Burke's Joystick

As is plainly stated in this blog's "Mission Statement", I have been endeavoring to show that gaming isn't kid stuff anymore - if it ever was.  Gaming has matured as a hobby quite nicely, as a matter of fact.  Today, we gamers have access to all sorts of mature games, from hardcore military simulators like the Arma franchise, to thoughtful political sims like Positech Games' Democracy 3 .   But if that is so, why is the industry as a whole being treated in such a juvenile manner by its own video game journalists and other industry insiders? That is the question be asked by Positech's own Cliff Harris in a recent posting on his developer blog....

The above photograph, taken by Brant Ward, comes from an article entitled Struggling GameStop reinventing itself .   The article is an interesting one, detailing how GameStop plans on incorporating the sale of refurbished products into its core business.  But what really caught my attention was that photo.  That's no kid buying video games!  Truth is, despite what the mainstream media might lead you to believe, THAT is closer to the real face of gaming than any photo of a raging teenager.  As I wrote in my blog's mission statement (find it on the right sidebar), gaming isn't just kids stuff anymore!  In fact, according to the most recent data from the Entertainment Software Association , the average age of the gamer is now 30 (down from 37 - a strange statistical blip considering the nation is getting older and not younger), with 37 percent of all gamers being over 36 (and 25% over 50, according to another survey I read last year - sorry, c...