Post Comment - Blue's News

Op Ed

[Apr 14, 2011, 10:29 am ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

Ars Technica - The incredible shrinking game.
According to The Entertainment Software Association, the average game buyer is 34 years old and has been gaming for 12 years. At that age, they have more than just video games to worry about. And unlike when they were younger, they now have more money than free time.

"They've got jobs, families, kids to take care of. They don't have time to sit and go on an eight-hour bender," said Kagel who's 34, himself. "You go to work, you come home, you have dinner with the family, you play with the kids. At the end of the day, how much time do you have to spend on gaming?"

Post Comment
Enter the details of the comment you'd like to post in the boxes below and click the button at the bottom of the form.

20.

Re: Op Ed

Apr 14, 2011, 13:49

Verno

Beamer wrote on Apr 14, 2011, 13:09:
If everyone had more money than free time, they'd work less and have the time to be able to play these games.

That's not the way anything works. Ever.
I have way more free money than free time. Should I work less? Well that's not really possible, as any job I may find that allows me to work less comes with a fairly substantial pay cut. Plus while $60 for a game may not be much for me I'm looking more ahead at getting a new M3 or the AMG C-Class coupe coming up. So I need my job in order to get either of those. I also want to be able to buy a really nice apartment, I never want to lose the ability to leave the country for a weekend whenever I feel like it, and I'll want to send kids to college eventually. All of those things require I keep seeking jobs that pay more and more.
And none of them are impacted by blowing $50 or $60 for a few hours of fun from time to time.

That's because you don't have a wife and kids. Your budget changes drastically when you do. You won't be able to swing a 50% income to expense ratio and have a pile of money leftover unless you work in oil or have an extremely successful business. The worst part is that often times even if you do your wife and kids basically spend in direct proportion with your income growth. Don't get me wrong having a family is great but you're describing a bachelors budget. There's a reason most of North America lives in credit and it's precisely because they buy things they can't afford. Forget the big things too, consumers spend themselves into bankruptcy one little $50 purchase at a time much the same way a gambler does.

Anyways we're getting off topic but I just wanted to comment on the budget thing. The shift from being a bachelor to a married man with a family is pretty drastic and most frivolous $60 purchases start to get weighed. Assuming you're the slightest bit responsible anyway.

This comment was edited on Apr 14, 2011, 13:54.




Playing: Super Mario 3D Land, Tales of Graces F, Fire Emblem 3DS Watching: Hannibal, Community, Life

Subject

Comment [quote="Verno"Apr 14, 2011, 13:49][quote="Beamer"Apr 14, 2011, 13:09]q[If everyone had more money than free time, they'd work less and have the time to be able to play these games. ]q That's not the way anything works. Ever. I have way more free money than free time. Should I work less? Well that's not really possible, as any job I may find that allows me to work less comes with a fairly substantial pay cut. Plus while $60 for a game may not be much for me I'm looking more ahead at getting a new M3 or the AMG C-Class coupe coming up. So I need my job in order to get either of those. I also want to be able to buy a really nice apartment, I never want to lose the ability to leave the country for a weekend whenever I feel like it, and I'll want to send kids to college eventually. All of those things require I keep seeking jobs that pay more and more. And none of them are impacted by blowing $50 or $60 for a few hours of fun from time to time. [/quote] That's because you don't have a wife and kids. Your budget changes drastically when you do. You won't be able to swing a 50% income to expense ratio and have a pile of money leftover unless you work in oil or have an extremely successful business. The worst part is that often times even if you do your wife and kids basically spend in direct proportion with your income growth. Don't get me wrong having a family is great but you're describing a bachelors budget. There's a reason most of North America lives in credit and it's precisely because they buy things they can't afford. Forget the big things too, consumers spend themselves into bankruptcy one little $50 purchase at a time much the same way a gambler does. Anyways we're getting off topic but I just wanted to comment on the budget thing. The shift from being a bachelor to a married man with a family is pretty drastic and most frivolous $60 purchases start to get weighed. Assuming you're the slightest bit responsible anyway. [/quote]

;) :( :o %) :) :| ;P X| :D More

If you have a signature set up, it will be automatically appended to your comment.
If you don't already have a Blue's News user account, you can sign up here.
Forgotten your password? Click here.

Email me when this topic is updated.

Special Codes

b[bold text]b
i[italic text]i
u[underline text]u
-[~~strikethrough text~~]-
c[code text]c
+[bullet point]+
q[quote text (indented)]q
[quote="Author"]quote text (indented)[/quote]
[url=Link]text[/url]
r{red text}r
g{green text}g
b{blue text}b
m{maroon text}m
s{secret text (shows in the background colour)}s

Forum Rules

Disagree all you want but attacks of a personal nature will not be tolerated.
Ethnic slurs and homophobic language will not be tolerated.
Do not post spam, links to warez sites, or instructions on how to obtain pirated software.
Abusing the forums in any manner that could be construed as 'griefing' will not be tolerated.