r/DadsGaming

Just wanted to share my thoughts and experience on GeForce Now Ultimate. I've been loosely following it for years. The summer sale and some other recent reviews I had seen pushed me to give it a go. I'm close to the Oregon server farm so let that be what it's worth.

Background - I'm a full time father with 5 kiddos in the home, full time husband, and I have a career that also takes it's pound of flesh. I've been building PC's for decades (child of the 80s and built my first 386 with my dad) and have always been someone who enjoys the ancient arts. That being said my current build of a 5800x3d, 32gb DDR4 and Rtx 4080 was beginning to feel longer and longer in the tooth. I was also getting more and more fatigued of having to wait for updates, patches, and longer and longer install times. After evaluating the market to move to a 9800x3d build with a 5080 I just didn't see dropping the $3,000+ being worthwhile for what is a relatively incremental upgrade. That led me to look at GeFroce now especially with the most recent upgrade to the SuperPod/5080 systems under ultimate.

I don't do multiplayer, MMO, or competitive stuff like anymore (again, kids/family/work). My gaming is often for 1-2 hour sessions, sometimes less, sometimes more, and sporadic. What matter's more to me in any given moment is the ability to get in, play, and get out with minimal effort and this was where my traditional PC experience was beginning to get heavier and heavier. GeForce ultimate providing an almost "console like" experience is a major factor in my valuation. I have no concern about needing more than 100 hours in a month, I'm not super concerned that every game ever isn't necessarily available on the service. The majority of games I plan ARE on the service, and many that aren't I can still run locally either on my G14 5070ti laptop or my desktop described above. But when I can load up Pragmata, Doom Dark Ages, or Forza with darn near maxed out settings, 2x frame gen (to each their own, I find it more beneficial than detrimental) and get 120hz with G-sync cloud? It's basically as good as local, with higher fidelity than either of my machines can render locally, and without the heat or noise. I play most games with a controller (again the "console" like experience is what im chasing), and this puts PC gaming on a level with my PS5 Pro (again for quick, minimal effort gaming).

For $10ish a month I was able to get that upgrade from my 4 year old 5800x3d rig. It's not perfect, but it's way better than I expected. The latency with a controller at 120hz and G-sync cloud is imperceptible to me. The minor annoyances are far outweighed in my use cases by the positives. I no longer have to waste half my "game time" waiting for windows updates and reboots, I no longer have to stare at steam for 15 minutes for the patch to download, I no longer have to juggle 60-80gig installs because my 1TB ssd is filling up and a 2TB drive had quadrupled in price in the last year. Everyone's use case will be different and rely heavily on things like quality of internet connection but as someone who lives close to a data center with greater internet service, I was truly shocked.. This wasn't just "okay" or "good enough", it was for me a comparatively BETTER experience than local.

Is it my forever solution? No. But in this crazy moment where PC's have only gone up in cost and the incremental performance increases have diminished I am finding it to be a perfect stop-gap. It's not for everyone but if you are on an older machine and struggling to justify upgrading in today's market you might find it just good enough to get you through this storm.

My dad and I used to pour hundreds of hours into old-school FIFA manager modes back in the day. He’s getting older now and his hands just can’t keep up with a controller anymore, so we kind of stopped. But last weekend, I stumbled onto this text-based AI football simulator and decided to boot it up.

It’s basically an AI game generator where you don't actually play the match, you just type out your tactical changes in plain English, and it spits out the highlights. We sat on the couch for six hours straight. My dad was literally shouting, "Tell them to play it long! Get it to the big man up top!" and I’d type it in exactly like that. The engine would actually generate these quick, quirky animated clips of our lanky striker nodding it down for a late runner.

We ended up taking an underdog Asian team all the way to the World Cup semis. When we got knocked out on penalties, my dad was genuinely gutted. It gave me a whole afternoon of my old man yelling at an AI-generated referee like it was a real Sunday league match.

The mini-app was tucked inside a platform called yoroll (I think someone just built it as a custom text adventure/sim setup on there), but honestly, it was pure magic for us. If you have an older parent who misses gaming, these text-to-game AI simulators are a total cheat code for bonding. 10/10, would suffer a virtual penalty heartbreak again.

Age 39 and UK Based

I play on both PC and Xbox and I'm happy to play all sorts of games.

Just looking for some easy-going people around a similar age to jump on with now and again, have a laugh, chat while gaming, and play the odd game when we've all got the time.

I'm not looking for anything serious or people who are online every night—life gets in the way, and that's completely fine.

If anyone knows of a good Discord server, forum, or gaming community for people in a similar situation, I'd really appreciate it.

