An Older Demographic May Soon Dominate Gaming 234
Reservoir Hill writes "An article from last week runs down the new mass audience for gaming among families, women and older people. The importance of the mass audience in gaming's spectacular growth is seen most clearly in the success of Nintendo's Wii, which is far outselling its more technically advanced hardware competitors, the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and PlayStation 3 from Sony. Wii Play was the No. 2-selling game of last year even though it received an abysmal score of 58 out of 100 at Metacritic, which aggregates reviews. The Times says that as video games become more popular hard-core gamers are becoming an ever smaller part of the audience. 'Paradoxically, at a moment when technology allows designers to create ever more complex and realistic single-player fantasies, the growth in the now $18 billion gaming market is in simple, user-friendly experiences that families and friends can enjoy together.'"
Makes one wonder... (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re:Makes one wonder... (Score:4, Funny)
Lord help us [xkcd.org] when that happens.
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Reality: The Ultimate "Hard Core" Ladder
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What makes you think Gen X won't change as it ages?
Your great-grandfather held as tight a grip on the keys to his Ford V-8 as your dad did to his '76 Honda Civic.
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Eventually, they'll come a day in 20 to 50 years from now when the majority of politicians have played an Xbox/Playstation/Wii while in whatever University they went to.
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Not quite. The game industry has exceeded the American box office for several years now. But there's quite a bit more to Hollywood. DVD is currently the biggest piece of the pie. There's also television and merchandising. Is the music industry considered Hollywood as well? Whether it is or not,
The reason is simple (Score:5, Insightful)
Games don't have to have top of the line graphics to be fun. Nintendo got it right with the Wii.
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Re:The reason is simple (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, getting drunk with friends is fun even without access to a games console of any kind. It's not the game that is great, but the friends.
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Re:The reason is simple (Score:5, Insightful)
I tend to not drink too much.
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Explain to me how playing a game on a system where coordination is a big key, is fun wile you are drunk. Or playing any game while drunk. This is something I just never understood. What is it about being intoxicated that makes playing games more fun?
Depends on how alcohol affects you, but for a lot of people everything becomes more fun when drunk. A friend of mine has one drink and everything she hears comes across to her as completely hilarious. Similar to how I've heard everything comes across with a deep, almost spiritual experience when on LSD.
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Plus, sometimes it takes the edge off and lets you cut loose a little... My friends and I, who are all in our mid 20's to early 30's, have Halo parties once every month or two. We get together, we drink, we order pizza, and we play Halo. There's a point where I get a nice buzz going that I really have a lot of fun. I'm not buzzed enough that it affects my playing abilit
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My daughter loves playing WiiPlay and Disney Princess Adventure
My wife and I play it a little, but we tend to play Raving Rabbids and Trauma Centre: New Blood. That is, when we're not playing board games. [boardgamegeek.com]
Now here's the kicker - my mom and my mother-in-law ALSO play WiiPlay with my daughter.
I don't have another console or a faster PC because:
1. Time management. I just don't have enough time to play several consoles.
2. Cost. I'm not going to spend my way into debt
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Basically, I think it's as much about the controller as it is about the games. When you have that tactile feedback it's a lot easier to "get" the game quickly.
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There's you, there's the girl, that's enough. More than two players is kinky. Just remember to put a rubber on the wiimote.
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"You stole the girl I was talking to. Lets box."
Wii is the ultimate drunk gaming machine. Because so many of the games require motor control.
A fun drinking game (even if it is only 2 player) is the Wii Play shooting game. Winner takes a shot. Play until you're adequately buzzed.
Hell coming back from the bars playing for an hour and then crashing rocks. You can have a mini 'party' before going out to the bars and it beats just sitting a
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I would suggest that Wii boxing with semi accurate Miis makes for pretty good relationship therapy.
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I race online (PC only tho) and a couple of us regulars have have created our own variation. Everyone has to stop the bus from finishing the race. Turns a 'violent' race game (flatout2) almost into a co-op mode. On the topic of the headline those guys are actually a few years older than i am at 58 and 49 i think
hurfy/royce/cyclone
Online gamer for over 25 years, since ASCII darts on a teletype
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Nintendo got it right in terms of a successful product, but the jury is still out on its quality
Confirming what we already knew (Score:5, Insightful)
Yet most game companies don't get it (Score:2)
So the NYT is just confirming what those of us who have played games from the '80 and early '90s have known for years.
