Stop the press: Gaming grows up with demographic

by Alexander Sliwinski { Mar 14th 2007 at 9:31AM }

Reuters informs that gamers born before the first Bush administration aren't all suffering from Peter Pan syndrome -- game systems are growing up with them. 37 percent of adults own a gaming console and 16 percent own a portable gaming device according to Nielson/NetRatings. Of those, 71 percent are married and 66 percent have at least one child.

According to Reuters, analysts predicted the Wii did well because adult gamers wanted to introduce their children to gaming. These "Nintendads" helped sell a lot of units. Oh please, "Nintendads" wanted the Wii for themselves. The kid was just the add-on peripheral excuse that allowed the wife to let them purchase the console.

Beyond Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft are clearly fighting it out for an adult focused media hub. Although neither is succeeding in making that all-in-one unit, we don't really care, as long as they focus on the games. All we know is as this "Nintendad" generation takes control, we'll see a significant decline in silly game legislation.

Tags: adults, captain obvious, nintendads, peter pan, reuters

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Jack of No Trades @ Mar 14th 2007 9:42AM

The people I know that are at least thirty and still gaming only play 360/PS2/Xbox. The ones that bought a Wii got it for their wife and kids to play so they would stay off the 360/PS2/Xbox.

jason w @ Mar 14th 2007 9:44AM

The only game I have ever bought for my daughter is a dud but she loved the colors and fast moving screen. She is only 6 months old and loves the fast moving colors of Sonic. I had it rented and she went crazy when I played it. As for a system, in a few years im sure she will want a PS4 and a Xbox 720.

Scopique @ Mar 14th 2007 9:51AM

This is the kind of story that needs to get more exposure in the non-gaming media. It would be great ammo against the "it's for the children" stances that politicians take when grandstanding for anti-gaming bills.

ElectronicTalking @ Mar 14th 2007 10:41AM

Well done Jack of No Trades for being on the anti-Nintendo offensive already. Were you touched by a SNES in your special area? You seem to hold alot of hate towards Nintendo so it must be something awful that happened to you. Or maybe a SNES refused your lustful advances making you bitter with disappoint and out for vengeance?

You could say I'm curious to the root of your loathing because at the moment you seem irrational which makes your opinion worth ignoring. Please enlighten us all.

Brian @ Mar 14th 2007 10:48AM

I'm 40 & a long time gamer (since Space Invaders arcade cabinets, mostly PC now)... & yes, my two daughters (8 & 5) love the Wii :)

summercamp @ Mar 14th 2007 10:49AM

It's too bad Americans like systems such as the Xbox 360 because it is ideal for training them for their criminal activities. Perhaps they should play more Brain Age and Flow, and less Halo and Gears of War

I would never pollute my HDTV with Batsu-Box 360 filth

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c203/Emotep032/IMGP0157.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c203/Emotep032/IMGP0158.jpg

summercamp @ Mar 14th 2007 10:50AM

Matt B @ Mar 14th 2007 10:53AM

I'm 32 with 3 kids and a long time PC gamer. I recently bought a PS3 for me since my 2 daughters(6&3) have overrun my PC. All is well now.

Jack of No Trades @ Mar 14th 2007 10:55AM

ElectronicTalking

It would be my pleasure to inform you on the roots of my Nintendo bashing.

Scenario 1: Work gets boring and news is slow so I post something on a Nintendo thread to get some excitement (Nintendo people tend to get defensive quickly).

Scenario 2: I bought a Gamecube over a Xbox/PS2 thinking it would live up to my standards and I was completely disappointed after I finish SSB to find there were not too many good games.

Scenario 3: Tried the Wiimote and found out it is overrated.

Fiery Food Dude @ Mar 14th 2007 10:57AM

~Summercamp, so what is it that you don't like about the 360?

Jack of No Trades @ Mar 14th 2007 10:59AM

@summercrap

It's too bad Non-Americans like systems such as the Wii/PS3 because it is ideal for training them to like little boys that look like girls with funny hair and wierd clothes.

Perhaps they should play more Gears and Oblivion, and less FF and DragonQuest.

summercamp @ Mar 14th 2007 11:01AM

@11

You mean to be civilized? It's not too bad at all.
^_^

Perhaps if you played more Big Brain Academy and less Halo, you would know how to spell "weird".

I would never pollute my HDTV with Batsu-Box 360 filth

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c203/Emotep032/IMGP0157.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c203/Emotep032/IMGP0158.jpg

Andrew @ Mar 14th 2007 11:04AM

"Beyond Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft are clearly fighting it out for an adult focused media hub. Although neither is succeeding in making that all-in-one unit, we don't really care, as long as they focus on the games."

