Captain Obvious says, “Adults Play Video Games”
Wow, big news from Reuters today. Apparently, grown men play video games now. When did this outrage start happening?
I’m sorry; my sarcasm valve is stuck on.
This article from Reuters popped across one of my news feeds today: read it here in a new window. The article struck me as a big ‘duh,’ but after laughing it off, I did realize that I have seen a few more of this type of article in the last few months. Maybe those in charge of our mainstream media are finally catching on to the truth.
In this article, the writer (who obviously isn’t a gamer) attributes our gaming to the sophistication of the newest consoles and the ability to streamline them into your media center. Don’t you love it when someone who has no clue as to what gamers want think they have the answer? Ok, sure the comment came from some senior director of media analytics, but does that make it any better? Just because you have some numbers that point in a direction, doesn’t mean that is the correct direction. You just happen to have numbers that point there.
Let me give you some insight into why more adults are starting to buy video games. It’s because we can afford them now. Yes, instead of several of us congregating in a single dorm room where we all play a game, we now have the cash to go out and buy our own system. We have the money, and we are getting old enough to not care that our wives don’t want us playing. The fact is, most of us grew up with video games. We cut our teeth on Atari and Nintendo and our love for the games never abated. If anything, it is our tastes in games that have become more sophisticated, so it doesn’t matter one bit to me how sophisticated looking my console is sitting on my entertainment center. I couldn’t care less if it was a cardboard box with a marker drawing on the side, if the game is fun, I am going to spend my money and play it.
Our dads spent their time watching sports and working on cars in the garage. It was how they got away from our mothers and how they unwound after a day’s work. Now, we do battle with our friends, solve intricate puzzles, and look for a stupid coin to unlock an achievement to get away from it all. It is how we spend our free time, and we like doing it.
For all of those out there that still think it’s childish to still play video games, I want you to stop going to your fancy ‘moving pictures,’ park your new-fangled automobile, and quit fussing over your uber-breed dog. It’s called the modern world, people. Live in it.
Filed under: Real Research, Being a Geezer
