I've been playing videogames longer that alot of people on this site have been alive. I feel old (probably because I'm still fairly young) saying that but it's true. I've been gaming for some 20-21 years, starting back on my old Atari something hundred. In this time I've learned there is a difference between how young people play games and how well adjusted adults play videogames.

When I was younger I had time and nothing better to do, that is the big difference. When I was a teenager I could play games obsessively. I played starcraft from 11:00 PM to 6:00 AM religiously for who knows how many months. The same could be said for Phantasy Star Online, Quake 3, and Unreal tourney, and others. The actual time of day may have varied but we had dial up (back in the day when blazing fast 56k was a step up from the slow ass 28k), so I usually only played online games after the day ended and my parents wouldn't care I was tying up the phone line. Of course this doesn't count the old Mario Karts, Street Fighters ect that didn't require a modem to play religiously.

So what's the point I'm trying to make? I KICKED ASS. When you do nothing but play Quake 3 for six or seven hours a night you get pretty good. I could go online and be a beast. I could dominate matches with impunity. Only on occasion would somebody else that rocked as hard as I would be in the same room to challenge me and then me and he would seek each other out treating all others as gnats to be ignored or swatted casually while looking for a real fight. Those were good times.

I'm a gnat now. Namely because I'm an adult. I have a job, I have a wife, I have better things to do. That's not to say I don't enjoy gaming, I still do immensely. Which is why games like COD4, or Warhawk, or Street Fighter 2 HD remix drive me nuts. I'm now playing against the kind of snot nosed punk I used to be. I am quickly swatted aside by people who get head shots reflexively, and now every combo my character is capable of and how to combat it even if I don't know the combos, they know all the sniping positions and where every weapon is found on a map and they use this knowledge to my never ending detriment.

This is where Nintendo comes in. Some rail against them for making games too accessible too casual, too easy to play. For an adult with a life this is a godsend. If I try to pop in COD4 right now I had better have my calender cleared because it's going to take some time for me to get into good enough shape to fight worth a damn. And if I have a free weekend or something, then sometimes I will spend some hours playing warhawk or COD4 and get pretty decent by the time I go back to work, only to not touch them again for a month or so.

Super Smash Brothers Brawl on the other hand is made for someone like me. Give me a few minutes in the waiting room with Link, or Olimar and I'm set to get in there, kick some ass and have some fun. Give me a blue shell, and a bullet bill, and some red shells in Mario kart and I can race and place instead of coming in dead last round after round. Games like these aren't "babyfied" or dumbed down for soccer moms and six year olds. They are made just as much for grown gamers who can't spend seven hours a day honing their skills to devour the competition alive. The online interface itself could definitely use some work, but the games themselves I'm very grateful for. I can actually come home, and play Smash Bros for thirty minutes before I go spend quality time with my wife, or take care of some other projects I need to work on. And I can enjoy those thirty minutes. That's the big part of it for me. I'm not going to spend the whole time trying to figure out what the hell just happened, I'm going to have some fun instead. So Nintendo, thank you for making games that can cater to mid twenties work-a-day folk such as myself. Salute.

I agree...that's why I like a few casual games (Boom Blox, De Blob, dare I say it, Mario Kart Wii) in between my Zeldas and Metroids. I just don't have the time to invest in games anymore....and if I did I wouldn't get anything else done.

I feel somewhat the same. I was playing Mario Party DS(Yes, Mario Party) earlier today and I had a blast. The minigames in particular are fun for short burst gameplay as supposed to other games were I have to dedicate 50+ hours to be at half-decent. May Nintendo live into my mid-age, so I can enjoy these types of games and not have to feel old playing "CoD12" or "Warhawk 6."

Nice post, sums up what I've noticed in my gaming as well.

It's why I don't like playing online. It ends up being me just getting shot up by someone thats able to play the game 10 hours a day vs me who may have played 10hrs a month at most.

Being the best player in Mario Kart or Brawl still takes a lot of play time and practice. You may be able to beat a couple people with 30 minutes of practice, but like any other online game, you're certainly not going to dominate.

Huh, you oldie. So that's how my life will look like in ten years time. I always wondered if i would be able to keep up my gaming habits as time goes by, but you actually shattered any hope i had.

Thanks a lot mister.

That's not completely true. I've played over 400 hours of Mario Kart in my life (I guess), and I win half the matches online in MKWii (that oftenly have like 10 people in them)

I get owned heavily by my uncle in MKWii. He uses the wheel, and has this insane precision when driving. He has never played a driving game before (I think), but he's just ridiculously good and he wins over 2 of 3 matches against me.

(Your point is still there though, this is just a rare case)

yes but in brawl you just won't win against an experienced player. Yes it was made for pick-up and play, but then if you enter the tourneys and ladders i'm in, there is no pick-up and play, its be good or get raped.

Yes, I understand brawl has depth, I get it. But the vast majority of people playing brawl online are not tourney players, since they loathe alot of online. Any lag at all messes up their heavily practiced routines. And most highly skilled tourney players aren't looking for 4 man FFA with items on random stages.

Great post, and so very true.