Here are two questions I was recently thinking about:

1)  What's a genre you loved as a kid, but don't really care for as an adult?

2)  What's a genre you didn't really care for as a kid, but love as an adult?

My answer to question #1 is RPG.  I loved playing all kinds of RPGs when I was a kid whether it was turn-based or action or 1st person dungeon crawling.  I really enjoyed getting immersed in an epic quest where exploration, puzzle-solving, combat, and story-telling were paramount.  But these days, I prefer playing games that are faster paced, and more skill-based where quick hand-eye coordination is necessary to succeed.

My answer to question #2 is shmup.  I never really cared for the genre when I was a kid because they were often times too difficult and too frustrating to really enjoy and I couldn't make much progress in them.  But these days, I absolutely have a new found fervor for the genre because I love the challenge they present.  They are the definition of what a skill based game is.  They are quick pick-up-and-play games that can be enjoyed in short bursts and I love them for that. 

I would like to hear everyone's answers to these two questions so please do share your thoughts and experiences.

I can't really answer either one definitively,but I can say that I don't play RPGs as much as I used to simply because I don't have as much time as I used to. Dumping 80+ hours into a grindy RPG as a kid/teen....pssh,no problem! As an adult....yeeeah....

I'm pretty much in the same boat as Gutsy.

1) The various gaming genre's I've enjoyed have honestly evolved/changed over the years. As a kid, almost every game I owned on NES was either a beat'em up or platformer. Then, in my high school years, a friend of mind let me borrow FFVII, which totally flipped my gaming world upside down. I had no idea what a real RPG was until then. My early college years revolved around FPS gaming...mainly because of the advent of the Halo series. I can't tell you how many Halo parties I went to throughout my secondary education.

2) Today, my gaming preferences are a hybrid of everything above. It really depends on my mood/and time allotment. If I only have 30 to 45 minutes to play....I'll pop in Mega Man 2, Rygar, SMB2, etc. If I have a few hours to kill (which hardly ever happens), I'll pick up where I left off in Startropics, Dragon Warrior, or Maniac Mansion.

1) Same here with RPGs. My mindset growing up were that RPGs were the games you buy because they take longer than a weekend to beat and the rest you'd just rent. However, I ended up usually just renting a bunch of RPGs in order to determine which ones to buy. Now I have learned to appreciate the other genres and no longer have the time to dedicate to RPGs.

2) I'd say shooters. I used to think they were too difficult as a kid and not worth my time. Now, they are still difficult, but I like them because they are a game I can put in a play for a few minutes at a time (like I said, I am not good at these games).

First Person Shooters: Loved playing them as a kid. Used to play Doom, Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Time Splitters, Agent Under Fire, Red Faction, Half Life, etc. But now, I can't hardly stand to play a FPS for more than 15 min. Be it, Single player Story mode, or Multiplayer Death Match, I simply don't care to play them anymore.


Run and Gun Shmups: As a kid, I never cared for Contra or any game that even resembled Contra. Now I'm buying them up and really enjoying playing through them all. I've always loved Mega Man, but I've always thought of those games as Platformers with a gun (Darkwing Duck is the same way). But Since I've revisited the NES library, I found that I like the shoot heavy games more now. From Contra, to Metal Slug, and Cyber-Lip. The games are tough as nails, and maybe that's what steered me away from them as a child, but now I see that they're awesome.

1) definitely JRPGs. I still enjoy western CRPGs, depending on how well they balance the grind.

2) no specific genre, but there are quite a few games that I wasn't willing to overcome as a kid that have seen new life as an adult (stuff like Friday the 13th, Marble Madness, and a few others I just didn't really "get" as a kid)

I pretty much have the same exact taste in games. The only difference was when I was a kid, I sometimes played games that I didn't really enjoy. I didn't have a lot of money, so whatever games I had, I played them. Nowadays I have more money to spend on games, so I put less hours into each game, and only play the games that I really like. Back in the day, I tended to go to the used game store and buy whatever games were in the bargain bin. This led to playing a lot of junk titles, but I still had my favorites such as Pokemon Red, Smash Bros, Kirby Super Star, Super Mario RPG, etc.

1) FPS. Used to play the hell out of them on the N64 but now... now i'll only play them if my friends are pushing hard for them.
2) Puzzle games I suppose, I never disliked them but could never get very far. So being older and more skilled = better experience.

Definitely fighters - don't have the time or patience to learn all of the moves like the old days of SF2, MK2, and SS2.

Fighting games. Street Fighter 2 was hugely popular as a kid and we'd always rent it if it was in. Now I get bored playing them, I tried with SF4, but it didn't grab me.

I'd probably play some 4 player Smash Melee if the opportunity arose, but that's about it.

1) Fighting games and FPS games to a lesser extent.


2) Nothing comes to mind.

1. Nothing really, I play most of the same stuff I used to like. However I did spend lots of time playing NHL 2002 and 2004 for PS2 and now I never play sports games.

2. As a kid I surprisingly I never played, or even really heard of RPGs other than Pokemon, which was my whole life for a number of years. I'd vaguely heard of FF 7 and noticed ads for Dragon Quest since it had Toriyama's art, but I never had the foresight to look into them. Now, when time allows, I play RPGs almost exclusively.

We have the same answers OP

I loved RPG's as a kid but now a days they are just to long. Although I did play Earthbound hardcore when I got it in the summer. It was my last hurrah.

I never played shumps as a kid and over looked them. Every since I became a Turbografx-16 fan I have come to love shumps even though I am not really good at them lol.

#1 - Like some of you, RPG's. Loved them as a kid. Can't stand them now.

#2 - Puzzle games. Love them as an adult, hated them as a kid. Well, except Tetris

#1 -- I used to really enjoy racing, street fighter/clones, FPS games, platformers and kart racers.

These days racing games I get bored almost instantly, fighters including SF4 just feel convoluted and overkill so I lost interest. FPS games multiplayer ruined those and being overkill so I can take one of them every couple years. Platformers and kart racers I buy here and there but I dont feel I enjoy them as I should like Im going through the motions and then I get bored and stop, maybe finish but not likely.

I dont have a #2 as I started in the arcade and nes period and I cant think of a genre I disliked other than sports games, and I still do, though on occasion I find from the n64 era forward the unlicensed goofy golf type I can dig a bit but not on a serious level.

I honestly like most all game genres except for some RPG's, some are great, some I don't care for, but other than that I keep a very open mind and really don't dislike much (unless a game is well deserving of a verbal ass whooping )