You pretty much summed up what a lot of gaming dads (myself included) are going through:
-spend numerous game nights with friends as teens
-spend countless game nights with friends as young adults with disposable income going into the latest games
-spend way less game nights with friends as new fathers
-start playing less multiplayer games and more single-player ones
-anxiously wait for your kids to grow up so you can properly introduce them to video games
Your article hits home with me regarding how growing up and having responsibilities as adults affect our gaming habits. I spent so much time building up a game collection for my game nights and now that I have it, realized both my friends and I no longer have the free time we used to have to enjoy them. Maybe when our kids are old enough to keep themselves busy can we go back to the past and beat each other up in Super Smash Bros.
Thanks for sharing with us.
That's about the exact progression I went through:
I have gotten my wife into gaming over the course of our marriage, so we've played through nearly every Lego game and lots of other light co-op games. We also do some pen and paper RPG gaming, which lets us socialize with our geeky friends and spend time together while 'gaming.' Not quite the same as sitting around the couch playing Mario Kart or Smash Bros, but great in its own right.
I'm planning a post about pen & paper roleplaying in the near future. Its really overlooked IMO.