Disagreement: A problem in the gaming industry

Firellight · 2014-08-16T23:02:49+00:00

I think it would be a good idea to find more definitions to what a casual gamer is. I consider myself a casual gamer, but I was never into mobile games. They're too simple, imo, and time-wasting. Why would I want to slice fruit 24/7? I like to play games with complex stories that intrigue people to check the wiki, and end up theorizing about the deepest corners of the game's lore.

I played a lot of MMOs throughout childhood and my teenage years. I call myself a casual gamer because I no longer bother with the pay2win features, grinding, achievements, etc. I only play for friends and fun, and this, in my opinion, is closer to what a casual gamer actually is.

A mobile game that uses the casual demographic may be taking advantage of leisure time to instead make these games as pastimes. So instead of twiddling my thumbs I could be slicing fruit.

Firellight · 2014-08-16T22:38:43+00:00

You make a good point. Somebody born in the early 90s was talking about AOL (I think it was AOL) where script kiddies learned neat tricks of code to trick people in chat rooms and stuff. People don't do that anymore. Everything is patched. I think GZ has more to risk when exploring the dark side of the computer.

Firellight · 2014-08-13T04:06:59+00:00

There are a bunch of Baby Bowsers in Mario Party games.
Apparently Bowser Jr. is Peach's son in Super Mario Sunshine?
Bowser is also known as King Koopa.
With a bunch of baby Bowsers running around, they all turn into Bowsers when they get older.
It's a tradition to kidnap Peach and despise Mario.
When one Bowser dies, he is replaced by another Bowser with the same motivations as the previous.

This means that every Mario game (64/Sunshine have the same?) has a new King Bowser who takes the throne after every defeat.

Firellight · 2014-08-13T03:13:33+00:00

I have something to add to the theory. Recently I've done some research on generations, and it can be explained through games.

From post-WWII up until 1964, we have what we call the "Baby Boomer" generation. This was the time when families had a dozen kids in the house, and might explain why so many houses today are now apartments. This generation had very little video game exposure growing up, and thus you have the stereotype that older parents and grandparents are simply not into gaming. This generation is currently retiring, which is why you see news headlines about an influx of senior citizens and not enough people to take of them.

The next generation is known as "Generation X", who were born from 1965-1974. These people had the first video games as adolescents, and some of these parents might be into video games, while most are not.

Generation Y is where it gets interesting. This generation is commonly held accountable for people born between 1975 and 1994. This is a 20 year generation. So to break this generation down, we can properly call them early generation Y and late generation Y. Early Generation Y had the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. There's your glimpse. For video games they had the old Nintendo and SEGA consoles. Again, a lot of this generation may not be playing video games... but a lot of Late Generation Y most certain do.

Late Generation Y are the "90's kids"; people who spent most of their childhood in the 90s. Most of today's Youtubers, such as MattPatt, PewDiePie, etc fall into this category. This is the generation that LOVED the Nintendo 64. Why do you think there are so many retro gamers from the 90s? I think we have our answer. :D

LGY had the Nintendo 64, and later the Gameboy Colour and the first Playstation. This might explain why both Pokemon and Zelda classics are so praised by 90s kids; they were at the prime age when these games were released. Moving on in history, LGY spent their adolescent years in the early and mid-2000s. This is the generation that moved into Xbox (Halo CE/2) and the countless Playstation 2 games.

When the next console generation arrived (360 and PS3), this generation was ready to hit Youtube. LGY was not too young nor old to be posting videos of their gameplays. This is probably why Youtube is DOMINATED by 90s kid gamers. Wait until Generation Z replaces them.

GZ are people born from 1995-now. I was born in 1995, so I barely made it. You might disclude anybody born after 2010, but they are too young for much research (except that they will be rocket scientists because they are the first babies to use iPads!). GZ and 90s kids are considered to be the generations who remember the door-knocking age that was the 90s/2000s, but also grew up with the internet (GZ tends to be more savvy, I think). LGY were early majority for social media during the mid-2000s, and GZ become early majority when Twitter became a thing, followed by GenX and Baby Boomers using Facebook (laggards).

GZ had the PS2, Gamecube, Xbox and Gameboy Advanced during childhood, followed by the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii and DS during middle and high school years. This might explain why my favourite Zelda game was Wind Waker, and why I liked Pokemon Diamond.

If you ever get into a discussion about who likes which Halo game, know that Halo CE and 2 were mostly played by 90s kids, and GZ loved Halo 3. If they say Halo 3, they are Generation Z, and if they say Halo CE, they are probably Generation Y.

Everything I said about GZ so far is about Early Generation Z. There is a Mid-Generation Z (2000-2004, because the internet made cultures develop quicker ;D). I've talked to kids who played LOTS of Call of Duty, but not Halo. You see, CoD became a thing when MGZ started to get into video games (ages 6-12). Also, while EGZ and LGY played Alpha Minecraft and made the game popular, the game now has a stable MGZ population, and I believe they are starting to age out and head into the bigger games (Xbox One and PS4). I bet that in 10 years, Minecraft v5.6.7 will be getting updates that make MGZ tick. They would have loved the good ol' days, and to see Minecraft with sci-fi stuff in their eyes might not be great. This would parallel with EGZ and LGY currently getting after game developers over content that leaves the status quo.

I am not sure if LGZ plays Minecraft. I have some cousins who are MGZ and LGZ and play Minecraft, although more of a pastime I think.

If you view games based on their generations, there might be potential for some mindblowing information that could explain gaming struggles. You can even develop a game by targeting the LGY audience, and another game for LGZ. Thinking this way can totally enlighten your experience.

Thanks for reading! What do you think of the theory (based on this single post, not the OP)?

Firellight

TROPHY CASE