Off-Topic > Gaming

Who says you're too old to play video games?

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Medea Fleecestealer:
Found this this morning on the BBC News website.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/stories-44862968/silver-snipers-the-gaming-team-with-an-average-age-of-67

I can relate since I'm in the same age range.

CrocMagnum:
Much obliged for bringing this up, MedeaFleacestealer. ;D This is quite topical subject, maybe more than some people might think.^^

On this matter, Warren Spector, the famous developer behind Deus Ex, talked about this in his keynote speech at the the DICE Summit in 2013. A very insightful discussion about the fact that Gamers are getting older. Here's the vid, I encourage people to listen to it:

Warren Spector "Growth of Adult Gaming" - Full Keynote Speech - D.I.C.E. SUMMIT 2013 (Youtube)

Here’s what I said, somewhere else, about this subject a few years ago:

"Two weeks ago Warren Spector, the guy behind Deus Ex, made a very interesting speech.  As always Spector is verbose, but I found many of his comments fascinating:

1) The Graying of Gaming

Gamers got older. The average age of gamers is arounds 30 nowadays (33 in France, 30 in the US) [Edit: in 2013]. When you hit the 30's life takes it toll on you. If everything goes smoothly you have a job, a partner and even kids maybe. It's very hard to devote 100 hours/month for a game, here's what Warren Spector said:


--- Quote ---So you know we’ve lived through the transition from Geek Entertainment to almost Mainstream Medium anyway. But there is something that’s different: We’re different !...We are getting older…As a young gamer I needed 100 hours of gaming. I needed it, you know…I could ditch anything in my life and focus on games…20s and 30s and 40s something not so much. All of a sudden there’s competition for your time…I got to the point where a 20 hour game: perfect…You just don’t have the time anymore…But there’s more just that the time…It’s about the content…(4 :33 min)
--- End quote ---

2) Adult Content

Seeing we got older, he’s encouraging Developpers and Publishers to make games for a somewhat Senior audience. More mature games. To illustrate his point his mentioned 2 games which made a big impression on him: Heavy Rain and The Walking Dead. By the way I never played these, so if anyone of you played them I’d gladly hear their opinion, Warren Spector said:


--- Quote ---I want content that is relevant to my life, that is relevant to me, that is set in the real world…If we’re gonna reach a broader audience, we have to stop thinking about that audience strictly in terms of teenage boys, or even teenage girls. We need to think about things that are relevant to normal humans.(9:22)
...
But the really cool thing, the thing that blew my mind about those two games [Heavy Rain and The Walking Dead] was that they weren’t just about, you know, ideal Nordic bodybuilding heroes and they weren’t about like big events. They celebrated the ordinary, the quotidian,  the everyday, they made a dinner compelling, they made a hug compelling, they made playing with the kid compelling,…when you can make every day activities as compelling and cool and as fun as a firefight I think you’ve really accomplished something…They kinda changed the way I think…obviously these games are in my design real house…(9:50 min)"
--- End quote ---

Edit CrocMagnum: what can I add in 2018:

- if the average age of gamers was around 30 years in 2013, maybe we can extrapolate to 2018; an average age of 35?,

- consequently most gamers have financial autonomy nowadays. In the past it was usually the Family who bought games for their kids,

- from a developer perspective, when you sell games to players around 35 or more, you can expect most of these customers to have "Political Views". Compared to 25 years ago this is quite new. But that's a whole different subject.^^

Medea Fleecestealer:
Well, it seems to be a bit of a marketing campaign by Lenovo since they sponsor both teams.

https://www.dbltap.com/posts/6069713-grey-gunners-and-silver-snipers-represent-lenovo-s-desire-to-diversify-gaming

But they also want to show that gaming isn't just for the young and male players.  And if the oldies are having fun doing it then kudos all round.

efko:
For me this is strange, to be gamer in late years  :o , most of people after 30 are focused on kids and money only. In Serbia playing games after 20 is "wtf are you doing?", after 25 "why do you waste your time", after 30 "something is not right with this person, need medical attention". I was shocked when I heard that some of you guys are over 40.

Medea Fleecestealer:
Didn't start playing games until I was in my 40s.  ;D  Didn't have my own PC before then.  But it makes sense if you think about it.  People around my age were the first to have personal computers and the ability to play games on them.  Then you got the next generation who are probably in their 30s now and then you have the 3rd generation playing now.

I agree that a lot of people in their 30s probably don't have any or as much time to play as they used to.  I know Grava was saying in the GD stream the other day that he just doesn't have the time now because he's married and has 2 kids plus work.  At the other end of the spectrum us oldies are most likely retired and do have time on our hands to play more if that's our thing.

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