Growing old and bored with video games
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Feb 17th 2007 at 10:40AM }
Game companies are worried about gamers growing up and growing bored said the Wall Street Journal earlier this week (available only through subscription). A study of "lapsed console gamers" by consulting and research firm Frank N. Magid Associates shows where gamers lose the faith. The first drop occurs as males enter the 18-34 demo, where those playing console games once a week drops from 78 percent (12-17 year-olds) to 42 percent. At 35-44 the playing drops to 24 percent.Obviously, the reason for this is that stupid thing called life getting in the way. It's not that gamers want to stop, it's just that jobs, school, relationships and babies get in the way. 48 percent say they leave because they get too busy and 40 percent say they simply got bored (no further data there, but that's worth looking into). There is also talk about how controllers have gotten too complicated, which Nintendo is currently attempting to tackle through the Wii. We'll have to wait and see how the Wii control concept plays out in the long run. The article loses steam toward the end and saves itself by bringing up the fact that although older gamers may not be on consoles anymore, they probably spend 40+ hours in front of a computer and the "casual games" market isn't hurting from that fact one bit.
The whole article is a little silly in its statement of the obvious: As we age, free time dries up. We don't watch as many movies (film industry), we don't go to as many concerts (music industry) and we don't play as many games. But the human race continues to breed and multiply, the next generation will replace us and pick up the consumer slack. We also have an issue with this "problem" being at all true to begin with because the average age of gamers, according to the ESA, continues to go up.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
LordMinogue @ Feb 17th 2007 10:49AM
What about the fact that game systems were in the Atari days when 40 year olds were children - the drop off in the percent of people who play games could easily reflect the growing influence of video games on children over time.
SickNic @ Feb 17th 2007 10:54AM
With a full time job, and full time college, it's hard for me to keep up with all the games that come out. I'm 24 and noticed a major decrease in my playing time. I think, besides my busy schedule, that I am getting bored with cookie-cutter games. with infinite amounts of sequels and predictable story lines, I just don't have the time to play mediocre games anymore. I still find time to play AAA titles, but those games don't come out often enough for me to game a lot.
Maybe developers should be more worried about keeping us grown-up gamers entertained with new and exciting IPs instead of the torrent of sequels and rehashed they keep coming out with.
Rob Accomando @ Feb 17th 2007 10:56AM
I've been playing video games since atari 2600 and I'm STILL not bored.
Yes, I don't have the time like I used to with a full time job, wife and daughter but I still find time to squeeze in some gaming when I can.
So, WTF are they talking about?
Geovany @ Feb 17th 2007 11:07AM
Hmmm Nice article...
erico316 @ Feb 17th 2007 11:07AM
ps3/wii the best combo
rick @ Feb 17th 2007 11:11AM
You know what brought me back when i left the consoles away "it was la PC"
Verge @ Feb 17th 2007 11:14AM
So true. I have the money now to buy these new systems n games cos of my job but rarely have the time to play anything. I'm still on the 2nd dungeon in Zelda!! So saad. >_> And that bored comment is spot on.. idk wut it is but games just dont hold my attention for more then an hour or 2 anymore. Getting old sux.
Geo @ Feb 17th 2007 11:18AM
it`s saad when you have to put away your hobby when you are getting old, is not fair...
bill @ Feb 17th 2007 11:24AM
!Oh man i already have 28 years and i have`nt finish Super Mario Brother for super Nintendo, that sucks..
J RoD @ Feb 17th 2007 11:24AM
I still love me my videogames. But yeah, the older I get, the less time I have for them. That in no way means that I am losing interest. I will be playing games till the day I die!
phil @ Feb 17th 2007 11:33AM
I hope to never forget the games that brought me to a new way of having toys even when you are old...