Well, if Microsoft would advertise the media center capabilities better, they wouldn't be able to keep 360's on the shelves. I just got my Vista PC last week with the Media Center program on it, and it is friggin' amazing!! Anyboddy that owns a 360 and is paying a seperate bill for a DVR is a sucker. Microsoft should be advertising that you can forget paying your cable company a monthly fee for DVR service and buy a 360, connect it to a Media Center PC and get all the greatness of DVR without the monthly bill.

summercamp @ Mar 14th 2007 11:02AM

@10

Watch this movie.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hgx_tL1WjJY

Jack of No Trades @ Mar 14th 2007 11:05AM

Summercamp doesn't like the 360 because his feeling are hurt from all the good game being released for the system.

Awww, its ok buddy. Maybe in a year you can play some good games.

sheppy @ Mar 14th 2007 11:18AM

I thought we all agreed paying summercamp any attention is like pointing and laughing at Steven Hawkins "voicebot." Isn't it just cruel and politically incorrect to point and laugh at summercamp's special needs?

Markusdragon @ Mar 14th 2007 11:20AM

@Jack

So basically, you failed to do your research last generation, and it's Nintendo's fault?

Fiery Food Dude @ Mar 14th 2007 11:22AM

It cracks me up how some get all "emotional" about which platform is the best. And everything else is crap.

Fiery Food Dude @ Mar 14th 2007 11:26AM

@Summercamp, could you be specific on why you don't like the 360?

Jake @ Mar 14th 2007 11:26AM

Anybody who says a 360 is worthless garbage is not a true gamer, plain and simple. The system currently possesses the majority of the good next gen games.

Perhaps summercamp should go to a wine blog. If her goal was to convince us that she is a complete douche then she has already succeeded and can move on.

You know, Joystiq could help expedite the process of removing that dork and her constant entertainment center advertisements.

summercamp @ Mar 14th 2007 11:28AM

@21

Watch this review of the Xbox 360.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GQ3umqjzJSU&mode=related&search=

I would never pollute my HDTV with Batsu-Box 360 filth

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c203/Emotep032/IMGP0157.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c203/Emotep032/IMGP0158.jpg

sheppy @ Mar 14th 2007 11:31AM

"Anybody who says a 360 is worthless garbage is not a true gamer, plain and simple. The system currently possesses the majority of the good next gen games."

Hate to be a naysayer just for the sake of cracking a joke. But here it goes. Sarcasm detectors on.

I kept hearing about how great GRAW was. Mexicans kidnap the president, huh? This goes beyond the scope of believability. I can believe mexicans built the presidents fence, but to mobilize and kidnap him? Okay, ba dump bum. Jokes over, now I gotta go save a homeless man from a fire or something to prevent my trip to hell.

Jack of No Trades @ Mar 14th 2007 11:36AM

Markusdragon

Well its both mine and Nintendo's fault. Mine for thinking it would be like the 64. Nintendo's for having crappy third party support.

baby sea tuna @ Mar 14th 2007 11:46AM

Sheppy: Carlos Mencia just called, he wants that fence joke (that he stole from Ari Shaffer) back.

Oh, and #1 is right. Keeping his wife and kid off his Xbox and PS3 was the exact reason one of my friends (and others, I assume) bought a Wii. It worked too...

sheppy @ Mar 14th 2007 11:53AM

And I'm back... and failed miserably. Apparently you're not supposed to send seeing eye dogs into a burning building to save a homeless man. Especially when blind people are still attached to them. Oh well, to hell with me...

Jake @ Mar 14th 2007 12:02PM

Sheppy,

Sorry SheppDogg, it just wasn't funny. I don't know how it was any more relevant to my post than any other post, either. In my comment, I should have emphasized that calling the 360 COMPLETE garbage is pretty much retarded at this point. You can still prefer your PS3 or Wii, but you have to at least give some credit where it is due.

Hell, I don't even consider the PS3 or Wii COMPLETE garbage, even if neither one of them have a 90+ worldwide critically acclaimed smash hit between them.

(I don't consider Zelda TP a Wii game because I waited so long for it on my GC and am playing it on that system, the one it was intended for. Call me a purest, but I don't consider God of War II to be a PS3 game either, for the same reason.)

