Connecting with family friends a key reason people play video games
If you’re an Australian reading this, there’s an excellent chance you’re a gamer, whether or not you’ve thought about identifying that way.
See, there’s three ways to define the term “gamerâ€. Firstly, there is someone who intensely and competitively plays a narrow selection of first-person shooters and racing simulators. Secondly, someone who plays a lot of video games. And third, anyone who frequently plays games.
Playing video games is just one form of gaming.Credit:iStock
I like the third definition because it’s more inclusive and accurate. Hobbies only become better when more people with more life experiences become involved.
That third definition is so inclusive, in fact, that it covers 17 million Australians, according to research conducted by the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association and Bond University. The latest Digital Australia 22 report gives us a much clearer picture of who plays games, and why.
The data shows that most of us have been picturing the typical gamer (18-year-old boy mainlining Red Bull in a darkened room) incorrectly. The average gamer is 35 years old; 46 per cent of gamers are female and 11 per cent of gamers are aged 65-84 years old.
Forty six per cent of gamers in Australia are women, according to a recent study.Credit:Sandy Huffaker / New York Times
The why is also interesting: the main reason was obvious (have fun), but another big reason was keeping the mind active, showing that more people recognise the health benefits of games.
We know that more people played games during the lockdowns, judging by the worldwide sell-out of Nintendo Switches, and how it’s still next to impossible to buy a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X. Games are now the second most popular entertainment medium in Australia, behind streaming services and ahead of free-to-air TV.
But it’s so great to see almost all gamers included in the report saying they played more games during the pandemic to stay connected to friends and family. My wife went from playing very rarely, to playing with me for at least an hour every day for the past 19 months, and it’s brought us closer and allowed us to go on adventures, despite not being able to leave the apartment past curfew.
Even my parents play hours of games each week, although they’d never think their mobile and browser-based games counted as real video games.
It makes sense that Australians are so into games, we’re great at making them. The latest Call of Duty was partially made in Melbourne, the brilliant and emotional Unpacking is a worldwide hit and made in Queensland, and The Forgotten City has been winning awards left and right after being made in Melbourne.
Games are more than just one thing, and if you’ve been playing casually on your phone, thinking that it’s somehow separate from “real†games, take comfort in knowing that all digital games are real games, and feel free to branch out if you want. Games can be the most immersive storytelling medium around, or just a brief escape.
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