Older gamers

[Gemina]

A lot of gamers are comprised of Gen X. This is the generation that grew up playing video games, and their parents only did "adult" activities. They were kids back when arcades were filled with games like Pac-man, Ms. Pac-man, Galaga, Q-bert, Dig Dug, and Donkey Kong. They were also kids/teenagers as games evolved into what they are today. Computer games back then on the good 'ol greenscreen were inferior, but they will tell you that Snakebite, Ping Pong, and Oregon Trail were some of the most fun games they've played.

They were still very young as generation after generation of consoles were released; from Atari, to sega/Nintendo, to super Nintendo/sega genesis. They played the first black n white handhelds, got yelled at from their parents for running up the phone bill calling hotlines, and dumped a small fortune into arcade games like Afterburner, Street Fighter II, TMNT, X-Men, Tekken, NARC, Double Dragon, Golden Axe, Ghouls and Ghosts. We saw the birth of Fatalities and "C-C-C-C-Combo Breakerrrrrr!" They know of the secret code to life aka (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a, start). They will tell you that Ninja Gaiden was the most stupidly ridiculous challenging game to ever exist.

Have I milked any nostalgic tears yet? Allow me to continue...

Loitering at theatres and 7-11's was a thing, and they saw Sony come in and schite on both Nintendo and Sega as they revolutionized the gaming industry with the OG PS1 and games like Metal Gear Solid, FFVII, and Castlevania - Symphony of the Night. Consoles like the Nintendo 64 and Neo Geo tried and failed to compete. Sega, blasted right out of the competition and becoming just a software developer. Arcade games and businesses started to become increasingly redundant as consoles became so powerful. This was ALL prior to the age of the internet and the next revolution of gaming which we know of today as online gaming. The PS2, the last great pre-internet gaming console developed some attachable hardware so they too could get in on the action, and were able to get in on our lovely and memorable FFXI. Console gamers were online for the first time, and green as green can be. And gen x was STILL in their 20's. Still kids learning the ways of the world.

This is why my money is on the majority of the playerbase being in their late 30's and 40's, which if you couldn't tell already, is the range I am in. Being this age today is not the same as it was 30-40 years ago. We still love to play games, because people tend to like to do things that make them feel young, and allow their inner child to come out. We have adult responsibilities now, and many of us have children of our own, and some of you youngins reading this now have a Gen X parent who I am guessing loves to play video games during their pastime.

I took about seven years off from gaming, and when I came back I felt like a vampire in slumber for centuries. The release of PS3/PS4, Game Cube/Wii, and both Xbox systems passing me by. Everything had changed during that time. FFXIV was the game I came into and I was just like, "whoaaaa!" I'm still like that. A lot of what you guys see as standard, I am still learning. Savage Raids?? You mean there's content more difficult than the NM stuff I get my ass handed to me in? That's me. If you don't recognize some of the stuff I mentioned earlier, you're a young buck.

Pssst! Ninja Gaiden is still the toughest effin game ever!

[tdb]

NM stuff

As a completely unrelated note, this combination of letters is so confusing to me. In SW:TOR the difficulties for raids were Story Mode (SM), Hard Mode (HM) and Nightmare (NM). Here it seems to usually mean Normal Mode, but I've also seen it used for Notorious Monster in the context of Eureka.

[Gemina]

As a completely unrelated note, this combination of letters is so confusing to me. In SW:TOR the difficulties for raids were Story Mode (SM), Hard Mode (HM) and Nightmare (NM). Here it seems to usually mean Normal Mode, but I've also seen it used for Notorious Monster in the context of Eureka.

I'm referring to normal mode encounters. Granted, it's pertains mostly to Alliance and 8-man raids. When I go into these things blind and at the minimum ilv requirement, I get KO'd a LOT. In HW, A11N and Dun Scaith were quite humbling, and the same can be said for O11N and Orbonne in this expansion. I'm better at them now, but learning to stay on my feet during these encounters even with a higher ilv definitely took me some time.

[Kennar]

A lot of gamers are comprised of Gen X. This is the generation that grew up playing video games, and their parents only did "adult" activities.

...

This is why my money is on the majority of the playerbase being in their late 30's and 40's, which if you couldn't tell already, is the range I am in. Being this age today is not the same as it was 30-40 years ago. We still love to play games, because people tend to like to do things that make them feel young, and allow their inner child to come out.

I'm reminded of a time when I asked my aunt, who is in her late 60s, why she thought The Big Bang Theory was so funny, and she answered with, "Because they're grown men who play video games." I gently reminded her that I am a grown man who plays video games.

To her generation, video games have always been toys for children, and the marketing of especially the '80s and '90s worked way to hard to reinforce that notion. As far as I know, the majority of gamers have always been in that 18-34 range, which makes sense considering which demographic has that magical combination of free time and disposable income. I'm not surprised that there are so many of us (relatively speaking) in our 30s playing FFXIV. After all, we grew up with games, they've grown up with us, and we generally aren't too put-out by a monthly subscription fee.

[Gemina]

I'm reminded of a time when I asked my aunt, who is in her late 60s, why she thought The Big Bang Theory was so funny, and she answered with, "Because they're grown men who play video games." I gently reminded her that I am a grown man who plays video games.

To her generation, video games have always been toys for children, and the marketing of especially the '80s and '90s worked way to hard to reinforce that notion. As far as I know, the majority of gamers have always been in that 18-34 range, which makes sense considering which demographic has that magical combination of free time and disposable income. I'm not surprised that there are so many of us (relatively speaking) in our 30s playing FFXIV. After all, we grew up with games, they've grown up with us, and we generally aren't too put-out by a monthly subscription fee.

Despite my "old age", I'm the youngest in my FC and they sure do love to make me aware of that fact. They constantly toss out some old references and colloquialisms leaving me saying, "Huh?" xD

When I reflect on a lot of the gaming commercials even of today, it's usually males in the 18-25 range, which probably does make up the overall majority of gamers today, or at least the target demographic. But there are so many people much older and females playing games today, but no complaints here. I prefer to live in the shadows!

[HappyHaunt]

When I reflect on a lot of the gaming commercials even of today, it's usually males in the 18-25 range, which probably does make up the overall majority of gamers today, or at least the target demographic. But there are so many people much older and females playing games today, but no complaints here. I prefer to live in the shadows!

Oh yeah, there are a lot more of us females playing video games than media would have folks believe. XD

[TaleraRistain]

Console gamers were online for the first time, and green as green can be.

Close. That honor belongs to the Dreamcast. Beat PS2 by a few years. And I believe EQOA was a year before XI was on consoles, since it didn't need the HDD.

EQOA was the EQ Liite version, though. XI was the first full-fledged MMORPG experience on consoles.

To the thread, 39 and gaming in some form since I was 4ish. I played King's Quest on the computer of my babysitter's kid. I can't remember a time I haven't had gaming to keep me busy. I started MMOs with vanilla EQ in 1999.