Average Age of Gamers

yester

yester

CAGiversary!
Hi,

i just wondering what the average age of the people in this board is.
I am 41 years old and still enjoy playing rpg's (mostly) and jump and run, but fps lesser.
I am so crazy that i even spend (like dragon quest 8) two days in a row to make a leap in the game. Somehow i consider myself as a game addict.
So i am really wondering, if i am the only one or if everybody else is that crazy too.
 
You would actually be amazed at the range of ages that play video games. Working in a retail environment that just sells video games, I can tell you I have seen them as young as 3 years old all the way up into at least their 80s. I am 19 myself and have been gaming since I was about 3. I'm more of an action/adventure kind of person, although I will pick up just about everything else as well. As you can tell by my game collection in my sig, there isn't a genre that I really stay away from besides racing/fighting. Racing games just seem way to repetitive by going in circles the entire time (or so it feels) and I can never get the hang of fighting games (besides Mortal Kombat 1&2 as well as SSBM).
 
nowadays, crazy for me is spending 3 hours in a row on a game on the weekend. i'm 24.

edit: guess i should add a little history. been gaming since I can remember with a 2600. The first game to blow me away was Pitfall 2. it's a big adventure, with a bunch of different obstacles, and I think it has the first running soundtrack of any game (and was really good, still catchy today.) Then I got a NES for Xmas 87 and have been a gamer since, with a slight break at the beginning of this current gen.

I try to get an hour a day in, but like I said, I'm lucky to get a couple hours in on the weekend, which sucks. but i'm working on reading and writing papers more efficiently to get some more game time in ;)

mostly play fighters(everything except snk), puzzle games and ninja gaiden and devil may cry, with the occasional RPG, my favorite being Nocturne. i'm also obligated to every new ff game, though I'm not a huge fan. i also think modern shooters are the hidden secret of gaming-- games like Ikaruga, Psyvariar, Guwange, Dodonpachi, are incredibly fun and intense. wish more were released here.

Weird genre-less games are also cool-- katamari, killer 7, wario ware etc.
 
25 - love me my games since I was 3.

Big into Survival Horror, Action/Adventure, Platform, and RPGs. Just wish I had time to play anymore :( At least I quit WoW for a bit.. heh.
 
[quote name='Apossum']nowadays, crazy for me is spending 3 hours in a row on a game on the weekend. i'm 24.[/QUOTE]
Same on all points. However many you made in there. Two or three.
 
I'm 22. have been gaming ever since I got the Atari 2600 (the later/2nd model). I like all games in general but my top genre faves have to be Puzzle, Fighting and Survival-Horror.
 
[quote name='asianxcore']I'm 22. have been gaming ever since I got the Atari 2600 (the later/2nd model). I like all games in general but my top genre faves have to be Puzzle, Fighting and Survival-Horror.[/QUOTE]

See, for me its even more different.
I startet playing around age 18. My first computer was a C64 which i later replaced with an Amiga.
My first console was the Sega Master System. Unluckily i did not have any clue about which games to get, so i was ending up with a SuperNintendo.
The first real game, which made a hudge impact in my life was Zelda:A link to the past (it was so awesome).
One game i actually found out some weeks ago, which i played on the Snes (its Actraiser) was developed by SquareEnix. I wonder why it never got to a different platform. I think it had potential for being ported or newly made.
The only thing is, even in my advanced age, if a game catches me i devot a lot of time in the game. So i sometime end up really playing more than just 3 hours a day on it. Well, thats whats called a nerd :)
 
[quote name='psiufoxx2']25 - love me my games since I was 3.

Big into Survival Horror, Action/Adventure, Platform, and RPGs. Just wish I had time to play anymore :( At least I quit WoW for a bit.. heh.[/QUOTE]

Same here......25 and have been gaming since 3
 
im 20. I started with an Atari when I was 5. Owned a Snes but I don't think I became a big gamer until I got my PS1 and PS2. Before the PS1, I just played games occasionally, but now I play them pretty often and a lot of my money goes towards gaming.
 
Glad to see I'm not the only old fart here.

Will be 40 in July and enjoy gaming whenever I can.
(Which is nowhere near as much as I'd like with 3 teenagers)

PS2, GC, GBA all mine :)
 
I'm 29 and I've been gaming since about age 4. Before that, our town didn't really have an arcade, so I doubt I played video games before that. I started out in the arcades, and then got an Atari and an Apple II. Timex Home Computer was somewhere in there, too. I game as often as possible, but I stay pretty healthy about it. I usually wait for my girlfriend to go to sleep before I get too involved in gaming for the night.
 
