Like others have said, there's absolutely no way that the average gamer is 29. First, you have to take into account that the industry as a whole has a huge stake in expanding marketshare, which means broadening demographics, which in turn means making games appear to be a legitimate mainstream entertainment medium. The industry is making every effort to pull off an image makeover, be it by publicizing these skewed statistics, or milking the GTA controversy, or cross-branding with mainstream movies and music.

There are a number of reasons why the statistics are skewed. First, you have to define "gamer." Those eager to bump up the average age often throw into their definition the casual online cribbage player, or the wife who played the Sims twice on her husband's computer. Second, you have to look at people's purchasing habits. Casual gamers tend to be older, and they buy far fewer games, if any. I would bet anything that most games are still being bought either (a) by parents for their children or (b) by teenagers using their parents' money.

Finally, don't forget that this forum is skewed toward the older demographic--in general those who are primarily into film and DVDs and secondarily into games. Thus there is no reason to believe that the composition of this forum will in any way reflect the larger picture.

Not to belabor the point, but the PSP is not coming out until early next year.

The average age of a gamer is NOT 29, that is horseshit. It's gotta be more around 20, 21.

Well there have been many articles/studies that would say otherwise...

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/20...graphics_x.htm

http://www.imgmagazine.com/news/stor...ArticleID=8308

However, it probably takes into account everyone who plays the odd game of Solitaire on their PC. But who's to say what makes someone a "gamer"?

Good point, as my mom actually ends up playing more games than I in total hours, given her addiction to Freecell and Flash games.

Exactly. I read an article recently that showed how the average age of gamers is going up. Within a few generations it won't be uncommon to see Grandpa and Grandma gamers......

"Gamer" in this case includes people on their computers playing solitaire and Bejeweled.

The average age of what we would normally think of as a gamer (someone who actively purchases newer gaming titles for the PC or consoles on a reasonably regular basis) is still much lower than 29. I would guess it's more around 20.

What a strange statement. Nintendo thrives on the Nostalgia factor, and caters directly to first-generation gamers! With very few exceptions, every first title game on the Gamecube, the GBA, and the DS is an update to a 20-year-old franchise.

I'm 39 and play Xbox games. I know a few guys at work older than me who play a lot more than I do. 29 does seem high, though.

I don't really care about the marketing of games or when they are released. I won't even pay $20 for a game. $50 to me is total insanity with all the other things I have to pay for (yeah, married). I just wait a half year or more to play new releases and enjoy the current stash of titles while I wait.

I was under the impression that the reason a lot of those cartridge based titles were so expensive was because of the manufacturing costs. Killer Instinct was like a 32 Megabit ROM I think and it just cost more to make it than a 8 or 16 Megabit game so they passed on the cost to the consumer. CDs and DVDs are much cheaper to produce and so the game publishers make more money per unit at the same or lower cost than they did back in the cartridge-based game days. Of course the cost to produce these ROM-based cartridges have obviously gone down since we're seeing 128 Megabit ROM games for GBA debut at $30 or less. Or I could be totally off base.

--
fab

Magazine subscription #s. Interesting, though flawed.


I'm 25, and I am the younger gamer here at my workplace. The other gamer types are 26, 28, 29, etc.

The other guy that was a big PC gaming freak was in his late 20's/early 30s (ex-marine).

The age bracket is older than it seems. The statistics for 28 are including a lot of casual "gamers", like yahoo online games and crap. But even adjusting for this, the average age is definitely not 18-20.

My thoughts exactly, my mom may be addicted to freecell, but that really doesn't make her a gamer too the game companies as she would never purchase an actual game unless it was for me. You can include her in surveys I guess but if you are talking from a marketing standpoint it doesn't make sense too. She is happy with her, never changing, never updated, free copy of freecell.

I think the industry likes throwing out older numbers to suck in older people and make them realize gaming is an okay hobby for an older person, as well as to entice younger kids into thinking they are doing the same things as adults.

I'm 41. Video games really started to be popular when I was in high school, and all the guys I still know from back then still play video or computer games.

Average age doesn't mean most gamers are 29, but if you take me and a 17 year old, our average is 29. So it may be that most gamers are high school/college age, but those of us who are older drag the average age up.

I love how a bunch of forum posters somehow actually believe they know the game industry demographics better than a bunch of professionals who actually work in the the game industry and use this (apparently incorrrect) information to make multi-million dollar decisions! I guess because we all play videogames, we're automatically experts on the subject and don't need to do any actual research! We just instinctually know what the correct numbers are!

Too funny!

I am 42 and I am a gamer.

My dad who is 63 plays PC games like Call of Duty and is a gamer.

The average age is older than you think. I believe the age 29 and getting older stat. Those of you who are younger will keep playing games as you age and since the average age of the population is getting older the average of the gamer goes up. People are living longer and this is reflected in the results.

Big titles come out this time of year because companies want to make 3rd and 4th quarter profits. At the end of the year the companies will have to answer to share holders so they push big titles at the end of year.

There's no Christmas or age conspiracy.

Demographic polling of this nature is serious business. Game companies and publishers didn't just pull this number out of thin air, they have data to back it up. They can't afford not to.

no, there's a lot of old timer's on this forum skewing up the average.

Seriously, though, if you go out and do some searching, it appears from recent years of results that it includes things like yahoo online gaming.

http://www.clickz.com/stats/big_pict...le.php/3070391

This is from the ESA's 2003 results:


They listed yahoo games as the top online gaming site, with 11.64% of the online gaming market. It also includes fantasy sports sites.


Seriously, I am never one to argue with accurate scientific polls, but this is not a poll of gamers. This poll also counts (queue the doctor evil air quotes) "gamers".

If you wait long enough we will die and lower those numbers. Of course then you would be older

Those are games... I'm sure they include handheld devices too and maybe even fisher price learning center electronic toys for toddlers as well. Old folks don't just play yahoo scrabble or whatever, I know tons of seniors (many of my clients are retirement age) who play flight simulators or war themed shooters. This basically goes back to the question - what is a 'gamer'? Is playing Tetris on a gameboy make someone more of a gamer than someone playing bejeweled on popcap games?

we share the same birthday and I hate dogs as well

Well, my point, and this answers Tamrok as well, is that while industry insiders may know what the actual numbers are, they have an incentive to misreport them (or to skew their polling methods in the first place).

Playing online Hearts isn't videogaming. It's cardgaming.


As far as including people playing tetris, etc.

Labeling them "gamers". Here's an analogy. It is like...


labeling me a "carpenter" because I managed to build myself a wallmount screen out of 1x2x6s, metal brackets, and blackout cloth. Oh and I reinforced my computer desk hutch with L-brackets, and drilled some different holes in my mis-manufactured bookcase to make it fit together right.
Does using a drill occasionally to do something like mount speakers and my projector on the wall make me a carpenter?

Does buying curtains and arranging furniture make me a "home decorator"?


That's my problem with the term.

How about something like:

A gamer is someone who spends or receives as gifts, games totalling $100+ a year. That cuts out your tetris folks, cell phone people, and your online card game players. Not to mention Solitaire, Minesweeper and the like.