Tom Murphy
RedwoodAge.com
Remember those video game geeks of the early '80s who spent all their time and money on the next cool game? Well, they got older.
Those gamers are now in their late-40s, they're still playing games and they have lots of company among the boomers.
Older Americans and women now make up the fastest-growing segment of the $40 billion video game industry, which is starting to produce games focused on fitness and brain health to satisfy aging consumers.
Sure, teenagers still go in for action games. But group games like Singstar, Rock Band, Lips, The Movies and others draw a much broader audience of older men and women.
"When video game consoles began to appear in the 1980s, they were dismissed as a short-lived craze, or at the very least, the domain for awkward adolescents. How astonishingly wrong we were," said George Van Horn, an analyst for the research company IBISWorld.
"In fact, 67 percent of household heads play computer or video games," he said. "And besides the rapidly growing number of women taking up the hobby, 24 percent of game players are aged over 50."
Men between 18 and 45 still make up 37 percent of the market, but the percentage of women playing games has grown to 38 percent from 33 percent just five years ago, according to the firm's data.
Game manufacturers are taking note of the aging demographic, hoping to cash in as 78 million boomers drift into their leisure years. Nintendo's Wii game system already markets a number of games that have been used on physical therapy to help stroke and accident victims regain range of movement. And other game manufacturers have focused on games designed to help keep the brain sharp.
Aging experts concur that cognitive exercises helps to maintain brain health, but they say a good crossword puzzle is probably as effective as a game system. Exercise also helps keep the little gray cells in top shape, so get off the couch once in a while. But, let's face it, video games are fun.
"Companies are frantically at work developing games for what they hope will expand into fresh, new markets," said Van Horn, who believes Sony and Microsoft will quickly join Nintendo in reaching out to "an untapped market which could substantially enhance the industry's current and future growth." He noted there were "still very few" game titles designed for women, but predicted that will change.
"Wii Fit shows the attention women can expect to receive as manufacturers and developers actively chase the female dollar," he said.
The $149 Wii Fit game platform, for example, promises to help users "get fit with more than 40 activities and exercises, including strength training, aerobics, yoga and balance games. Whether you're doing a yoga pose or snowboarding down a slalom course, there's an activity for everyone."
Players can even check their body mass index, not exactly the type of thrill sought out by the dragon-slaying gamers of the '80s.
How long will the gaming craze last among the oldsters? Van Horn guesses it will be around "until those original gamers cease playing, either due to death or physical incapacity."
At that point, it's "game over."