I'm 31. Started out on Pong. :)

I play just about anything. Best memory of gaming comes when I received a NES on christmas morning many years ago. My dad had bought Zelda to go along with SMB. I just loved the golden cartridge. Started it up only to find my dad had already saved a game on it. :razz:
 
[quote name='Dogpatch']I'm 31. Started out on Pong. :)

I play just about anything. Best memory of gaming comes when I received a NES on christmas morning many years ago. My dad had bought Zelda to go along with SMB. I just loved the golden cartridge. Started it up only to find my dad had already saved a game on it. :razz:[/QUOTE]
Haha, that's great... I got my NES on Christmas when I was probably, I dunno... 6 or 7. It was already hooked up in the cabinet of the TV stand; my parents had been up all night playing Mario.
 
I'm 21 now. I started with an NES that my Dad bought me when I was about 3-4 I think. Pretty soon I graduated to a Genesis (my personal favorite). Later he got me a TurboGrafx 16 on which I played the shit out of Keith Courage in Alpha Zones and Bonk. From there moved to an SNES and finally N64, PSX, Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox, GC, GBASP, 360.

Nowadays I don't game nearly as much as I used to. During the week its an hour a day on average. Weekends maybe 6 hours total if I'm lucky.
 
I'm 28, been playing video games ever since my parents bought a Wang Computer (I don't know what the hell they were thinking) with Lost Dutchman's Gold (a text based adventure game for DOS) on it.

I must have told that SOB, Back-Pack Sam, to eat the donkey about a million times, and I was way to young to get the perverted innuendos then.
 
OP, I'm glad to see someone in their 40's post. I'm 34 and I have no intention of giving up this hobbie anytime soon.

And as someone who's 34 I say to you - Atari may have been the first big console hit, but Colecovision freakin' OWNED!!
 
At 37 I am still gaming (probably more than I should). Started on the ole Sears Telegame than went to Atari 2600, SMS (Phantasy Star was my first true video game love), SNES, Playstation, Playstation 2, GBA, XBOX, and finally getting old skool and trying the N64 and Saturn. First computer was the Sinclair and then I found the IBM PCjr and been a clone user ever since.

Oops forgot the Genesis, too bad sega was'nt better at advertising their hardware.
They had some truly kick ass games.
 
[quote name='seanw']I would bet that the average age of gamers is higher than the average age of theater-attending moviegoers.[/QUOTE]

Definitely. I've been to the theater exactly once since my daughter was born (Star Wars III) and I don't EVER plan on going back. Movies look and sound better in my living room and I can always pause and take a shit if I have to. Plus, I can buy a DVD for cheaper than it costs to go to the movies with my wife and they are coming out a mere 3 months after leaving the theaters. There are no jackass teenagers in my house (yet) talking or throwing shit at the screen, etc. There is seriously not one good reason to ever go to the movies again. I'm sure I'm not alone here.
 
[quote name='javeryh']Definitely. I've been to the theater exactly once since my daughter was born (Star Wars III) and I don't EVER plan on going back. Movies look and sound better in my living room and I can always pause and take a shit if I have to. Plus, I can buy a DVD for cheaper than it costs to go to the movies with my wife and they are coming out a mere 3 months after leaving the theaters. There are no jackass teenagers in my house (yet) talking or throwing shit at the screen, etc. There is seriously not one good reason to ever go to the movies again. I'm sure I'm not alone here.[/QUOTE]

You forget that not only is the DVD cheaper, it is also extended, uncut, unrated... basacially better then the movie you saw in the theater.
 
[quote name='javeryh']Definitely. I've been to the theater exactly once since my daughter was born (Star Wars III) and I don't EVER plan on going back. Movies look and sound better in my living room and I can always pause and take a shit if I have to. Plus, I can buy a DVD for cheaper than it costs to go to the movies with my wife and they are coming out a mere 3 months after leaving the theaters. There are no jackass teenagers in my house (yet) talking or throwing shit at the screen, etc. There is seriously not one good reason to ever go to the movies again. I'm sure I'm not alone here.[/QUOTE]

I agree with you on that one. I saw Star Wars III at the theater and other than that it's just been movies with my daughter like Charlie and the Choc Factory, March of the Penguins.

