i recently read this article on how most games are not for children anymore. the article raised some decent points, but highlighted on some deeper concerns.

the author is entirely right about the gaming industry and it’s maturity. i grew up playing “Spy vs. Spy” for the NES into the wee hours of the night. today’s kids are growing up on the PS2 playing games like “GTA” (ignoring the fact that the game is a major rehash every iteration). when kids walk into the store, they see adult themed games that are about 10 years ahead of their maturity level.

this started to make me think about the demographics of the targeted gamers. most of the industry has matured with my group of gamers. this age group has gone from 6 to 26 in the last 2 decades of gaming greatness. with this maturity comes a new era of games. us older “old-school” gamers desire different things in games nowadays. but this will all cycle back to nintendo’s favor.

nintendo has been living off the slogan that “someone in the world turns 6 all the time.” this will eventually be their rise to greatness once more. all of us aging gamers are getting to the point where we’re having kids. these kids will not be able to wrap their infantile minds around games like “25 to Life” and not understand their social/moral impact. we aging gamers will be choosing games for our kids soon (as many have already started to), and those games are almost entirely produced by nintendo.

in the next generation war, i will most likely be siding with nintendo. in the current generation, i felt that the gamecube was the best machine of the pack. the only thing it lacked was a decent library of third party publishers and online play. both points will be moot with the next console.

also, since i am older and wiser, my taste in games has started to change. i no longer have time for 80 hour rpgs. i no longer desire to play a game that encourages criminal activity. i have no desire whatsoever to play 200+ football games (never did, but thanks to EA, we have plenty of choices). i now prefer games that rely the core values most games are neglecting; originality and fun. games like ratchet and clank and katamari are extremely entertaining and don’t rely on any serious time investment. i need games that allow me to save and load at any point because life has become too hectic to sit in front of the TV for 8 hours.

the only threat to nintendo’s future is the casual gamer. the casual gamer is one that i refer to as the “haloer”. this gamer is one who’s favorite game of all time is Halo and their first system is the XBox. this type of gamer is usually personified by frat-boys. once nintendo can appeal to these gamers as well, sony will have it’s first real competition since, well, ever.

on a side note, this i-RAM device gives me a chubby just thinking about the possibilities.