Look, I’m 52. I have been playing games since they were Pong. I still have vivid memories of playing Combat on the Atari 2600 with my dad — one of our few good memories together, honestly — and I was seriously upset when people left the apostrophe off the end of the Yars in Yars’ Revenge. So I have been playing these games for well over 40 years. And as I have played them, I have always wondered how much longer I will be able to play them.
For one thing, I’m well aware that I don’t have to worry about mentally aging out of enjoying them. I can love things that are often considered childish or for the young, like D&D or video games. If anything I feel like enjoying them at my advanced, groaning age as I totter towards the grave gives me a bit of mental flexibility. But am I aging out of the physical ability to play them? My reflexes are of course worse than they were a decade ago, for example, and I have other disabilities that make games grow more inaccessible. So do I have a ticking clock over my head? Is there a time coming when I simply can’t keep doing this?
Accessibility options in games like World of Warcraft and Diablo 4 have given me hope that I can. Video games have helped serve me as a emotional catharsis, a means of escapism, and dsomething to spend a lot of time nerding out with Joe on Lore Watch. Having this as one of my hobbies has not always been easy, but it’s given me a lot, and I’m hopeful now that I’ll get to keep doing it well into my decrepitude.
So now let me ask you — do you think you’ll keep playing these games? Do you ever wonder if you’re aging out of being interested in or even able to play them?