Can you still reach that Zen-like state when gaming?

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Although I am still very good at games, it seems I've lost a bit of my touch. Recently, my friend and I busted out Contra. Now, when I was younger (six or seven) this same friend and I could beat this game...without continuing! However, we made it to the third level before running out of continues....ugh...Same thing happened when we played various other games. I used to get that zen-like focus while gaming, and it would just click. (Especially for Pac-Man and Robotron...) But, I can't seem to get that anymore...do you guys still have it/did you ever have it? One effect it had on me would be that when I was done, my face would be red. Everyone would think I was getting a fever, yet it was always due to the immense concentration!
 
i still get it, i think the only reason i get it less is because i dont play games as much now that im an old man (not that old but ya know) ... actually i remember reading a bbc article about a study on video games, and gaming is one of the only things in the world that can produce alpha brain waves, pretty neat stuff... lets see if i can find it........ good ol internet, here it is

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2154092.stm
 
I think I've only had such an experience once, When I beat TMNT 1 for the NES, when previously, I wasnt able to get very far, nor was I able to get really far ever again, but once, I just had an out of this sense experience and I just beat the crap out of it. It was really strange.
 
[quote name='iheartmetal']i still get it, i think the only reason i get it less is because i dont play games as much now that im an old man (not that old but ya know) ... actually i remember reading a bbc article about a study on video games, and gaming is one of the only things in the world that can produce alpha brain waves, pretty neat stuff... lets see if i can find it........ good ol internet, here it is

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2154092.stm[/QUOTE]

"Flow State is an optimal psychological experience. It's when you're functioning on auto-pilot, when everything clicks into place and goes right,"

That's it. That's how I could/would feel. I would just relax, and could fully concentrate on the game...and when I was done, I would just step away and feel great. Man, I wish I could still do that...
 
doh, I forgot, I used to be in that state of mind on a daily basis when playing Mario Kart competitively. I'd just be sitting there watching myself.

Good article.
 
I never had a system (other than commodore) when I was alot younger, so it's hard to say I lost anything. I know for a fact though that most older games I play I am more horrible at than I use to be. It's most likely because I've addapted to how games are nowadays more so than the early stuff. Probably if you spent a good week playing all old school it would be easier to get into that mode. Just a theory though.
 
I know exactly what you're speaking of.

I've done it with Metal Slug. Since getting hurt once will kill you, you have to go into a psychological niche of sorts, know when and exactly how to press buttons. With games like Metal Slug and Contra, it's a lot like those speed gaming videos where you have to do everything perfectly.
 
I know what you're talking about, and for me the reason I can't get into game like Contra nowadays is simply because its so simple. I'm used to games with 3D fighting, 30 weapons, fire comming from every direction, bosses that would seem impossible to somone watching. But put me back in the 2D world with 5 weapons and the option of shooting up, down, and straight, and I just can't get it anymore.
 
yeah I am the same way I used to be able to fly through gunstar heroes and streets of rage 3 without losing all my lives now I can barely stay alive in those games.
 
The only game I can still go into the zone in is Counter-Strike (Source).

Yesterday I singlehandedly wiped out an entire team with a p228 and a knife on de_prodigy.
 
my skills as a gamer have defiently decreased as ive gotten older, i used to be able to fly through games as a kid but now when i replay the same game i beat as a kid im lucky to get out of the first couple levels.
 
I've done it before with Call of Duty using the Carbine. I normally never use the carbine, but for some reason that day, I was taking down the entire German team. Then my whole team started using the Carbine. :lol: I went like 35-10 that round.

Never to be repeated again... :whistle2:(

I can also do it w/ Ikaruga sometimes.
 
[quote name='onetrackmind']my skills as a gamer have defiently decreased as ive gotten older, i used to be able to fly through games as a kid but now when i replay the same game i beat as a kid im lucky to get out of the first couple levels.[/QUOTE]

I think that's because games nowadays don't require the mad skills the old games did. You used to have to play the game over and over and get everything just right to get anywhere. Now we have games saves and varying difficulty levels, etc. Even when there's one or two hard parts, you only have to play them once.
 
I used to get into this state everytime i played kelly slater's pro-surfer(very under-rated game) i was almost like a machine with those combos, and i didn't have to think about it at all. it was beautiful, very beautiful.
 
Tony Hawk for me. The first one on DC I could get a million or more points combo easy. The 2nd that had the contest through I think OPM I was in the top ten. I did alright through the next few ones then I bought THUG and couldn't beat it. I barley beat THUG 2
 
used to reach this state in mario kart 64 multiplayer. man i cant wait for revolution so i can play that again (maybe online too, who knows). actually, know that i think about it, i got that way with a ton of N64 games. nowadays though, i cant find a game that allows me to reach that state.
 
Ahhh games...
Halo 1 & 2: idk if it was my friends really sucking, or me being really good but at 8 v 8 halo parties we'd do tdm to 250, and i'd get around 130 kills per game. Its just like after the 30th kill you just know what to do, you don't get to exciting, and I'd completely forget about the team (Yeah I know about teamwork ... and it not having a point in TDM!) and sometimes I'd be playing and someone would be like "DUDE YOU HAVE 20 MORE KILLS THAN THE REST OF US" and I'd be like "WTF?!" since I don't even remember to look at my score when I'm in the zone.

CS:)S): This goes morely on the CS 1.6 end of things since CS:S involves a fucking more luck because the hit boxes are messed up. But yeah this would be the same as Halo except my whole clan would have a zen. We'd use TeamSpeak, we'd get aerial views of maps and draw out plans, and we'd rape the competition, we only did cal-o and some other league but thats because we all had lives (for example, the clan started in november and stop being good in like may, thats when my basketball is so i could only play so much). It was very fun while it lasted.

Tony Hawk series: That one guy said he could get like a million combo? Thats simple compared to me getting 5 mil average...I guess its from playing THUG wayyy too much in the summer of O FOUR. And yes I do know it is hard to get more points in the earlier games, but I can still get an easy mil on 30 sec mode.
 
I never get that video game zen state anymore. Someone always bothers me in the middle of my gaming over something, and then that's it, my gaming zone is ruined. Being an adult sucks sometimes.
 
New games hardly ever let me reach that state.


I did FINALLY beat Battletoads on the NES a few weeks ago. Turns out the first time I beat it I didn't even need to use a continue. Clearly, zen-gaming was at work.
 
My skills have also declined but I can still get that glossy-eyed look when I play Super Monkey Ball on the Gamecube and I can do no wrong. I've come VERY close to a perfect run through all 60 Expert and Master levels without dying. My best PP score is 8945 which is damn close.

I also get this way when I play Tetris on my GB (right now I'm playing until I hit 9,999 lines to see what happens because that's as high as the counter goes - I'm at roughly 6,500 lines right now spread over several weeks of playing), Tony Hawk 4 on my PS2 and Ms. Pac-man in the arcade (over 100,000 routinely).
 
I haven't been able to achieve a zen-like state while gaming in quite a long time. A few times over the past few years, I've nearly attained a ninja-like state of lightning-quick reflexes, but lately I've been lucky to even reach a rooster-like rate of quick jabs at the controller buttons.
 
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