Poll on the ATAG site shows simmers are a...ahem...mature bunch. Very very few under 30 and quite a lot over 50.
The bad news for game and kit developers is that the typical console gamer is under 30, so that huge market of 'transitionals' (gamers moving from console to PC games) is not interested in sims. Simmers are also time poor, with strong competition for gaming time from career and family.
The good news is that these guys are cashed up, in the prime of their earning lives. So outlaying a few hundred for the latest GFX card, game, add ons, joystick and pedal combo is doable and makes them a nice segment to target, if a small one.
Results
<15..........2%
16-20.......2%
20-30.......9%
30-40.......15%
40-50.......15%
50-60.......13%
60-70.......9%
70+..........2%
The bad news for game and kit developers is that the typical console gamer is under 30, so that huge market of 'transitionals' (gamers moving from console to PC games) is not interested in sims. Simmers are also time poor, with strong competition for gaming time from career and family.
The good news is that these guys are cashed up, in the prime of their earning lives. So outlaying a few hundred for the latest GFX card, game, add ons, joystick and pedal combo is doable and makes them a nice segment to target, if a small one.
Results
<15..........2%
16-20.......2%
20-30.......9%
30-40.......15%
40-50.......15%
50-60.......13%
60-70.......9%
70+..........2%
Speak for yourself. I am 40+ and vow never to mature if that also means shouting 'get of my lawn' at the kids in the street.
ReplyDeleteReally? I can't wait to get to Grumpy Old Man age! I'm gonna play it to the max! Claymores behind the picket fence...
ReplyDeleteAlways with the funnies the mature bunch spending tons on kit. Think its more like lets keep the same computer for seven years with infrequent upgrades.
ReplyDeleteI am, currently, 20 years old. I remember roughly 5 years ago walking into a flight sim conference, meeting g a lot of seniors. I was very, very suprised, this notion of "games being for the young" still firmly stuck in my head, and there I was, sitting amongst people 2, 3, or even 4 times my senior. They taught me a lot on that day.
ReplyDeleteLater, my interests in flight sims waned, and I found myself joining a Battlefield 3 clan - the situation repated itself! Sure, these people were a bit younger then the average FlightSimmer, but not by that much, suprisingly. My current "Squad Leader" is 65 years old, and he is a vicious opponent on the battlefield