Nah. That’s nonsense.
A career? Fuck that noise, statistically you will never make enough to make the effort worth it, get a job that offers you what you need and doesn’t demand more bullshit from you (although i understand some places just won’t let this happen). Family? Frankly i think having kids is a mistake regardless, but once they are old enough you shouldn’t be a helicopter parent anyway. A partner? Good partners let you have some time for yourself and your hobbies (and that goes both ways!).
Have to say, the steamdeck has been great for this.
Pick up exactly where you left off, press the sleep button to pause exactly where you are. I tend to play on story mode now because I don’t have time to grind and just want to experience the game.
Sits beside the bed so once the kids have been put to bed and if there’s down time it’s pick up and go.
I was able to retain time and money for gaming and other hobbies by having a vasectomy.
Edit: Typo
Yeah, I had plenty of time and money for gaming and other hobbies before having little mischievous halflings. Now at least two thirds of my free time goes into them instead of me. Would I love more me time, absolutely. But I also love them and I feel incredibly privileged to have the time that I can spend on them and I can’t fathom not wanting to spend time with them.
But this is more about letting potential future parents know that children are a fucking huge commitment and you better have your own life sorted because you won’t have time to fix your shit later. Kids are post-campaign content. You finish your main story and then if you’re looking for some challenging content, you get kids. Don’t get kids during your main story because then they become your main story.
Referring to kids, quite aptly, as “post-campaign content” /chefskiss
I haven’t played a game for more than 30 minutes in years.
Once you have a big boy job, responsibilities, and a family (if you choose to do so) game time ends up being really low on the list of priorities.
I’m sure many will disagree, but you just can’t devote time to such things once you are an adult. You have to outgrow such indulgences or life will smack you in the dick. If your car is broken, the dishwasher is being an asshole, you need to refinance, the kids have music lessons, the dog is old and needs to go to the vet (again), your mom needs someone to replace her hose faucet, you just can’t sit around dicking around with a game.
I respect that, but at the same time, if you don’t make time for leisure, 30 years will disappear down the drain in a blink of an eye. Nobody is going to make that space for you; you have to advocate for yourself.
This. I lost 7 years to a well payed job I needed due to financial mistakes I’m still recovering from. My new job pays about 25% less but even then I’m down to 25 more month until I’m done. I don’t remember anything of those 7 years except when covid hit and I got super depressed, and that one time I was dating this girl for 3 months and I willingly made time for her, like taking a 4 hour walk or urbexing for a day. Now I’m back at doing nothing but work and housework, cook dinner and being “forced” to spend the evening watching movies… longest time in the last 2 years was a 3 month job training, felt like a whole year.
Get out, do something, get new experiences. Make time for that.
I just play games with my kids, there’s no reason why you need to stop. It’s like saying you don’t have 30 minutes to read, yeah, of course you fucking do.
The real issue here is actually just your opinion of games. You consider games to be “sit around dick around” time wasters.
If that’s all it is to you then yeah you’ll naturally find yourself moving on as basically anything else will be more fulfilling.
Games to me are a form of art which have the power to change lives. A medium I’ve been continuing to develop an appreciation for my entire life, alongside other pursuits such as music. As life gets hectic into adulthood I’ve found that games are far more meaningful to me now than ever before.
And I’m not sitting around looking for time to kill. I make time to play because of how restorative and life affirming it is. Games like Citizen Sleeper, Spiritfarer, Outer Wilds, To The Moon, Slay the Princess, Hollow Knight, Eastward, Arctic Eggs. Some experiences stay with you forever, expand the depth of your empathy, and steer your heart towards kindness.
I don’t know what’s gonna happen to you if you try to crank out endless rounds of Call of Duty to the point where it interferes with you taking your dog to the vet. But I’m 100% certain all working adults would benefit from engaging with meaningful art regularly. Be it games, books, film, etc. Whatever strikes you.
I switched to books. Portable, cheap, can start/stop any time. Can read in down moments, can listen on long car rides.
I started playing Outer Wilds. I just don’t have the time to prioritize it to the point where I can enjoy it.
It’s absolutely possible to balance all of what you’ve mentioned with a bit of time for yourself. Less than when you’re younger, yes, but you can make time for yourself. In fact, I’d say it’s the wiser route since it fights general burn out, which is all too easy to fall into given how long that list of responsibilities can be.
I’ve heard some say they prefer to do something less interactive with the downtime they have, which I competely respect, but saying you can’t devote time to personal hobbies as an adult simply isn’t true. It just takes more concious effort
Retirement is amazing. Game time anytime.
