Jacob’s Post: Gamer and Gaming Development
Gaming at its infancy was largely targeted and advertised to adult males and soon after to young males, teenagers and kids. The landscape of the current player base for consoles and pc and mobile gaming has changed dramatically. The increasing number of people playing video games means the social stereotype of who a gamer is, looks like needs to be revised; the increasing number of gaming adults and more importantly children has fueled a controversial industry of online gambling that appears to be everywhere developers can fit it.
Firstly, who is a gamer. The primordial gamers who first took up their controllers, or joysticks, in glee were largely older males. This has changed and while some genres of gaming still hold a male dominated population the types of games available to play is so massive that there is game out there for almost anyone. This coupled with the growing social acceptance of
female gamers and gaming for children has to a diverse and large gaming population. The typical gamer now is much more homogenous mixture of man. Old, young, male or female or trans. In recent news, a Swedish competitive gaming team for Counter Strike: Global Offensive known as the Silver Snipers, likely for their silver-grey hair, has gained popularity as the oldest gaming team in the world with an average age of 71. Possibly one of the greatest examples of the expanding gaming community is this Swedish team of five where their opposing teams hold an average age of 24. They began to play game to spend their free time and now promote their team as an example of the neurological benefits that gaming can provide in memory, dexterity and mental focus, all faculties that suffer with age. They employ a Counter Strike champion as their gaming coach and will continue to improve to victory. Diverging from the topic some of their names are absolutely wonderful with: knitting knight or teen slayer. Video games are associated with youth possibly even more than gender. This proves that video games are
becoming more appealing to others outside the current social norm.
Video games have expanded to include phone apps, computer and console games, augmented and virtual reality headsets. There really is something for everyone which lends to why the gaming community has grown and diversified. The usual first-person shooters and open world role playing games may garner a large crowd, but did you know there was game called farming simulator, a game that has no explosions not drama just the ability to use actual farm equipment to well… farm! Puzzle games on your phone or tablet, virtual reality painting or gun range for an extra level of virtual interactivity. There is an almost limitless supply of games out there for the most timid of gamers to the most grizzled joystick warriors.