Zyban @ Feb 17th 2007 11:50AM
I think alot of the drop off for older gamers is in the console arena. PC gaming maintains an aura "seriousness" that makes it more like a hobby (building/upgrading/configuring systems, discussing/modifying/creating new content for games, etc.), while console gaming may seem increasingly simple and childish as one ages. Older gamers might prefer this "serious gaming" to merely "playing" on consoles. The industry might need to refocus on the PC to maintain this audience.
I have to agree with other comments about boring content as well. Developers/publishers are really going to have to make an effort to create more interesting and mature properties/stories/gameplay to hold on to us older gamers.
flamecannon @ Feb 17th 2007 11:52AM
It is a tad depressing. A cousin of mine, who was the one who got me into video games in the first place, hasn't bought a console since the N64.
Optimus Prime @ Feb 17th 2007 11:53AM
You can basically say the same thing about sports, music, hobbies, etc.. how many kids play football or hockey and then continue to play into their 30's? There are some, but, the drop off is just as significant. This doesnt mean that football or hockey is boring.
People change, priorities are different, life gets in the way, etc, etc... thats life, it has nothing to do with video games becoming boring.
Gophersmock @ Feb 17th 2007 12:02PM
I'm 16 and have been gaming all my life. I still do it but I've lost some interest. It is much more boring than when I was 10. I still consider myself a casual gamer.
I think this sums up my generation in terms of gaming.
grogs4dogs @ Feb 17th 2007 12:06PM
I'm 54, a CEO, husband, father of 2 pre-teen boys...and I game 2-4 hours a day (currently playing RB6 Vegas and LOZ: The Twilight Princess). If you enjoy something, you make time for it. And as long as they keep making compelling games, I'll still be gaming!
OldBoysGamingNetwork @ Feb 18th 2007 7:10AM
I saw this happening as I got older (I'm 33) and busier, with my friends just losing touch with gaming in general.
But I decided to do something about it and I formed a group called The Old Boys Gaming Network. http://www.theoldboysgamingnetwork.co.uk
It started as a get together with a few mates, playing Goldeneye again and then gradually as word spread we picked up new members via the website and local press articles.
It's amazing how many people are coming out of the woodwork to join my group and getting together to play games at our meetings.
I'd encourage anybody out there to arrange something similar to keep your gaming life alive, especially since its almost impossible to get people together easily to play multiplayer Mario Kart after you leave your twenties!
I'll help anybody out with setting up a local version of their own OBGN website if they are interested.
SynikaL @ Feb 17th 2007 12:08PM
For me, it's a combination of life getting in the way and the industry going it directions that continue to steer me away -- mostly the industry.
Less focus on the more personable and socialable experience provided by 4-player spitcreen/couch/party games and 2-4 player co-op games (outside of its resurgence in FPSs) in an effort to shovel everything online has continued to leave me disenchanted with videogames.
Some people won't believe this, but until last week before I bought a 360, Super Smash Bros. Melee (i'm a competitive Smash player) was the only video game that held my interest for more than 2 YEARS. All I owned was a Gamecube and a copy of Smash (and a plethora of Gamecube controllers).
Smash is still the only game I play BTW.
-Kimosabae
Geo @ Feb 17th 2007 12:09PM
I wouldn't have bought a console this generation if the wii wasn't trying something new. Ive owned a system from each generation starting with 2600. Its the same old same old year in and year out that got me bored with traditional gaming.
JimyD @ Feb 17th 2007 12:26PM
It's true about your time becoming more limited as you get older and that's why I stopped wasting my time (and money) reading the lame Wall Street Journal.
Dave @ Feb 17th 2007 12:28PM
I'm 55 and still passionate about PC and 360 gaming after all these years since Hexen and Doom. I have a lawncare service so I have all winter to play. It's my anti-aging device and it works great. I'd consider the Wii just for the exercise in the off-season.
I still pal with the guys from the Battlefield 42 days at cracksmokingmonkeys.net and we are doing Flat Out 2 until a good BF mod comes along.
I thought the last few years in PC shooters left a lot to be desired but just hang in there for DX10 titles and new game engines. It should go along way towards fighting off senility.
