Who are games made for...?

[Triton]

I looked at my games collection the other day and noticed the age thing on the cases, mostly 15 & 18's. I supposee some would say your an adult and those are the games you should be playing! But me, no way, I'm a gamer who loves all gamesespecially those aimed at the younger market. After looking at my games I wento to where I buy games and noticed that most games are marked 15 and quite a lot of 18's and very few at the younger gamer.

So, I got to thinking are games being made for the older teen and adults and the younger gamers slowly bing pushed out.

Also the price of games are expensive, new releases averaging £35-£40, so that aims at the people with more to spend, I know kids get pocket money but that's a lot of cash for a game.

These observations were made mainly for the PS & XBox consoles, but the Wii is slowly heading that way which normally is good for the younger games.

As anyone else noticed this trend?

[BrianUchiha]

Well the main idea is to make money for them while making people happy, right? So they jack the prices up and then make games for the age group of gamers that play the most video games

[Mizel]

I've noticed this too.... maybe it can be attributed to better graphics? As time goes on and graphics get better games seem to be getting more violent/gorey. I mean even 10 years ago with games if someone gets shots its just a little area of red pixels. Nowadys someone gets shot and you can see their head explode and brains fly out.

However, I can't remember games ever being cheap. I was soooo excited when I got my SNES as a kid and only ever had like 10 games *max* because we couldn't afford any more.

[BrianUchiha]

After my college visit today and after looking at the classes you need to get an AS Degree in Computer Graphics, I realized how much hard work goes into every video game known and why prices are so high on newer games. I also realized that if I want to be like the top game makers today, then I have to make sure that I give 220% effort into making sure I work my way to the top. It might help me learn more about why games are starting to be centered towards the older yet still kind of young gamer groups.

[CraeSC111]

Market research shows that games which get rated t abs m are generally more profitable than e games. E games generally don't have the depth if gameplay that many mainstream gamers are looking for. Also increased strictness from the ratings association help to place more games in the t to m category.

[paecmaker]

Well most of the games I bye now are rated 18, its probably like mizel say, as graphics get better and technology gets better it will be more gore and violence. But the stories can also get deeper and that means that atleast some of them will have sexuel content, and in many countries that is similar with a 18 years old rating.

[leonehe]

Well, games are made for people to make money. If kid won't buy game, parents will. If you are 18+ and you have a work you will buy it on your own. Still price depends on quality of the game. If game is new, this is first part and tittle is not known in the world and company that made that game is not known too then price will not be too high. But if company is know well around the world as the tittle is then price will be a lot higher. Also graphics makes the price change.

[Triton]

I've noticed this too.... maybe it can be attributed to better graphics? As time goes on and graphics get better games seem to be getting more violent/gorey. I mean even 10 years ago with games if someone gets shots its just a little area of red pixels. Nowadys someone gets shot and you can see their head explode and brains fly out.

However, I can't remember games ever being cheap. I was soooo excited when I got my SNES as a kid and only ever had like 10 games *max* because we couldn't afford any more.

I guess I've been fortunate as I've ever been an adult gamer, I was in my early 20's when computer games/video games started to hit the market, so fortunately I've been able for most part been able to buy games. Plus I get them as presents, my wife for example will buy a game instead of giving me a birthday or Christmas card which is great. Now I consider myself very fortunate and blessed that way. But if these games had come out when I was a kid, there would have been no way that I would've had a console or games as my family were not that rich.

It's the kids of the poorer families I feel for, if they scrape the cash together for the console, they then look for cheap or used games and if their kids are young there are not that many games on the market. I think this is another reason I noticed the gap in the age related games and costs.

[BrianUchiha]

Some families go into debt getting games for their kids sometimes. But then there is the media violence issue where parents get games that are not good for their kids to play and their kids walk all over them

[CraeSC111]

Who things that video games have a real link to violence in children?

[Mizel]

Well, I know that when I play violent games *I* wanna go out and do it real life lol I kid, I kid. But really, I think that violent video games may have a tiny factor in *some* kids violent behavior.... but I also think in those cases there's an underlying mental issue that hasn't been discovered yet.

[CraeSC111]

Well you know whenever I play halo.I find myself pulling out my pulling out my plasma rifles and going on a killing spree while dressed up as a squeaky-voiced midget

[paecmaker]

And whenever I play dead rising I dress up in childrens clothes and arm myself with a massive teddy bear and go rampage on my surroundings. :p

And Im not gonna buy a car, everyone know that its easier just to take the first car you see on the streets, and no one cares.

[Triton]

My thought have been that video games have very had little to do with youth or even adult violence. It usually comes from another source or influences such as family, mental health or even from the peer structure of friends at school etc. Over the years violence has been blamed on the movies, tv and comics saying that they portray violence and that people follow like sheep. Of course there could be some who are influenced by the various medias, but if we look back into history and look at the dictators such as Julius Caesar, Gengis Khan or Adolf Hitler, I don't recall that the history books said that any these played video games and such. Sadly, violence has been around as long as the human race has been around.

