Topic: Question for the 25+ crowd on here

The majority of my childhood gaming memories involve playing with friends and it's not a coincidence. Exploring those Zelda worlds with your friends, having epic matches in Smash, etc. Sharing the experience is half the fun.

Super Mario 3d World is, to me, just as well designed as my 3 favorite Mario games of all time: SMB3, smw and yoshi's island. And while i had some fun playing through them, it wasn't nearly as much as the other 3, and the reason is solely due to the fact that, having turned 30 yesterday, only 2 of my friends can even stand sitting in front of a games console for more than 30 mins, and neither of them likes Nintendo anymore.

I happened to randomly play some Punch Out Wii with an old friend a couple years back n had an absolute blast.

So, my question is, how had having less people to play games with affected your experience/enjoyment of nintendo gaming, if at all?

Interesting point. I never owned a Nintendo console until recently, but I always had friends to play with (borrowing a GB was also pretty standard in those days) since around the SNES times (I'm turning 27 in a couple days). But while I had a blast back then playing with friends, and still have today, the shift to more solo play hasn't all that much impacted my enjoyment as I could experience the last couple days with Super Mario 3D World.

Also, my remaining gaming friends do not necessarily hate Nintendo, but have become more picky with games, searching for either very good writing, atmosphere or gameplay. While Nintendo games certainly deliver as a package, they often do not challenge the player as much as they used to, mainly because we long time gamers have become rather good at this stuff
That said, I am looking forward to Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, I am not sure it will be day one for me, but as soon as my buddy and I have some free time, this will be the game we'll be looking to.

I am pretty sure this era of online gaming could have some nice benefits on this front, I am kind of behind the times on this particular feature.

I'm 24, am I allowed in here?

I'm 25 and it hasn't affected me too bad. Or at least not as much as many other ppl my age.

I'm fortunate enough to still have some friends that buy Nintendo hardware so its not that hard to play games that only have local multi player. I'm in the minority though and its very obvious among my friends that are still gamers. I know quite a few people who don't have a Wii U or have gone on record in saying they won't buy one until Nintendo places a bigger emphasis on the online experience. And I can't really blame them.

I'm REALLY hoping Sakurai goes all in on the online functionality for Smash Bros cus I only know two people that still like the series and they aren't enthusiastic about it like I am and are really picky about what they play due to time constraints.

@EmporerJumpMad

Yes, lol.

@Man1ac

The dreaded time constraints. The adulthood reality that killed my desire to play as many RPGs as I possibly can

@Finnroth

Hmm, SM3dw is one of 2 games that really drove it home for me. The other being Link Between Worlds. Link to the Past was one of my favorite games of all time. I have so many memories of sleepovers with 5-6 friends playing through that game.

For this reason, I anticipated LBW like crazy this whole year, scavenging the internet for every last bit of information. And while i loved every minute of it and consider it even better than LTTP, it's missing the magic of the original, and I fully believe it's due to a lack of friends to play with.

There's gotta be some kind of group for people like me similar to AA where you go and confess you are an old guy addicted to nintendo and meet others like you lol

I'm 25, but I have the advantage of many younger siblings (my mom runs a foster home), so I never have a shortage of people to play with. I can still gather up enough people for some 4 player SSB beatdown.

As for a solo gaming experience, I've actually grown more fond of Nintendo in the last couple of years. I work full time and have family obligations, so I don't have the time to play most of the multiplat AAA games competitively, and really have no interest in the 100 hours of doing nothing in GTA. I have a PS3, but it's mostly my JPRG and blu ray machine (though my JPRG backlog is getting ridiculous). Nintendo is able to fulfill a role in my life that no other gaming publisher can. Normally, I play video games for a few hours per week. That's a Zelda dungeon here, a Phoenix Wright trial there, etc.

