could get in a few games.

      This, of course, relies on you living somewhere that gives reason amounts of parental leave to both parents.
      Once my child got older, and started sleeping through the night, and we had to go back to work, then the shift system didn’t work anymore, and my gaming took a precipitous decline