Is it me, or are middle-aged/elderly people underpresented in modern gaming

[Bill Loguidice]

 

I just don't think game producers are specifically targeting 40+ year old men when they design and program video games. They are targeting the younger players which is why as moodorf mentioned you don't see a 40 year old Laura Croft. In fact it's the opposite, the latest and currently most popular Tomb Raider of all time, starred a younger Laura. Why did they go route? Was it because they were thinking about the 40 year old game players or the 20 year game players? Were they worried of alienating the older player, or the younger players? That is what I am saying. That is not to say that all 40+ year olds are going to be turned off by the latest offerings. If you are a life long gamer you will play a decent game, regardless who the target audience is. It's as simple as that.

 

I think in that specific example it might have been nothing more complex that needing to reboot the series. I can see them visiting an older Lara than the one found in the original games as well at some point, similar maybe to the older Sam Fisher in the Splinter Cell series.

[SeaGtGruff]

 

Species?

 

Yeah, you know-- hedgehogs, elves of all types (dark, forest, high), dwarves, ogres, halflings, lizard people, panda people, etc., etc.

[Torr]

It got me to thinking... I remember back in the "Mascot" days playing as an anthropomorphized animal such as Sonic, Crash Bandicoot or even the Kangaroo from Kangaroo; to playing a REAL animal like the Dolphin from Dolphin or Ecco used to be much more common...

Nowaday I can't think of many games that don't star a Human. Aside from Sonic, the only recent game I can think of is Shelter, and that's not really a game that everyone knows about.

Edited April 9, 2015 by Torr

[moycon]

 

I think in that specific example it might have been nothing more complex that needing to reboot the series. I can see them visiting an older Lara than the one found in the original games as well at some point, similar maybe to the older Sam Fisher in the Splinter Cell series.

 

I could see that too, to be honest. Although it won't happen anytime soon, or if it does it'll be tacked on DLC, new screenshots of the game show the youngster Laura.

I think even games that don't feature a specific character cater to younger audiences. Racing games, even ones that have older cars you can choose from (Even my father loves picking those old classic looking cars) include hip, artists on the soundtrack. When they do include a classic cruising song it's some new remixed version that appeals to a younger crowd Don't get me wrong, I don't think middle age characters are completely absent from games, I don't agree with the statement that they are under represented, they just generally don't appear as a main playable character and I think it's simply because that's not what the core audience wants.

[Bill Loguidice]

 

I could see that too, to be honest. Although it won't happen anytime soon, or if it does it'll be tacked on DLC, new screenshots of the game show the youngster Laura.

I think even games that don't feature a specific character cater to younger audiences. Racing games, even ones that have older cars you can choose from (Even my father loves picking those old classic looking cars) include hip, artists on the soundtrack. When they do include a classic cruising song it's some new remixed version that appeals to a younger crowd Don't get me wrong, I don't think middle age characters are completely absent from games, I don't agree with the statement that they are under represented, they just generally don't appear as a main playable character and I think it's simply because that's not what the core audience wants.

 

Just to continue that point, you only have to look at the ticket sales for the latest Fast and Furious movie (I have yet to see one, though plan on it eventually) to gain some insight into why many racing games have that theme. Same thing with modern sports games and how they have to have in-your-face soundtracks, etc. These major games are almost certainly just a reflection of what's considered commercially popular in this day and age, so it's probably natural for them to feature such themes, i.e., to appeal to what is considered the largest mass market audience.

 

With all of the above in mind, while I do agree that what are considered AAA games do have a certain thematic sameness to them (for obvious reasons), we only need to look to the robust indie movement on every console, handheld, and computer to have a metric ton of thematic alternatives to explore.

[omegadot]

What about the butler in Tomb Raider 2?

[Video]

There's a good reason for that....

 

Most middle aged people (that play video games) are beer bellied pale skinned couch potato video game playing losers with no life. Nobody wants to play a beer bellied pale skinned couch potato video game playing looser in a game

 

Hey, when was the last time you played a fantasy game that gave you a wide range of creatures you can play as, and chose to play as a human? I just wish fantasy games were a bit more open, if a creature is in a game, I should be able to play as it....yeah, the life of a rat might suck, but how about a giant, or dragon?

[+thegoldenband]

Most middle aged people (that play video games) are beer bellied pale skinned couch potato video game playing losers with no life. Nobody wants to play a beer bellied pale skinned couch potato video game playing looser in a game

 

OTOH, this gets us partway there:

 

[Video]

LOL Oh yeah, I forgot about that, and iirc it was a pretty decent game, even.