Do you think younger people don't know anything about the old days? I'm barely 23 and I know everything you just talked about and a lot of your childhood memories were also part of my memories.
Back on topic: All I can say is that it hasn't really affected my gaming experience at all Nintendo doesn't have many multiplayer games and their single player experiences are just awesome. Games that have multiplayer are usually a 1 player experience and the multiplayer experience is just a bonus there aren't really games that actually need multiplayer to be enjoyable besides Smash Bros, Mario Party, and Mario sports titles (don't count online multiplayer since it doesn't apply to this thread and Smash Bros online was so bad most people didn't even bother to use it). As an adult it's harder to get people to sit down and play videogames at certain times TBH gaming becomes more of a whenever I have free time I'll play, it's harder to play videogames whenever you want. Also people's tastes in things can change and your friends just don't like Nintendo anymore it happens (I liked overalls back then but eventually my tastes chaned). Personally my best friend is a Nintendo fanboy so either way I always have someone to play with so I guess I can't complain.

I got myself a Wii U for Christmas because I loved the local multiplayer experience of Nintendo growing up. I'm almost 29. I don't have younger siblings, but I do have a gaggle of neices and nephews who will be over a lot over Christmas break and I am looking forward to playing with them. My older brother who I grew up playing Nintendo with hates the company now. We will be spending Christmas under the same roof. He knows I am getting a console, but I think he just assumes it will be a PS4 or XBox 1 because that is what cool people do. I will be interested to see if he will be mature enough to let go of his Nintendo hate.

When I tell most people I am getting a WiiU they give me a blank stare. There was one guy that I am friends with who got really excited, so I am sure we will be playing. Girls are also excited to come play with me...so I guess that gives me an advantage.

Haha, I am pretty sure there's something like that somewhere on the webs
Well I have to admit, though I played most of sm3dw alone (my single player save is the most complete and fairly close to 100%), I did some sessions with friends and that definitely contributed to the overall experience. I am wondering about Zelda though, you're right. I'll get it for myself at the end of the year and will have to see how that will turn out. A friend of mine will get the bundle as well, however, so we'll probably talk about it a lot during the playthrough.

On the other hand, I am pretty sure with the right kind of online play, the experience would be about the same or at least as good. The Mii integration in sm3dw is a right step and taking a good inspiration from the likes of Demon's/Dark Souls. Since the Nintendo community does seem to be rather mature about their contributions opposed to some cough other platforms, I could imagine a lot of potential there.

The first thing on my PS3, when ever I want or have to play online, is to mute the entire cast of team members and enemies and ignore every single chat input. I got so disgusted during a match in the Last of Us with a team mate teabagging some other dude that I had to quit for a couple days. I don't know, maybe I am overly sensitive about this kind of behavior but it's one of the reasons I got a WiiU. I don't mind people venting on occasion as I really like fighting games as well, but it has to be within reason and on some kind of mature level.

My point being, there is a lot of potential for Nintendo to work on exactly this point, and it could certainly recreate part of this "couch" feeling from those days, I think a lot of us gamers grew on their consoles and can in some way relate. Probably a very good marketing to a certain audience as well as conforming to new standards of infrastructure.

I got married just to have somebody to play Nintendo games with.

I got to second @mamp here. I actually thought some of the users that posted above were younger than me. Anyway, ya, games are alot less fun without other people. I don't think that has anything to do with getting older as much as moving on past things you enjoyed and not being able to go back.

I could go on about how I feel about this, but it would probably be deemed irrelevant or a tangent as it always does.

It can go both ways for me. If I can have others join in, then that's awesome. Let's smash it up, or what have you.

Sometimes though, I want to take my time, have a perfect run, explore or something where other players won't get in the way.

That's why we have so many games.

I'm 43, playing with my kid and partner is good fun. Get some friends who aren't prematurely senile or whatever their problem is!

I'm 30 next year. I have friends that play video games but none of them are interested in Nintendo home consoles or handhelds. It is unfortunate because I have absolutely no intention of getting an Xbox One or PlayStation 4. It astounds me that video games are something that we have in common, but the platforms that we have chosen have separated us. We do not play video games together.

