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Discussing Changes For Older Videogame Players?
Thanks to GameCritics for their feature discussing how a person's videogame experiences change as they get older. Talking with gamers as old as 30 (!), they ask if reflexes are dulled ("The only time I notice slowed reflexes is when I stop playing twitch games for while, which is pretty rare"), consider shifts in preferred genres ("Now that I'm older, I really don't have the time to play long, drawn-out games anymore"), and discuss how gaming affects their relationships ("I'm pretty single right now so I can't answer, but my email address is listed on the bio page. I just wanted people to know that.")
Am I the only one who feels a bit weird when reading something like this and see 30-something being considered old? It can't be that hard to find some older gamers, and that would seem much more interesting to me. After all, people who already had children of their own before they even heard of computer games should have quite different insights into the topic.
I keep thinking of a friend's mom here. She's a retired mother of four, owns three generations of Nintendo consoles and has played through most adventure games (the Zelda and Myst kinds) she can get her hands on. There's an interesting interview subject, and a slightly more unique one too I'd think.
He's "pretty single"? If he's single at age 30 and has pasty skin and overdeveloped wrists (from all that staying in and playing games) I'd suggest he's ugly single!
The article makes it sound like no one older than 30(!) can enjoy playing computer games...I'm even older...
Anyway, my experience is, as it's also written in the article, once you work, you have more money but less time. Once you have family and children, there's less money again, and even less time. But friends of mine used to do small LAN parties (50% of the time playing games, the rest was spent by BBQing, eating, drinking, talking) and they were older than 30(!). Some even had children. You don't do this every week, but once in 2 months is fine. And it was much fun.
Also once you get older, you don't play games to win or tell your friends you finished a game faster than they did. Playing for play's sake.
And yes, I play my GameboyAdvance in the subway when I have nothing else to do. And I am rarely the only one doing that. It's nice to live in Japan :-)
As you get older your priorities change. You start to see the world in a different light. At the moment I'm "between jobs". You'd think I'd have plenty of time to play the games that I want to. I have, but I don't. I don't because I feel it's more important to spend that precious time on gaining the skills needed to get another job. Only then will I have real time to play games. Oh, the ignorance of youth.
"I'm pretty single right now so I can't answer, but my email address is listed on the bio page. I just wanted people to know that."
;-)
I love it. That's sure to get him a few dates at least
Co-founder and designer at Music Nearby: http://musicnearby.com
This is what happens when you put l33t gamers in front of a dating sim.
Founder of Mirror Moon - Tsukihime Game Trans
As time goes by, gaming is less and less important to me, the same way that building my own machine and futzing around with op systems is. Been there, done that, over and over. Now I just want a machine that gets out of my way and makes it easy to do things. Had a Mac but sold it becuase it was DOG ASS slow compared to my Windows box. Now that the G5 is out I'm thinking about the Mac again. It was really easy to do quality digital photography on the Mac.
I'd rather have a computer that helps me in other area of life instead of just being a hobby into and of itself these days.
I know that as I've gotten older I've moved more into certain genres and such.
I started playing games at 5, I'm now 20.
A lot of my tastes have changed in the last 3 years.
I never used to play 1st person shooters, now I play a few, mostly unreal series.
I had a thing for 'craft (Starcraft, Warcraft) games and other RTS but I've seemed to have lost interest in that genre.
However, my affinity for platformers and RPGs (pretty much all Squaresoft ones) hasn't really gone anywhere.
Oh, and in the last year my faith in Nintendo was renewed.
Insert Sig Here
with people as old as 30 (!) still playing games, developers should probably start thinking about games that can run on a life-support-system platform... yeeez
I play computer games instead of watching TV. There are a few good shows and programs, but most is crap. So why watch? Sometimes I buy, borrow or rent a DVD and I watch the news, but that's basically it.
Often, when I come home from work, I feel mentally exhausted. A good way to empty my mind is to play a computer game. But i do not want to use the grey fluff between my ears, so it's mostly FPS for me then.
