The Aging Gamer 295
An anonymous reader writes "There is a short article at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle about the surprising statistic that a large potion of computer gamers are over 35. This actually makes sense, since many of them began gaming in the 70's. A short and semi-interesting read."
Slashdot: home of the semi-interesting read (Score:4, Funny)
Slashdot (Score:4, Funny)
Quasi-interesting (Score:5, Funny)
Your articles are only quasi-interesting. Semi-interesting. You're the margarine of interesting. You're the Slashdot of interesting -- only one calorie, not interesting enough!
Thank you.
Re:Slashdot: home of the semi-interesting read (Score:2)
I mean really... CmdrTaco should tweak the slashcode a bit to include a "semi-offtopic" moderation for cases where the story is, well, you know.
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
pfft cramps (Score:4, Funny)
that's when games focused on playability (read: FUN) rather than flashy (8 bits, mmm) graphics
Re:I would have to say... (Score:5, Insightful)
> 90+% of gamers are over 35, i wouldn't be shocked....
Ummmm. That really doesn't make any sense. The birth rate isn't plummetting catastrophically. I teach high school - and I assure you that a large fraction of the 14-year-olds on down are quite hooked. They'll be 34 in 20 years, and I don't see any likely reason that gaming would stop gaining recruits. 10 or so to 35 is an awfully big fraction of the population, much more than 10% - even if they WERE underrepresented in the gaming group, they'd claim more than 10% of it. And I see such an underrepresentation as unlikely. A higher fraction of today's youth are gamers, for instance, than were gamers in the 70s.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I would have to say... (Score:2)
Understanding is a requirment for discussion. He did not say 'everybody has to agree', he said 'contribute'. That means "say something meaningful", not "express your opinion that everything you don't like sucks."
WARNING: Argument sketch conjured (Score:5, Funny)
I told you once
No you didn't
Yes I did
When
Just now
No you didn't.
Look if I argure, I must take up a contrary positionI
yes but that isn't just saying "no it isn't"
yes it is
no it isn't
Re:I would have to say... (Score:3, Insightful)
Raiford -- Hacking Linux since 1993
I would have to say..."Pooey, from me to you!" (Score:4, Interesting)
I started playing games on a model 33 Teletype. Then we got an OSI 540 board going and I played Tiger Tank 'til the wee hours. And Wumpus and all matter of things, before discovering $DUNGEO (many refer to this as Zork) and $ADVENT (Colossal Cave), both brought back on a tape from a DECUS. Then there were many others written by students, before the first Apple Lab opened on campus and color was introduced. Eventually arcades sprung up at the mall, where Mario lept over barrels to rescue a princess.
Aging gamers? Well, there's aging games, too, which many call AbandonWare (and many a site dedicated to the nobel cause of keeping these things alive, while EA keeps recreating the same themes over and over...)
It's really a question of what a generation does with its leisure time. Mine spent it gaming. The current one does, too. It's rather hard to imagine future generations not doing it (unless everyone suddenly falls for some absurd cult. [xenu.net]
In another surprising study... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:In another surprising study... (Score:3, Funny)
short and semi-interesting (Score:3, Funny)
That's good, because most of us gamers are also short and semi-interesting as well...
Re:short and semi-interesting (Score:2)
Speak for yourself! I'm tall and completely not interesting.
Another interesting statistic.. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Another interesting statistic.. (Score:5, Funny)
Empirical observation suggests that your implicit claim that there are 19 (250-231) Slashdot editors that can spell is false, unless you can produce 19 such editors. (Difficult, since the entire universe of discourse is what, six people?)
I suspect something has gone wonky with your math, and suggest you correct it posthaste. Alternatively, you can clarify what you mean by a fractional editor.
For the humorless,
Re:Sir Bard (Score:2)
irony Pronunciation Key (r-n, r-)
n. pl. ironies
1.
1. The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning.
2. An expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning.
3. A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical effect. See Synonyms at wit1.
2.
1. Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs: "Hyde noted the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated" (Richard Kain).
2. An occurrence, result, or circumstance notable for such incongruity. See Usage Note at ironic.
3. Dramatic irony.
4. Socratic irony.
and how many are single ... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:and how many are single ... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:and how many are single ... (Score:4, Funny)
Started programming at age 9 back in 1967, and the first computer game I played was on an IBM-360 back in 72. Star Trek, no less. First game I ever programmed was on an HP-65 programmable calculator a few years later.