Nick @ Feb 17th 2007 1:28PM
It isn't just free time that is a factor. I'm 16 and I actually have more free time than when I was 8-15 and I've been gaming less and less. I dunno why, my interest level has just been steadily falling.
junk @ Feb 17th 2007 1:26PM
At 42, a lot of what's brought me back to more regular gaming has been finding people to game with that I can relate to as people. For many of us, gaming is a social experience, and frankly it can be hard for us "geezers" to relate to a bunch of 13 year olds running around screaming "Noob!"
It's not that I don't like playing with kids -- I love getting my butt kicked by my business partner's 11 year old daughter in Guitar Hero. But that's a social experience too, in a different way.
Both www.geezergamers.com and www.2old2play.com are 5000+ member communities for 'older' gamers -- no-one under 25 need apply. They're great ways to connect with other gamers who also have mortgages, families, jobs, and other demands on their time -- and who understand when you have to log off of Gears of War at 11:00 because you have a meeting the next day on your company's sales strategy.
Check 'em out.
-- JerriAtric
Mr Khan @ Feb 17th 2007 2:08PM
@ Kushagra, what?
This is so odd, because this seems to tie in with what Nintendo is trying to do, Casual gamers are usually casual not for lack of interest, but for lack of time, DS and Wii are the only consoles to fill in small amounts of time to satisfy (although with its "Quicksave" function, PSP can do the same thing with deeper games)
It would be weird if Wii conquered the market with minimal hardcore support
ac @ Feb 17th 2007 3:02PM
its the content of the games that get older gamers bored. currently there seems to be a lot of M titles with a lot of violence, FPS's and racers which cater to teenagers and young adults. generally older people whether they gamed before or not, at 30 years of age and above are not so much interested in these genres. they're looking for something less stressful, easy, fun, intuitive, interesting, clever and possibly a good story to go with it (if its not a puzzle game). its absolutely incorrect to say because life got busy that they stopped gaming; thats not the real reason, just an excuse. older people still watch tv right? listen to music, read books, watch movies........that's not the reason they stop. they have time for these things but not games? that's not the case. its because developers are not making games that cater to the older crowd; and that is what is wrong with the industry now. they generally cater to just the young male, and that is a fact. i'm glad nintendo is actually looking outside of the box and not just following industry trends. they are starting to make content that does cater to the older crowd, including myself, as i am 30 years old.
Jonathan @ Feb 17th 2007 3:07PM
This is why I love the DS so much.
I don't drive, so no matter how busy I get, I know I gotta take that Spadina street car to and from work. Which means every day I get about 30 min of solid gaming in.
The Wii's virtual console is also great for this, especially since I never had an NES or SNES (I was a Sega kid). Because it saves your spot when you quit the game, so I can just flip it on for a few minutes after dinner, get in a few levels of Super Mario World, and then go back to real life.
Jonathan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJIyrcuX3oU
REUYL @ Feb 17th 2007 3:50PM
"It's not that gamers want to stop, it's just that jobs, school, relationships and babies get in the way."
And remember folks, if you ignore your babies, Tyra Banks will kill your Warcraft.
Jim @ Feb 17th 2007 3:55PM
I am in complete agreement with SickNic/#2.
When life takes over, you have to prioritize your resources (TIME: subgroup:'leisure' time), and games are usually the first to go. Especially when they don't contribute to anything productive in your life.
I was playing 'Radiata Stories' when it first released. I had leveled up a bit and accomplished many things, all in a span of about an hour (it seemed longer), when I went out to fight some random enemies. One of them wasn't so random. I hadn't saved up to that point, and died, making all my progress until then vanish. The moral here is of course to save often, but after staring at the 'Game Over' screen, I comtemplated my loss in a practical manner, which I hadn't done before. That hour that I had played was forever lost. Nothing productive came out of it, and I had to redo it all over again. When you get older, time becomes increasingly valuable, and you come to understand this. 24 hours don't seem enough. It has also shifted my perfectionist manner in RPGs to something other than that. Where times I would enjoy maxing out levels and collecting every possible item, I don't do that anymore because in the end there is nothing to show for it, in the real world.