Peace love and all of the above.

sheppy @ Mar 14th 2007 12:07PM

Bah, I just wanted to do a quick GRAW jab. That's the alpha and omega. Besides, Jake, shame on you. Everyone else has learned by now that summercamp is useless

You and I both know no system is without it's worth... well, aside from Gizmondo and Jaguar... but aside from that.

baby sea tuna @ Mar 14th 2007 12:12PM

I don't think anyone really considers God of War II a PS3 game, just because it's BC (as compared to considering Zelda a Wii game.) I mean, it's much more of a reason to dust off your PS2 than to buy a PS3.

That said...it really, really fucking rules so far (which is more than I can say for the point I'm at in Zelda.)

baby sea tuna @ Mar 14th 2007 1:18PM

Oh, and I'm really happy that there's now a poster that can unite fanboys of all systems in their general disgust towards a certain spambot. With that, I'll no longer be feeding the troll...

Vidikron @ Mar 14th 2007 12:17PM

summercamp

Are you planning on buying Manhunt 2 for the Wii? You too can train for criminal activities like all of us Xbox loving Americans!!

Blizz419 @ Mar 14th 2007 12:27PM

pay no attention to summercamp he is a retard who doesn't even know how to put his Wii in its stand properly.

summercamp @ Mar 14th 2007 12:30PM

@30

You do know if you put the Wii in the stand the "proper" way, the stand blocks the heat vent, right? ^_^

I would rather have my Wii standing straight rather than angled, since the latter blocks heat from escaping the console. Everyone in the civilized countries know this. I guess just like in everything else, Americans are behind the times.

I would never pollute my HDTV with Batsu-Box 360 filth

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c203/Emotep032/IMGP0157.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c203/Emotep032/IMGP0158.jpg

summercamp @ Mar 14th 2007 12:31PM

@29

Luckily, mind rotting filth like Manhunt, Halo and Gears of War end up as rated "Z" and don't make it to store shelves.

I would never pollute my HDTV with Batsu-Box 360 filth

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c203/Emotep032/IMGP0157.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c203/Emotep032/IMGP0158.jpg

LongshotX @ Mar 14th 2007 12:33PM

Well my first system was the NES and I was like 4, maybe even 3 and it was enjoyable, still is enjoyable but it isn't anything I'd die over if I couldn't play it again. Then their was the Genesis, and I was probably about 6 and it was awesome. I instantly fell in love with all things Sega and especially Sonic. I was never a huge fan of Mario because I always thought Sonic was way cooler. Then around 1996 I got a Saturn, the one with the 3 in one pack in (Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Cop, and Daytona USA) and it was awesome especially when Nights came out (Please come to XBLA, please) with the Analog thumb pad controller but sadly it died too soon although I did chance on a Radiant Silver Gun rip and I quickly burned it so I could play it. Spectacular Game!!! (please come to XBLA, please). Then there was the Dreamcast in 2000 and it was an awesome system with a huge assortment of classic games. To this day I think it has one of the funnest and best libraries to play. After Sega fell off I was without a system for a while until I got a PS2 after I graduated from high school. It was a decent system but I always though Dreamcast was better, and I secretly wished a Dreamcast 2 would launch. My friend broke my PS2 while I was living in a dorm. And I took his as compensation. I really never cared much for the platform and by then I had grew past the "kiddy" Gamecube. Almost no one played that thing in the dorms. Around last year, I'm 20 now, I bought a 360 and I think it is the best console I have had. I feel like it was a spiritual successor to the Dreamcast and it brought together things I liked such as connectivity through Live, lots of Media rich features, and great games. And one game stirred me to make a purchase. You guessed it: Gears of War. I played it to death and I also played the Wii and the PS3 when they came out. Neither system seemed like a compelling purchase. The motion controls seemed boring for the Wii, and the Xbox 360 seemed to trump the PS3 in every category except in its choice of HD DVD over Blu Ray.

Blizz4l9 @ Mar 14th 2007 12:37PM

you are a fucking idiot summercamp lol, when placed in the stand properly the vent lines up perfectly actually, so yea you are an idiot cuz having it backwards like yours blocks that vent, ya know even though i'm american i always believed we have the most idiots here in this country, summercamp you just made my day knowing there are even dumber people in other countries.

Blizz4l9 @ Mar 14th 2007 12:44PM

summercamp

heres a picture to prove this point moron.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k259/Blizz419/DSC_0570.jpg

Steve @ Mar 14th 2007 1:48PM

summercamp:

If we Americans are so stupid and need to play "Brain Age" to become as intellectually proficient as you, how come you are the only one on this thread who couldn't seem to figure out how to post a message? Messages #6 and #7 seem to be identical to me, but then maybe your sophisticated mind duplicated the post to drive home the importance of your profound message.

I'm curious what country you are from that apparently has a population that's more intelligent than the people of the USA. Elbonia, perhaps?

