Does your performance in a game suffer if you haven't played in a while?

mbd39mbd39
in Gamer's Gauntlet
Or are you the kind of person who can take a break from a game for weeks, months or even years and still be as good as you ever were? How good is your "gaming memory"?



I tried Battletoads tonight after being a little rusty and I couldn't do it. I got my first game over on the third rat race and then ran out of continues at Clinger Winger. I even lost a race to the first rat! Maybe this is a bigger issue for games that require so much memorization. You almost have to practice memory intensive games regularly to keep your skills up, or have them totally burned into your brain.



 

Comments

  • alekxalekx
    Mine suffers, for sure, mario kart 64 and guitar hero are perfect examples.
  • Bea_IankBea_Iank
    Yeah, I get a little rusty after a while. Usually with GnG, playing for points after a long while away from it, I tend to game over before looping the game.

    But I usually pick things back up pretty quickly.
  • leatherrebel5150leatherrebel5150
    Most games i get rusty at. Except for one, Super Mario World, i can play that backwards and forwards in my sleep and never miss a beat.
  • Kosmic StarDustKosmic StarDust
    Funny when I played Super Mario Galaxy 2 on my Wii-U not long ago, I started losing badly after having not played any "waggle" type games almost since Wii-U launched. I spent so much time playing 2D platformers (modern and classic) that my 3D skills got rusty.  



    That said, in 2015 I picked up Tetris DX again after having not played it for years and after a few short games I plateaued on level 30. I think I got up to like 700,000 points before I screwed up. Best I ever got back in the day was just shy of 300,000, but after hitting level 30 and realizing I could literally play forever, the game kind of lost it's magic. I could go for the million, but what's the point? BTW, Tetris DX doesn't roll until at least ten million...  



    So it depends. I'm definitely a better gamer now at 35 than I was at 21. Never had an NES as a child though.
  • snow8snow8
    I think it depends on the type of game you are referring to. For RPGs, I don't tend to get rusty except for ones that involve a lot of specialized knowledge and training (FF8, for example). Also, it depends on the difficulty of the game-harder games are more prone to rustiness than easier games are. And, some types of puzzle games don't get rusty either, for example Wheel of Fortune on the N64.



    That being said, there are certain games I never get rusty at because I've played them so much in the past. That can affect things as well. There is a difference between a game you haven't played in a while that you played a lot throughout prior years and a game you haven't played in a while that you didn't play much to begin with either.



    Overall, there are multiple factors that affect this, making the question defy an easy or more generalized answer.
  • arnpolyarnpoly
    Yeah, I typically have a bit of rust, but I think I shake it off after an attempt or so.
  • bearcat-dougbearcat-doug
    Originally posted by: arnpoly

    Yeah, I typically have a bit of rust, but I think I shake it off after an attempt or so.




    Same here. I'll usually make a mistake or two the first few times, but after a few runs I'll be back to normal.
  • ne$_pimpne$_pimp
    Yes, but once you play it a little it all comes back.
  • Bort License PlateBort License Plate
    Well I tried Castlevania again for the 30x30 and was getting my ass kicked. But I think it's more because I was impatient, I've beat it before so it should be a piece a cake now right? When I did beat it it was my first time so I was extra careful. That was probably my downfall this time
  • JandremJandrem
    Definitely. I can only keep so many games "fresh" in my short term memory at a time. But, the rust usually clears off shortly after playing a little. I actually took a 5-year break from Final Fantasy XI(MMO), came back to it recently, and after a few short play sessions I was picking right up where I left off.



    What's weird, is that if it's an especially old game(like a NES game I played as a kid), that after a few minutes, I'm literally back in the mindset of when I was playing as a kid. Absurdly so, right down to memories I was thinking about back when I played the game originally. I start remembering weird stuff, like what I had going on in school that day, whatever family issues were going on at the time, etc. It's a lot like only remembering things you did when you were blackout drunk, by getting drunk again. It's actually a thing called State-dependent memory.



    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-dependent_memory



    Or maybe it's Context-dependent memory. I'm not sure.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Context-dependent_memory
  • empireempire
    The timing will be off, but since most old games require heavy memorization, you don't forget that.
  • G-TypeG-Type
    Your gaming skill is built on the memory of your previous experience. Memory is stored as a physical structure of neural chains throughout the brain. The more frequently that chain is accessed, the stronger it becomes. If a formerly strong chain is not used for a long time, it doesn't remain static, awaiting the day for it be accessed again. It might get rewritten or combined with other memories. Re-accessing these memories after a period of mental reorganization might require you to relearn certain segments and reform specific neural chains that had been reorganized. Video game skill is combination of explicit and implicit memory.. explicit being facts about the game: locations of powerups/enemy spawns. Implicit being your muscle memory, how to get your fingers to move with the correct speed and rhythm. Certain factors can help trigger certain memories more quickly, for example combining input of multiple senses (ie a smell that was present on the day you were playing the game, the sounds and music of the game) If you are one of those players who turns the sound off and plays with their own music in the background, you might have a harder time remembering how to play it if you try to pick it up again in the future.
  • AstralSoul13AstralSoul13
    Depends on the game. My favorites like Yoshi's Island, the Donkey Kong Country games, Super Mario 64, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and of course EarthBound... I can blaze through them. Especially the DKC games. Other games I don't know as well, sometimes it takes some adjusting.
  • bronzeshieldbronzeshield
    Sometimes it improves, quite frankly. Your mind is fresher, you have the patterns somewhere in your memory, but you're more able to come up with creative solutions and maybe find a new angle. If I play a game constantly it starts to feel stale and I easily become impatient, because I end up just wanting it to be over with.
  • mbd39mbd39
    Originally posted by: bronzeshield



    Sometimes it improves, quite frankly. Your mind is fresher, you have the patterns somewhere in your memory, but you're more able to come up with creative solutions and maybe find a new angle. If I play a game constantly it starts to feel stale and I easily become impatient, because I end up just wanting it to be over with.





    Sometimes that may be true. Unfortunately with a game like Battletoads any memory lapse about what to immediately do next can mean instant death.

     
  • QuazeQuaze
    Sure, like anything, your ability becomes "rusty" over time. Of course you can practice your way back to prime form, but ask anyone who plays a musical instrument how sharp they sound after a long break from playing.
  • Uncle MeatUncle Meat
    Originally posted by: Quazonk



    Sure, like anything, your ability becomes "rusty" over time. Of course you can practice your way back to prime form, but ask anyone who plays a musical instrument how sharp they sound after a long break from playing.

    Hell, sometimes I will play the next day and feel I went back a step....



     
  • QuazeQuaze
    Originally posted by: ToxieRules

     
    Originally posted by: Quazonk



    Sure, like anything, your ability becomes "rusty" over time. Of course you can practice your way back to prime form, but ask anyone who plays a musical instrument how sharp they sound after a long break from playing.

    Hell, sometimes I will play the next day and feel I went back a step....



     



    Yeah but you have to consider that there's often a hangover associated with that next day, and that factors in too.

     
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