This is the same reason I don't do bemani tournies much these days. I just don't have that college free time to keep my game up. And it's sad to think that this is how it'll be until I can retire die.

Yes, I'm feeling that way too these days... These young'n's got so much energy without even hardly trying it's tough to keep up

Hahaha oh you're HILARIOUS.

I had more free time in college than I did during high school or after college.
/shrug/

I would say that I had more free time in my high school days, but I made better use of my free time in college. Now though, I barely have any time at the end of the day to walk my dog and make sure the house isn't falling apart.

This might be a slight exaggeration, but not by much.

I solve this problem by not having a dog and putting off house maintenance. 

Eh. I'm not as old as the rest of you, but I grew up playing "Clinton" games (SNES, N64, GB). I still have those systems in case I ever want to avoid the games of THIS generation.

CoD, cough cough.....

When you said Clinton games I thought you meant NBA Jam for a second.

That included.

Balls on fire. Wait. That didn't come out right...

C'mon guys!

Even though some of you maybe 25 or over, it doesn't mean that you can't out play someone younger of just play for fun!

Just think if someone like Randy Couture (UFC Hall of Famer) thought this way! He would have retired a LONG, LONG time ago. He continued fighting well into his 50's! Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he kept training to fight at his apex and beat a lot of "young'n's" who were 20 to 30 years younger than he was!

Think of someone like Mad Matt for instance... He is 30 years old and playing 17-19's and passing with 80 percent or better!

Or think of some of the locals who play at ACME Bowl.

MYKL is 26
GRAK is 26
ROSE is 25

All three of them are beasts!

MYKL is an amazing timing player, scoring well into the upper 99% on songs like Gravity Blast (12).

GRAK is beastly, playing nearly all the Dragonforce songs and convincingly passing them.

ROSE is amazing at endurance/speed songs, recently scoring 99.89% on a 1800 step song!

Don't let your age set limitations to your performance. I understand that as you grow older, it is difficult to set your hobby as a priority and it is placed on the back burner.

Yes, you do have more responsibilities. Yes, it does become harder and harder to find the time to play. But, age should never become an excuse!

Point is, it doesn't matter if you are 18 or 35, as long as you enjoy yourself and have fun with this game and have fun with those you play with.

Damn kids need to get off my lawn

Speaking from my own personal experience, I peaked in dance games at 25-27. I'm 31 now and I still play well, but finding time to stay at the top is/would've been damn near impossible.

I also have WAY too many hobbies for any one man to devote time to, so I'm probably pulling myself in too many directions with regards to that, too.

I can't do any of the 10 step songs on DDR on mats. I need to save $$$ for metal ones...

Hulk has unlimited free time. Teens don't want to annoy Hulk, They don't want Hulk to be angry.

I think that the real issue with staying on top competitively in ITG with the mid-20s and older crowd is less physiological/aging and more, as Scott has said, a lack of being able to dedicate ourselves to the game. Many of us have full-time jobs and other hobbies and ITG really just does not look as important in comparison to those. I still am exercising, but my ITG skill has certainly declined compared to where it was when I played regularly. While physical fitness helps, being good at ITG comes down to dedication to it past a certain point, and not many of us are willing/able to be as dedicated to it as we once were.