An Older Demographic May Soon Dominate Gaming

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday February 12, 2008 @05:03AM from the say-goodbye-to-the-hardcore- dept.

Reservoir Hill writes "An article from last week runs down the new mass audience for gaming among families, women and older people. The importance of the mass audience in gaming's spectacular growth is seen most clearly in the success of Nintendo's Wii, which is far outselling its more technically advanced hardware competitors, the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and PlayStation 3 from Sony. Wii Play was the No. 2-selling game of last year even though it received an abysmal score of 58 out of 100 at Metacritic, which aggregates reviews. The Times says that as video games become more popular hard-core gamers are becoming an ever smaller part of the audience. 'Paradoxically, at a moment when technology allows designers to create ever more complex and realistic single-player fantasies, the growth in the now $18 billion gaming market is in simple, user-friendly experiences that families and friends can enjoy together.'"

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Makes one wonder... by Darundal · 2008-02-12 05:05 · Score: 4, Interesting

...How many politicians are going to go after games continually when they gain the same status as movies in the public eye?
You just don't get it.... by DigitalisAkujin · 2008-02-12 05:11 · Score: 4, Interesting

The new emerging Wii market can't simply be lumped into the same hardcore gaming market.

The Wii market is separate from 360 and PS3 so trying to figure out why Wii is outselling the PS3 and 360 doesn't work.

It's not simply about being a "Gamer" now. The way most Wii games work isn't in any way similar to the traditional gaming market. Stop treating it like the same thing.

Not everyone feels like getting off their ass and actually moving.