Kids prefer video games over TV, toys

Illidan · 10-27-2004, 07:09 PM

Quote:

LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- Teenagers deem video games a more meaningful form of entertainment than television, executives said Tuesday at the What Teens Want conference in Beverly Hills. And the medium is appealing more and more to younger kids, too.

"Video games are so mainstream it's beside the point to convince you that they are mainstream," said Jonathan Simpson-Bint, president of gaming magazine publisher Future Network USA.

Boys aged five to 12 spend more time with video games than they do with traditional toys, said Steve Schnur, worldwide executive of music/audio at Electronic Arts, the world's No. 1 video game maker.

Schnur also said that 55 percent of teenage gamers learned of a new music act through a game. "All artists want to be in video games," he said. No wonder, when one considers that in a popular game like "Madden NFL 2004," a song might be heard 600 million times. "More than any song is heard on the radio."

Schnur showed a video montage of the artists who have worked with EA recently, including Snoop Dogg, Nelly, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake and Green Day.

As panel discussions on this topic usually do, the conversation turned to how the industry might better court women. Female gamers are largely online gamers, and they skew a bit older than their male counterparts, who mostly like console games, said Michael Dowling, general manager of Nielsen Interactive Entertainment.

Also, women "cycle out of games," while men stay interested longer, sometimes spending more money on them as they get older. Women are mostly drawn to "social" games, he said, like "The Sims."

The panel was nearly in agreement that women should be hired more often to develop games, until Jordan Mechner, creator of "Prince of Persia," a game that's soon to be a movie, reminded folks that "Sims" was created by a man.

"The sex of the developer is not the issue," he said. The challenge is in getting companies to risk capital in the development of a game they know won't appeal much to their core audience of young males.

Scott Sorensen, director of marketing at Dragon Optical, a maker of goggles and sunglasses, said it's critical that one knows what teenagers are thinking about, and that takes time and effort.

"As you get older, you tend to forget what young people like to do," he said, explaining that his weekends are spent hanging out with 18-year-olds, professional athletes and up-and-coming bands. "That's what I do. Every weekend. I stay involved."

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Kraven · 10-28-2004, 12:36 AM

What generation would this be that the article is focusing on? I know there's a Gen X, Gen Y....what's after Gen Y? I don't remember ever hearing anything after Gen Y. They should call it the "Unappreciative Little Bastards" generation.

audibuL · 10-28-2004, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Damned

What generation would this be that the article is focusing on? I know there's a Gen X, Gen Y....what's after Gen Y? I don't remember ever hearing anything after Gen Y. They should call it the "Unappreciative Little Bastards" generation.

LMAO if its your gen...

Electro68 · 10-29-2004, 09:50 AM

They should call it the "Unappreciative Little Bastards" generation.

That is so freaking funny, yet it has an element of truth to it.

Kraven · 10-29-2004, 02:37 PM

Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week

Electro68 · 10-29-2004, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Damned

Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week

Your humility astounds me.

Constantine · 11-04-2004, 12:18 AM

videogames are just addictive. what can i say..

Noxicity · 11-05-2004, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Illidan

Teenagers deem video games a more meaningful form of entertainment than television

Well duh!

Videogames provide a level of interactivity the television will never be able to muster, let alone best...

The computer age is over. We're now in the Videogaming age...

Kraven · 11-05-2004, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shizen Tai

The computer age is over.

Not true. The Xbox is only made up of major computer components. MS uses an nVidia graphics chip, and for Xbox 2 they'll be utilizing a ATI chip, not to mention the 733 MHz processor and harddrive in the Xbox now. In fact, many people consider Xbox nothing but a computer itself. Indeed, programs like Linux have already successfully been run on it.

"The computer age is over." Where do you think the technology comes from that powers all your great Xbox games? Consoles borrow from PCs. Not to mention PCs are always coming out with newer and better hardware unlike consoles which are stuck with whatever technology was the best at the time; computers surpass consoles easily within a few months of a console's release.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shizen Tai

We're now in the Videogaming age...

We've been in that age for over 20+ years.