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The Aging Gamer
An anonymous reader writes "There is a short article at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle about the surprising statistic that a large potion of computer gamers are over 35. This actually makes sense, since many of them began gaming in the 70's. A short and semi-interesting read."
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Now that I am over 35 (egad! Going to hit 28h soon!) I can actually afford the games. The ones I buy would have been a heck of a lot of allowance or lawns in my day. In fact, I think this age thing also has to do with the fact that games are much better than they used to be too - from a hardware and software point. When I first started out there wasn't much available for my $3500 Leading Edge...
"If you are on fire you can just stop, drop, and roll. If you fall into Lava you are just dead." - my 5yr old daughter
As games get more complex and kids are introduced to them at a younger age, the newest generation of gamers needs more of a challenge. (Believe me, it's embarrassing as a 19 year old to get 0wnt by 14 year olds in ut2k3.) I mean honestly, the original Mario just doesn't cut it anymore... we want plot, complexity, and a more realistic gaming experience. Imagine how insane games are going to have to be 10 years from now to hold kids' interest. I think gaming is becoming a part of our culture - just look at Korea where gaming is the equivalent of professional football here.
"I'm not a vegetarian because I love animals. I'm a vegetarian because I hate plants."
I played pong when it was bleeding edge technology, why wouldn't I be excited about the great advances in games over the last several years or be looking forward to some of the new games coming out in 2003? I am part of a generation of kids who have had every system between the Atari 2600 and the Xbox, I would think that our consumer dollars would be very strong in this market. I just don't understand this being a surprise to anyone.
We are the only ones that can afford state of the art computers, graphics cards, monitors, and cdroms.. :)
This actually makes sense, since many of them began gaming in the 70's.
Right, this makes sense. If you are 35 and you are gaming, you must have been doing so your entire lifetime.
How about this instead: Someone who is 35 now was in their mid teens when arcade games were really big in the mid eighties. They started playing the games non-stop. Most of them did not play on computers at home, they went out to an arcade.
Fast forward ten to fifteen years. Home game consoles are so cheap and so powerful that they're better than going to the arcade. The same people who went to the arcade started buying the game consoles.
Which brings us to today. Believe it or not folks, I actually know some people who are over 35 years old, and they might actually fool you into thinking they weren't wearing Depends. Most of them still like doing the things they did when they were in their late teens and early twenties, which includes gaming.
Now, if the study had claimed that the average gaming age was 40 or 45, that would have been a little harder to swallow.
Karma: Chevy Kavalierma.
> That is quite scary, considering that gaming is at an all time high right now...so, if in 20 years
> 90+% of gamers are over 35, i wouldn't be shocked....
Ummmm. That really doesn't make any sense. The birth rate isn't plummetting catastrophically. I teach high school - and I assure you that a large fraction of the 14-year-olds on down are quite hooked. They'll be 34 in 20 years, and I don't see any likely reason that gaming would stop gaining recruits. 10 or so to 35 is an awfully big fraction of the population, much more than 10% - even if they WERE underrepresented in the gaming group, they'd claim more than 10% of it. And I see such an underrepresentation as unlikely. A higher fraction of today's youth are gamers, for instance, than were gamers in the 70s.
Maybe the age thing has to do with the fact that Nintendo used to be the most popular game system on the planet, when we were younger Mario was great, now that most have grown up, maybe they're into the more advanced type of games, or atleast the more mature games and that's why the PS2 is selling like crazy. Then again, Nintendo is selling the gamecube like hot cakes as well. I just can't get enough mario myself, as childish as it may seem, it's always a joy to play a new mario game, they're always insightful and intriguing on a more technical angle, especially the switch to 3d, that was amazing. and the newest is nothign short of amazing as well.
Logik
Kyle
http://www.unlogikal.net/
nah fuck the apologising bit, if there is one thing that shits me more than anything else its the old games == losers line that is so frequently put forward.
...
... and im 25 ... ill be playing games until i cant play em no more.
:)
people will spend all friday night watching teevee instead of going out and thats apparently fine, but as soon as you turn on the computer you are a big time loser
if it makes you feel any better, from last sunday morning thru to monday night i was on the comp playing games. and my g/f, who works weekends a lot, is working both days this weekend, so im up for more of the same
anyone who feels the need to deride someone else for their choice of hobby is really the one that needs the life, not you
Man, i agree with the other guy, it seems like the people at /. not only are negative when it has come to moderation lately, but there are people out there that will argue with anybody! I mean, what is the point? Why can't people just say something positive and contribute to a discussion INSTEAD bashing someone elses comments? I tell ya, trolls: they are everwhere....
