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We all know that about 90% of gamers are teenagers or children. I mean, how many middle aged gamers do you know? Precisely. Most people on these forums are under 18, only a few people aren't (pb, shadow, etc.) Yet what I don't understand (well, maybe I do), is why 18s sell so well. I mean, GTA3 is the best selling PS2 games, and my bet would be that most of the GTA3 owners are under 18.
Anyway, enough of the babbling, what I'm talking about is the post-adolescent image. It was brought to my attention in a very amusing but true letter in PCZone last issue, about a man who loves gaming, but would rather be caught by his mates doing, well lets say, more explicit things than being found out to be a gamer. lets face it, once you've grown out of school and college, you grow out of video-games too.
However, I have noticed that there is a significant rise in adult gaming. Not in the sense we know it as ;-), but in the fact that game shops today are filled by far more adults (not parents, mind) than a few years ago. And I'm quite intrigued by it. What's more, these men aren't the ones found every Saturday down at Games Workshop with their level 17 black mages and the likes.
What really brought this to my attention, was my dad. He never plays games, never ever, in fact the only time I've ever known him express an interest was with Descent, but even then it was because of the novelty of using a joystick *wink-wink*. However, with my recent purchase of Medal of Honor Allied Assault, he's on our new PC non stop. He loves it, and simply can't get enough. Now this IS intriguing, because if you look into the matter further, you'll find that the whole age-limit thing is getting larger all the time.
Back in the 'golden era' of gaming, as its apparently called, during the early 90's, gaming was all about Sonic, Mario, Ryu and Super Deformed Characters. In fact, the only 'adult' theme in gaming at all was that the characters you play as are adults. Zoom forward to today, and we are no longer playing childish games, but our Medal of Honors, Wolfensteins and (god forbid) Erotica Island. If the latter had appeared all those years ago, it would have been shunned from every country it set foot in.
So with the added attraction of technology, and realism becoming a bit hit, games are starting to appeal more to a wider audience. Even Nintendo, who are notorious with cartoony 'child' games (even though the games aren't) have seen the need for a rise in maturity levels. Mario needs to 'grow-up', as they put it, and to the consumer this is 100% true.
I'm not sure I like this realism. Realism doesn't mean fun, but I suppose for newcomers to the pastime (older newcomers, at that), realism means that perhaps gaming isn't as socially unnaceptable. But the terrible thing is, my dad hogs the computer now :-(. I'll tell you one thing, when I mature and apparently grow out of gaming, I still won't ever let it go.
Anyway, enough of the babbling, what I'm talking about is the post-adolescent image. It was brought to my attention in a very amusing but true letter in PCZone last issue, about a man who loves gaming, but would rather be caught by his mates doing, well lets say, more explicit things than being found out to be a gamer. lets face it, once you've grown out of school and college, you grow out of video-games too.
However, I have noticed that there is a significant rise in adult gaming. Not in the sense we know it as ;-), but in the fact that game shops today are filled by far more adults (not parents, mind) than a few years ago. And I'm quite intrigued by it. What's more, these men aren't the ones found every Saturday down at Games Workshop with their level 17 black mages and the likes.
What really brought this to my attention, was my dad. He never plays games, never ever, in fact the only time I've ever known him express an interest was with Descent, but even then it was because of the novelty of using a joystick *wink-wink*. However, with my recent purchase of Medal of Honor Allied Assault, he's on our new PC non stop. He loves it, and simply can't get enough. Now this IS intriguing, because if you look into the matter further, you'll find that the whole age-limit thing is getting larger all the time.
Back in the 'golden era' of gaming, as its apparently called, during the early 90's, gaming was all about Sonic, Mario, Ryu and Super Deformed Characters. In fact, the only 'adult' theme in gaming at all was that the characters you play as are adults. Zoom forward to today, and we are no longer playing childish games, but our Medal of Honors, Wolfensteins and (god forbid) Erotica Island. If the latter had appeared all those years ago, it would have been shunned from every country it set foot in.
So with the added attraction of technology, and realism becoming a bit hit, games are starting to appeal more to a wider audience. Even Nintendo, who are notorious with cartoony 'child' games (even though the games aren't) have seen the need for a rise in maturity levels. Mario needs to 'grow-up', as they put it, and to the consumer this is 100% true.
I'm not sure I like this realism. Realism doesn't mean fun, but I suppose for newcomers to the pastime (older newcomers, at that), realism means that perhaps gaming isn't as socially unnaceptable. But the terrible thing is, my dad hogs the computer now :-(. I'll tell you one thing, when I mature and apparently grow out of gaming, I still won't ever let it go.
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it did... it is a 15... I got it!
CBFD didn't have an age rating.