I'm 26 and I've been gaming since I was about 3. The only system I never had was the NES. My family decided to get the Atari 7800 instead. I guess the whole backward compatibility thing had more to do with that than the quality of current games. After that, it was straight to the Genesis and later on the Saturn.
 
OK, hang on: In an ideal situation, a movie in theaters is always better than a movie at home. Yeah, there are no bathroom breaks seeing them in theaters, but the experience of watching a truly big picture with excellent sound (and with an appreciative audience) makes every good movie better. I'll admit that ideal theater experiences are harder to find, but they're out there and worth paying for.
 
I'm 30. I've been playing games since the 2600, but I'd say I became a "gamer" with the NES. Don't intend to stop anytime soon...

According to the ESA, the average age of gamers is about 30.
 
[quote name='capitalist_mao']I'm amazed at how young so many people started playing games. I didn't start till 7-8.[/QUOTE]
Same I'm 27 and didn't start seriously gaming until I was 9 and got a NES. I diod of course play some game in the arcades at a younger age. I have two young kids but get a decent amount of gaming in me and the wife wrok together so we have enough time for our idividual hobbies. She gets irritated by games like all women do but I think in the end she is glad it is my #1 hobby since I don't go out and party and drink or anything like that.
 
Chalk up another in the geriatric column, I'm 42. 1st system was a Sears pong unit. Most beloved system was my long-lost Intellivision.
Currently sporting an Xbox and a Dreamcast, along with a few random PC games.
 
32 here and can say that video games are really starting to bore me.. nothing new comes out just the same old game repacked ...... born in 74 and i can remember playng video games starting in 79 (pogo ) hell i still remember walking into target with my grandmother back in the early 80s to pick up the atari 2600...... i still remember begging them to get the intelevision and the colovisoin( spelled that wrong big time)

But they alwasys said.. 1 system and 1 system only.... i wonder what they think now looking down from heaven , seening i have around 10 systems :)
 
[quote name='seanw']OK, hang on: In an ideal situation, a movie in theaters is always better than a movie at home. Yeah, there are no bathroom breaks seeing them in theaters, but the experience of watching a truly big picture with excellent sound (and with an appreciative audience) makes every good movie better. I'll admit that ideal theater experiences are harder to find, but they're out there and worth paying for.[/QUOTE]

I totally disagree. At home I'm sitting in a completely dark room, 6 feet from my big screen plasma HDTV (which looks absolutely huge from my viewing angle) with 7.1 surround sound and a subwoofer that shakes my house. It's better than the theater. Plus I HATE the general public so an appreciative audience (laughing, clapping or whatever) would annoy the shit out of me. That's what makes the world go round though, right? :D

I'm glad there are people willing to pay to go to the movies otherwise I'm afraid the studios would stop making them (or at least stop spending $200M on them).
 
Average age of gamers today is 29- thank god. I'm totally down for more MA only games and I don't care if they raise the age limit to 21 and require ID- I'll still be able to get the games- and those kids who have normal parents will get the games too and be the new class of "cool" kids- at least until highschool where those who play sports turn the tables for 4 years.

Movies at home are way the hell better than in the Theater-

62 inch 1080P DLP set + couch - retards at theater = good experience

That and you can make out with your wife and pause and rewind at your lesiure depending on the "movie"
 
[quote name='seanw']OK, hang on: In an ideal situation, a movie in theaters is always better than a movie at home. Yeah, there are no bathroom breaks seeing them in theaters, but the experience of watching a truly big picture with excellent sound (and with an appreciative audience) makes every good movie better. I'll admit that ideal theater experiences are harder to find, but they're out there and worth paying for.[/QUOTE]

I've found that going to the latest showing on a school night seems to weed out the pimple faced losers that can make movie going unpleasant. Of course I only go to see movies that benefit from being seen on an enormous screen (like Kong which I actually still haven't seen). I would rant more about teenagers, but since I used to be a pimple faced loser that made movie going unpleasant myself I won't.
 
[quote name='javeryh']I HATE the general public so an appreciative audience (laughing, clapping or whatever) would annoy the shit out of me. [/QUOTE]
Ditto. On the rare occasion that I do go to the theater, it's always a matinee show. Fewer people and cheaper tickets.
 
29, been gaming since I was about 6 or 7 seriously, if you consider Combat and Pitfall serious, but the first game I ever played was Pong on our old Zenith TV. It was built into the set, I think it was channel 4 and you just plugged in the controllers and played. I was a little younger then maybe 5. My first system was the Atari 2600.
 