When I was still at high school and later at University, I used to prefer games which had long storylines or were otherwise time-consuming. Now I prefer games that I can play 'in-beteween', no bothering with stories, quests, finding the exit of the level, et cetera. I ocasionally play some Morrowind, but I really prefer short and brutish games.
Geek runner, motorcyclist and professional know-it-all
They ask a 23 year old about physical changes that might keep him from playing games... that's just absurd. I'm 22, and judging by the fact that I've witnessed people as old as 40 or 50 (so ancient!!) still able to use their hands like a regular young person, I don't see any major changes altering the way I play games in the near future. But seriously, judging by the title I was hoping they found gamers aged 60+ who might have to worry about joint problems and waning eye sight in their future. I've played games my whole life, and I don't see that stopping any time soon. I often wonder if I'll be held back by such issues, and I wonder if game companies will accomodate older gamers in the future with larger controllers (xbox 2,3,etc will already have this covered) and other devices to help them play comfortably.
--- "Yeah, I'm a bit stressed out. I have a research paper due tomorrow and it has to be +5, Insightful."
Hahaaha early 30's is not "younger" than 40.
Also, you learn what the warning signs of crap are and you don't even give it a chance.
First of all, What the h3ll does this have anything to do with this article? And second of all, macs aren't stupid if you are in imaging. I'm not a mac user myself, but at least I'm open minded enough to see other points of view. Honestly, you have the maturity of a third grader...
I'm 31.5 years old, and until recently I have still played competitive 1v1 1st person shooters. (Quake 3, Half-Life, Wolfenstein, Tron 2.0)
I've now stopped playing in competitions due to time constraints, as I've mastered accuracy, timing and control. (Can do rocket to rail jump on q3dm6) I also still play RTS games as well. (Warcraft III). But also love Morrowind, NWN type games.
I find however that my reflexes do not improve so much anymore, and I do not master new tricks as easily. I'm still a reasonable player, but younger players (13yrs old) seem to catch up easily.
I'm just glad I honed my skills early on, since I think they will stay with me for some time yet to come.
I'm 30+ and I Own all in The Half-Life mod 'Day of Defeat'. I stopped playing regularly because I can't find good competition any more.
Dolemite
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" It was really easy to do quality digital photography on the Mac."
Keyword there is "was". There's nothing a mac can do that a winbox can't, and vice versa.
Please, 30 is not "old" by any means.
These guys should interview one of the guys at my workplace. He is over 50, married with a full-grown son, and is one of the most hardcore gamers I have ever seen. He has a house full of consoles, many of which I've never even heard of, and has "war stories" dating back to before I, as a considerably younger gamer, even HAD video games. And needless to say his reflexes, interest, etc. have not waned one bit. He's awesome, and could likely kick my ass at just about any game of my choosing.
In fact, where I work, most of the people there are older than I am (I'm 30), and they're almost all hardcore gamers. The one twenty-something guy that just started is actually the worst gamer of the lot, and regularly gets razzed by the rest of the crew. So I really don't think age enters into it as much as the article may be implying.
And, interestingly enough, there's only one guy there who's NOT married or with girlfriend. So much for that stereotype, too.
But then you're not going to see any of these guys playing the latest Sonic game or Crash Bandicoot or anything either, so...
I had a big problem going from SNES to N64, dreamcast or playstation. The multiple buttons and 3d perspective really made games more difficult and confusing. The perspectives and graphics weren't good enough to trick my brain into thinking that way yet. Also being out of school and employeed leaves me with less time to actually play these days so my skill level and reflexes aren't anywhere near what they were when I was in school.
jesus christ, you are an idi0t.
Jesus ain't no id10t, yew are! Yo' mama so fat, she wears army trucks instead of boots!
Big Daddy, Johnny, Burp, Aunt Zelda, Scott, Slurp, Big Momma
I am 42. I play games. I write games. Most of you have probably played games, recently, that have in them code, models and textures that I've created. I am whatever age I choose to be, until my body removes my ability to choose. Many people under 25 have associated my creativity and mental abilities with the biological age of my body. I have, and always will accept the advantages they then hand me, from their beliefs, as I step past them.
oh, it's on!