Those struggling to think of a last-minute Christmas gift for their middle-aged relatives might be intrigued to know they may prefer a digital game this year, rather than a nice pair of slippers.
Research carried out by a PhD student at The Open University, into how people engaged with digital games, found that the age of those who play and enjoy these games is not typically a 20-something playing games like Call of Duty. Rather, research student Jo Iacovides, 28, found that the demographics are changing among game enthusiasts. She studied how people learn through their involvement with games and carried out a three-stranded approach using email interviews, monitored on-site case studies and questionnaires among a group stretching from 20 to 65.
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(full article by Christine Drabwell, OU Media Relations)
I don’t think this would come as a surprise to anyone. Sure there’s still a large cross-section of teens/20′s that play games, but with new games out that are almost catered towards older age groups it only makes sense. I mean look at the Wii Fit. When that hit the market you started seeing a bunch of nursing homes start installing Wii’s for it’s residents. I remember seeing an article in the paper that had a picture of 90 something year old patients skiing in the game. With the new innovative approaches to gaming that have appeared in the last 5-10 years, it’s not a surprise that older age groups are enjoying games.
This doesn’t surprise me. Video games have been around for such a long time that gamers will be getting older. The people who played on their Amigas and Ataris in the 90s will be well into their 30s now, and will have the disposable income to afford video games.
Gamers will be getting older I should imagine, just as Facebook users and users of the Internet are getting older. These things always start off with the young but, as they stick around and the young get older, the userbase gets older.