Not just for kids: video games now attract older audience
- posted: 04 Dec. 2007
- scrollnews@byui.edu
Better graphics, more complex storylines and a wider variety of games to choose from are but a few of the differences between the electronic gaming industry of twenty years ago and the industry of today.
Since the introduction of the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, both the quality of games made available and the profile of the people who play these games have changed greatly.
For one thing, it is no longer uncommon to see a middle-aged adult sitting in front of a television set racing cars and blowing up buildings.
“Video games were once considered a form of entertainment for younger people only,” said Matt Weiss, a 35-year-old gamer who spends about ten hours per week playing games on his computer. “But with the children of the video-game boom growing up and with the rise in popularity in computer games, it isn’t as strange for adults to be found playing anymore.”
According to the Entertainment Software Association, the average gamer is 33 years old and has been playing video games for 12 years. “There’s really nothing wrong with people spending more time with video games,” Weiss said. “That’s just how it goes with improvements in technology. We have more options nowadays than reading books or playing board games.”
But some researchers and psychologists say there is something wrong with the increased amount of time that our culture spends with video games. They say the violence in these games causes an increase of violence in our society.
Elizabeth Carll, Ph.D., co-chair of the Committee on Violence in Video Games and Interactive Media, said that violence in video games appears to have the same negative effects as viewing violence on TV, but may be more harmful because of the interactive nature of video games.
“Showing violent acts without consequences teaches youth that violence is an effective means of resolving their conflicts,” Carll said in a 2005 press release from the American Psychological Association.
A recent survey administered at BYU-Idaho showed that, of surveyed, 80 percent play computer or video games on a regular basis. Of those students, more than 55 percent play from three to five hours each week, and more than 15 percent play seven or more hours each week.
All of the students who play video games on a regular basis said that their gaming habits get in the way of their homework and studies.
“It’s not something I plan to let get in the way of my homework,” said Shawn McKenzie, a freshman studying iology. “It’s more of a subconscious decision. One minute I’ll be writing a paper for one of my classes, the next minute I’ll get distracted and find myself playing solitaire or online chess.” 