And coupled with the mediocrity of games nowadays, you only have time allowed to play the AAA titles; the ones you know are worth your time or have previously shaped your favorite gaming moments or experiences. Games like Zelda, Goldeneye 007, your Final Fantasies, or even PC games like WOW, and whatever have you. My main reason left to hold onto gaming is to try and recapture those gaming moments once again. But you soon realize games take a backseat to life priorities, and realize that there is more out there.
samfish @ Feb 17th 2007 4:42PM
I agree with the article, over all. When I started college, I pretty much quit playing video games until Viewtiful Joe came out for the GC, where I then bought a Gamecube just for that. Since I graduated, I have even less time :/
I'm really selective these days about what games I play, which means I pretty much only play AAA titles. I just don't have the time or even money, despite my job, to waste on crappy to mediocre games like I did when I was in high school.
That's why I always stick with Nintendo's consoles these days. It's the only system where at least I *KNOW* I'm going to get at least 5-7 games that I'm guaranteed to love and make time for.
Eventually, I'll probably end up buying a cheap, used PS2 so I can play the handful of games on there I'm interested in, even though I'm no fan of Sony and their business practices.
Most of the games I play these days that aren't AAA Nintendo games are old school side scrollers and shoot-'em-ups – games like the aforementioned Viewtiful Joe and Ikaruga or Radiant Silvergun.
Truth is, if there were more games like that on the market, I'd probably make a lot more time for a new games. When I DO buy a new game I'll usually play the living Hell out of it.
There's something about old school style games like where I don't care if I die in it several times. I don't mind starting over from the beginning of the level. That isn't the case with more modern style games.
I keep hoping for a return to 2D gaming with beautiful graphics...but alas...it seems that it never comes.
Pete C @ Feb 17th 2007 5:14PM
The 360 has really revitalized my interest in gaming. In the last generation, games looked good and were decently realistic, but now games are so lifelike that they really bring me into the atmosphere. I am 32 years old, have owned pretty much every console since the 2600, and to me games just keep getting better. I find little to fault with the new games. People that complain about this and that all the time need to just find a new hobby. These new games are totally amazing.
dsub @ Feb 17th 2007 5:33PM
my time being more limited is what makes me look more and more forward to the next time I can play. It also makes me look long and hard about what game I am going to purchase as well, because I don't have any time to waste on shitty games.
Jizua @ Feb 17th 2007 5:48PM
considering that the average age of gamers was 29 in 2004, and apparently had been rising consistently before that, (meaning that there isn't much of a reason to believe it has significantly dropped from that) I think that the basis of their "worry" is a little misplaced. It's obvious that the older one gets the less time one is going to spend playing video games but that in no way indicates who is buying video games. Just because younger kids play them more often doesn't mean they spend more money on them. I would think that younger children spend less money of them simply because they don't have the money to spend. Data linking sales and age would be a much more useful basis for this type of worry rather than time spent playing video games.
While not particularly useful, I know in my friend's and my's cases our game playing hours have definately taken a nosedive since high school. However, the amount of money we spend on these games has skyrocketed since we have more free money to spend on them.
On a side note, I got the statistic about the average of gamers from a paper by Dmitri Williams, a Communications professor at the University of Illinois. He does a ton of research about video games. I'm pretty sure, Joystiq has actually does a couple of articles on his MMO research. If you're interesting you can check out his stuff at:
*hops off soap box and exits the room*
Jeff @ Feb 17th 2007 7:25PM
I'm 34 and I'm having a hard time getting as excited about games as I used to. I have a DS that I play on the train to work almost every day, but beyond that, I still haven't bought *any* of the current-gen consoles. When I do, it will likely be a PS3 (I'm the demographic that both wants and can afford one... though there's still not enough for me to justify running out *right now* and buying one). I do have a 42" 1080p HDTV, and I do want both movies and games that take advantage of it. And I don't want two separate boxes to do it.
