New Demographics Show Gamers Are Getting Older

[KirbyKrackle]

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.

Hmm, that's actually a pretty interesting (and slightly depressing) counterpoint to my unbridled optimism; I'd hate to see video games go the way of the comic book industry.

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.)

Isn't that a lot like saying people outgrow comics, or books, or movies. Or breathing...

I was thinking more along the lines of things like childhood games and toys (or is hopscotch the new big fad among twenty-somethings? I never manage to keep up with these things). Also, you are correct in that there are a lot of comics, books, and movies that most people do more-or-less outgrow, as I'm sure there are video games that appealed as a child that no longer appeal to that same person as an adult.

 

[KirbyKrackle]

I don't mean that. At all. People don't outgrow things, they evolve. When I was a kid I read Sonic comics, now I've read Watchmen. I watched Semester Street, now I watch South Park. I played Megaman, now I play LA Noire. People don't outgrow video games, they simply grow up with us. To insinuate that video games are comparable to hopscotch is quite a silly statement. Or did hopscotch suddenly become an art form when I wasn't looking?

Enh, I don't think I was clear enough in my writing since I'm pretty sure we're actually on the same page here (that people don't outgrow video games). Essentially, there were a lot of comments along the lines of "well of course people age, duh!" but the pleasant(?) surprise in the findings is not that gamers age but that the gamers age and continue to be gamers, which shows that video games appeal to adult players in addition to children, an important difference between video games and other childhood games. Of course, as starslasher points out, this trend may come with its own problems.

Of course saying video games as a medium (as a medium, mind; there are individual video games that aren't unlike hopscotch)are like hopscotch is silly, which is why I didn't say that. I was pretty much trying (and failing, obviously) to say the opposite--that video games must be unlike other children's games in key ways in order to appeal to an audience besides children.

Basically, it's just as you say: video games evolved with their original audience, as shown by the fact that the medium still appeals to that original audience decades later, and has reached out to new audiences, which is the part of the study I found interesting (as there was never any guarantee that the medium would necessarily evolve past the point where it appealed to either a very young or very limited audience).

 

[JET1971]

The thing about video games is its a wide medium. Like there are childrens shows such as sesame street and the like and there are TV shows like sex in the city or firefly that cater to adults or more mature audiances. You grow up watching TV shows and as you grow the shows you watch become more adult oriented. same with video games.

One thing with video games is, whe dont pull the false pretenses that we only play adult themed ones when we will play any game that catches our attention and we will play with anyone online as long as they play fair and dont scream obscenities in our ear with a screechy high pitched pre-teen voice. So being we will play anygame if its fun then all video games get included even if its angry birds or that "penquin" flash game where you are the yeti hiting penquins with a club to see how far you can launch the lil shit, up to joining a clan or squad for epic FPS/MMO battles. If you are a gamer you would play them all.

then what is a gamer? well theres occasional gamers who will play a game on the iphone, casual gamers who are people like my 60 year old mother who plays casual games online, and my father/aunt/uncle who all have a wii system and play wii games (mainly wii sports). semi hardcore gamers who like many AAA titles and play them but also play many casual games plus watch the tube, then theres the hardcore gamers who play any video game and keeps up with the issues with gaming and are vocal(subset into platform choice). but I didnt meantion the uber hardcore PC gamer who only plays AAA titles on a PC does not own a TV and mods the titles after playing them and plays the modded version.

 

[Aesir23]

It's not that surprising considering how long games have been around and how long some people have been playing games. New gamers are continually entering the market whether they be young or of an older, even elderly, variety. It doesn't mean that gaming is merely a fad or trend for this generation, it could simply mean that more people of all ages are playing. Not to mention the fact that those of us who started playing on the earlier consoles and PCs are not exactly in our teens anymore. Gamers are just as vulnerable to aging as the rest of the world. Personally, I intend to keep playing games even when I'm an arthritic grandmother. I won't be able to remember what happened in the last cutscene, but I'll still be playing.

 

[Kakashi on crack]

Umm, this news is actually kinda old, this is just a new study showing similar results except more older gamers.

Hell, I know plenty of people in the 30-50 range who are gamers.

 

[Don Reba]

See, I don't count people who just play Angry Birds or Farmville as gamers, so these studies will never mean much to me. People who enjoy little games to pass the time are quite different than people who enjoy it as a hobby.

I can't really sit down with someone who plays Angry Birds and have a video games discussion, other than maybe, "Oh man, those black birds are awesome, don't you think? And that one level, boy it was hard. Yep... good talk."

Those kind of casual gamers usually don?t care about the medium any more than non-gamers do; to them it?s just a nice distraction to pass the time and nothing more.

Exactly. I don't see the point of lumping gamers together casual and social players. Those people have hardly a different opinion about games than they ever did. By the same merit, we could add poker and slot machine players to the mix.

 

[starslasher]

Well I saw his worry, that when the first generation of gamers passes gaming will become a fad and fade away or something, but that simply doesn't make sense. It's just new, people need to adjust to it, and the new gen of kids coming in discovering video games for the first time is gonna feel like WE did when we found movies and books. Was there a single kid who didn't hate reading at some point? Then you fill things out better and realize, hey, maybe there's something to this here. Gaming isn't going anywhere, but it is going to see a lot of changes before we pass on. The problem then becomes making sure the vets don't freak out and try to kill everything that's different before it gets off the ground (see: the Game Overthinker)

It's not that surprising considering how long games have been around and how long some people have been playing games. New gamers are continually entering the market whether they be young or of an older, even elderly, variety. It doesn't mean that gaming is merely a fad or trend for this generation, it could simply mean that more people of all ages are playing. Not to mention the fact that those of us who started playing on the earlier consoles and PCs are not exactly in our teens anymore. Gamers are just as vulnerable to aging as the rest of the world. Personally, I intend to keep playing games even when I'm an arthritic grandmother. I won't be able to remember what happened in the last cutscene, but I'll still be playing.

The main aspect for my pessimism is that the increase in the median age of gamers indicates that there aren't that many children playing video games. I discussed this with my brother, who can agree with me that this might become a generation trend, and added that the vast majority of games being released are more adult-oriented. Why? because that's what's in demand, basically.

When you see the range of games appropriate for kids nowadays, it's pretty disappointing. My brothers points out that for the video game industry to survive, the developers are going to have to make more kid/family oriented games.

So in a sense, the Nintendo Wii (and possibly the Wii U) might save the future of the video game industry.

 

[Merkavar]

whats the average gamer if you exclude solitare, farmville and other similiar extremely casual games.

 

[viranimus]

Can I get a "Why, back in my day" rant please to go along with this?

I would do it myself but... Its getting close to 4pm and Ive already had my pills, getting ready to have my mush for dinner and then off to bed.

Seriously.. Uphill, in the snow, both ways? Anybody?

 

[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.

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

Lol I know what you mean I would actually unmute everybody just to hear that trash talk.