I can remember a time when being a gamer made you a nerd. It meant ridicule from your peers, lack of romantic interest, and parents upset that you weren’t on the football team. Boy, how times have changed. Today gaming is enjoyed by people from all walks of life. The jocks are playing Call of Duty with the geeks, females are slaughtering zombies online, and parents are raiding dungeons with their kids after dinner. It’s a great time to be a gamer.
While video games started in the 1970s it was the Nintendo Entertainment System that brought gaming to the forefront of home entertainment. the youngest of Gen X and oldest Millennials are really the first groups to be born and immersed in the world of gaming. We’re the ones that have been there through all of the console wars, the ups and downs of game studios, and the rise of online play. We witnessed it all and influenced it all by becoming game designers ourselves. Now that we’re all grown up and older generations are passing on there are a whopping 65% of American adults playing video games. Mobile gaming has also had a huge effect on older adults being able to play video games.
Variety reported on a study titled “2019 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry” which found that in addition to the 164 million adult gamers, 3/4ths of all Americans have at least one gamer in the house. nearly 80% of those surveyed stated that playing game provides stress relief and can provide mental stimulation. The stress relief thing really depends on the game for this writer. TF2 is relaxing and fun with ridiculous violence and a great community while StarCraft can make me see red when playing online.
An interesting stat in the study found Millenials (18-34yo) are split on gaming platforms with males preferring consoles and females preferring mobile gaming while Gen Xers (35-54yo) prefer mobile gaming regardless of gender. Baby Bomer (55-65yo) males prefer PC gaming and females mobile gaming.
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There’s no doubt that this is a grand age of gaming across all platforms. With emulators, you can even play console games on your mobile device. Thanks to online play what used to be seen as a loner’s hobby is now one of the most social activities one can partake in. This writer prefers consoles for single player games and PC gaming for real-time strategy and first-person shooter multiplayer games.
What do you game on? What is your favorite modern game? What was your first game? Let us know in the comments below!
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Source: Variety
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