So my advice is - don't think you'll be "old" in 2030. Save up some good stories about how the Net used to be free, how 2 GigaHz was a fast machine, how we only dreamed of having a Petabyte of main memory on our machine - which was on a desk, not wearable/implanted.
Re:and how many are single ... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:and how many are single ... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:and how many are single ... (Score:3, Funny)
I'd be an old gamer (Score:3, Funny)
Linux Games (Score:4, Funny)
My son however is a better example of an avid gamer. He's been playing Starcraft solidly for the past 2 weeks (school hols) including several overniters.
Seems a bit excessive to me, but then, I'm not addicted
... to gaming that is... Beer on the other hand...
Re:Linux Games (Score:5, Interesting)
Look maybe I exaggerated a bit. He has eaten, he has slept - a bit. I read the Korean thing. I'm trying to give him some space while school's out. But I'm willing to consider alternatives, if it will help him to have a happier life.
Geez, give me a break $0 elite; some constructive suggestions would go down well........
Re:Linux Games (Score:2)
Okie Dokie, How about going out and playing catch, build a model, take him hunting or fishing, rent a good movie, etc. I just don't think sitting in front of a computer for two weeks straight is a good thing. You wouldn't let him watch TV for two weeks straight would you? Playing Starcraft isn't very far from that.
Take him camping. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Linux Games (Score:2)
His favorite games are the SNES9x simulator and a cD of rom's. I have fun with these to (the classic Mario games, etc). and they are cheap!
Re:Linux Games (Score:2)
So you're son isn't allowed to play Quake because it's "bad", but you have no problem utilizing father/son bonding time to download warez?
Hmmm, violence = "bad", stealing = "good". Oooh, oooh, I know, you're training your son to be a TV evangelist!
Re:Linux Games (Score:2)
Re:Linux Games (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Linux Games (Score:5, Insightful)
You sound like you don't have kids yourself and you're one of the armchair parents like the ones that run this country. You know the type, the ones that think that they should have complete control over the raising of every child in the country yet can't manage their own family.
Re:Linux Games (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Linux Games (Score:4)
I have a 4 year old son. He spent about 3 weeks playing games on the computer. He spent another 4 playing Mario 64, and another 2 playing Zelda 64. Now he's tired of playing video games. Guess what, his brain didn't fall out, he isn't wandering the street with a loaded shotgun, and he's not out smoking on the street corners. Everybodies different, you do realize that right? You also realize that they're different because of different life experiences right?
Final point: children learn SOMETHING from EVERYTHING.
Re:Linux Games (Score:2)
And if course being an adult requires having a skin thicker than rhinoceros
An aging gaming population... (Score:2, Funny)
I'm scared to think of what would happen. heh.
whew, I'm not the only one ... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:whew, I'm not the only one ... (Score:2, Funny)
Your sig (Score:5, Informative)
"REAL geeks think that Y2K happens in the year 2048."
Don't you mean 2038? Assuming of course, that you are referring to the problems that may occur in 2038 when the number of seconds since the beginning of the UNIX epoch will overflow 32 bit integers.
~Phillip
Re:Your sig (Score:2, Interesting)
But as the other respondents say, there's a more basic answer. I guess I'm just getting ahead of myself envisioning the truckloads of cash I'll be collecting from my steady investment in short-term thinking.
And hey - have we planted the seeds to build the trust funds for the children of the poor techies in 2050 who missed the train? We should start thinking about that now - wouldn't want to wait to the last second...bwaahahahaha!
Re:Your sig (Score:4, Funny)
Ah, but real geeks use base 1009 (for their mathematical needs and
2k = 2 * 1009 + 20 = 2018 + 20 = 2038
~Phillip
Re:whew, I'm not the only one ... (Score:2, Insightful)
people will spend all friday night watching teevee instead of going out and thats apparently fine, but as soon as you turn on the computer you are a big time loser
if it makes you feel any better, from last sunday morning thru to monday night i was on the comp playing games. and my g/f, who works weekends a lot, is working both days this weekend, so im up for more of the same
anyone who feels the need to deride someone else for their choice of hobby is really the one that needs the life, not you
Re:whew, I'm not the only one ... (Score:3, Insightful)
I recently turned 31 myself, and last Xmas, I bought myself a PS2 and several games for it. Granted, I was always a bit selective about what I purchased/played. There seem to be quite a few "teenie-bopper" games out there that don't do anything for me.
But how can you place an "age limit" on sports games, billiards games, flight simulators, well-done car racing sims, and any games with "mature" themes + good graphics, sound, and all around gameplay (like GTA3 for example)?
