A reader rejoices that gaming is no longer a minority interest, and looks forward to the day when everyone is a gamer.
Although it’s only ever one scare story away from a moral outcry generally speaking gaming has never been as socially acceptable as it is now. As the first generation of gamers enter into their forties and beyond we increasingly live in a world in which the majority either play or at least have a proper understanding of games. But how much has really changed?
If you’re a kid growing up now then either your parents played games when they were young, or at least were around people that did. This is very different to the earlier generation, even if now older mums and dads are more likely to have played the Wii or a smartphone game.
The average age of gamers today is now apparently 36 and the split between men and women almost 50 per cent. As heart-warming as all that may sound to those that had to grow up with the stereotype of the gamer as social outcast playing in a darkened bedroom there is one problem… it almost certainly doesn’t jive with anyone’s real world experiences.
A quick trip to the local games shop or half an hour’s random gaming on Xbox Live seems to suggest that the average gamer is still a surly teenage boy. This disconnect between statistics and reality is in part because the sort of people that run such studies already know what answers they want to find.
Which is why they count any bored secretary who ever played Candy Crush Saga at lunchtime as a gamer. And yet things are definitely changing. Teenage boys may still be the most visible and vocal kind of games fan but they are no longer the sole audience.
Grand Theft Auto V recently overtook Call Of Duty: Black Ops as the best-selling game ever in the UK, which are exactly the sort of games you’d expect to be the biggest sellers according to the usual stereotypes. And yet according to GC’s story the number one individual seller is… Mario Kart Wii.
The second biggest is Brain Training on the DS and the next two are also Nintendo exclusives. Such a state of affairs would have been inconceivable in previous console generations, but now core gamers must accept that they are not the only audience. Nor even always the main one.
Of course they’ve known that for a while, in fact many have complained about being ignored and sidelined by Wii, Kinect, and smartphones in general. But as long as there are companies out there making games for everyone – from grans to surly teens – then this can only be a good thing. Not just for diversity in gaming, but so that our hobby doesn’t remain the eternal scapegoat, with no one of importance willing to stick up for it.
By reader Cranston
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk and follow us on Twitter.
