by Stacey Pace

Created on: May 16, 2009

Well, primarily the answer is because some of us grew up with them. As a member of the first generation of kids to be brought up on computer games I can confirm this. Some of us enjoyed playing them so much as kids and grew up watching how the games and console market has developed. I remember longing to be older so I wouldn't have to share with my brother any more. He was much better than me at games and I spent most of my time watching him play while waiting for my go.

Becoming an adult (if you can call me that) didn't do anything to discourage this love of gaming. In fact adulthood made it worse as I suddenly had a disposable income to buy them for myself. Gone were the days of the twice yearly gifts if I'd done well at school. No more sucking up to my mom, making her cups of tea and making my bed. Being grown up meant I had suddenly developed the ability to self-gift, a freedom I've enjoyed ever since.

Suddenly you can keep up with the market. Do you remember how long you had to keep that cranky old computer or console, before your parents finally gave in and bought the latest one? This new found freedom is a blessing that can come with a sting. When we rushed out to buy a 3DO only to find that it was never really supported and became a piece of gaming history for all the wrong reasons.

A major plus side to being an adult gamer is that you can decide when to play. You can play all night or even all weekend if you want, unless of course you're unlucky enough to live with a non-gamer. This is something always to be considered before moving in with a friend or partner as it may be the cause of many arguments. You suddenly find your new found freedom has been revoked and you're back to square one!

There are also companies that actively market to this specific demographic to bear in mind. I remember back in the days of the PS1 when Sony were gearing many of their titles to the adult market. The people they wanted to sell to had grown up with games and were eager to support the games industry with their hard earned cash. I have to say their marketing strategy was well focused. This was a console that had games for everyone to play and my PS1 was always on. When my eyes were stinging too much to play games any more I used it to play CD's and watch the in built graphics till I fell asleep.

Nintendo have a very clever marketing strategy with the Wii that is also aimed to draw the attention of adults. As they are the ones who will be buying the consoles, either for themselves or their children they've developed 'New Ways To Play'. This aims to tap into a very large area of the market that isn't currently being catered for. They have the old favourites that they like to migrate to each new platform in the hope that they will snag the fans. On top of that they introduce titles that will bring in new people and make them feel included in the new wave of gaming.

I remember my parents joining in when we were small but the games industry changed it's focus in recent times and the parents of the gaming generations got left behind. The Wii has included them again and both my parents and my partners parents became quite competitive with Wii Bowling.

Both Sony and Nintendo made no secret of these strategies so it certainly isn't a mystery why adults like video games as much as children do! Our childhood love has kept growing with us to keep our interest going into adulthood, so we never truly need to grow out of it! Hooray for progress.

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