As a matter of fact, one of the guys I worked with who was a few years older than me got hooked on PS2 after I kept telling him about the stuff available for it. (Initially, he wrote it off as kid stuff - but his interest was piqued when he heard about Gran Turismo 3 and the like.) I think he bought one "for his kid" as an excuse, and ended up playing it himself.
In fact, I think one of society's big problems today is the number of folks who live in relative boredom and depression because of a self-inflicted lack of fun/hobbies. There's this prevelant sense that as you reach age 30 or so, you're "not supposed" to do lots of stuff anymore. (No more big car stereo upgrades.... no more video games.... yadda, yadda.) Screw that. I never want to grow old and be one of the "statistics" that sits around drinking beer in front of the TV, watching only football, baseball and/or hockey - goes to work, eats, and sleeps, and never really does anything else "for the fun of it".
Think of gamers beyond retirement.. (Score:5, Funny)
With the technology available when these 35-year-olds are 70, they'll be able to have fully immersive games embedded in their walkers.
Sounds like me... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Sounds like me... (Score:3, Insightful)
1) There are lots of adults that want to play games.
2) Adults have more money.
Kids have to take whatever their parents will give them, adults can spend what they wish within the limits of their means. Unsupprisingly, this means that adults spend more on games.
What about Consoles? (Score:5, Funny)
Does this same age group dominate the console market too? If so, then perhaps Nintendo and Playstation should change their target demographics. Stop selling games with "FREE Bike Decals!" and replace it with "FREE Car Insurance Estimate!"
Re:What about Consoles? (Score:2)
Re:What about Consoles? (Score:3, Interesting)
Star Trek (variants). I learned Linear Algebra working out how to move my ship around hyper-space on the Star Trek game a friend and I wrote on our TRS-80 model 1.
Lemonade Stand on the Apple II+.
There was a stock market sort of game that came standard with the Comodore Pet.
Wumpus was big on the Kim MOE-1 (but you had to enter the code each time you wanted to play - we didn't have the cassette tape interface.)
My favorite game was a Dungeons and Dragons game that I got the majority of the code from out of an article in Byte. We hacked the code up into a fun little game. I remember missing a date with my girlfriend - later my wife - because I was so excited about showing some friends a new monster and attack that I had coded.
Re:What about Consoles? (Score:2)
Re:What about Consoles? (Score:2)
Copying games from books with computer programs (Score:2)
I also remember some of the code used "A" in IF THEN statements and the computers generating errors from that ERROR line 10 IF AT HEN goto line 100
But I could write my own "game" in an afternoon.
Curious ailment for older gamers (Score:5, Interesting)
What kind of health hazards do we need to watch out for in the future.
Chronic arthritis of the thumbs is one thing but what happens when we all start gaming in VR?
Re:Curious ailment for older gamers (Score:2)
They're still alive? (Score:4, Funny)
Unbelievable, they have been playing computer games for over 20 years and it hasn't killed them yet?
Re:They're still alive? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:They're still alive? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:They're still alive? (Score:2)
No, but they're probably stone-cold killers one and all. After all, computer gaming trains you to be a killer, it's like murder simulators.
I'm gonna go watch some Kung-Fu movies since they'll turn my fat ass into a lean fighting machine...
Re:They're still alive? (Score:3, Funny)
It's weird. I thought they should be out on the street killing people or imprisoned for life. Isn't that what happens from computer games?
why would anyone quit gaming? (Score:4, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:why would anyone quit gaming? (Score:2)
Me, I got sick of console games right around the Playstation. 7 years later, I'm back full swing, enjoying the hell out of my Gamecube.
And for the naysayers who want to talk about how all new games are the same, and boring.... you're not saying anything new. 90% of what came out for the NES was complete crap. Same for every system since. Finding the gems is what makes it all worth while.
Re:why would anyone quit gaming? (Score:3, Insightful)
Because games get stale after a while, especially with most games pigeonholed into cliche-ridden genres: FPS, RTS, "character with attitude" platformer, racing, fighting, RPG. What eventually started bugging me is that most games are designed to take X hours to "beat." You buy the game, you plow through it, you see all the movies and all the levels and get the same experience out of it that everyone else does, and then you're done. So not only do you need a huge block of time to play, but you're just following a script. The cry for story-based games has made this much worse than it used to be.
What I really want is to sit down for short bursts and play something unique. But instead it's like going to a video store that only rents movies like Collateral Damage and The Phantom Menace (ugh!), except that they're each 15 hours long.
