[Rant] Have Your Gaming Attitudes Changed With Age?

I've noticed within the last few years (coinciding with having more responsibilities and less free time, who'da thunk it) that when I get a new game, I will normally sit down and play the shit out of it for a couple of days and then I'll lose interest and play it sparingly afterwards. When it comes to single-player games (current examples: Mass Effect 2, Assassin's Creed 2, Super Mario Galaxy, Kirby's Epic Yarn) it can mean a great tragedy that I got this game, I played it a lot and liked it, but the time I have has become precious and investing it in playing games is no longer seen as appropriate.

This contrasts heavily from when I was younger and I'd play a game and I wouldn't stop playing it until I beat it. More and more games nowadays are making it easier to just pick up, play it real quick, and drop it so the NEED for me to continue playing and beat a game quickly is not nearly as prevalent as it had been.

The most recent single-player game I've beaten was Portal 2. Anyone else who's played and beaten it knows that it's a short game, but I found it to be challenging enough that the shortness was at the very least cancelled out by the difficulty of some of the levels. I won't get into the discussion about how much a game that short should cost (or who would be dumb enough to BUY superficial loot for your co-op robot), but I certainly appreciate the length-to-challenge ratio when I have only a handful of hours a week to spend playing games.

I am, however, always interested in what's new and ahead in the gaming world. Maybe I won't be in five, ten-plus years, but it never fails to thrill me when a new generation of consoles is looming (like it is now).

Jam it back in, in the dark.