Wrong. Being a bad parent would be not even knowing what your kid has been doing for the last two weeks. This guy knows. And if you force a kid to stop whatever they are doing for no good reason other than "because so elite said so" then they're just going to get pissed off at you and nothing's solved. Then the kid's going to be angry and forced to find something else fun to do before he was prepared to which sounds like a good path toward all sorts of problematic behavior.
You sound like you don't have kids yourself and you're one of the armchair parents like the ones that run this country. You know the type, the ones that think that they should have complete control over the raising of every child in the country yet can't manage their own family.
You are correct, I don't have any children however answer me this.. would you let your child watch television for two weeks straight? Don't get me wrong, gaming is fun and yes, I agree that taking gaming away wouldn't be a solution here. I simply don't believe that just because you know where your kid is and what he/she is doing (Oh little billy is fine, he's still in front of the computer for the second week straight) makes for a very good upbringing.
Raiford -- Hacking Linux since 1993
"player 4 hit player 1 with 0 stroms"
It isn't any great mystery -- it's simple economics, plus demographics.
Kids (say, up through early college) would like to play games, but don't have the disposable income.
Younger adults (say, late college through late 20s) have disposable income, but they are spending their money on social pursuits, vacations, cars, gadgets, clothing, etc.
But when they finally marry and start families, the center for entertainment switches to the home...and those $50 games are somewhat more affordable once you hold down a real job.
"she says i'm lousy conversation. as if that's supposed to help."
Yep, agreed!
I recently turned 31 myself, and last Xmas, I bought myself a PS2 and several games for it. Granted, I was always a bit selective about what I purchased/played. There seem to be quite a few "teenie-bopper" games out there that don't do anything for me.
But how can you place an "age limit" on sports games, billiards games, flight simulators, well-done car racing sims, and any games with "mature" themes + good graphics, sound, and all around gameplay (like GTA3 for example)?
As a matter of fact, one of the guys I worked with who was a few years older than me got hooked on PS2 after I kept telling him about the stuff available for it. (Initially, he wrote it off as kid stuff - but his interest was piqued when he heard about Gran Turismo 3 and the like.) I think he bought one "for his kid" as an excuse, and ended up playing it himself.
In fact, I think one of society's big problems today is the number of folks who live in relative boredom and depression because of a self-inflicted lack of fun/hobbies. There's this prevelant sense that as you reach age 30 or so, you're "not supposed" to do lots of stuff anymore. (No more big car stereo upgrades.... no more video games.... yadda, yadda.) Screw that. I never want to grow old and be one of the "statistics" that sits around drinking beer in front of the TV, watching only football, baseball and/or hockey - goes to work, eats, and sleeps, and never really does anything else "for the fun of it".
I don't think the percentage of gamers over 35 is probably rising all that much, because damn near every 10-year-old is a gamer, girls and boys. But the total number of over-35 gamers is certainly rising.
... Heck, my mother used to play Atari with me back then, and she plays Shanghai and Bejeweled now like a crack fiend, and she's 66 ... is she one of these over-35 "gamers"?
I'm not 35, but I am 30, and I don't consider myself among the vanguard of gaming in the 1970s, though I did have an Atari before they started calling it the 2600
It was a rather short article but it is still satisfying to see it in print. It also matches other statistics that I have seen published elsewhere, in both gaming magazines and at online sites.
Makes much sense too. For example, I grew up playing pinball with my father, graduated to the first video games (pong, breakout, etc.), moved on to C64, Apple II and Atari games as they became available and now PC games with a big emphasis on the online worlds (that 1942 is not too shabby). I currently see myself playing games until I am too decrepit to move the controller (but hope by then the neural interface will be common place).
The key point of surveys like this is that it shows the average gamer is not a pimple faced adolescent that is cutting school, sitting at home with no social life, spending all of (usually) his life lost in games. It is the middle class, working, husbands and wives looking for a little relaxation and escapism from their day. The sooner that the game industry (with their associated marketing departments) and the bulk of game magazines accept this idea and redirect their marketing to this group, the better. Most of the non-gaming public accepts the adolescent gamer myth because that is what they see from how games are marketed both directly and via the industry magazines. Hollywood plays a part in this too. I guess it is just too easy for the industry to throw more T&A into the marketing plan then to take the time to understand the market and sell accordingly.
I have to use this cause I can't afford a real sig...
I wonder if, when we're all senior citizens and fragging away on each other with Quake XXXVI, and taunting each other with broadband audio and vidio feeds, if the kids will pass us by and scoff. Maybe they would says things like "What's wrong with those old farts?! Why do they play that crap when they could just talk to each other?"
Perhaps there *is* hope for our species after all.
Please mod this post only if you think others should/n't read this. I have enough ego^H^H^Hkarma. Thanks!