I'm 28 and started playing games (age 4) on my local food store. My mom would usually shop and she would give me coins to play galaga and turbo; that way I won't bother her. Then my first system was a Sears video game system, then my beloved SMS system, and then my Genesis. Games have been a huge part of me staying out of trouble (since the area I grew up on was heavily gang related and my some of my friends and cousins were in them also) and its something that I still enjoy even though my wife dislikes games :).
 
23 here. Started to play games when I was four on my uncle's atari. The first game that sent me on my way was Joust(still my favorite game ever) and then I found RoboTron. I can still remember me and my cousin getting to level 107 and then a power surge hit. Got a NES in 87 for christmas with about 15 games, mom started to buy the games on sale thinking they were handheld games thus making the parents buy the system. And I still have to thank my parents for buying me RPGs so I could learn to read. Bought a SMS in its dieing stages for a fix of Rocky and Phantasy Star. Couple of years later I got a Genesis, SNES and a Turbo in a span of a year. That was a fun time, being 10 and jumping from Alien and Devil's Crush, Last Battle, Warsong, Super Mario, Parosol Stars and Keith Courage. I was like a crack head who couldn't make up his mind. Picked up a PSONE couple of months after launch and then another a year later. Picked up a Saturn and N64 in its dieing stages. Bought a DC year and a half after it came out as I was really getting in to Fighters. And Now I have Xbox and a PS2 sitting under my TV next to my Snes, Genesis, Saturn, Turbo, and DC. I still get time to play, but not as much as I used to due to College, Work and Writing. I averege about 5 hours a week if I am lucky. And when I do get to play, it is mainly my old standbys (Gradius, Last Blade 2, Parasol Stars, Street Fighter and Warsong) unless a new game that strikes my fancy comes out. I would like to get rid of some stuff, but it is so hard to when they are not worth anything and after you put so much $, time and love in them.

As for seeing movies in a theater. I rarely go unless it is a BIG film or a small art flick. The best time for me to see a film is late Monday night or skip a class and see the first showing on a weekday. If I could afford a better set-up, I wouldn't go to the BIG films. I would still go to the art films for the directors need the $ and public intrest.



I have to say that for a question so trivial, this thread has become pretty depressing. All us old people according to the current generation (people 16 and under who don't remember that back then alot of game buys was sight unseen) reminising about the good times.
 
[quote name='allout1986']You would actually be amazed at the range of ages that play video games. Working in a retail environment that just sells video games, I can tell you I have seen them as young as 3 years old all the way up into at least their 80s.[/QUOTE]

QFT. I have regular 85 year-old customers coming in to get their latest two-player co-op fix. I have 3 year-olds coming in to play good, ol' Mario. Very diverse.

I'm 20, going on 21 in June. I've also been playing games since I was two. I started on the Intellivision with my father playing Frog Bog and Astro-smash before moving up to Advance D&D.
 
Why hasn't anyone mentioned the TI (TI-99, I think)? I played that a few years before my parents got me an NES, so early/mid-80s. Were you all raised in barns? ;)

Alpiner and Jungle Hunt were the greatest ever.
 
38 here and been gaming since Galaga. I remember when pinball was the craze, then arcades. My uncle used to take me to pinball halls in Belin, NM. I believe Silverball was the first pinball game that caught my interest.

With a wife and a kid, about 4-5 hours a week if I am lucky. There is the occasional day when they are gone and I get to game all day.
 
im 26..i would sometimes be allowed on my fathers TI for some games...but mostly my bro had Atari and NES, and a C64 and i would play those but it was very limited (when they allowed me)...wasnt till i finally got my own system, a Sega Genesis with Streets of Rage 2 that i finally got the feel for games...i was probably between 12-14...it was when Mortal Kombat first came out on the home systems at the time i got my sega...


so now i am making up for my lack of proper gaming since i can go back and buy the stuff i never was able to afford :)
 
22 and started around 4-5 when my dad bought me a Sega Master System. Although I frequented the local arcades a lot while they were around. But alas, most of them have closed down. :whistle2:(
 
I'm 21. Started when I was 1. My dad used to hold me up and let me play the Donkey Kong arcade machine.
 
22 I actually enjoy card/board games more then Videogames at times. I only started being a real serious video game player during the ps1 era with FFVII. I actually prefer a good game of chess over most of the video games out there today
 
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