New Demographics Show Gamers Are Getting Older

[badgersprite]

So your telling me that gamers who whine and complain and all that other bullshit have a high probability of being a grown-ass man?

I wouldn't exactly call that a good thing.

I admit; I laughed. Well played, sir.

OT: Not surprising at all to me. Most of the reason I got into games in the first place is my Dad (who's fifty-six this year) introducing me to them. He was also the one who was super keen for us to get a PS3 with 3D games on it. He's a technology geek, who likes seeing the graphics and tech improve with every year.

I should get him Skyrim for Christmas, now that I think of it.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

Not suprising, but good to hear. Makes you think though, I can imagine by the time our generation gets into their 60s and 70s the young kids won't even get a look in cause grandad keeps hogging the PS12.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

Double post, damn internet. Please ignore.

 

[Phase_9]

great now the elderly will start talking crap on CoD.

Grumble...old people...grumble.

Really, I don't see what the big fuss is about. it's not like older people are going to suddenly start teabagging people in CoD. No, you should be more worried about the younger than 15 crowd pulling stupid stunts.

 

[robert022614]

great now the elderly will start talking crap on CoD.

Grumble...old people...grumble.

Really, I don't see what the big fuss is about. it's not like older people are going to suddenly start teabagging people in CoD. No, you should be more worried about the younger than 15 crowd pulling stupid stunts.

yea that was sort of a joke.....anyway you never know grandpa just might do it.

 

[Phase_9]

great now the elderly will start talking crap on CoD.

Grumble...old people...grumble.

Really, I don't see what the big fuss is about. it's not like older people are going to suddenly start teabagging people in CoD. No, you should be more worried about the younger than 15 crowd pulling stupid stunts.

yea that was sort of a joke.....anyway you never know grandpa just might do it.

Hell, I wish my grandpa would. It would certainly make the retirement home much more interesting...

 

[UNHchabo]

Also the amount of money hardly equals the amount of people. Games cost $60 and movies about $10 or so. So the math deff adds up in favor of movies and I hesitate to think what the ESA considers "games". All in all though it was bound to happen as gen x takes over and gen y is more tech saavy than any gen before it.

With the ESA having such a broad definition of "games", I think you may find the money spent per purchase may actually be less with gaming.

Many couples go to the movie theater every weekend; spending from $20, upwards of $40, on each movie.

Meanwhile, I think the gamers who are actually willing to pay $60 for most releases are in the minority. Most will either wait for the price drop, or for a used copy.

I know in my case, the last time I paid more than $20 for a game was when I pre-ordered Portal 2, and the last time before that was when I pre-ordered the Orange Box. I've bought many games since then, but I bargain-hunt meticulously.

You have a good point there I completely disregarded all the $0.99 and other low price games on cellphones. If those count then games are probably way ahead of movies as I myself have about 30 games that were free on the android marketplace so you have to think of all of those not contributing to the sales numbers. Also where do you spend $40.00 for two people at a movie?!?! I understand if you are talking about popcorn, soda, etc, but i think they are talking about ticket sales.

I was counting popcorn, soda, etc in my calculations, but I realized after I posted that you probably meant only the money that goes to the studios, not the retailers.

Still, for a couple that's around $20-25 a week, depending on the theater, compared with the $20 that I've spent in the last month buying three games.

 

[esplode]

Well I would assume that since gaming doesn't prevent aging, this was bound to happen.

Mind you, it would be nice to not have to worry as much about 12 year olds screaming over the headset mic anymore (sometimes to people in the background).

 

[twm1709]

I know the guy in the picture. He kicks ass at pokemon.

 

[KirbyKrackle]

Is this a surprise? People that have been playing video games since the Atari are aging? Color me shocked.

Well, I think the interesting part is not that gamers are aging, but that gamers are aging while continuing to be gamers. We like a lot of things in childhood that we later lose interest in as we age. These results indicate that video games can appeal to all ages, and that the medium is further outgrowing its "just for kids" image.

(Also, apologies for picking on you, randomfox. Many other people are making the same comment, and I don't mean to single you out; yours just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, I guess.)

 

[JET1971]

great now the elderly will start talking crap on CoD.

Grumble...old people...grumble.

Really, I don't see what the big fuss is about. it's not like older people are going to suddenly start teabagging people in CoD. No, you should be more worried about the younger than 15 crowd pulling stupid stunts.

Not in COD most likely but they do in BFBC2... Oh wait im 40 and teabagged some punk kid.

 

[Zerbye]

In twenty years, the average gamer will be 57...because all of you will be older too! Seriously, the average gamer age was 34 just 3 years ago...

 

[starslasher]

Yeah, it's sort of sad, but when i hear about how the median age of gamers is increasing, I can't help but think that it's becoming more evident that video games - as a lifestyle - is turning out to be a generational trend. Who knows how long the video games industry will survive when us gamers are in our 80 or 90's if any of us will live that long. The mentioned article reinforces that notion for me.

 

[LaughingJester]

This is amusing given that here in Aus there is still no R rating... maybe the P.M's should be reading articles like this, I think 37 a 37 year old is old enough to decide...

 

[Therumancer]

Interesting, but I think the numbers are very weighted if they are considering someone who occasionally plays "Angry Birds" in five minute spurts to be a gamer.

See, right now I think the tendency to want to try and expand niche-terms like "gamer" into a more literal definition for marketing purposes and so on, is actually becoming counter productive towards seeing the actual trends and who plays or does what.

 

[trooper6]

The statistic on the website I think is very interesting is that 72% of housholds play video games. I think video games will end up becoming just like TV, film, or other mainstream media pasttime.