Yep. Maybe with some luck, the lords of the game studios will read the article. As many have already noted, the folks at Nintendo figured this out a long time ago. But hard-core gamers are the folks making most of the games. It reminds me a bit of designers and websites. A few years ago many designers simply made sites for other designers. Now most of the designers have realized that the
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My thoughts exactly. Don't get me wrong...I am VERY impressed with some of the graphics and sound that many modern games have...but, I think somewhere along the way, the "WOW" factor of graphics overrode everything else, and just simple fun game play took a backseat.
I mean, look back to the old arcade games, Robotron is still one of the most
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There have always been crappy games, there will always be crappy games, but graphics has never superceded fun!
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And boy am I ever glad to see it all finally come crashing down in favour of making games fun again. Good riddance to "hardcore gaming".
Wii play might suck (Score:5, Insightful)
But its only 10 bucks. Face it, you were going to get the second controller anyway, why not spend 10 bucks and get a handful of mini games out of it too.
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Rate it as a nice low price bonus added to a Wiimote purchase and it's excellent value. Reviewers of the game seemeed to miss its point and failed to score it for what it was. But then reviewers tend to look down on anything outside of their definition of gaming. Which is probably why I've never seen a gaming mag review Bejeweled even though I bet it's one of the most played games in the world today.
In terms of pric
Why Wii Play sold well (Score:3, Insightful)
The reason Wii Play sold so well... (Score:5, Insightful)
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Did Play outsell because it was great (Score:4, Insightful)
Wii Play? (Score:2)
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You just don't get it.... (Score:4, Interesting)
The Wii market is separate from 360 and PS3 so trying to figure out why Wii is outselling the PS3 and 360 doesn't work.
It's not simply about being a "Gamer" now. The way most Wii games work isn't in any way similar to the traditional gaming market. Stop treating it like the same thing.
Not everyone feels like getting off their ass and actually moving.
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How many Wii games have you actually played?
Most of them do not require getting off your ass.
Zelda:TP, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario, NFS:Carbon, Resident Evil 4, Rayman Raving Rabbids 1 & 2, Wii Play, Wii Sports, Metroid 3, WarioWare Smooth Moves, Mario Party 8, Dewey's Adventure, Lego Star Wars, Big Brain Academy, Wii Carnival, Wii Playground, Elebits.
I've played all of these and of those, the ONLY games that really benefit from
As soon as someone (Score:3, Insightful)
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How much money do you think the Bejeweled people are sitting on?
There's probably a pending market correction on hardcore games. Graphics are hitting diminishing returns (double the processing power only gets you a marginally better image), and people who are good producing those graphics demand a high salary. The hardcore development houses are inevitably going to scale back when they realize that small puzzle games that are hacked up in a month by one guy are turning the same profit as their hundred-larg
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Discounting the Wii Play statistics (Score:4, Interesting)
Like any genre, the Minigame phenomenon is only as strong as the title itself. Raving Rabbids was actually pretty solid; Carnival Games is utter garbage. Unfortunately, publishers see the unintentional success of games like Wii Play and assume that's what people want.
Mario Party is a classic, so that's going to be popular. Raving Rabbids is a solid enough game that makes good use of the controller. Wario Ware is goofy and fun, but is becoming tired and cliche.
Frankly, the less party games we see, the better off the few that remain will be. Otherwise it all becomes shovelware at some point.
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Frankly, the less party games we see, the better off the few that remain will be. Otherwise it all becomes shovelware at some point.
At this point, I would say it really doesn't matter and we'll get good games anyway. According to vgchartz it's at 21mio sold with 44% market share and currently selling more than the PS3 and Xbox360 combined, which means it'll be creeping towards 50%. Yeah, I've heard Wii buyers buy less games than the others but I doubt the difference is that large, senior citizens may not be the big buyers around my friends I think you'll find just as many Wii games as with other consoles...
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Better example (Score:2)
Agreed. A better example of a popular Wii game with excellent gameplay but graphics that wouldn't challenge a SNES is Geometry Wars (yes, I know it's also available on XBOX360 and PC, but it really shines on the Wii). It also scores a respectable 80 on Metacritic [metacritic.com].
Back to basics (Score:5, Insightful)
As much as I live Settlers of Cattan and Axis and Allies, I see Monopoly on more shelves at homes than of the previous.
