Gaming on the Rise

(NOTE: By "casual" games, I mean stuff that appeals both aesthetically and gameplay-wise to a wider audience, and that is more accessible and can be played with for minutes at a time. "Hardcore" games are your 50-hour long affairs with gratuitous blood and gore and more complicated controls. These are generalizations, but it's just to give you an idea by what I mean.)

I recently flew back to college again for another semester, and while I was waiting for my plane to depart at the airport, I noticed something peculiar: normal, everyday people playing video games on handheld machines. Now, you might ask, "why is this surprising? They're just passing the time away while waiting for a flight." Yes, this is true, but I've never really seen many other people (besides kids) playing games like this before, and I see it as the sign of a growing trend: gaming is on the rise in popularity among adults. I guess I've never noticed this before, and while I've heard about the rising popularity of casual games, I guess it's never really filtered through to me until now that non-gamers are playing games in their spare time. Perhaps being in this hardcore bubble for too long makes you forget about the world and the big picture. Gaming has started to become socially popular, and I only think it can get bigger from here.

What do we owe this rise to? Of course, casual games are a part of this. PC titles like The Sims and Internet games like Bejeweled have been captivating people of all ages for years now, but it's only been recently that console and handheld systems have been enticing consumers and non-gamers, in part thanks to a shifting focus on those who play games. The hardcore market is fairly saturated right now, but companies like Nintendo recognized the potential that could be tapped out of other groups. The meteoric popularity of the Wii and DS, the increased media coverage of consoles, the greater public exposure...video games are getting noticed more these days. Of course, we've been hearing and talking about games for years now, but not in such a way as this, and I think I know why: it lies in many of these games being more accessible. You don't need to spend hours learning how to play a game, and you can just pick up and play at any time. Traditional games just don't have that much appeal to working adults with so little spare time, but their greater disposable income still allows them to buy games, so in many cases they go more casual. The market's growing, and casual games account for one reason this is happening.

Maybe I should put my thoughts into context. At the airport, I saw a number of people playing games. Of course, you have your typical grade-school kid playing Pokémon on his Game Boy. This is nothing new. But there were older individuals playing games as well. A flight attendent, waiting at the gate among the rest of the passengers, was using his PSP to watch a movie and play a little. A college-aged student frittered her time away, if only for a little while, with her DS. And most notably, I noticed a couple playing together on some game with their own PSPs. Now, these people didn't seem like the hardcore gaming type to me. (Yes, appearances can be deceiving, but for the sake of example, bear with me.) They were normal individuals waiting for their flights, just like I was. But instead of reading a book or listening to music while waiting, they opted to play a few games and have a little fun while doing so. If there's one personal sign to me that games are getting more popular in the general public, this is it.

I'm aware that this is just anecdotal evidence. If you're looking for more hard figures, try researching the sales figures on games like Brain Age and Guitar Hero and tell me what you find. See what I mean? We're not just seeing your stereotypical gamers playing these: we're seeing moms, dads, sisters, music fans, elderly...we're seeing more varied groups of people legitimately playing games in their spare time. As much as some people proclaim this to be a foreboding sign of doom, I can't really see too much negative out of this. Even though casual games are getting popular at the expense of "hardcore" games, gaming is starting to be recognized more and more. We'll still have our Bioshocks and Metal Gears to fall back on, but those who won't play these games will get to enjoy themselves too. I'm wondering what the future will bring...