Other: Over the Hill: Gaming in a Geritol Age

Foe · 18-April-06, 07:47 AM

The title of this article made me curious, and it was not a bad read.

Quote:


	Seems like people of all ages love videogames. by Eli "The Mad Man" Shayotovich I recently turned 39. Don't get me wrong. I'm not lamenting my age. To me, age is simply a number that has no relevance on how I live my life. Age is nothing more than a mental state of being. I also realize I'm one of the few who actually believe and live by it. Society is obsessed with numbers... weight, height, income, and especially age. After all, there are deep-seated societal mores to be upheld. When I tell someone that I write about video games, I typically get a pretty enthusiastic response. The few who have looked down on me for having such a job "at my age" aren't so much numerically older than I am as they're older in mind and spirit. Take for instance my neighbor. I honestly think he considers me less of an adult for playing videogames "at my age." That's fine. I think he's odd in general, so we're even. I've been playing video games in one form or another since 1977. That's the majority of my life now. But I'm not alone though. Things are changing in the world of video games. I guess the best way to put it is: it's growing up. I'm not talking about the industry itself, but rather those who actually play the games. Take a guess as to what age demographic plays them the most these days. The 10-year olds who throw tantrums over spilled milk? How about the prototypical rebellious teenager who thinks he knows everything there is to know about everything? Think again. Check out some of these statistics: 33% of adult gamers spend ten hours or more playing video games every week 11% of teens spend ten or more hours playing games every week 64% of adults play alone 55% of adults play online 25% of adults used handhelds in the last 6 months (as opposed to 77% of teens) This data was pulled from the 2006 Gaming Technology Study released last month. It was designed by CEA Market Research and is considered the most comprehensive source of sales data, forecasts, consumer research and historical trends for the consumer electronics industry. The adult study was given out via a Web form to an online sample of 1,767 people. The teen study was administered via telephone interview to a random sample of 500 teens (247 males and 253 females) between the ages of 12 and 17. "The fact that adults are racking up more gaming hours than teens is startling, but there are several associated findings that shed light on this," said CEA's Senior Manager, Industry Analysis Steve Koenig. "Interestingly, a greater percentage of 12-14 year olds spend time gaming than older teens ages 15-17. Older teens simply may not have the free time for extra hours of gaming or they could be gaming on wireless handsets since 81 percent of teens own or use a wireless phone."

Read the Rest
News Source: GameDaily.com

EDIT: Foe, I cleaned it up a little...too many spaces. For some reason, some sites when copied over into a post double or triple the amount of spaces...its weird...and I don't like it lol

droeblek9 · 18-April-06, 12:37 PM

That was a great read, Foe.
Quite a bit of it does make sense: especially the pricing. It's not just the cost of the games, but also the hardware to run them on (big time for PC): 10 years ago, i financially wouldn't have been in the position to buy and upgrade equiptment that's comparable -for the technology of the time - to what i have now ( i game a lot more in my 30's than i did as a teen and 20 - something).
The only downside of the article for me is that it hammers home something that i find disturbing: a good chunk of the people who act like asses in online games are in the same age bracket that i am, and that's pretty sad.

Graaille · 18-April-06, 01:34 PM

I can personally attest to at least 8 gaming groups that play UT2004 where the average age of the gamers is above 45. Plus, I've built pc's for Dads who are 40+ who are getting them solely for internet and gaming. The younger generation that got into gaming when it became popular in the 80's are still going strong 20 years later.

Foe · 18-April-06, 01:44 PM

The group I used to game with the average age was 38 - 43. We always had more fun gaming than people should be allowed. The fun was always better that the scores at the end of the levels, but we really did not care. But don't get me wrong, some of those guys could kick some butt in a FPS, and in flight sims.

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18-April-06, 12:37 PM		#2 (permalink)
droeblek9 Warcraft Warrior	That was a great read, Foe. Quite a bit of it does make sense: especially the pricing. It's not just the cost of the games, but also the hardware to run them on (big time for PC): 10 years ago, i financially wouldn't have been in the position to buy and upgrade equiptment that's comparable -for the technology of the time - to what i have now ( i game a lot more in my 30's than i did as a teen and 20 - something). The only downside of the article for me is that it hammers home something that i find disturbing: a good chunk of the people who act like asses in online games are in the same age bracket that i am, and that's pretty sad.

18-April-06, 01:34 PM		#3 (permalink)
Graaille Apex Master Tech	I can personally attest to at least 8 gaming groups that play UT2004 where the average age of the gamers is above 45. Plus, I've built pc's for Dads who are 40+ who are getting them solely for internet and gaming. The younger generation that got into gaming when it became popular in the 80's are still going strong 20 years later.

18-April-06, 01:44 PM		#4 (permalink)
Foe Apex Tech God	The group I used to game with the average age was 38 - 43. We always had more fun gaming than people should be allowed. The fun was always better that the scores at the end of the levels, but we really did not care. But don't get me wrong, some of those guys could kick some butt in a FPS, and in flight sims.