Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes -- the Evolving Face of the Gamer
If that shiny black Xbox 360 Slim is the first video game console that you have ever owned, congratulations mate! You are be a member of the largest -- and continuously growing -- segment of the gaming population that is made up of a more diverse population of gamers than ever before. You are a part of the new face of gaming, and for the first time in the history of this admittedly young entertainment medium your ranks include a spread of ages from the very young to the very old and everything in between.
The odds are that you are likely either a teenager or older than 35, and that you began playing console games because you enjoy a specific type or genre of game. Teens today are the most digitally connected generation ever, with a recent study by the research firm Nielsen on teen media usage offering some interesting insight into the connected people of the class of 2011 -- and revealing a significant change in gaming habits and the motivational forces behind how you choose the games you play.
The population of gamers has always been heavily weighted towards teenagers, so this is not really a new trend, but what is new is the increasingly large and growing number of adults over the age of 35 who are joining your ranks -- and the addition of this new demographic has changed the way that games studios and publishers plan out and market new games. In fact it has altered the entire game development process in significant ways, from how new games are presented and promoted, to what game ideas are actually selected to be developed in the first place!
Microsoft's Xbox LIVE Summer of Arcade series is a perfect example of how those changes in demographics are impacting the gaming scene, because the games that are part of that series and its approach is partly the result of the new and growing gamer population and what the experts believe is the best way to appeal to their interests.Pew Internet & American Life Project, more
than half -- 53% -- of all American adults
play video games of some kind
Gamers today still love the epic and massive story-based adventures, large and complex shooters, and RPG games, but there is a growing interest in re-imagined games from the past, games that leverage a sense of nostalgia, and games that can be consumed in reasonable bite-sized chunks of time, and those last bits are pretty much a direct response to the changes in the gamer population today.
According to research undertaken by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, more than half -- 53% -- of all American adults play video games of some kind, whether on a computer, on a gaming console, on a cell phone or other hand-held device, on a portable gaming device, or online.
Age used to be the biggest demographic factor in game play by adults, and before the changes that have taken place occurred the process was fairly well understood. There were easily followed alterations to entertainment habits that played out something like this:
(1) Preteens and Teenagers comprise the largest group of gamers.
(2) Young Adults (18 to 25) make up the second largest group.
What used to happen was that as the second group obtained their post-secondary degrees and entered their career path they stopped gaming almost completely, with their preferred form of entertainment shifting to movies and TV or some sort of organized sport or social entertainment activity. Because of these easy and predictable trends the games industry had a firm grasp on who their target audience was and how to best appeal to them, and it was business as usual until, in the mid 1990's, something unpredictable happened and the entire gaming scene changed.
There is no clear consensus on precisely what caused the change, many of the experts point to the MMORPG scene that emerged from the mid 90's while others believe it was the types of games that were being produced combined with the downturn in the economy that made video games a more economical outlet for entertainment. Whatever the cause, the previously concrete and predictable patterns in gaming demographics pretty much went out the window, and the industry was faced with a new and unpredictable world in which they were forced to rethink how they marketed games, and what games they should make.
In the new gaming world younger adults (the group from age 25 to 35) are significantly more likely than any other game group to play games, and as age increases game play is not decreasing the way that it used to. Independent of all other factors, younger adults are still more likely to play games, but there is an increasing and growing percentage of the gamer population that is made up of older adults (age 65+) who play video games, with nearly a third of this expanding group playing games everyday.
The younger gamer population has remained statistically consistent -- about 20% of this age group plays games everyday -- but the growing percentage of older players has shattered the previous model, and their play habits appear to exceed those of the teen and younger adult group, which means on an average day that uber gamer who just kicked your butt in COD very likely is some gamers grandfather -- or grandmother!
It's a Grrl Brah!
It used to be that you had to wonder whether that girl character in your favorite MMO was actually a girl, because statistically the population of MMO's was largely male -- but this is no longer the case and, according to recent research in gaming demographics, began to change over ten years ago, when the girl gamer population simply exploded around the year 2000. Not only has the gaming population changed, but the results of girls gaming has changed society in ways that previously were never suspected.
