The general population of gamers are getting older. As we can see HERE the average age for a gamer is about 35 years old. So why are our RPG story lines still in the juvenile stage of man vs everything. Why don't we have more mature focuses in games alongside the other games. And no, I don't mean mature as in, blood, gore, sex, etc... That doesn't equal a mature game. In fact, you could call it an extremely immature game that caters to the younger crowd.
Why don't we have lucrative story lines. Better yet, why don't we have lucrative story lines with a female protagonist? Games like Mirror's Edge are a breath of fresh air. Why is there no game that is legitimately targeted towards a more female audience of all ages that isn't derogatory. I personally have yet to see a game other than The Sims that really targets women in a serious manner.
We need new blood, and the Wii is giving it to us. The backlash from the more hardcore group of gamers is almost scary, lashing out and completely bashing a system which in Nintendo's mind wasn't even competeing for their attention in the first place. The Wii is a great social experiment that worked. I got gamers of all ages, and of both genders to come together and have a ton of fun without catering to only one specific group.
That in my book, is a win for everyone.
~Xi
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Your on a roll, updating this thing faster than I have time to keep up with.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to figure out why it is that "we need new blood" in gaming. As a consumer the best I'm coming up with is so that developers don't go out of business and thus continue making games, because personally I'm not interested in playing the majority of those mainstream "one size fits all" games. Of course the strategy seems to be doing very well for Nintendo with their DS and Wii but neither is my console of choice.
Haven't personally felt the target audience I fit into (upper 20s) isn't being addressed with current game offerings so I cant comment on the lack of mature game problem. Also it seems apparent to me that the gaming industry puts a large focus on adolescent male because we are the #1 consumer.
You would be right, about the target audience being being the #1 consumer, but you also have to think about it in terms of what Nintendo is doing. When Nintendo made games that actually interested other audiences, they ate it up faster than Nintendo could produce.
ReplyDeleteIf we shifted away from targeting just the current niche of consumers the industry as a whole will grow. And when we grow, we have a higher chance for a new gimmick, idea, playstyle, whatever to shine through and make everyone's life more fun when playing a video game.
Makes sense. So even though most of those Wii and DS games don't interest me, getting more people (or dollars really) invested in the industry makes it health so more games are made. I guess that's pretty much what I already said, but taking it even further it means like you said companies will have the funds to try different things because they can afford the risk.
ReplyDeleteEither way you look at it as long as they continue making games I'm interested in playing (and at a price I'm willing to pay) I'll be happy.
Lucrative storylines?
ReplyDeleteYou should really leave the big words alone, Xi.
TROLL TROLL TROLL
Okay sure. Actual comment: I'd have to attribute the puerility of the gaming industry at large to a simple lack of creativity. Not that there aren't creative game designers out there, but that they aren't being funded.
I've noticed the exact same phenomenon in the movie world, of late. Sequel, sequel, thriller, sequel. Similar things are happening in other fields, as well, so the root cause of it all has to be higher up than any of them.
Okay sure, but what about a game like Mirror's Edge, which employed a true writer for their story? It was pretty compelling and made me want to finish the games story mode. Better yet, it was funded by EA of all publishers!
ReplyDeleteWhat do you make of that?