[CraeSC111]

Video game violence probably does have an effect on the mentally ill. For example no normal person would do what a video game does and if you aren't losing then it actually helps blow off steam. You'd have to be sick to copy games

[Mizel]

I know after I play Bioshock, I go to the mall and steal everyones children and try to shove them in wall vents xD

[Triton]

Video game violence probably does have an effect on the mentally ill. For example no normal person would do what a video game does and if you aren't losing then it actually helps blow off steam. You'd have to be sick to copy games

Don't forget the mega impossibility, haven't quite got my hands on the arsenal or super powers games have, if I did then there would be a few changes to my town:D

[CraeSC111]

A few holes everywhere?

[Triton]

A few holes everywhere?

And some:D

[Zelda]

To the question of whether games/movies etc. contribute to teen violence. I'd say yes. Because of this, if you numb people's senses to what is horrible and what is not then they think nothing of it when they stab their classmate in the stomach. They don't realize death is real until after the fact. I just know that in the last 20 years teen violence/murder has gone up considerably. And the strange ways in which people murder nowadays... tell me that doesn't have anything to do with movies like SAW? I think it does. At least 1/4 of murders/violence I'd say has been due to an influence of games/movies/music. Simply because we play the games, watch the movies, know the songs inside out and backwards and we become numb. Nothing is real anymore. So hurting someone doesn't seem real either. Until you're in the slammer for it. :\ Maybe I'm wrong, but going statistically, what else could be the factor? These murders like putting your child in a suitcase until it suffocates just didn't happen 25 years ago. Again, maybe I'm wrong, but it sure seems suspicious to me.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think people are directly COPYING games or anything, but the subliminal influence is there and the numbing, as I said. It's like lying to your parents. The first time you did it you probably got nervous and felt bad afterwards. Maybe you even confessed. The next time it was a bit easier. You saw all your friends lying to their parents and the next few times were easier still. Eventually you became so numb to the fact that you even *were* lying that you thought nothing of it and it didn't bother you anymore. Think about it that way....

Just my opinion, though, of course. :)

[Mizel]

I tend to disagree. If you research you’ll actually find that in the past ten years crime rates have been on a steady decline, including teen crimes.

And stuff like this didn’t happen 25 years ago? Most of the world’s most famous serial killers happened 25+ years ago. I mean think back as far as Jack the Ripper…. Same with movies. The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Psycho, Halloween, The Shining, Jacob’s Ladder… all of these are gruesome and graphic movies that are over 25 years old.

I will agree that over the years, that society as a *whole*, has become slightly more desensitized but I don’t think that leads to more violence- I think it just leads to us seeing a horrible murder on TV and shrugging it off like it’s nothing because we are subjected to it day after day.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that in my opinion, video games and movies, *by themselves*, do not directly contribute to violence. I know hundreds of gamers and not one of them has ever committed a serious and violent crime because of what they’ve experienced in a game/movie. I think that there absolutely, 100% of the time, has to be an underlying mental condition for someone to commit these types of crimes. There is something psychologically wrong with you if you can not separate reality from fantasy, and if you do not understand the consequences, in every aspect, of violence/murder.

We all have inhibitions. These inhibitions suppress highly compelling behavior that we know is disadvantageous or inappropriate. Typically, a normally developed, “mentally-well”, person can control these. For example, someone kills their baby because they cried and interrupted them while they were playing a game. That’s not a direct result of the game, that’s a direct result of something in their head that’s not quite right. Normal individuals would be able to control their inhibitions in this case.

So, what I guess Im saying to sum it up… is that blaming video games/music/movies for violence is not only a cop-out from parents that don’t want to admit that they f’ed up, but also sadly a result of the media.

(PS. Im not trying to bash anyone's opinions! This is a great debate topic :) )

[CraeSC111]

So in relation to the topic of the thread videogames are NOT made for serial killers :p

[Mizel]

Nope, serial killers are the ones *making* the games! ;)

[CraeSC111]

That explains a lot :D

[Zelda]

Ay. I concede. Never argue with someone that took a Psychology course. ;) You have a point, but I was referring to TEEN murders. Those serial killers from 25+ years ago weren't young, if I recall right.

We (society) as a whole are very numb to reality though. I stand firmly on that belief. It's scary what we can watch while eating dinner. 50 years ago, they would have been appalled and had no appetite.

Yes, great topic but alas, this isn't the place to debate it. I too respect everyone's opinion. :)

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ON TOPIC:

I agree with the OP; I've been noticing a steady decline in child-friendly games. But I believe it's because kids don't really play kids' games anymore. I mean, my brother has been playing M-rated games since he was about 14. Before that he played T-rated so y'know, I think there isn't as big of a children's market as there may have once been. Sounds like parents don't pay as much attention to ratings as they did at one time so the kids don't bother playing E-rated things because no one else is and no one's making them.

I loved Nintendo for that though, because I don't always want a serious game. Sometimes I just wanna kick back with a nice E game. But there aren't very many anymore... One of the reasons I hate the idea of WiiU. With the updated graphic capabilities, they're going to be getting a lot more "serious" and higher rated games for the console. It's going to be a clone of Sony & Xbox. Which is sad, because Nintendo was always so different and stood out. *le sigh* But that's okay, I suppose... it gives me a reason to play the classics over again! :D

[CraeSC111]

Just stick with awesome old computer games like me :p

[Zelda]

Sounds like a plan! :D

[Kink3bird]

Games are made for consumers.

[CraeSC111]

OMG CD-KEY-ORIGIN YOU SPAMMER! And thanks for enlightening me on Kink. I reward you one roflcopter