Think about this: When you get older, maybe start a family, maybe eventually have grandkids and whatnot, will you still be playing video games?

I was thinking about it, and we are the first generation to really grow up with this kind of exposure to the entertainment of video games.

Sure, some of our parents may have played "Space Invaders" and "Galaga", but these were not at-home products, nor were they intended to be.

I think we will be the first generation playing video games for entertainment until we get arthritis so bad we can't hold the controllers anymore.

So what do you think? Will you be that grandpa teaching your grandkids to game, and making yourself look old by saying "I remember when there were only 150!"?

Funny I was actually thinking about this earlier today. Also because of this gaming could become the norm for all ages, here's why; At the moment 40 year olds and above don't really play video games the age that mostly plays them is 10 to 20 year olds, that's because those 40 and above people didn't play games with fantastic graphics, online multiplayer, touch, motion, camera, rear touch, dual screens, 3d without glasses, HD etc they just played Tetris and other black and white games. But when we're 80, 90 and so on we'll still play games and all the ages below us will play games so everyone will play video games and the world will be epic.

Uh-oh, I think my post length got out of hand, my apologies.

You are not alone in that thinking--I've been seeing more and more discussions about that on the net. Hrm...now that I do a search, I see that there are books that talk about how the gaming generation are changing business, the workplace, and the economy. Anybody read any of those?


Out of curiosity, what are the rough ages you're thinking of as "in our generation?" I'm a bit fuzzy on video gaming history, so I'm not sure when home consoles or PC gaming first hit big. (Hopefully this question won't result in a giant argument about whether particular consoles are "real consoles"--I'm more wondering which half-decade you are thinking of.)


If we aren't there yet, we're darn close. Both my brothers-in-law put their kids in front of consoles almost at birth. If they'd had kids in their early 20s instead of late 30s, they'd probably be doing the same with their grandkids now.


Like you, I am also very curious about the time in the future when nearly every parent, even grandparent, has tried out games both violent and non-violent, both casual and in-depth, and so on, before deciding what they're comfortable letting their kids play. That'll sure change the discussion about the pros/cons of video gaming. Maybe it'll be more like the variety of ways parents teach their kids about alcohol, having had personal experience with the pros and cons of drinking themselves.

But, uh-oh, you mentioned specific age ranges, so I sense a war about to start. I can't speak to how many 10-20 year olds play console or pc games, but I can tell you about (a few) 40 year olds--those that I know personally.

Of acquaintances my age, I can think of only one or two who don't play video/console/phone/computer games. And that doesn't just mean casual or short or easy games--some play mostly casual, some play a lot of shooters, and so on. So, my version of your sentence would be more like: "Not as many 40 year olds play video games as 20 year olds, and while there's overlap in what the various ages play, there are differences, too." But maybe that's just me and my aversion to how everybody always overgeneralizes. >.>

When I'm older, I hope to be designing games, which would mean playing them and forcing them upon my kids. :P