I have always been very much comfortable with playing video games on my own. In fact most of the video games that I have played have been single-player experiences. I sometimes even go out of my way to ensure that the video game I am going to play does not rely too heavily upon co-operative or online play. Nintendo Land is a video game that I would have loved to have played more often with friends but it doesn’t always work out as perfect as a Nintendo advert.
I have a wife that does enjoy playing video games and I am lucky to be able to video games with her on occasion. Ten years ago, when I was living with my parents and before I got married, life was simple. There were far more opportunities to play with friends, I could go to their house or they could come over. I should also mention that back then I wasn’t interested in Nintendo. I played whichever home console was popular. I have such a different perspective on now.

I don’t ever want to grow up, but at some point you have to understand that you have a responsibility to your wife, or your partner, girlfriend/boyfriend, that you have to keep a job or whatever extra-curricular activities you might be involved in. In understanding this, the time that you have to do these things becomes condensed, and you realise that you don’t have a whole weekend to play video games anymore. Not that I have ever played video games for a whole weekend, but these days I can play video games for two to three hours a week if I am lucky. You become far more critical of your next purchase or which video game you’re going to play next.

I have realised that if I am going to play video games it must be on my own. It is that hour or so a week that I get to completed lose myself in an alternate reality. Nintendo is the answer. You get high quality games that never fail to deliver. You get that hit of nostalgia; you smile and laugh or perhaps cry. You could be playing it for five minutes or five hours. It may be another week or so before you get to play it again but you get what you need. But I also understand the need for playing with others. Video games have only recently emerged from the bedroom into the living room and so playing Nintendo Land with my wife, brother, parents and occasionally friends can also be a fantastic experience.

The Wii U and the 3DS are the console and handheld of choice for the family man. You get a quick hit and then you move on. Or if you’re lucky, you delve in for a few hours and are rewarded with an enriched and extremely satisfying experience.

@mamp

I was not implying that younger people aren't aware of older games. I only addressed the older crowd because the older you get, the less videogame playing friends you tend to have. And since Nintendo is considered "kiddie", even more so.

Most of the time I spent doing multiplayer gaming with my friends when that was a regular thing was on the PC. Age of the Empires and C&C mostly. I played quite a bit on the SNES with my sister but between Animal Crossing and various party/mobile games that really hasn't changed much.

If anything it's easier to get family together to play a game because Nintendo has made it more accessible. It's almost equally as possible that someone other than me will suggest a game of Nintendo Land or Wii Sports when we've got a family thing on. Also nieces are a thing, this new generation is more into gaming than I ever remember being.

@northlightsuplx

After having recently broken up with my ex, I am not ashamed to admit that I have recently decided to get a girlfriend that is into games for exactly that reason, ha!

@danwarner

I agree totally and am in the same boat, minus being married. Life has definitely taken away a lot of time that could be spent playing games. However i get a couple hours a night to play while I'm winding down, as well as quite a bit of time on weekends, luckily

I lived in California for 5 years, and knew a small amount of people, 4 of which were into video games. When I decided to move back to Boston, where all my childhood friends were, I was pumped to have more people to game with, only to learn that although I know about 5 times as many people out here, just about all of them have moved on from gaming, and those who haven't have done so from Nintendo. Go figure...

I'm 32 and all my friends have _{grown up} and don't play video games anymore but I will never forget the NES/SNES/Genesis/Game Boy/Arcade/Nintendo Power era of gaming. The only person that I occasionally play with is my wife and that consists of short bursts of Mario or Wii Sports though I am looking forward to playing games with my son as he gets older. Right now I prefer to play games alone (I have a PS3 so online multiplayer option is there); I only have a couple hours throughout the week that I have time to play video games anyway so it doesn't really work out for me to find someone to play with like the good ol days.

I'm 44. My GF's kid is five and I've enjoyed playing with him. We get each other past levels where we get stuck. I had an SNES but never really played it with friends- you'd have to go back to the Atari 2600 for that. I had a Gameboy and Gameboy advance but never really played with others for the most part.