Also, just to set expectations... I don't stream, make videos, or take gaming too seriously. I'm just looking to enjoy it.

And despite trying for years, I'm still absolutely terrible at Call of Duty... so if you're expecting someone to carry the team, it definitely won't be me! 😂

I play on both PC and Xbox and I'm happy to play all sorts of games.

Just looking for some easy-going people around a similar age to jump on with now and again, have a laugh, chat while gaming, and play the odd game when we've all got the time.

I'm not looking for anything serious or people who are online every night—life gets in the way, and that's completely fine.

If anyone knows of a good Discord server, forum, or gaming community for people in a similar situation, I'd really appreciate it.

Also, just to set expectations... I don't stream, make videos, or take gaming too seriously. I'm just looking to enjoy it.

And despite trying for years, I'm still absolutely terrible at Call of Duty... so if you're expecting someone to carry the team, it definitely won't be me! 😂

Hey guys, I’m really stuck here. I’ve recently become a new dad and find gaming hard to get hours in with the baby. Everything obviously changes but I thought I’d manage a few hrs a night but getting interrupted takes away the immersion and that’s ok my duties and responsibilities lie elsewhere but at what cost?

I just recently bought a pc for gaming at £2599 6 months ago great pc no issues. Although I am considering selling it to get a ps5 for an easier turn on and play life? Am I thinking straight or have I got baby brain? Any suggestions would be great guys. Thanks

Dear gamers of Reddit,

My dad is in his mid-sixties and is a massive fan of the 2000 AD comic books. He recently asked for my help setting up his PC so he can play Atomfall. I happily obliged and bought two copies so I could play alongside him. I had him try a mouse and keyboard at first, but I also gave him an old PS4 controller, which he definitely prefers. He is really enjoying Atomfall so far. Since he hasn't played games in 20 to 25 years, a lot has changed and he’s a bit rusty, but he's eager to learn.

With the Steam Summer Sale happening, I want to grab him a few other games so he can explore different genres. He loves Judge Dredd, the ALIEN franchise, and Mad Max. For now, I think story-heavy games with relatively straightforward mechanics will suit him best. He definitely won't like deck-builders or beat 'em ups.

Here are a few titles I'm considering for him:

• Alien: Isolation
• Aliens: Dark Descent
• Mad Max
• The A Plague Tale series
• Prey (2017)
• The BioShock and Dead Space franchises

When I originally built his PC, it was mainly for office work. However, my brother happened to have a spare ASUS ProArt 4080 Super lying around, so we chucked that in. Here is his current setup:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
• GPU: ASUS ProArt RTX 4080 Super
• RAM: 16GB (2x8GB) Corsair DDR4-3600
• Motherboard: ASUS PRIME B550M-K
• Storage: 500GB Samsung 970 EVO SSD + 2TB old HDD (unsure of the speed)

(I might swap some parts out later if needed)

So gamers of Reddit, especially those over 50, what games would you recommend for a man in his sixties who is just getting back into the hobby?

I made a post earlier but it got deleted and didn’t get to see all my replies. I’d like to hear your opinions please.

I’m a new dad struggling to get the time to game and have just bought an expensive rig out gaming pc at £2600 which I feel is going to waste due to not having the time I once had due to work and the baby.

Am I better selling the pc before it loses its value and getting a ps5 pro? That way I can get on and off the game as I please without wasting time tinkering settings etc. I was enjoying arc raiders and kingdom come deliverance 2.

I used to play competitively and stream but I haven’t done in some time so it’s more for the casual gaming experience (when I can lol)

Also not interested in the handheld consoles as I have a 4K monitor which id like to take advantage of as much as possible.

I’d be greatful for any suggestions. Am I being silly getting rid of the pc or am I thinking along the right lines?

So I’ve been playing Roblox with my daughters and I told them I wanted to try streaming with them.

TELL ME WHY THEY WANNA SHOW OUT AND TAZE THE 💩 out of me 🤣🤣💀💀💀

I’ve discovered that some of the scary games on this are actually pretty creepy

Any of your kids do this??

Not looking for console war debates at all. Just curious where the Dads of this subreddit are playing most!

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So I generally say I've been Playstation for 20+ years but the truth is I've platform hopped regularly since the early 80s.