Researchers from Brigham Young University focused upon girls aged between 11 and 16 years who play video games and discovered that girls who play video games behave better, feel more connected to their families, and have stronger and more positive mental health than those who do not game.
A study published in The Journal of Adolescent Health reported another completely unexpected aspect of girls and gaming -- revealing that girls who play video games with their parents had better mental health than girls who played them alone or with friends. Playing games with mom or dad helped girls feel more connected to their families, and the same girls were found to be better behaved overall as well.
In addition to working as booth babes, they are both gamers -- one likes shooters, the other prefers the Final Fantasy series and thought FFXIII was one of the best offerings in the series yet -- can you tell which is which?
A survey undertaken by researchers at Michigan State University matched a similar survey undertaken at Australian National University that revealed that youths from age 10 through university level are spending as much or more time playing video games as they do watching television, while boys spend about twice as much time playing video games as girls do. The shift away from TV and towards gaming is a growing trend according to the surveys, and has nothing to do with the quality of programming on TV, but rather appears to relate to the socialization aspects of video games.
more with girls in mind that engage them for
longer periods of time and force them to
investigate more the technology behind
the games."
"All indications are that the industry will continue to grow at a healthy clip," says communications professor Bradley Greenberg of Michigan State. "The emerging market is for games designed more with girls in mind that engage them for longer periods of time and force them to investigate more the technology behind the games. The next frontier involves transferring video-game technology to educational settings and using the young people's fascination with the games to involve them more with innovative teaching technologies," he concludes.
Earlier we said that the uber gamer in COD that spanked you might have been some gamers grandparent? Yeah well, they also might be some gamers little sister!
A Different World
At E3 this year we noticed that there was a definite increase in older gamers among the masses, and we made it a point to chat up as many as we could to learn if they were gamers or simply there because it was part of their job. We spoke with over 100 older attendees and every one said that they played video games on a weekly basis. Roughly half indicated that they played daily.
To balance that informal survey out -- and because it was a really great excuse to chat up the booth babes -- we included girls in the informal survey, with some surprising results. Literally every attendee of the female variety that we spoke with at E3 was a regular gamer, and all of the booth babes claimed to play, though a surprising number (about 80%) of them preferred console gaming over the PC.
In the days before we departed for E3 as we did all of the usual preparation stuff, we needed to pay a visit to our local hair salon for some preventative grooming -- you know, get the beard and stache trimmed up, and the hair cut back to a reasonable and business-like appearance. During the hair cutting conversation process the young woman doing the cutting remarked that we were in a bit early for our regular visit, so naturally she was curious as to why? A wedding? Something like that, she asked?
"No, no wedding, we leave for E3 Saturday," was my reply.
"You are so lucky!" the older woman behind the counter who had obviously been following the conversation opined.
It turned out that of the nine women in the salon, 7 of them played video games and knew what E3 was. Of the remaining pair, they admitted to having played games with their boyfriends in the past, but were decidedly not of the gamer persuasion.
A visual illustration of the growing trend of girl gamers -- in spite of the fact that it is part of the old-school view of girls and video games promoted in the feature article 'A Gallery of Hot Girls Playing Video Games ' from Unreality Magazine, the reality is that many of the women depicted in the piece are actually gamers despite their hotness.
The woman behind the counter was in her late 50's and it developed in the conversation that she was a particular fan of shooters, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, and Halo numbering among her favorites. She explained that her regular routine was to get home from work and make dinner for her hubby, then they would eat and retire to the living room where they both had their own Xbox 360's, upon which they often played co-op games together.
The world of video gaming has always included the exploitation of girls -- look at the booth babes of E3 -- and the usual article featuring hot and scantily-clad girls playing video games that you can find very easily simply by Googling "hot girls playing video games" and you can find perfect examples of that sort of sexploitation. Still, that is changing too -- there were a few male booth babes at E3 this year, and the gamers sampling the games were a mixture of young and old, male and female, and I saw more than a few girl gamers who kicked serious butt at the game they were playing.
The next time you sit down to play a game, log into LIVE or PSN, and slot that shooter, bear in mind that the gamer kicking your arse may very well be a girl, a grandfather, or even your Mom. We're just saying...
No comments yet. Tell us what you think to be the first.