Are video games finally starting to grow up?

If, like me, you've been playing video games for a long time then no doubt you have seen how impressively the industry has evolved from its very basic and rudimentary beginnings to the global, multi billion dollar behemoth industry it is today. Video games have become impressive, expensive spectacles and today's AAA titles cost many millions of dollars to develop, outstripping the budgets of some top Hollywood movie releases.

Whilst the technology involved in both playing and developing games has improved exponentially, for a long time gaming, as a leisure past time, was not 'mature' in terms of how willing it was to explore more universal themes that affect a lot of us in our everyday lives. The narrative structure and plot of many video games (if they even had a plot!), was usually incredibly basic and closely aligned to that of many popular fairy tales or children's stories. The reason for this is because, in the first 20-25 years of video gaming, children (between the ages of 7 and 16) were the primary consumers of games both in the Arcade and at home. Home games consoles such as the Nintendo NES and Sega Master System were popular in the 8 bit era and the Nintendo SNES and Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) ruled the roost in the 16 bit era. As is now commonly known, it wasn't until the release of Sony's PlayStation console in the West before gaming as a hobby started to be seen as 'cool' and 'acceptable' amongst older gamers (16-35 age group).

Interestingly enough, it seems that the popularity of gaming as a hobby in recent years is now most dominant in older adults. A 2014 study confirms this:

"The average age of someone who plays games is 31 years old. In fact, more gamers are over the age of 36 than between the ages of 18 to 35 or under the age of 18"
(Entertainment Software Association)

That is a surprising statistic - namely that there are more gamers over the age of 36 than under the age of 18. However, this may well be connected to the fact that games consoles are now more sophisticated and, subsequently, more expensive than they've ever been, so adults with a higher disposable income are more likely to own them.

Because of this trend in console gaming - something that is also somewhat true for the PC gaming market - there is an argument that this demographic are starting to demand something beyond the more traditional video game plot and narrative. In the video at the top of the page, I present the argument that gaming as a medium is starting to grow up and offer the older gamer a lot more. There is a willingness to go beyond the surface of character motivations and relationships in games, as well as a desire to expand the arena of subjects not normally covered in games. It is now not uncommon to find games that explore disability, discrimination, terminal illness, bullying, the list goes on. Whereas previously you would normally have to rely on television, cinema and literature to find these topics, it is arguably a welcome sign of maturity that we are now given the opportunity to explore these subjects in games as well.