The Average Gamer Is "Old"

What exactly did they consider gaming? Because i'm pretty sure a lot of the population are just playing simpler ones like Text Twist and puzzle games.

Younger generations starting at around 8 with their AAA games vs retired players and their puzzle games. Average them out and you get half the average human life expectancy.

Spectrum17 said:
Sounds fishy to me. Pretty sure the average age of the WoW playerbase, which makes up the bulk of PC gaming, is about 12.
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Good one!:D
 
You know, I am honestly surprised at the responses in this thread. I had no idea there were that many gamers my age, or that so many people my age frequent this web site. I myself am 43 and can still remember the original Pong games and the Atari 2600 and C64. I guess every generation has some tech like that. My mom, for instance (64), was about 14 when her family got their first TV. Nowadays, kids have no idea that there weren't always HD TVs, or cell phones, or computers. Blows my mind.
 
Other thing I forgot to add was the attitude of non-gamers. I run into people all the time that think I am trying to relive my childhood because I play games, or that I am somehow less mature or less productive than they are because I game. They flat out can't understand why I spend the money on my computer, or why I spend the time gaming. I think it is an interesting hobby which is incomprehensible to those not "in the know."
 
49 this summer. Geez I'm old. Been gaming with my son for about 10 yrs now. Been to Quakecon the last 5 years. Your only as old as you feel.
 
DocFaustus said:
His point is that the in the time of 1 year the age went up 1 year. Statements like that just look funny when you are pooling the same group of people because it is exactly what you would expect to happen
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I see the point he was trying to make, but it's not statistically accurate since it is not the same exact bunch of people being polled. Yes, if you were doing it that way then you'd expect a year later everyone to be a year older.

But since that's not the case, the average going up one year is not a foregone conclusion, just a coincidence.

But, if their sampling is sound, then it would roughly mean that younger people are not getting into video games.
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Not necessarily. You could simply have more growth at the older end of the spectrum than at the younger end. That would drive the average up a year. That's probably the case here.
 
NKDietrich said:
I see the point he was trying to make, but it's not statistically accurate since it is not the same exact bunch of people being polled. Yes, if you were doing it that way then you'd expect a year later everyone to be a year older.

But since that's not the case, the average going up one year is not a foregone conclusion, just a coincidence.



Not necessarily. You could simply have more growth at the older end of the spectrum than at the younger end. That would drive the average up a year. That's probably the case here.
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It was a joke, fellas. I wasn't trying to start an argument. :confused:
 
Nowadays, kids have no idea that there weren't always HD TVs, or cell phones, or computers. Blows my mind.
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I don't watch TV. I didn't get a cellphone until about 3 years ago.
 
Ironic that the age went up a year from last year's study... okay, well, it's not. It does show that doing yearly studies of this sort is a bit of a wasted exercise. The same people gaming last year are gaming this year, big surprise.
 
Spectrum17 said:
Other thing I forgot to add was the attitude of non-gamers. I run into people all the time that think I am trying to relive my childhood because I play games, or that I am somehow less mature or less productive than they are because I game. They flat out can't understand why I spend the money on my computer, or why I spend the time gaming. I think it is an interesting hobby which is incomprehensible to those not "in the know."
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Yeah I'm usually like "So why exactly do you spend time watching all these reality TV shows.......everyone has their thing, for some its movies, or shopping, or reading a book, mine just happens to be computer games. Its all good, they are just forms of entertainment, just as long as you don't let it control your life". After that they usually understand.
 
Another old guy checking in. I'm 48 and have been gaming since the Atari 2600 came out. Why should I watch the crap that's on TV when it's more fun for me to fire up a game on the PC or my 360? Let's see, some idiot reality show or L4D2?

Oh it's past my bedtime and I've got an AARP membership to fill out. :D
 
so that’s why I had a good score in that [H] Battlefield server, all are old and slow :D but seriously, to be that old and still have a gamming spirit is a privilege imo
 
remeber when PET computer was great stuff with its tape drive. Its been so long. First computer was Commodore 64. Even around when ATARI was household game system to have.
 
I am the average age! Wow... i feel so... average...

I'm just old enough to remember my first computer. Commodore Vic-20! My dad bought it and i couldn't stop playing with it. We eventually got a Commodore 128 and a subscription to Compute! Gazette. Dad and i would spend HOURS typing in machine language to make some little game that we would then record to a cassette tape! lol.

Good times!
 
wdtiger said:
I am the average age! Wow... i feel so... average...

I'm just old enough to remember my first computer. Commodore Vic-20! My dad bought it and i couldn't stop playing with it. We eventually got a Commodore 128 and a subscription to Compute! Gazette. Dad and i would spend HOURS typing in machine language to make some little game that we would then record to a cassette tape! lol.

Good times!
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haha... now that i actually think about it, it was the VIC-20 that we'd spend hours on with the tape recorder. We had a 1541 floppy drive for the C128! lol.
 
I may be old but, I still shred. I'm sure that will change within the next 20 years or so:(.

Maybe if I keep playing it will keep my eyes and mind quick. We'll see:eek:.
 
45 here and still rocking my games.I get a laugh when some kid finds out some old dude hands him his ass online.:D
 
41 here and I thought I was an old gamer, so of you need carbon dating!
 
Danged bunch of young pups!

64 here and still kicking ass in IL2 1946 :D

Shucks, we have one guy in our Squad that's in his 80's who will hand you your ass if you aren't careful.