When you make something easier to understand, you're going to get more market share: lowest common denominator, right?
Indeed, so, Avalon Hill has gone bankrupt? (Score:3, Interesting)
That company must have gone ages ago, after all, you say there is not enough of a market compared to simpler games, so since they were founded in 1958, by now they should have gone belly up.
Ah but no, Avalon Hill has spend decades succesfully making a profit selling extremely complex games. Way more complex then Monopoly, and still somehow making a profit, enough to satisfy the parent company Hasbro. Mmm, were have I heard that name before. Hasbro, don't they also own Parker Brothers, the publishers of Mon
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There is always a market for Avalon Hill, but the broader base is your Candy Lands.
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I've got wood for sheep.
Re:Indeed, so, Avalon Hill has gone bankrupt? (Score:3, Informative)
Printing costs went thru the roof.
Hasbro bought them up.
So now Hasbro sits on about 300+ titles from AH AND about 700+ titles that were Jame Dunnigans SPI (Simulations Publications Inc), plus who knows how many other indy/assorted titles.
But when you say Hasbro Management has BRAIN I disagree. There was quite a lull in the action, but there there are a few companies catering to the old wargamers crowd.
Hasbro should spin off an adult wargames/simulations company a
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Settlers isn't significantly (if any) more complex than Monopoly, imho.
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>Settlers isn't significantly (if any) more complex than Monopoly, imho.
I rarely find people who both know the rules of Monopoly and are willing to play the game by those rules.
Whenever I play Monopoly I choose to play banker/auctioneer/referee, and choose not to have an avatar on the board at all (so as to be disinterested and impartial).
When you play the game by the rules and with a designated banker, the game mechanics take a back seat and a role playing element emerges. Also, when you play the game
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As much as I live Settlers of Cattan and Axis and Allies, I see Monopoly on more shelves at homes than of the previous.
When you make something easier to understand, you're going to get more market share: lowest common denominator, right?
We've got Monopoly, Life, some Monopoly JR game, and a couple of those Candy Land type of games. You know the best game s
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Monopoly is more complex than Settlers of Catan -- the rules are longer, there's more pieces (bills are pieces too!), and there's math requiring percentages for (un)mortgaging. Monopoly has been around since '35 while Settlers has been around since '95. In my current gen of friends, Settlers is actually more popular even among non-gamers (except for collections of "branded" Monopoly
Best != desirable (Score:2)
No, they're playing Monopoly because it's sufficiently fun, 1 to >8 can play, most people already have it, and most people already know how to play it. Starting is simply a matter of "anyone up for Monopoly?", dump the contents on the table, and look up the starting $$$ distribution. The goal is FUN, NOW.
That in contrast with "the greatest game in the world", which probably requires conneseurship to appreciate
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What? You mean like Baccarat [wikipedia.org]? Granted, it's still a card game so set up SHOULD be easy, but I don't know anyone who can play it... and absolutely no one who can play it well...
Great graphics don't make a good game (Score:3, Insightful)
Finally maybe the games industry will realise that great graphis does not equal a great game. It's always been about the gameplay. It's that certain something something that means you can pick it up and get hooked and just keep on playing.
Where are the great graphics in Tetris, in Pac Man, and others. Games that are constantly played all over the world all the time. They're simple, easy to play, hard to master fun games.
This is what the Wii does best. Gameplay.
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re: same thing worked for traditional kid's toys.. (Score:2)
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Where are the great graphics in Tetris, in Pac Man, and others.
Which version of PacMan do you prefer, the arcade one or the Atari2600 port? Graphics do make better games. Graphics alone however are not enough to carry a game alone, but they do improve games, sometimes a lot. When you look back at the great games of the past you will quickly realize that almost all of them had great graphics for their time. And even Tetris can be improved with better graphics, a simple look at more modern versions like the DS one or TGM should quickly show that or if that isn't enough
Playability for the win! (Score:2, Flamebait)
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Graphic Superiority (Score:2)
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For many people "Playing a Game" is a means of relaxation. They don't want to think or do puzzles or remember WHY they're shooting hundreds of zombies. They just want something they can pick up and play and be good at and feel good about themselves. If it's too hard either complex movements or thoughts they won't get that rush that they get from playing.