P.S.
Thank you for providing another view of your entertainment center, because my small mind forgot what it looked like over the span of 24 hours. Your pride over that system is so...quaint… I imagine your face beaming like a child after being given her first camera (a pink one with Barbie on it).

billychaos @ Mar 14th 2007 12:49PM

Well I am over 30 and I bought a Wii, own a gamecube, DS, gba...and no I dont have kids. A lot of people my age are of the "Nintendo Generation", it's all I knew from the age 12-21 (The market leader at the time. I'm sure sega would be the same if they were still around as a console maker)

A lot of people dont seem to get that when you like something your tastes doesnt always change just becase you got older. Age is just a number we made up. So yes if you are reading comics books now, you'll most likely still be interested in them when you are 30 years or older. You may not buy them but you'll be interested none the less. Now most people here hat are between the ages 12-21 had a similar experience I had but with Sony instead of Nintendo (The market leader at the time).

So in 30 years when a new game company comes out that's better than Sony, you'll still most likely be more interested in what you knew...which will probably be Sony.

Jack of No Trades @ Mar 14th 2007 12:49PM

BURNED!!!!!

Jack of No Trades @ Mar 14th 2007 12:53PM

"So in 30 years when a new game company comes out that's better than Sony, you'll still most likely be more interested in what you knew...which will probably be Sony."

Absolutly Wrong!

I still love to play mario on SNES but that doesn't mean I want a Wii. I still think 360/PS3 is the better choice. I was raised on Nintendo but now I go for MS & Sony. Things change. People change.

Crono @ Mar 14th 2007 1:07PM

But jack, you yourself said that you bought a cube hoping it would keep its promises. I'd say you're a closet Nintendo Fanboy at heart, and you're just going through a rebellious angry at nintendo phase.

Slaziman @ Mar 14th 2007 1:08PM

Then again you are one of those people who is into games and reads game news, most people don't bother and just say, hey a new Nintendo console! And only $250! Without knowing the downsides of the console.

Just like people now are buying the PS3 based on the quality of the PS2 alone, they don't know what's bad about it, and maybe it isn't even bad for them, maybe they just wanna play Madden and Need for Speed once in a while. I still think the Xbox 360 would be a better deal even then, but oh well.

That being said, why are you so anti-Nintendo? From what I've read you don't own one, in which case you only played at a friend or something. You can't judge a console on that. I think that for the first party titles alone, the Wii is well worth $250, maybe for you the Xbox 360/PS3 gives you more bang for your buck, but I seriously doubt you can say that all the killer apps on Wii aren't remotely worth $250.

summercamp @ Mar 14th 2007 1:08PM

It is funny how Americans are unable to do geometry. If you out your Wii in angled, the vent will be lined up with a 0 degree or 180 degree angle to the hole, therefore blocking the vent

If your Wii is straight, the vent will be at a 35 degree angle, therefore allowing heat to escape the Wii.

I would never pollute my HDTV with Batsu-Box 360 filth

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c203/Emotep032/IMGP0157.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c203/Emotep032/IMGP0158.jpg

Slaziman @ Mar 14th 2007 1:09PM

Uhm yeah that was @38 Jack of No Trades

Slaziman @ Mar 14th 2007 1:13PM

@42

So you are suggesting all the engineers at Nintendo are retards and chose the wrong angle for the stand THEY made? You say they just overlooked the minor issue of, you know, accidentally fucking overheating your console and making it EXPLODE? Ok, no explosion, but serious damage, at least.

summercamp @ Mar 14th 2007 1:14PM

@44

Nope, heat just escapes better when the Wii is lined up straight.

BIG Reub @ Mar 14th 2007 1:37PM

Hi Firey,

Are you new around here? Those are what we call "Fanboys"(those are air quotes, please use the appropriate air quotes voice in your head). We watch them like monkey in a cage who throw feces at each other. Its often entertaining on a slow work day.

Almack64 @ Mar 14th 2007 1:16PM

I have to agree with billychaos #36. i'm in my mid 20's and my first system was my mom's intellivison (I always thought it was my dad's until last year) I grew up on fun simple yet often crazy difficult games. Right now in my mind the SNES and Dreamcast are tied for the best systems. I actually refused to get those other last gen systems (PS2, XBox, GC) I was happy with my DC, it had some great orginal games and I could emulate all those SNES classics on it too. Maybe 've become jadded with some aspects of gaming but hearing about the wii changed that. And after buying one its really been like breath of fresh air. Yeah there are some complaints but those are all fixable. But maybe its just me and "real" gamers don't think like this.