sproif.com

I’ve been making a feeble attempt at having a blog. I don’t know why, I really have nothing useful to say, but I figure since I’m in the whole “web business” I should be publishing my thoughts for those who have more spare time than I to read. So, I’ve written about concerts and video games, two things I enjoy that aren’t work. After sending the article to a few of my friends, one made a comment in passing.. “aren’t you too old for video games?”

Interesting statistics on the topic: Game Player Data

The average age of one who plays video games: 33 years old. Now, this is one source, but seriously, 33 years old.  So I guess the answer would be, no, I’m not too old for video games.

I was born in 1982. The Nintendo Entertainment System was released to the US in late 1985. I’m not sure, but I think my family got a Nintendo for Christmas in 1988. That means for more than 80% of my life I’ve been wanting, begging for, playing, cursing, living and breathing video games. I would consider the NES to be the first true, in-home, engrossing video game system. Before that, things like Intellivision and the Atari 2600 were basically arcade games with no continuity (meaning start game, get to level 3, die, start over). The NES was the one of the relatively affordable systems that, such as The Legend of Zelda, held your spot so you could progress through to different areas (note: I was a Nintendo guy, sorry Genesis fans). The list of games obviously goes on endlessly from there… Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, Ultima, Secret of Mana (one of my favorites)…

For me, after NES was the SNES, then N64, then Gamecube, now the Wii. Goldeneye for N64 came out in my junior/senior year of high school which lead to much unfinished homework. Not only was my life consumed by console games, but there’ve been a myriad of computer games (I’m a big Blizzard fan: Warcraft I, II, III, World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo, Diablo II.. can’t wait for Starcraft II). So how am I supposed to grow out of this “phase”? I can’t even think of a metaphor for this. Toy trains, Lincoln Logs, Legos… Nothing has the breadth of ages involved as video games currently do. They’ve progressed from simple blocks to 3d worlds and their topics from pre-school training to Animal Crossing to Bioshock to, well, Grand Theft Auto.

I guess for people who missed the video game generation, it may seem childish. Children have been the focus because it was shoved in front of them, much as VHS tapes were, as a sort of digital babysitter. I, never much a movie fan myself, would much rather play video games because video games have become on par with plot lines for Hollywood blockbusters, except I can at least experience, if not influence the outcome.

In my days of World of Warcraft, there were people ranging from those working on their 6th grade math to those who had to stop playing to pick their grandkids up from school. I feel sorry for those tragic stories of people who lacked the self control to stop playing and lost their jobs. But for the average couple who would put their kids to bed and play for a few hours, it’s not like they had no social life… Most of the same people would rot in front of the TV at that time, being fed ads about Lipozene and McDonalds (ironic pair usually found near each other) they can socialize with people down the street or around the globe.

So, screw you and your limited age range for video games. As seen in previous articles, I’m almost through Mario Galaxy, I still play Guitar Hero, I plan on buying Metroid Prime 3, and I will own Starcraft 2 when they finally feel like finishing that up. I just hope they make an arthritis-friendly controller when I’m 80 and trying to beat Mario Universe.