One of the misconceptions the mainstream media pushes about gaming is that it is a "toy" for kids. I disagree and more adults are playing games then ever before. Videogames are rated by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) which is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games as well as entertainment software in Canada, Mexico and the United States. So when I bring up the rating of games I am referring to the ESRB rating.
There are games made for early childhood to games rated E for everyone to games for teens (rated T for Teen) and finally games for adults (rated M for mature). For example, in 2010, 5% of games were rated M for mature but 5 out of 10 of the best selling games were mature rated games.
ESRB: Majority Of 2010 Releases Received E Rating, 5 Percent Rated M
Though M-rated games make up just a fraction of distinct 2010 titles, such games tend to dominate industry sales. Five of the top 10 selling new retail games in the U.S. in 2010 were rated M, including overall top-seller Call of Duty: Black Ops, which NPD recently named the best-selling game of all time in the U.S.
Videogames not just for kids: Pew survey
Videogames are not just for kids. A new survey out on Sunday found that more than half of American adults aged 18 and older play videogames, and that about one out of five play every day or almost every day.
According to the survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project of the Washington-based Pew Research Center, 53 percent of American adults aged 18 or older play videogames although the number decreases significantly with age.
Eighty-one percent of Americans aged between 18 and 29 play videogames, 60 percent of those aged between 30 and 49, 40 percent of those aged between 50 and 64 and just 23 percent of those aged 65 and older, the survey found.
As gamers from my generation have grown up, we've continued our love of gaming and have passed it down to our children. Attitudes about gaming have changed considerably in the past 10 years as gaming has moved into the mainstream. The media loves to demonize videogames (see Faux News) but luckily that is changing as my generation has gotten older and we have presented a different point of view on gaming and this will only get better as we pass our love of gaming down to our children.
Games can range from the independent artsy style game with a message about enviromentalism to the casual Facebook game such as Farmville to the 100 hour role playing game to the big blockbuster first person shooter. There is so many genres of games these days that there is something for everyone including kids, teenagers and adults.
There is now a growing segment of the gaming population that is female a.k.a. "girl gamers". When I was a teenager, girl gamers were generally unheard of but that has changed in recent years. Gaming was stereotyped as only played by a "nerd" with glasses who lived in his moms basement. Gaming has entered the mainstream in the past 10 years showing that gaming is not just for "kids" or stereotypical guys in their Moms basement. I've met gamers from all races, age groups, social class. Gaming brings us all together. But don't get on our bad side, we tend to stick up for each other. And fair warning, the only thing gamers like more then games is complaining and arguing about games.
Why not give gaming a try? It is a great stress reliever and if you are an older adult who has kids, ask them to show you some games. You may just fall in love with them as my generation has and have a new hobby to enjoy with your kids.
Update: There is a tie in with politics here as the Supreme Court recently ruled that videogames are a form of protected speech.
Ending a years-long battle with California legislators, the U.S. Supreme Court this week ruled that video games are protected free speech and that their sale to minors can't be criminalized.
More important than that historic ruling is the reminder by a U.S. Supreme Court Justice that video games, like books, plays and movies, communicate ideas.
"The basic principles of freedom of speech . . . do not vary' with a new and different communication medium," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in the Court's opinion, citing an earlier speech case.
9:23 AM PT: What are your favorite video game genres? What console do you prefer or are you a PC gamer? Want to exchange gamertags?
10:48 AM PT: If anyone is interested in writing about videogames (any topic as long as it relates to videogames) please feel free to contact me and I can add you as a contributor to Daily Kos Gamers. Or if you publish something about games once in awhile I'd be honored to republish those diaries when you do so.
11:00 AM PT: Have to go for awhile so apologies if I don't respond to your comments. But I am glad to see fellow gamers on dkos. I hope to write more on this subject and maybe tackle other misconceptions about gaming, especially the scapegoating of videogames in the media when a murderer happens to play a certain game.