It's simple for me (Score:5, Insightful)
Atari, Intellivision, and the arcade (Score:3, Interesting)
Pinball - Silverball Mania
Pong - Cocktal Version, lost many a quarter(but pops snuck me into bars, cause that is where pong lived.
Boot Hill - FPS? The Original death match.
What about those wierd baseball games where you hat to bat at the balls with the stick on a lever?
Shoot the bear with the 90 pound rifle?
Then came the 2600 for me. I can play Combat by myself for hours.
Breakout? You kicked its ass enough the bricks didnt come back.
AS for being in the thirties. I still latch on too the odd game(gotta keep the kiddies in check cause I can't impress em with my cool Galaga skills).
Now I am playing The Thing. Not so bad, the character barf and commit suicide.
Puto
we have the $$$ (Score:2, Insightful)
In my case (Score:3, Interesting)
Later, I decided that editing tech docs for a living was limiting my scope. I felt I was locked into one way of using a computer (or console) and that could not be good. I bought my own PS1 and several car racing titles just to do something different with a processor and display and how my mind was relating. I figure as long as this is how I earn my living, it doesn't hurt to exercise hand-to-eye coordination in the interest of keeping things (mentally) limber.
Yes, I remember spending hours playing PONG and Parsec. Things have come a long way, and my kids are much more into it than I am, but I still find GT3 a great way to waste an afternoon.
Thanks.... (Score:4, Funny)
LAN Party in a bottle?
Voodoo Mathematics (Score:5, Insightful)
Right, this makes sense. If you are 35 and you are gaming, you must have been doing so your entire lifetime.
How about this instead: Someone who is 35 now was in their mid teens when arcade games were really big in the mid eighties. They started playing the games non-stop. Most of them did not play on computers at home, they went out to an arcade.
Fast forward ten to fifteen years. Home game consoles are so cheap and so powerful that they're better than going to the arcade. The same people who went to the arcade started buying the game consoles.
Which brings us to today. Believe it or not folks, I actually know some people who are over 35 years old, and they might actually fool you into thinking they weren't wearing Depends. Most of them still like doing the things they did when they were in their late teens and early twenties, which includes gaming.
Now, if the study had claimed that the average gaming age was 40 or 45, that would have been a little harder to swallow.
Re:Voodoo Mathematics (Score:2)
Now, if the study had claimed that the average gaming age was 40 or 45, that would have been a little harder to swallow.
Why? Do people suddenly start wearing Depends at age 40 or 45?
Large Potion of Computer Gamers (Score:5, Funny)
Age deciding what consoles are popular? (Score:2, Insightful)
Logik
Been gaming since I was 10 (Score:2)
Fast forward to 2002. I'm now 32, still playing games, and now I can afford the hardware needed for most current games. GTA3 is my current obsession (and I know I'm not the only one).
I actually had a kid working at Best Buy ask me if I was buying a game for their kid when I was perusing the game aisle. I've been gaming since he was still a dribble in his mom.
Can't wait till my kids are old enough to play the hardcore stuff. Until then, it's GT3 on the PS2.
Gah! (Score:4, Funny)
The rest are probably wandering through the Zork anthology over and over and over..... hell, I've been lost in the Zork II maze since 1989.
Evolution of the gamer? (Score:5, Funny)
2. I'll be there soon honey, I'm almost done
3. Damnit Martha where are my spectacles? I can't see the crosshairs and I'm 4 frags behind.
If I can find a game that's not a repeat-concept when I'm 40 I'll be very happy - phorm
Old Farts Rule! (Score:2, Interesting)
Our tag is =VIO= which stands for Victory Is Ours.
The running joke for people who ask is that it stands for Viagra Is on Sale.
You can visit us on: irc.Renegade-IRC.Net #vio
The Pain Station (Score:2)
Imagine the old folks home in a few years... (Score:5, Funny)
I remember when Quake 3 was all the rage.
Wait'll the nurses... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Wait'll the nurses... (Score:4, Funny)
k.
in other news (Score:4, Funny)
Statistics? (Score:2, Interesting)
And in other news (Score:3, Funny)
Interesstingly, a large portion of humans are over 35.
A previous study... (Score:2, Informative)
Correlation (Score:2, Funny)
There is for me. I got a bunch of
Vectrex, 1982 (Score:2)
-russ
Run Logan, run! (Score:4, Informative)
We have to put a stop to this. Kill 'em. Kill 'em at 30. Kill 'em all!