Comodore 64 - > Atari -> Master System - SNES -> Megadrive -> N64 -> PS1 -> Dreamcast -> Gamecube -> PS2 -> PSP -> Xbox -> PS3 -> PS Vita -> Xbox 360 -> PS3 -> PS4 -> PC -> PS5 -> Switch 2

So I've built up quite the collection of games on each platform and I'm currently on PS5 (base), Switch 2, and MacBook for GeForce Now Ultimate (it's all I usedthe MacBook Pro for these days). I also have a PS3, Vita, Switch Lite, PS Portal and 7yr old custom gaming PC.

I mainly play handheld like 90% of the time.

I'm looking to simplify my setup for 2 reasons:

1. I have decided to skip the next generation of gaming as I figure the prices are going to be insane.
2. I have a HUGE library spanning multiple platforms and I'm adopting an ethos of "What should I play next" as opposed to "What should I buy next". My backlog goes back over 30 years!

I'm looking to simplify while also being able to access all of my games across platforms and have decided on the following:

I've sold my PS5 yesterday and my Switch Lite. Once my iPad Pro sells, that should fund a PS5 Pro and disc drive. I'm selling my MacBook M3 Pro (as its purely a GFN machine now) and that will fund a 4K OLED monitor and an ROG Xbox Ally X (which I can access my xbox games on). I'm trying to do this with next to no out of pocket expense. While I could, I can't justify it with a family of 5.

I will backup my PS3 and Vita game libraries and licences and install emulators on the ROG Xbox Ally X when I get it so I can then sell my PS3 and Vita as I'll have my games on the handheld

So, I will have:

PS5 Pro & PS Portal
Switch 2
ROG Xbox Ally X

and a 4k 27" OLED monitor for the display.

It feels like that is a pretty streamlined approach albeit still being 4 devices.

Does anyone else have a library that spans multiple platforms and how do you manage to engage with them all?

40/m/EST Trying to find a group that gets into friendslop on a regular basis. Examples I'm looking to play:

• Meccha Chameleon
• Gartic Phone
• Jackbox
• Super Battle Golf
• Roadside Research
• RV There Yet
• Viscera Cleanup Detail

Other co-op games I want to get into not really considered friendslop:

• Gears of War Reloaded campaign
• Wheelmates demo
• Over the Hill demo
• Powerwash Sim 2
• Waterpark Simulator
• CoreKeeper
• Satisfactory
• Chained Wheels
• Dangerous Mountain Together

Prefer the cord for communication, I'm not particular on your gender/region as long as we get along and can make the time difference work.

Hey guys,

I’m curious if other gaming dads deal with this too.

Every time my friends and I try to plan a game night, it turns into a long back-and-forth of:

• “What time works for you?”
• “I might be on after dinner”
• “Let me check with the family”
• repeat 12 times until someone gives up or we just play solo

Between work, kids, and everything else, it feels like the actual gaming part is easier than just figuring out when we’re all available.

Genuinely wondering how everyone else handles this without it turning into group chat chaos.

I started with the idea that older adults play games less often than they would like to. Work or parenting often leaves us with little free time. Also, many games need a focused, distraction-free environment to enjoy. By changing how the game is presented and its pace, I’m designing for an alternation between short, meaningful game sessions and longer, hands-off travel bits.

The travel bits take for example 30 minutes and it's not possible to interact with the game anymore to play. The only thing that can be done is change the size and format of the game, for quality of life reasons.

By designing it with this clear seperation, I was hoping that players could focus on their work or studies during the travel parts, just like in a real train. But I just discovered this forum and realised this type of game design could actually work really well for somebody that is taking care of a toddler.

You don't want the game you're playing while spending time with your toddler to be too good all the time actually, cause what's the point of raising a kid if you're focusing on something else when you're with them. But if the game is 5 mins of play whenever you have time, and then you can't play for the next 30 minutes while your train travels to the next stop, well, there's little risk of neglecting real life and getting too absorbed in the game, no ? What do you all think ? Do you believe it could work for you ?

hey everyone!

i'm here posting on behalf of my dad. he's 52 and has really gotten into gaming over the last few years, and i'd love to help him find some people around his age to play with.

he mainly plays red dead redemption 2 on playstation and absolutely loves it. most of his time has been spent in story mode, but i've been trying to get him into red dead online. every now and then he'll hop on gta v too, but red dead is definitely his favorite.

he's a very casual player and mostly plays to relax after work. he's not the fastest with the controls and isn't looking for anything competitive. just some friendly people to ride around with, do missions, hunt, fish, chat, and have a good time.

fyi, we're from norway, so his english isn't perfect, but he's always happy to conversate and have fun.

if you're around his age (or just don't mind playing with someone who's taking things at his own pace), i'd love to help him find a few gaming buddies.

feel free to leave a comment or send me a message, and i can help you two get connected :)