I guess I'm one of that 40% that's just getting bored as I get older. I have less free time too, that's for sure, but I'd honestly rather just watch TV than play most of today's popular games. (I've noticed that my tastes - which haven't changed much since they were mainstream 25 years ago - have gotten more and more fringe as mainstream tastes have gone for more realistic, more violent, darker games.)
I *should* be a big proponent of the Wii - they're trying to bring people like me back. I applaud them for that, but I just don't see enough there to reel me in yet. Maybe someday. So far, I'm still just seeing old Nintendo rehashes (Zelda, Mario) mixed with goofed-up simulations of real-life activities (Wii Sports, Wii Play). Where's the Nintendo equivalent of Katamari Damacy? I don't really care about the controller, honestly - KD proved how simple and satisfying a game can control with a complex gamepad, and it's not like today's gamepads are all that different from yesteryear's. I care about the core gameplay, and seeing something new there.
"What about the fact that game systems were in the Atari days when 40 year olds were children - the drop off in the percent of people who play games could easily reflect the growing influence of video games on children over time."
29 million Atari 2600's were sold in the United States. The "growing influence" of video games is a myth. The worldwide market is bigger, as is the dollar value of games and game-related merchandise sold here, but the percentage of US households owning a video game system has not changed much in almost 30 years.
When I was a kid, video games were already huge. Kids would ask each other "did you get Pac-Man yet?" when it came out for the 2600 (this was before anyone realized how much it sucked). Same was true of any big game.
Measure @ Feb 18th 2007 1:26AM
I think #1 and #33 have it about right.
This study shows a drop-off that is dramatic over age 35... but the leading edge of the video game generation, the kids that played atari before they ever started watching TV, have barely hit the age of 30.
It is true that many of us have less time to game these days, but we still value gaming as a great source of entertainment.
I'm turning 31 this year, and I don't remember a world without video games. But someone born just a few years before would have a lot more experience of life without video games, and perhaps that much less interest in keeping gaming in their life.
Gel214th @ Feb 18th 2007 4:39AM
In some cases it *is* because the gamer wants to stop. As I've gotten older I have become increasingly jaded with the juvenile story lines and hackneyed plots of the majority of video games out there. Something like Fahrenheit stands out as a gem in comparison to the old and worn story of Prey, for example.
Another genre that I enjoyed was Combat Flight Sims. Now with every developer seeming to believe that they should wring the player through 4 years of Air Force Training before they can start the aircraft that too has become less and less attractive.One still has to turn to games from 8 and 9 years ago such as Falcon 4 and Total Air War by DID.
I've been gaming since 8, and the growth that one would expect just hasn't been there. Computer and Console gaming has still remained pretty much 'immature' as far as I'm concerned, with very few companies taking those extra steps to produce new things for the market.
Ten years from now we'll probably be running and shooting the same way against the same aliens trying to take over the world, or fighting some RTS/FPS/RPG/TBS in WWII.All with super sharp, photo -realistic graphics though. whee.
t_m @ Feb 18th 2007 8:46AM
This is why the Wii is so popular among older gamers... and why the DS is also so popular, especially in japan. They allow ADULT gamers to play games that can be picked up and played in between real life.
For all the taunts of "hardcore gamers" about those consoles being "kiddy" because they are casual.. this casualness is actually a big advantage for real adults. Most hardcore gamers are kids or students, who have the time to devote to being hardcore.. but most true adults just don't have the time.
I've got a pile of PC games I've bought but just haven't had the time to play (including HL2 which has been sat on my PC for nearly 6 months now.)
I also had about 20 xbox games that I never got around to playing.. and even some of my favorite games (like SSX3) never got completed properly because real life got in the way.