Here's another hot newsflash from the blindingly obvious findings desk, your parents still " do it." Not only that, they "do it" more often, and *better,* than you do.
KFG
Who's old? (Score:3, Interesting)
What, me old?
By the way, I have a copy of Crowther and Woods' original Adventure on paper tape for the PDP-11/55, and I have got the Zork Trilogy on my Linux box.
Computer Games Got Me Started Programming (Score:4, Interesting)
That got me started down the path to my current career! I played a lot of games in HS, but I also wrote my own text based adventure game on an Apple II, and I even wrote a little "Star Wars" game on a Vic 20 that I borrowed from a neighbor kid over Christmas Break!
I'm now a Software Engineer for a Government Contractor firm, working in some cool technologies. I still play games today (having moved up from Apple Panic and Castle Wolfenstein 1 to Serious Sam II), but I don't play as much as I used to, having a wife and two kids. I do let my kids play a little more than I probably should, but I'm hoping that the love of computers might get them interested in programming, too! Since we homeschool, I personally think they'd have a GREAT computer programming teacher!
P.S. Thanks, Mr. B! (science teacher) Without you, I might still be a gamer, but I probably never would have become a programmer!
This is significant (Score:2)
Gaming ain't what it used to be... (Score:3, Funny)
I've Always Wanted to Make a Web Site... (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm 38, and I still enjoy most kinds of games. Least amused by D&D style games like Neverwinter Nights (great title, though). I still rock with FPS and easily kick the ass of most people my age. Been playing a long time, since the 70's and Mattel's handheld football, the Ataris, and even DEC terminals with Camel and Trek.
Passing time with Diablo II still, getting into some Sims, been really fragging the shit out of some young-ums in Quake 3, and looking forward to showing young meat how to catch a lightsaber when Jedi Knight II comes out for Mac OS X in a couple of weeks.
Yep, card carrying, Excellent Fragging Member of The Old Gamers Club: Where you are never too young to get your ass kicked.
I sincerely plan to be old but still able to hang and beat my grandchildren at whatever marvels show up in the future. I was around during the dawn of the electronic gaming age, and my "Tron finger" is as snappy as ever.
Simple economics. (Score:3, Insightful)
Kids (say, up through early college) would like to play games, but don't have the disposable income.
Younger adults (say, late college through late 20s) have disposable income, but they are spending their money on social pursuits, vacations, cars, gadgets, clothing, etc.
But when they finally marry and start families, the center for entertainment switches to the home...and those $50 games are somewhat more affordable once you hold down a real job.
Aging? (Score:3, Funny)
Heck, I'll be 37 in December but I don't consider myself "aging".
When I have the inkling to buy SimAdultDiapers or SimLawnBowling at the software storethen I'll consider myself "aging".
Until then, I'll still stomp your arse in UT 2003, lad!
Harumph!
Computer games = generation gap? (Score:3, Insightful)
Perhaps there *is* hope for our species after all.
Re:Bad typo (Score:4, Funny)
Sure it would:
It looks like you're trying to mix an invisibility potion, but you used three newt eyes instead of the correct number, four.
It's a matter of perception (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm 32. I played my first video game when I was around 5 (Pong) and have been a hard core gamer since 1979 when I got my Atari 2600. My enthusiasm for video games (both old and new) hasn't wavered a bit since then. With the possible exception of sex, video games are my absolute favorite activity. (From a romantic relationship standpoint this isn't really a problem, since it's balanced out by my total lack of interest in sports, but I digress.)
Most of my peer group (friends and coworkers) is the same way, and we all game regularly, both alone (on PCs and consoles) and networked (LAN parties and over the `Net). I don't think I know a single person who ever "grew out of" video games.
I think that the difference in our perception is based on how we game. When we (my friends and I) deathmatch it's usually on a private server that one of us has set up. Rarely do we play on public servers, as the performance tends to be poorer and the players tend to be more obnoxious (not all of them, obviously, but the dickhead ratio is definitely higher on open games).
It could simply be that younger gamers are less likely to have access to a restricted dedicated server, and hence more likely to play together on open servers. Older gamers tend to have more disposable income and are less likely to have to justify the cost of a dedicated server to someone, as well as more opportunity to lug their machines over to a LAN party.
Just my $.02
-Cybrex
P.S.- My Titanium PowerBook is not just a handy tool; it's also loaded with every Atari 2600 game ever made and 4.5 GB of MAME ROMs.