It’s a little bit funny to see the changes from this generation. Developers suddenly brought upside down when faced to the reality of the “Nintendo demographic” is certainly entertaining. However, seeing them churning out craptastic software that is supposed to be casual, is not.

Videogames are still viewed as a nerd hobby. Which is a real shame, a medium that is inherently defined by just interaction doesn’t inherently have an intended audience.
I mean, movies have a specific audience? how about books?

What saddens me is that from this generation on we will see videogames also laveled as “casual”. Mindless fun meant for girls and the elderly *shudder*.

I really hope that we are seeing a trend here with games like Bioshock, Portal, Braid and surely a lot more games that I can’t remember right now.

A (non-gamer) friend asked if I was reading anything currently. I told her I’ve been reading “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand. She was impressed, and asked why. I said I had played a game called “BioShock” that explored, to an extent, the objectivist themes presented in that book. My friend’s attitude quickly slid from respectful to vaguely condescending, all because the impetus for my reading choice was a video game.

*sigh*

Very profound

“If videogames are having a negative impact, they are a mere symptom of a much larger problem.” Such an excellent way to phrase that Jason. If parents are parking their young children in front of the latest GTA release, there are certainly important things that need to be addressed that are not related to that particular title. The responsibilities of parents is a tremendous one, and that is a topic just in itself, isn’t it?

It blows my mind how much insight so many of you all have into this topic.

“…and an appreciation for little else besides violent media and cool special effects.”

…And Oversized Novelty Breasts, of course.

But of course, I agree with your thrust here – the audience has changed faster than the industry has. We should be playing catch up, not trying to defend the “old ways”.

Then again, the flipside to this whole issue is that – even though there is a larger audience in the mass market (at least 3:1 larger, possibly larger even that that!) the gamer hobbyists are still the ones buying the most games, so they put as much money (or more money) into the industry as the mass market.

The truly dreadful problems occur when publishers believe they are targeting the “casual players” but make games in the “old ways”. I see this all too often in my job, and it’s exceptionally frustrating.

Best wishes!

I always have this perverse mental image of videogame detractors working themselves into an orgasmic fervor that climaxes with the cry of “To protect the children!” much like someone might invoke their diety or awkwardly call out the name of a former lover at an inopportune moment.

The scenario you describe is the very fodder of the people I am talking about here. While I personally think we have too much gratuitious behavior in gaming, I am more worried about the impact it has on demographics. With many gamers, especially according to Average Gamer’s post, actually of adult age, the advertising seems to be targetted to a smaller if more vocal part of the audience. Those who see videogames as evil share my concerns but for different reasons, mostly because they really want a justification for their ongoing villification of interactive entertainment.

As societal problems go, I think videogames are the least of our concerns. I am far more concerned about the ongoing efforts of parents to appease the every whim of their children or the utter lack of quality public education in the US despite being the current economic powerhouse of the world. If videogames are having a negative impact, they are a mere symptom of a much larger problem. Then again, we are so good at attacking symptoms without the least thought towards root problems, so it’s probably just par for the course.