Conversely, there are those of us here that WANT more of a challenge from our games. A good game will be able t
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Few games had great story lines in the timeframe you're talking about tho. Once you get a gamers interest you can afford to put out a couple of mediocre games and still keep their interest. Take Elite for example... A great first game (also with bad graphics even in it's day) and people kept buying the pathetic sequels hoping for another giant like the first game. I think even if a new Elite came out today you'd have strong sale
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but if you want to know what the best game in the history of console gaming is, odds are its on NES.
Actually I would very much doubt that. Other then MarioBros3 there really isn't much on the NES that can compete with later games on the SNES. A Zelda3 beats a Zelda1 in almost every aspect, FF3/6 beats FF1 and its the same with most other games. The only reason why MarioBros3 can hold up is because it was a very late game on the NES and could thus make the most of the available hardware and is aside from lack of more colorful sprites is mostly equivalent to SNES games (multi-dimensional scrolling, worldma
sales (Score:3, Insightful)
I imagine this also has something to do with penetration of relatively cheap gaming consoles vs. high-end PC hardware - and it's not to say that sales of BioShock were shabby, is it? Just lower.
D&D vs. aD&D` (Score:2)
58% an 'abysmal' score? (Score:2)
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This has more to do with Gaming media (Score:2)
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Well past time to acknowledge (Score:5, Insightful)
Gamers have always come in different races and ages and income brackets.
Someone who plays Tetris for an hour at a time three times a week is a video game consumer, just as someone who raids in WoW for five hours a night is.
Nintendo hasn't so much blown open the demographics -- though they have -- as they've blown open the debate and the recognition.
No-one has said, in eighty years, "all watchers of movies fit the same demographic." Television has ten networks PER demographic. So why this overwrought, antiquated insistence that All Gamers Are Of The Same Ilk?
I worked for Gamestop for a year, in 2005, and I developed my own admittedly anti-PC gamer categories. One of the MANY demographcis I saw represented was the fratboy/thug gamer: the white or hispanic males between ages 18 and 24, who were buying every sex and violence 360 title they could snap up. To so much of the world, they are the only gamers. To us, they were about 20% of our patrons.
If the rest of the world is finally, FINALLY starting to recognize that "gamer" means a lot, LOT more than just the fratboy/thug or the EQ addict in mom's basement, then so much the better.
Are they finally figuring it out? (Score:2)
I continually look for games that my 11-year old son and my wife and I can all play together and those are rather hard to find. I would rather the entire family play together on the 360 instead of my son playing on his XBox in his room, my wife watching TV in the living room and with myself playing GOW in the basement.
We used to play Crash Team Racing together, but it d
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Ah, the 'hardcore' problem again... (Score:3, Insightful)
No; adolescent males are becoming an ever-smaller part of the audience. More mature gamers, both older and younger, both hardcore and casual, want something very different from the testosterone-soaked boom-fest FPS of the month.
A related topic (Score:2)
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http://community.livejournal.com/wow_ladies/838090.html [livejournal.com]
wiitired (Score:5, Funny)
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The preview I read mentioned some of the new and innovative ways Nintendo is using the Wiimote/Nunchuck to simulate rolling a wheelchair, balancing a checkbook, ordering new dentures, catching sounds for a hearing aid (unique new mini-game!), and moving in a queue.
I can't wait!
I also hear Nintendo is including a new "PillTime" Channel to remind those frequent players when its time for their meds.
They're buying the controller not Wi-Play (Score:2)
Speaking as the "hardcore" (Score:2)
So great, fine, I really just don't care any more. If the market segments significantly along these lines, maybe it'll segment more ways and we'll stop lumping in all people w
May soon? (Score:2)
I am 30 years old, and still play video games. So do most people I know. I grew up in the Nintendo generation, (really all console and computer gaming really from C-64 to present. Thats Celceo vision, Atari, Nintendo, 64, Cube, Wii, Neo-Geo, Turbo Grafix 16, Sega Gennsis, Saturn, Dreamcast, X-box, x-box360, TRS-80, 086, 286, 486, Pentium, 1,2,3,4, AMD equivalents, 64bit, Dual Core). If I actually tried to list
Wii also is a more immersive experience (Score:2)
When you have to swing your arms to swing a sword or tennis racket, you're engaging whole other parts of your brain that bring you into the experience. Working up a sweat playing tennis against my wife is something that's never happened to me before