Too old for fighting games

[Starhammer]

I’ll be too old when I’ve suffered the FINAL K.O.

-Starhammer-

[orochizoolander]

I’m going to be 60 and still have hopes of making top8 at evo.

[Ki_Shima]

How old is too old? Like a lot of people sf4 was my first fighting game where I tried to learn the system and play people and win. I’m turning 30 in january and I’m starting to wonder if that’s too old to be around the fg community and be a scrub. I hear a lot of younger guys wax poetic about the old days and they’re 5 years younger than me.

im 51 and I’ve never felt too old to play fighting games :wonder:

[ElderGOD]

actually i think you reach the peak of your reaction time/dexterity in your early 20s. not sure though.

I trained kids into professionals in handball, and based on experience from a large sample size of students, I can tell you that optimum age range for reflexes, timing, etc, is around from 14 to 20. At 21 you already start to see minor physical skill decay, with sufficient loss after 25. What this means is that at 20 you should be training more to keep yourself from losing your physical abilities while improving the mental abilities to compensate for physical loss. Also the range starting at 14 means that you should already have the core concepts down before you hit 14. I also did professional ballroom dance in Russia, and there we started training when we were 4 years old in order to gain all the technical knowledge of the sport so that once you hit your teens you could already be ready to travel and compete.

[SoVi3t]

I’m going to be 60 and still have hopes of making top8 at evo.

u heard it hear first. Orochi vs Cyber-Daigo in 2052

[Starhammer]

u heard it hear first. Orochi vs Cyber-Daigo in 2052

heh. Talk about going OLDSCHOOL.

-Starhammer-

[RaidenthaShocka]

You are already dead…I’m also 30, would you like me to wax about the old days? It all began with this Arcade and this new fangle street fighter 2, after supreme dominance in Pit Fighter, I had decided to move on to my next venture in supreme arcade nerdom.

Hey, aren’t you a little too old be asking advice from an internet forum, much less a street fighter related site? Why don’t you just go an announce you are quitting drinking down at the Bud Light forums?

I guess you could take what I said as “should I quit playing fg and going to tourneys cause I’m old and suck”, but that’s not really what I was getting at. When I say I’m a scrub I’m comparing myself to The top players not some xbl ken who mashes srk and never plays offline. I was more interested in what’s considered the status quo.

you are quitting because sf4 was your first fighting game
its like quitting console gaming because pit fighter was your first snes game

Haha I’m not “quiting” sorry if that’s what you gleened from my post.

[fishjie]

Depends what your goals are.

You’re never going to be the best, but that’s OK, because the vast majority don’t have the time necessary to become the best. Studies show you need to log 10k hours to be an expert in anything. To put that into perspective, if you practiced an hour a day, it’d take you 27 years to become an expert. At 30, its pretty much too late, unless you are treating gaming as a full time job. Science does seem to indicate that unless certain hobbies are started at a young age, your brain won’t be wired to be able to pick it up at a later age.

Case in point. I play the piano and violin, and my finger dexterity at age 27 is far better than it was in high school. But that’s only because I didn’t practice enough in high school to have ever achieved my prime, which would have been a lot better than it is today. Oh well. But because I had years of lessons as a kid, it built the foundation that allowed me to continue to improve now. For a game like SF4 that requires a shitload of finger dexterity you’ll definitely be at a disadvantage.

HOWEVER, if you just want to achieve your personal best, then who cares? The skill differential between pro and amateur is vast, and you can climb the ladder quite far as long as you are willing to devote some time to study and training.

I’m a “casually competitive” gamer for certain games, if that makes any sense. I play to win and to constantly improve, but I’m not going to treat it as a part time job. I keep my expectations realistic. I’d rather spend that time elsewhere.

[drizzt360]

Well, I guess if you get old and end up with arthritic fingers/hands then sure, you may want to give up. Or maybe your eyes go bad and you just cant see anymore. Thats a good time to give it up.

[wez]

How old is too old? Like a lot of people sf4 was my first fighting game where I tried to learn the system and play people and win. I’m turning 30 in january and I’m starting to wonder if that’s too old to be around the fg community and be a scrub. I hear a lot of younger guys wax poetic about the old days and they’re 5 years younger than me.

Dude, sf4 isn’t hard to learn. Just get your priorities straight:

1. Get all alt costumes!

I think that’s what sf4 is all about, right? I gotta ask the 09ers.

[Buster_Wolf]

I definitely don’t think 30 is too old for fighting games. Hell, not even 30-40. When I hit my 30’s I’ll still be playing fighters. As long as you’re still having fun, why stop? That’s what it’s all about.

[Kyle_Hyde]

too old to play fighting games? no
too old to compete at a professional level having just started playing at the age of 30? i wanna say yes but you never know

[RaidenthaShocka]

I definitely don’t think 30 is too old for fighting games. Hell, not even 30-40. When I hit my 30’s I’ll still be playing fighters. As long as you’re still having fun, why stop? That’s what it’s all about.

Awesome!

[NAP]

If you feel the need to even make a thread like this, it probably means that you’re at a point in life where you don’t have time for fighting games and would like to just play the game and be decent at it without training. Not going to happen and not worth the time.

Why are people mentioning Alex. He has been playing his whole life and even secluded himself from life just to try to stay at a competitive level.

If you’re 30 and have a job and a family but never played a fighting game in your life then you shouldn’t be thinking about winning any decent fighting game tournaments in the near future.

If you don’t care about making it to the top then who cares how old you are, just play whatever you want. The only thing you’re too old for is you’re too old to be asking for permission from little kids if you’re allowed to play a fighting game.

This thread was over with this post.

[Nick_T]

Really? a lot of people? No wonder our community has turned to shit.

I nominated this for an article. haha

[Core_Series]

I wouldn’t worry about it. Fighting games are probably the one thing you can still get away with. It’s just Rock’em Sock’em. Knocking heads never gets old.

[Sexperienced]

actually i think you reach the peak of your reaction time/dexterity in your early 20s. not sure though.

I have to admit my reaction was insane when I was 12-18, I stopped playing as intensely after that but i cant tell if its the fact that I dont play as much anymore or my refelexes deteriorating. That being said, if you, now, challenged yourself at ST or SF turbo in your teens would you lose or win (only because you know more about the game now)?

[Tanion]

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[CI581]

nah, play until you’re no longer competitive(for your opponent).

[Shadow_Ace_50]

just start a community within your nearest retirement home. problem solved.

we have a wii at my job…wii sports resort,carnival games,etc. in our activity room…old folks still throw down in the versus modes…70’s, 80’s… I helps alot with memory and rhythm

I want to slip in some smash or some tatsunoko to see what happens:woot: