Am I too old to start gaming?

[LollipotheCurious]

So, insights appreciated: I’ve been curious about gaming for years but have just never had a chance/opportunity to explore. I’m a boring 50 year old but think I’d really enjoy role playing games. I’m reasonably tech savvy but have no idea how to get started or what I’d really need - and there’s no-one in my environment who seems to have a clue either. I was listening to a recent podcast about various games and Expedition 33 appealed.
So (1) am I being unreasonable to think I could get into gaming and (2) if not, where the hell would I start?

Thanks for any advice and suggestions!

We do a mix of pc, xbox and Nintendo switch gaming.

Do you play any games on your phone?
I’d recommend getting an old games console and a random bundle of games just to try the various types out there. You never know, you might love racing cars, or stealing cars on grand theft auto, scoring great goals on fifa or getting your pretend kids into private school on Sims.

You're NEVER too old!

Macs are not gaming machines, and a laptop would have to be pretty hefty in spec to run a lot of modern games.

Personally if I was new to gaming, I would be looking at consoles. No fussing over specs and upgrades when a new game come out. Plus you can play games on your TV (massive screen 😊), so comfy nights on the sofa with blanket, cuppa and a decent game on those cold winter nights.

Get yourself a steam account and dive in. Always games on offer too!

Edited to say Steam is on your PC.

No age limit on fun!

I recently got my mam into Phasmophobia, and the most she'd ever played before was Bejeweled.

Consoles are a good starting point I think, a PS4 will do you well, has a good assortment of games and is a good option to get an idea of whether you enjoy it. They aren't that expensive especially if you buy second hand.

If you want to go PC You can get a decent gaming PC for ~£400-500, gaming laptops cost more because it's expensive to fit all the good stuff into a small shell. Buying games tends to be cheaper on PC than console which makes up the shortfall if you buy a lot of games.

I'm on generation 17 of my Sims family. Exclusively The Sims 3 for me. Hate Sims 4.

Also play console games like GTA and prefer Minecraft on console too. I'm also awesome at Fortnite.

Go for it! Gaming is a great hobby.

The question is what gaming tech do you have available to you?
Games consoles?
Gaming ready PC? If so what specs (graphics card, ram etc)?

I see you have an oculus, I enjoy Beat Saber on my meta quest headset, other games where you aren't just standing still give my travel sickness super fast.

I would recommend a gaming PC and a wired Xbox controller to plug in to it. You can get games super cheap on Steam and they have sales 4 or 5 times a year, Epic gives out a couple free games every week too and sometimes they give pretty good ones out.

We have PCs instead of TV, so we plugged our towers in to our TVs, we game and watch Netflix etc on them. My husband has a 70" main 'monitor' and mine is 50" 😅

A gaming PC will also open up a lot more content for an Oculus too.

If you're starting at that age, do your research and make sure the game you're buying has a very easy mode. Not all do.

Definitely never too old to start! Have been an avid gamer since I was tiny and I am now approaching 50! Gaming is so much fun and there is so much variety in games nowadays you are bound to find something that you love. Although, Clair Obscur is probably not a good one for a first try at gaming. It is an absolutely incredible game (and do make sure you go in blind if you do play it - avoid all spoilers if possible), but the scaling is a bit uneven, meaning you will have to do a bit of grinding, plus the character build system is very technical. Would recommend Elder Scrolls Oblivion (which has recently been remastered) as a first go at an RPG.

I have a PS5 and a Switch, though I'm on my PS5 much more. I play Call of Duty multiplayer quite a lot, but I've been meaning to play the campaign more. I also like Fortnite, and there are even games like Wheel of Fortune, Uno etc. If you get a PlayStation online membership it gives you access to a lot of games, there are different levels which vary in price but it can work out to be good value if you find a lot of games you want to play.

Another vote for Dreamlight Valley!

When I was kid my great grand mother in her 80s had a Sega mega drive and used to play it every evening. I thought she was the coolest old lady ever!

If you've a quest then buy ghost town. It's quite short and a standalone so no computer needed, about 6 hours or so but it's simple to play and there's a lot of puzzles in it as well as a story. It's a good way to introduce you and find your thing. We

Go for it. Been gaming since the 90s. I'm early 40s now and play fortnite pretty much every day. Ive also spent literally hundreds of hours playing red dead redemption 2, worked my way through all the resident evils and recently finished Alan wake since we got a ps5 (for dd 13 who is no longer interested lol) a few years ago. You're never too old!

Go for it!! World of Warcraft or if you’re not playing in a community Ghost Of Tahushima or Ghost of Yotei might tickle your fancy. It’s a brilliant way to unwind.

Ah in addition to Skyrim just wanted to mention it is part of a series. Someone above mentioned Oblivion which was the game before Skyrim and has recently been remastered so the graphics are stunning. The world in Oblivion is similar to Skyrim but the cities are different in theory it’s all part of the same world map.

A few games worth a mention that I play. No Man's sky (giant space exploration), Satisfactory (Open world factory building and exploration), Cult of the lamb (cute lambs in a cult - you're the cult leader and very fun), Planet Zoo ( build a zoo and lots of building challenges), Oxygen not included ( an underground city builder controlling everything for your folks to survive).

Jump in though, I've been gaming since the commodore 64 days and still love it.

This is hilarious!

This would be my suggestion too. They also have an amazing return policy, so if you play a game for a bit and then decide you don’t like it (I think it’s less than 2 hours play), you can get a refund.

I'm nearly 60 and wouldn't mind gaming, but I always get bored so I give up. 🤣

I did play Doom thirty years ago. That was great.

Never too old. When my 80 year old FIL was widowed, my DH bought him an Xbox and set him up with some basic war based games, World of Tanks was the one he enjoyed the most. He and DH would often communicate via the Xbox chat if an evening, both playing different games.

And before anyone snarkily says "shame he didn't visit his dad instead" - he did, we both did. PIL lived round the corner so we popped by all the time and he came to us for his dinner 2 or 3 times a week.

I am not an Xboxer but I like my Switch. I am 63.

Huge thanks to @everyone who took the time to reply, make suggestions and all the enthusiastic encouragement and info - very much appreciated! Have made a big list of games to take a look at - very excited! 😊

Don't get too discouraged if you find some games too hard at first. Find something you enjoy to get started.