Games and the older generation

Stephen Withers
Monday, 30 April 2007 15:25

Your IT - Entertainment

My recent complaints about the cost of games drew some thoughtful responses from readers.

"The writer is clearly not a gamer," asserted ehsan. Well, that's true - I'm an ex-gamer. At one time, I'd spend hours playing games, but now it's just a fill-in between other activities.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not for a moment suggesting that playing games is an immature activity, but there are demographic considerations to be considered.

"Companies have to make complex games because the new generation of gamers demand it," wrote ehsan. Trouble is, the new generation is significantly less numerous than its predecessors. The developed world is ageing, and those older people are inclined to spend their money on themselves rather than leaving it for their children. It would make sense for game developers and publishers to cater for them, as well as younger audiences. Face it: anyone who played Pong the first time round is over 45, and given that many of the machines went into pubs and bars, they're probably well into their 50s.

That's one reason why I'm inclined towards the Wii - as I wrote, it's proving popular among people from primary school kids to their grandparents, while the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 seems to appeal mostly to the traditional teens and twenties market, especially those who spend a lot of time gaming.

There are several factors involved. The console itself is cheaper, which helps. But Nintendo has cleverly caught the mood of the times, catering for concerns about physically inactive kids (Wii remote) and mentally inactive older people (with Brain Training for the DS). Perhaps most importantly, the company realises games are supposed to be fun!

Marketers of all sorts of goods and services are realising the opportunities presented by a greying population, so why should the games industry be any different? I'm not saying younger markets should be ignored, but it's not like free enterprise to pass up the opportunity to make a quid.

There's more on game pricing on the next page.