Too old for some DK??!

[Jonesy]

What do you guys think?

I'm 42 and still very much into CAG and love everything about it. I often ask myself if I'll be playing Donkey Kong in ten years time and I always come up with the same answer.....yes!

For those of you that don't know, I'm in England and arcades were a little different from what you guys had in the USA back in the day. We had a lot of generic Jamma cabs compared to dedicated cabs although we did have the big guns like Defender, Asteroids etc that were always cool to check out with the flash artwork compared to crapped out wood grain sides we got so accustomed to although this didn't matter, games were games, they were big and loud! I grew up in the Arcades and spent all of my pocket money grabbing 10 pence pieces to throw into coin slots on the latest machines and ventured to the coast on the bus to find new games to play and always wanted to own machines from a young age.

I guess it's not just about playing Donkey Kong, it's about grabbing hold of that part of my childhood I'm not prepared to let go of.

Obviously there is no age limit on gaming, it doesn't matter what you do as long as you're enjoying it but do any of you older guys ask yourselves this question or am I getting old and paranoid?!!   

[timhett]

Definately not too old to play some DK.  I don't think age is quite as big a deal for most of these games, compared to sports, for example.  However, reaction times will slow of course, eyesight gets worse, and some games, especially when talking marathoning, could be harder to play well.  If you were 80... okay maybe.. but you should be fine for quite a while.   Not sure of everyone's ages but I think Dave Gomez is at least mid to late 40s, maybe pushing 50 and he did like 27 hours of Robotron, which is a physically demanding game.  All that said, enjoy it all while you can, eventually it will catch up with you, just not for a good, long while.
   I can still play Centipede well enough to get the girls

[homerwannabee]

I am going to go with AT LEAST 60.  I think you can be an elite player on most Arcade games until this age.  Joel West, and Paul Dean are great gamers into their 50s.
Having said that I notice two of the top 3 scores in Donkey Kong are had by players in their 20s.

[tilt]

As one of the younger players in classic arcade gaming, I really feel like the wide diversity of age in this hobby really shows how universally enjoyed these games are.  I think anyone can enjoy older games, whether for their simplicity, or their difficulty.  If you are 17, or 57, I dont think it makes a difference.  The only number that matters is the final score 

[YesAffinity]

I'm 40, the proud owner of 3 arcade cabs, and continue to put a great deal of time and effort (and money) into the hobby.  Outside of DK, I also play a lot of Street Fighter online.  That's where I feel my age the most.  Some days, I'm playing my best and know that I'm keeping up with the young bucks.  Other days, there's a clear disadvantage from being older, tired at the end of a long work day and after putting the kids to bed then trying to squeeze in some "relaxation" time, compared to the guy on the other end of the internet connection who could have very well rolled out of bed at 11:00 a.m., put in a few hours at his schooling or part time job, and otherwise have little to know responsibility or major energy drains.

That rant aside, I too grew up gaming (see my blog), everything from arcade to Atari 2600 and Vic 20, to start with, and I have no intentions of giving it up.  Heck, I downloaded Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes this morning because it is free for xbox live gold members, and I haven't played a MGS since the original release on Playstation (1), and I'm having a great time with it. 

[Sock Master]

You're never too old to enjoy Donkey Kong.   I'm 44 and I think Donkey Kong in particular has a very good reason to have fans of all ages.
It's not so much about facing 5000 enemies at high speed, it's a game of strategy, patience and determination.   Wisdom and critical thinking wins.   Sure, reaction time helps too, but just plowing ahead recklessly means death.

I wasn't really good at Donkey Kong in the 80s, and I'm still not all that good but I am getting better especially after starting on DK Remix.
I spend more time programming than playing, but the programming in nearly done now.  Now I'm going to have an extra reason to get good at playing because I have my own version of Donkey Kong (Remix) and dammit, I ought to at least be decent at playing it.