The other day some guy I know starts bragging about how mature of a guy he is, I had to disagree. I told him he very much acts his age, well he struck back with "You're the one who's immature; you still play video games." In the back of my mind I do associate kids with video games, but I never made the connection; I'm not a kid anymore and I still play video games. Great, so obviously his statement was a little seed planted in my brain. I started analyzing, which I admit I do a lot. Is this ok or should I be offended. I am a pretty mature person, but does playing games really make me so immature.Our generation was the start of real video gaming. When we were younger game ratings didn't exist nor was there a need for it. Developers now are realizing there are a lot more adult gamers, wow, so the kids that use to play video games grew up. So now developers are making games geared more toward adult gamers.
So what percentage of American adults actually play video games? I googled this question, not actually thinking I would find a valid answer. Come to find out there was a study on this made last month by Pew Internet & American Life. More than half of Americans 18+ play video games and 81% of adults ages 18-29 play video games. Well the rest of you people don't know what your missing. Although this study was only done in the US, I'm sure most countries wouldn't see much different results. I'm sure when Starcraft II actually comes out Korea will blow those percentages out of the water.
Random video:
This video is of a Korean comedian. Unlike Korea most people here in the US wouldn't get this, but in Korea Starcraft is super huge, they still host Starcraft tournaments. I actually just got into this game about a year ago. I never wanted to try it and I really thought it was so outdated that I wouldn't enjoy it. Well I extremely enjoy this game, I recommend it to everyone... by the way, when the hell are they going to release Starcraft II.
Also, I was pretty shocked to find out 50% of all women and 55% of all men play video games. That's pretty damn close, I guess I'm not a rare breed after all. So, if anyone out there plays WOW, that chick in game, might actually be a real chick, go figure.
Survey:
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Adult_gaming_memo.pdf
Sandra
10 comments:
All I understood from the video was "My Life for Hire!" and "SVC good to go sir"
I'm not suprised by those polls. I know many adults that play video games and a few hardcore gamers that are above 30 years old.
- Xalgar
What an idiot to make such a claim. You should go ahead and show him those polls and then see what he says. Playing a video game doesn't make you immature, it just depends on the person.
I also agree with the above poster as well. I know many 18+ People who play games, Even my dad plays World at war once in awhile.
Haha! I currently live in Seoul, Korea and man, they have all these Starcraft and Warcraft competitions which a lot people attend. Also, when you go into Korean internet cafe's, aka PC Bangs(Bang meaning room in Korean) a lot of couples go their and play games like WOW and Starcraft.
Korea is such a gamer country. I mean why else would they show Starcraft 2 anywhere else?
I think in a lot of Far East Asian countries (China, Korea, Japan) the gaming industry is aimed much more towards adults then kids. Most vendors that sell Nintendo gear are for kids, but the 360 and PS3 are definitely geared for adults.
Well just wanted to share what I know about the video game industry in Seoul!
I wouldn't put much weight on those statistics. A lot of people saying yes are probably basing it off playing stuff like the Wii and rock band. That still count, but you'd hardly call them gamers. I guess that's the effect the Wii is having on the general population, even though the Wii's popularity is potentally a passing fad.
My 50 year old Mother plays games, that should be enough evidence to show video games aren't "mature". I hate people who associate games with immaturity and childness.
Er, that should have been "immature".
haha, my parents watch that show via directv.
Only an immature person would believe that maturity can be measured by what you choose to do with your free time. Maturity is measured by who you are and how you relate to your environment, not how old you are or what your hobby is. I've known older (65+) members of my own family who were petty, childish and immature people, and 15 year olds who were more adult than any of them (I'm in my mid-20s, if anyone is immature enough to think that's relevant).
Consider how much maturity it takes to do something like play video games (which is still seen by the mainstream culture as somewhat childish) and be completely unashamed about it.
An immature person would think "I play games, and games are childish, so I must be childish". Maturity is the ability to say "I play games, and I'm an adult, therefore games are an adult pastime".
This is nothing to get all Martin Luther King about, but it is annoying that someone would make a close minded argument like that. Gaming is clearly becoming a huge medium that rivals other industries.
This guy you know must not have much knowledge about video gaming in the first place to come out with that statement. Theres definitely no doubt that children do play games (Even ones meant for adults), but even then it wouldn't be immature for a child, adult or senior citizen to play a 360 once in a while. Show him a list of the AAA games from this year and those study results, then ask him to rethink what he said. Or give him a dose of ICO or something similar to play. Either way I think he'd owe you an apology.
I tend to be surprised when I see people calling others (or even myself) immature for playing video games. I already know such a large number of people play games and not just limited to my generation either (me being 23). I mean you're essentially in the minority when you say that (if you are within that age group).
I'm also seeing a lot more girl gamers as well. While I must admit some do irritate me to a certain extent thinking they're special and labeling themselves specifically as a girl gamer thinking gender makes their opinion so much more interesting. Gamers are gamers. No need for the gender label. I digress though. I just wanted to say that like your finding states, it's really not that rare at all.
Post a Comment