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
    9·
    2 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.

  • HeyListenWatchOut@lemmy.world
    English
    31·
    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·
      23 hours 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

  • PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca
    2·
    2 days ago

    Barely anymore.
    When I have free time, I spend it on my hobby projects, or I’ll watch YouTube because it’s less commitment (i mostly play multiplayer games where I don’t wanna quit on my teammates mid-match).

  • cley_faye@lemmy.world
    5·
    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.

  • masterspace@lemmy.caEnglish
    501·
    3 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.

  • Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works
    4·
    2 days ago

    Yes, as I chose not to have kids and my wife also enjoys video games.

    Edit: However, I do tend to hyperfixate on other interests for periods of time.

  • frog_brawler@lemmy.world
    1·
    2 days ago

    Very seldomly.

    Gaming for me at this point is playing Rimworld on my work computer while I am waiting for something / someone.

  • STUNT_GRANNY@lemmy.world
    4·
    2 days ago

    Only on the weekends, between chores.

    I drive a truck for work, and it’s my home during the week. Theoretically, I’ve got some gaming time while waiting on loading docks, but in terms of providing time for gaming, I can’t count on it. Some of my customers are annoyingly efficient. I prefer to nap anyway.

    I could always play once I’m parked at the end of my trip, but after 11 hours of driving, I’m often too mentally fried to even watch TV.

    Plus, my truck’s power inverter can’t handle running my gaming PC anyway. So it waits for me at home.

    • kassiopaea@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      1·
      2 days ago

      I drove for Schneider for about a year and the standard equipment inverter was more than enough for my computer at the time (i9-12900k, 2070 super). I could run the microwave at the same time too… it was probably at least 2kw.

      But yeah, it kinda sucked not knowing if I was going to be docked for 30 minutes or 4 hours… it was always best to be able to get paid to play video games or take a nap.

  • theherk@lemmy.world
    4·
    2 days ago

    I have all the time I ever did (little), but I use it differently. I’d rather take a walk in the mountains with my wife than play a game. In my mid-30’s I quit smoking, smoking, and playing games. Nothing against those things; I just wanted to use my time differently.

    I read a ton more too, and find it far more enjoyable.