42 = OLD? Hell, I didn't START doing serious online gaming until I was 52!
 
i have to agree. i'm 28 and i dont' game as much as i used too but might be about to start again. eyefinity time! :D
 
Funny, because PC game publishers and developers are still talking and marketing their games as if we where 12.

Nothing new to me, we ran polls back in 2000 asking our members their age and their average age was 36 with a $125 of monthly disposable income to spend on their game servers (it cost a lot more then today to run a 32 player dedicated server)
 
Kowan said:
I'm 53, so most of you are youngsters. :p
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Yahoo!!! Somebody ALMOST as old as me.

firas said:
so that’s why I had a good score in that [H] Battlefield server, all are old and slow :D but seriously, to be that old and still have a gamming spirit is a privilege imo
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Nothin' special. It's just enjoyable the have fun and hang with people who have a passion for this sort of thing. I'm sure there are some old guys who love to tear cars apart, or shoot skeet, or fish..........whatever keeps the fire burning.;)

RAF_OldBuzzard said:
Danged bunch of young pups!

64 here and still kicking ass in IL2 1946 :D

Shucks, we have one guy in our Squad that's in his 80's who will hand you your ass if you aren't careful.

42 = OLD? Hell, I didn't START doing serious online gaming until I was 52!
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Dude, you are older than me, what a relief.:eek:
 
just turned 33 here. been gaming since the original NES and dont see it stopping anytime soon.

I sure don't game nearly as much anymore especially since I gave up on MMO's.
 
Spectrum17 said:
Sounds fishy to me. Pretty sure the average age of the WoW player base, which makes up the bulk of PC gaming, is about 12.
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42 y/o gamer here and WoW player. I am guessing the 12 y/o estimate you came up with would have to be based on the Chuck Norris and Anal spam that goes on in trade chat. As almost always is the case, the more vocal minority misrepresent the base.
 
raynman68 said:
42 y/o gamer here and WoW player. I am guessing the 12 y/o estimate you came up with would have to be based on the Chuck Norris and Anal spam that goes on in trade chat. As almost always is the case, the more vocal minority misrepresent the base.
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Plus the average WoW player is something like, hmm, I think 24? I'd have to Google it again. But yeah, that's the big misconception about the WoW player base. "Oh it's all little kids!" When in reality it's just adults acting like morons.

No different than the douchebags in DotA, HON, or LOL.

Then there is the first-person shooter community. That community was filled with a bunch of anti-social wastes of oxygen long before WoW launched.
 
Spectrum17 said:
Sounds fishy to me. Pretty sure the average age of the WoW playerbase, which makes up the bulk of PC gaming, is about 12.
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Not if my clan is any indication of what most pc gamers are like. We have a few members in their early 20s but most of us are mid 30s and we even have a 60 something, and none of us play WOW, we play fps. Oh and we do actively compete in TWL so don't get it wrong we aren't all slow. :D
 
so much for games are for kids.im 32 and i hear that shit all the time.
 
As long as arthritis doesn't hurt my game, the nursing home will be a fun LAN party when I end up there.
 
RumpleForeSkin said:
Well, I guess the very end of my Sig says it all..
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Commodore 64 BASIC? I had a Tandy Color Computer! The C64 vs. CoCo battle was not unlike the Mac vs. PC battle of today. The C64 had the market share because it was better marketed and distributed and thus got the bulk of the software developer interest which got the C64 more and better commercial software, particularly games.

But a lot of people that the CoCo was a better machine because of the 6809 CPU vs. the 6502 in the C64.

Sounds familiar doesn't it?
 
Whenever I play Counter-strike I usually take a quick age poll. At 28 Most people on are usually younger than me. Theres always a couple of us old fucks on but its mostly 15-25 from what I've seen on pubs.
 
koolaidkitten said:
Kinda makes perfect sense to me.
A lot of us 30'ish folks is of the 8-bit Nintendo generation.
The generations after that don't seem to be quite as hardcore.
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This is exactly what I was thinking to being 29 myself...

Spectrum17 said:
You know, I am honestly surprised at the responses in this thread. I had no idea there were that many gamers my age, or that so many people my age frequent this web site. I myself am 43 and can still remember the original Pong games and the Atari 2600 and C64. I guess every generation has some tech like that. My mom, for instance (64), was about 14 when her family got their first TV. Nowadays, kids have no idea that there weren't always HD TVs, or cell phones, or computers. Blows my mind.
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Yea me too. I didnt have a pager till I secretly bought one junior year of high school. I just heard my boss bought a cellphone for her 10 year old son...

Spectrum17 said:
Other thing I forgot to add was the attitude of non-gamers. I run into people all the time that think I am trying to relive my childhood because I play games, or that I am somehow less mature or less productive than they are because I game. They flat out can't understand why I spend the money on my computer, or why I spend the time gaming. I think it is an interesting hobby which is incomprehensible to those not "in the know."
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I'm getting sick of that misinformed viewpoint also. Gaming is a billion dollar industry for a reason. The people that make games now are the adults that grew up during the golden sega/nintendo era.

RAF_OldBuzzard said:
Danged bunch of young pups!

64 here and still kicking ass in IL2 1946 :D

Shucks, we have one guy in our Squad that's in his 80's who will hand you your ass if you aren't careful.

42 = OLD? Hell, I didn't START doing serious online gaming until I was 52!
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Respect dude, respect. You make me worry less about my ability to game in my later years. I remember when it all started for me with the Mac Performa 460 and the Apple iie's in my elementary school that they had to wheel in on mobile desks cause it was so big. Back when floppies where physically floppy... =)
 
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