Gamers of Today?

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VideoGameCritic
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Gamers of Today?

Postby VideoGameCritic » August 4th, 2018, 7:06 pm

It occurred to me recently that I'm much different than the typical gamer of today. I collect games with the intention of playing them now and in the future. I regularly play games that are 40+ years old so I value physical media. I prefer playing solo or locally with friends (offline). But I'm the exception to the rule.

Today's gamers want the latest stuff, and they want it now. They value convenience and social interaction. They want their character to be decked out in the best gear and they want to show off their skills. They prefer to play online and they enjoy watching strangers play online. Ownership isn't an issue. They aren't concerned with playing a game in two years, because they'll have moved on to the next big thing.

Am I right about this or is it a gross generalization?

Sonicx9
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Re: Gamers of Today?

Postby Sonicx9 » August 4th, 2018, 11:15 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:It occurred to me recently that I'm much different than the typical gamer of today. I collect games with the intention of playing them now and in the future. I regularly play games that are 40+ years old so I value physical media. I prefer playing solo or locally with friends (offline). But I'm the exception to the rule.

Today's gamers want the latest stuff, and they want it now. They value convenience and social interaction. They want their character to be decked out in the best gear and they want to show off their skills. They prefer to play online and they enjoy watching strangers play online. Ownership isn't an issue. They aren't concerned with playing a game in two years, because they'll have moved on to the next big thing.

Am I right about this or is it a gross generalization?


You have a good point as that explains why you are such a Switch fan!

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Rev
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Re: Gamers of Today?

Postby Rev » August 5th, 2018, 1:00 pm

So I think today there are two sets of gamers- modern gamers and retro gamers. While I'm sure this could be broken down even further, I think this gives a general sense of the two categories of gamers (that I've seen). I think the number of retro gamers have been growing and growing over the last ten or so years, especially with the spikes in retro game prices as well as tons of YouTube channels that are dedicated to retro games.

I think retro gamers have also been carrying over to the current generations (for example I know you, Dave, still buy current consoles, as well as I do, and many others). I can't think of another reason that sites such as Limited Run Games, Play-Asia, Super Rare Games, and Special Reserve Games have been so successful. Retro gamers have shown that there is still a strong core of gamers who like collecting physical games for modern consoles.

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ptdebate
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Re: Gamers of Today?

Postby ptdebate » August 5th, 2018, 5:30 pm

There have been a number of topics on this issue before. I do think there is some truth in the Critic's assessment, especially with regards to physical media. I think it's best if the industry can find a way to accommodate both types of gamers.

Digital distribution is convenient for those of us who live in small apartments and maybe don't have the free time to organize a large collection of games and consoles. I'm still playing my Steam library that spans 13 years. I'm not too worried about loss of content I have purchased. If a game company tries to screw me over in the future by eliminating access to my any of my past digital purchases, I will just download backups of everything I own from a third party.

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Re: Gamers of Today?

Postby GTS » August 5th, 2018, 9:21 pm

The way you described the gamers of today is not very different than the way we played games growing up. We did not purchase games to collect back then (at least most of us didn't). We sold off the games and machines when we were done with them, and were always looking for the next thing (8 bit, 16 bit, etc.). Many of us enjoyed showing off our skills in front of people, and we watched others "beat" games. There were no skins, but we would have wanted them if there were.

We are all part of one large consumer culture. The details may have changed, but our overall habits have not.

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Re: Gamers of Today?

Postby VideoGameCritic » August 5th, 2018, 11:54 pm

GTS,
That is a brilliant observation. These young gamers are behaving the same way we were growing up. It's the older retro-gamers that represent the real change. Great insight!
VGC

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Matchstick
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Re: Gamers of Today?

Postby Matchstick » August 6th, 2018, 4:34 am

VideoGameCritic wrote:These young gamers are behaving the same way we were growing up.


Indeed. Did any of us think , when we were younger, "Man, I bet we'll still be playing this game 30 years from now!"

For most of us, no, of course not. My family wasn't broke growing up, but if I wanted the new game or console coming out, it meant I had to sell off my existing collection. The NES always seemed to survive whatever purge I was going through (probably because my Dad played it just as much as I did!) but I clearly remember selling my SNES and games to buy the N64, and parting with my Dreamcast collection to buy a PS2.

At the time, I was convinced that the newest thing would be so great, I'd forget all about everything else I had been playing... but as most of us know, that is rarely the case. If anything, I was disappointed in the system I had traded up for, and left feeling burned, wishing I had my old games and systems back. Eventually, I just stopped trying to keep up with the times, and stuck with what I already had. As a gamer, I've never been happier since I made that decision.

A lot of it has to do with growing up. When I was younger, in the coveted 18 - 24 demographic, or the 12 - 17 range, I was way more into gaming, and got much more excited about new releases coming on the horizon. Now that I'm in the less-than-desirable 35+ age range, I honestly couldn't care less about new games and systems. My wife loves her Switch, and I'm glad she does, for her sake. Can't say I'm too excited about any new releases for it, aside from collections or re-releases of old games.

Nowadays, I'm quite content to let the kids have their fun, bickering about the merits of a Switch vs. a PS4, or the Xbox One X vs. a high-end PC. Years ago, I was in the same boat, debating Game Boy vs. Game Gear, or Genesis vs. Super Nintendo. We've come all this way, but it' still the same old song and dance. The difference is, my older (and wiser?) self now prefers to stay out of it!

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Re: Gamers of Today?

Postby TheBlondeGamePunk3 » August 7th, 2018, 9:30 am

I play anything if It's fun or it's good, Between all the systems I have and my PC I have played since the age of two years old and I admit I never would've thought that today's games would've changed so radically so quickly, I remember when I thought that the 16-bit SNES and 64-Bit N64 I assumed that these two systems as revolutionary as they were would not be easily beaten out..but a lot has changed in twenty years.

Today's gamers like you said, Are only about the here and the now, Us players of the 1990's didn't have that option since we had games that were..Complete and we had to go to Video game rental stores like Toys-R-Us, Hollywood Video, Movie Gallery, or Blockbuster and we had to use OUR own wallet money from chores, If we liked the game and could afford it we bought it outright from the people but getting them at stores like Walmart (who did carry them in the 1990's) was impossible due to the high prices).

Thick-headed kids today think they own the world with an PS4 with the fancy colored controllers and the PSVR glasses or an 4000 dollar gaming PC with an special mouse but I would never consider such extremes.. If you can play the game on anythign even on cheap systems or play without fancy stuff then do so, DLC costs have risen to absurd extremes and complete games..don't exist anymore.

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Re: Gamers of Today?

Postby DaHeckIzDat » August 7th, 2018, 5:13 pm

I think a good comparison for older games being "complete" and modern ones not being game magazines. Not strategy guides, I mean the books that reveal a secret that it's impossible to beat the game without. Say what you want about patches and DLC, at least patches are free and it's possible to beat a game without microtransactions and dlc.

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ptdebate
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Re: Gamers of Today?

Postby ptdebate » August 8th, 2018, 10:45 am

DaHeckIzDat wrote:I think a good comparison for older games being "complete" and modern ones not being game magazines. Not strategy guides, I mean the books that reveal a secret that it's impossible to beat the game without. Say what you want about patches and DLC, at least patches are free and it's possible to beat a game without microtransactions and dlc.


That's a good point. A lot of older games also leaned heavily on ephemera - paper maps, instruction manuals, etc. which are unfortunately rarely preserved with the game itself.


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