Right now I do the majority of my gaming on a DS micro on the train to and from work.. its the only time i get to play them.
t_m @ Feb 18th 2007 8:49AM
ps/ tho Gel214th is right that you d start to get a bit tired with the repetetive, teenage nature of the plots, settings and characters of so many games these days.. and long for some games which actually seem to have some depth or artistic merit.
When will games developers realise that adult gamers get fed up of JUST sci-fi and fantasy plots?
Never had time to finish Farenheight though...
Evan @ Feb 18th 2007 9:55AM
I'm 32. I agree with most of what has been said already. I just want to add one thing:
As an actual adult, I don't feel that my maturity is theatened by playing "kiddie" games. The majority of games I buy are rated "E" or "T", not "M". Most "M" rated games don't impress me - to me they feel like they are targetted towards young teens who are easily impressed by the sight of blood. I buy games for the gameplay, and sometimes the story and characters, not the amount of blood and violence.
hotrider12 @ Feb 19th 2007 7:43AM
Im droping out becuz there are no new games for old school gamers like me once apon a time there was r-type,contra,gradius to name a few. now they pushing us out with games for military minded teens. kill or be killed, blood all over the place, body parts flying everywhere thats to dam much. they need to re-vamp old school style games
Jason Parsns @ Feb 19th 2007 11:38AM
I'm 18, and I have already lost much of my intrest in gaming... I don't have time, nor the attention span anymore to play a long game in a single sitting, or the money to waste on poor games.
My primary gaming platform at the moment is the DS, It would also be Wii if a good game had been released since zelda.
I speand more time on the internet now, and administrating my online game, blacksentry.
I have tonnes of console games I havn't completed, but I just can't justify giving them the time to complete. I never perfect games anymore, and use FAQS just to make sure I don't miss anything, as I never have time for a second playthrough.
I think the last game I played was Pheonix Wright.... Life has got in the way of anything else since.
Dryden @ Feb 19th 2007 1:21PM
I am 32, and am happy to admit that the Wii brought me back into the gaming fold, when the PS2 had all but killed my enjoyment of gaming. How many 70s films turned ultra violent RPGs do I need for my PS2? They are all just poor attempts at imitating Grand Theft Auto, which -- adding insult to injury -- is a pale imitation of itself as it no longer resembles the beautiful, 2D top-down platformer it used to be.
Gears of War or Resistance: Fall of Man? I'll pass. I've played these games before. This crap has been available for my PC for the last 10 years. Shame on you, game developers!
The Wii has brought about a 'Revolution' in my home though. My wife (26), our son (6), and me (32) cannot find enough time to play it as a family. Wii Sports has captured me unlike any game since possibly the day I saw Doom on a 386 -- by that I mean on originality and impact. Take from Wii Sports what you will, but you know it will be imitated for the next 15 years. It just set a bar, and it's very high, for a genre the game just invented. After 15 years of trying, somebody finally got "virtual reality" right.
The Wii/Wii Sports bundle represents a groundbreaking achievement in console, controller, and game design. Add to that the fact that nobody can touch the library that Nintendo/Sega amassed together from 1985-1994 just on the NES, SNES, and Genesis. The Virtual Console to us working 30-somethings is the killer app and the icing on the cake.
Had you written an article such as this, aptly titled "Growing old and bored with video games" in October 2006, I would've responded differently. Today, though, post-Wii, I cannot find enough time to play games. I think the majority of 30-somethings have that sense too, and I'd argue that few demographics can match our purchasing power when it comes to disposable income.
Yes. We have grown old and bored with the same old crap -- the sequels to games that didn't have a plot to begin with, the ten button controllers, and the dual analog joysticks.
2007's must have tech gizmo is the Wii. It's the new iPod. It's a phenomenon, and game developers had better take notice.
sketchesofpayne @ Oct 27th 2007 8:20PM
I'm 23 and still have a fair bit of time to play games, but my consumption of them has dropped off quite a bit, because it feels like 'everything has been done before.' I now wait until something truly outstanding hits the market to buy games.