CBFD was os good because it had maturer comedy then hitting someone with a hammer!
and that was only a 15!
and that was only a 15!
We all know that about 90% of gamers are teenagers or children. I mean, how many middle aged gamers do you know? Precisely. Most people on these forums are under 18, only a few people aren't (pb, shadow, etc.) Yet what I don't understand (well, maybe I do), is why 18s sell so well. I mean, GTA3 is the best selling PS2 games, and my bet would be that most of the GTA3 owners are under 18.
Anyway, enough of the babbling, what I'm talking about is the post-adolescent image. It was brought to my attention in a very amusing but true letter in PCZone last issue, about a man who loves gaming, but would rather be caught by his mates doing, well lets say, more explicit things than being found out to be a gamer. lets face it, once you've grown out of school and college, you grow out of video-games too.
However, I have noticed that there is a significant rise in adult gaming. Not in the sense we know it as ;-), but in the fact that game shops today are filled by far more adults (not parents, mind) than a few years ago. And I'm quite intrigued by it. What's more, these men aren't the ones found every Saturday down at Games Workshop with their level 17 black mages and the likes.
What really brought this to my attention, was my dad. He never plays games, never ever, in fact the only time I've ever known him express an interest was with Descent, but even then it was because of the novelty of using a joystick *wink-wink*. However, with my recent purchase of Medal of Honor Allied Assault, he's on our new PC non stop. He loves it, and simply can't get enough. Now this IS intriguing, because if you look into the matter further, you'll find that the whole age-limit thing is getting larger all the time.
Back in the 'golden era' of gaming, as its apparently called, during the early 90's, gaming was all about Sonic, Mario, Ryu and Super Deformed Characters. In fact, the only 'adult' theme in gaming at all was that the characters you play as are adults. Zoom forward to today, and we are no longer playing childish games, but our Medal of Honors, Wolfensteins and (god forbid) Erotica Island. If the latter had appeared all those years ago, it would have been shunned from every country it set foot in.
So with the added attraction of technology, and realism becoming a bit hit, games are starting to appeal more to a wider audience. Even Nintendo, who are notorious with cartoony 'child' games (even though the games aren't) have seen the need for a rise in maturity levels. Mario needs to 'grow-up', as they put it, and to the consumer this is 100% true.
I'm not sure I like this realism. Realism doesn't mean fun, but I suppose for newcomers to the pastime (older newcomers, at that), realism means that perhaps gaming isn't as socially unnaceptable. But the terrible thing is, my dad hogs the computer now :-(. I'll tell you one thing, when I mature and apparently grow out of gaming, I still won't ever let it go.
Anyway, enough of the babbling, what I'm talking about is the post-adolescent image. It was brought to my attention in a very amusing but true letter in PCZone last issue, about a man who loves gaming, but would rather be caught by his mates doing, well lets say, more explicit things than being found out to be a gamer. lets face it, once you've grown out of school and college, you grow out of video-games too.
However, I have noticed that there is a significant rise in adult gaming. Not in the sense we know it as ;-), but in the fact that game shops today are filled by far more adults (not parents, mind) than a few years ago. And I'm quite intrigued by it. What's more, these men aren't the ones found every Saturday down at Games Workshop with their level 17 black mages and the likes.
What really brought this to my attention, was my dad. He never plays games, never ever, in fact the only time I've ever known him express an interest was with Descent, but even then it was because of the novelty of using a joystick *wink-wink*. However, with my recent purchase of Medal of Honor Allied Assault, he's on our new PC non stop. He loves it, and simply can't get enough. Now this IS intriguing, because if you look into the matter further, you'll find that the whole age-limit thing is getting larger all the time.
Back in the 'golden era' of gaming, as its apparently called, during the early 90's, gaming was all about Sonic, Mario, Ryu and Super Deformed Characters. In fact, the only 'adult' theme in gaming at all was that the characters you play as are adults. Zoom forward to today, and we are no longer playing childish games, but our Medal of Honors, Wolfensteins and (god forbid) Erotica Island. If the latter had appeared all those years ago, it would have been shunned from every country it set foot in.
So with the added attraction of technology, and realism becoming a bit hit, games are starting to appeal more to a wider audience. Even Nintendo, who are notorious with cartoony 'child' games (even though the games aren't) have seen the need for a rise in maturity levels. Mario needs to 'grow-up', as they put it, and to the consumer this is 100% true.
I'm not sure I like this realism. Realism doesn't mean fun, but I suppose for newcomers to the pastime (older newcomers, at that), realism means that perhaps gaming isn't as socially unnaceptable. But the terrible thing is, my dad hogs the computer now :-(. I'll tell you one thing, when I mature and apparently grow out of gaming, I still won't ever let it go.
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