DarkSoul
04-14-2003, 03:17 PM
This post started as a reply to the "Am I really too old?!" post, but it sadly veared so far off topic that I had to give it a place of it's own, 'cause I couldn't just let it die.
It's always a little disconcerning when I have 21-25 year olds over at my apartment and hear them say "Man, that thing's ANCIENT" when looking at my Street Fighter II arcade machine, or "What in the world is THAT?!" at my pile of Intellivisions, or even a freakin' 2600 (I ask you, how can you not know what a 2600 looks like? Christ.). I experienced these games on the later end of when they were current, they were part of my -real- experience (as opposed to only experienced retroactively through collecting). This leads me to believe that the age of a gamer (post mid-teens, at least) is largely irrelevant, as the majority of these systems could be experienced in their prime, or at least a short enough distance after it to be reasonably considered 'current'.
At this point we must seperate Real Gamers from the equivilent (though not intended in the derisive manor the analogy might imply) of Teeny-Boppers. The former enjoy games, whereas the latter do not. The population of this board would generally fall into the former population. Would you sell your PS2 to buy the new Xbox 2 when it comes out? Hell no! That thing plays games. You have an affinity for all the systems (Within reason) that you had "real experience" with, not simply what the current market "Hot Item" is. Even the Real Gamers who are currently 13 years old will share this trend- They will play the PSX-Current or SNES-Current, as dictated by the begings of their "real experience" (Although, we must allow for them to eventually branch out into earlier material as their interest in the hobby of classic gaming superceeds their goal of playing a video game).
When the older population of this community looks around and sees the magazines devoted to flashy lights and quick gratification, churning their attention between whatever system is hot that moment, and away from whatever system is "just so last month", they quite rightfully are led to believe that this is a commuity to which they no longer belong. However, that's fortunate. They are Gamers, not Teeny-Boppers, and will be able to continue to be Gamers for life (That's a nice perk about this hobby- Grandparents can do it without looking too bizarre, try that while BMXing or whatnot). The only thing that this feeling of alienation indicates is that the current market trends dictate video games as a hot fad item, no more important in the mass market's view than Ricky Martin is to the world of music. If you look around, it's my impression that more "Mainstream Popular In High School" type people than ever currently own a video game system, and that's largely because it's "in" to have one of the Current Big 3 right now. But, again, the point I'd like to emphasize is that these are not gamers. True, some gamers will be born from this group, but as a whole they will move on when the current hot item changes, something that puts them into a very different category from someone who takes an interest in the field of gaming as a real, lasting hobby.
I think we're seeing fewer and fewer people making this choice, to become real gamers, largely because gaming is in the mainstream eye as a fad industry, not at all unlike pop music. The original conclusion of this rant, when it more directly applied to aging gamers wondering if they're alone in this world, came in at this point. It said "No, you're not alone. Hell, you're some of the only ones there are these days", or something like that.
I'd really love to hear some comments, and to get some conversation going. I'm sure someone's got some reactions to my half-formed and half-coherent ideas here, so let's hear 'em!
It's always a little disconcerning when I have 21-25 year olds over at my apartment and hear them say "Man, that thing's ANCIENT" when looking at my Street Fighter II arcade machine, or "What in the world is THAT?!" at my pile of Intellivisions, or even a freakin' 2600 (I ask you, how can you not know what a 2600 looks like? Christ.). I experienced these games on the later end of when they were current, they were part of my -real- experience (as opposed to only experienced retroactively through collecting). This leads me to believe that the age of a gamer (post mid-teens, at least) is largely irrelevant, as the majority of these systems could be experienced in their prime, or at least a short enough distance after it to be reasonably considered 'current'.
At this point we must seperate Real Gamers from the equivilent (though not intended in the derisive manor the analogy might imply) of Teeny-Boppers. The former enjoy games, whereas the latter do not. The population of this board would generally fall into the former population. Would you sell your PS2 to buy the new Xbox 2 when it comes out? Hell no! That thing plays games. You have an affinity for all the systems (Within reason) that you had "real experience" with, not simply what the current market "Hot Item" is. Even the Real Gamers who are currently 13 years old will share this trend- They will play the PSX-Current or SNES-Current, as dictated by the begings of their "real experience" (Although, we must allow for them to eventually branch out into earlier material as their interest in the hobby of classic gaming superceeds their goal of playing a video game).
When the older population of this community looks around and sees the magazines devoted to flashy lights and quick gratification, churning their attention between whatever system is hot that moment, and away from whatever system is "just so last month", they quite rightfully are led to believe that this is a commuity to which they no longer belong. However, that's fortunate. They are Gamers, not Teeny-Boppers, and will be able to continue to be Gamers for life (That's a nice perk about this hobby- Grandparents can do it without looking too bizarre, try that while BMXing or whatnot). The only thing that this feeling of alienation indicates is that the current market trends dictate video games as a hot fad item, no more important in the mass market's view than Ricky Martin is to the world of music. If you look around, it's my impression that more "Mainstream Popular In High School" type people than ever currently own a video game system, and that's largely because it's "in" to have one of the Current Big 3 right now. But, again, the point I'd like to emphasize is that these are not gamers. True, some gamers will be born from this group, but as a whole they will move on when the current hot item changes, something that puts them into a very different category from someone who takes an interest in the field of gaming as a real, lasting hobby.
I think we're seeing fewer and fewer people making this choice, to become real gamers, largely because gaming is in the mainstream eye as a fad industry, not at all unlike pop music. The original conclusion of this rant, when it more directly applied to aging gamers wondering if they're alone in this world, came in at this point. It said "No, you're not alone. Hell, you're some of the only ones there are these days", or something like that.
I'd really love to hear some comments, and to get some conversation going. I'm sure someone's got some reactions to my half-formed and half-coherent ideas here, so let's hear 'em!