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Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

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Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#201

Post by luckylion »

wgerard wrote: post #45
fuzxi wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get your point, but I think it's more accurately framed like so: "Over three billion people are now drinkers" "If you count having a glass of wine once a week then sure" The perceived snobbery is less about whether these people are playing games and more about whether they can be accurately described as "gamers", a term which has meaning beyond simply "players of any game(s)" due to its many (largely negative) conn…

I'm confused why there's some implication of diminished frequency with "casual" gamers. On the subway, it's not uncommon to see people playing games like candy crush on their commute to and from work. The average subway commute is an hour long each way. Playing two hours a day is a decent chunk of time. Engaging in any other hobby for even 30 minutes a day would put you squarely in at least the "enthusiast" category…

> On the subway, it's not uncommon to see people playing games like candy crush on their commute to and from work.

It may have to do with the difference in "I will play this game instead of staring into the void" vs "I will buy that game and set aside time to play it". Would people on the subway play candy crush if they didn't have to commute? There's a fine line, I believe.

And then there's another fine line with regards to what counts as "video game". Is computer chess a video game because it's played on a computer, or is it simply chess? How many people would say "I'm going to play on the computer" vs "I'm going to play some chess" when they're going to play chess on their computer? "Video games" aren't the same as "mobile games" in my opinion, though there are video games on mobile devices, but e.g. Solitaire isn't a video game.

And last but not least: I'm pretty sure most people who play Minesweeper on their commute but aren't otherwise into computer games would self-identify as "gamers".

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#202

Post by fendy3002 »

TotempaaltJ wrote: post #196
gingerlime wrote: post #189

As someone who doesn't play any games at all and looking for a new hobby, would you recommend picking this up as one? if so, which platform/games would you recommend? (something light/fun) some background: I'm 45, I don't think I can handle anything too intense (even watching TV gets my heart pounding, I get too immersed and don't exactly enjoy too much adrenaline); I used to enjoy the Atari console in the 80s and th…

There are tons of non-intense video games! It's not all shooters, thankfully. Especially building/management style games, turn-based games, and role-playing games can be calm. Personal favorites: FTL: Faster Than Light. Not turn-based, so can get a little heated every now and then but generally pretty calm ime. https://store.steampowered.com/app/212680/FTL_Faster_Than_Li... The Civilization series is all turn based a…

I don't think Factorio is good recommendation here. It's kinda intense with biter on, and trains.

Stardew Valley should be the alternative.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#203

Post by arcturus17 »

gingerlime wrote: post #189

As someone who doesn't play any games at all and looking for a new hobby, would you recommend picking this up as one? if so, which platform/games would you recommend? (something light/fun) some background: I'm 45, I don't think I can handle anything too intense (even watching TV gets my heart pounding, I get too immersed and don't exactly enjoy too much adrenaline); I used to enjoy the Atari console in the 80s and th…

Get an Apple Arcade sub for $5 / month (cancel any time) and try things. It's like Netflix but for games, and your SE will be able to handle many of them.

I'm not a fan of mobile games in general but Apple Arcade games have no micro-transactions as a rule and they curated by Apple, which means they are generally very polished.

I can recommend Grindstone in particular, but with the service being like Netflix, you can try just about every game; I'm sure some things will catch your eye.

For your Mac and given your preferences I can recommend Sim City 4, and indie classics like Bastion, Braid and Fez; the latter two will probably challenge your preconceptions about video games.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#204

Post by luckylion »

iameli wrote: post #138
sidlls wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Candy Crush is clearly a game. Is it a "video game"? That's less clear. Candy Crush and games like it are closer to https://www.kohls.com/product/prd-2796704/trademark-games-el... than https://store.steampowered.com/app/10/CounterStrike/ . I wouldn't call the former a video game by any reasonable standard. I think Candy Crush qualifies as a video game, if only by the most technically narrow of definitions. But it's a…

I'm fascinated by this opinion. Is Hearthstone a video game? Desert Golfing? Good Sudoku? Words with Friends? Clash Royale? Angry Birds? The Arcana? Wii Sports? Pokémon Go?

I don't know most of those, but I think the point is whether video is being the defining feature of the game. Chess played on a computer is primarily chess, not a computer game. Same with poker.

A golfing or racing game isn't similar to golfing or racing, it's clearly primarily a video game. It gets somewhat blurry when you have a high-end setup with a cockpit that's being shaken while you drive a rally. Is it still a video game, or a simulator? I'd say the latter, but it's an edge case.

Angry Birds is, to me at least, closer to a video game (though I'd say it's a different genre "mobile game"), because there's obviously not a directly transferred real-life version.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#205

Post by hannofcart »

gingerlime wrote: post #189

As someone who doesn't play any games at all and looking for a new hobby, would you recommend picking this up as one? if so, which platform/games would you recommend? (something light/fun) some background: I'm 45, I don't think I can handle anything too intense (even watching TV gets my heart pounding, I get too immersed and don't exactly enjoy too much adrenaline); I used to enjoy the Atari console in the 80s and th…

Braid.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#206

Post by drawfloat »

compscistd wrote: post #101
ArtWomb wrote: post #80

Ghosts of Tsushima may be the best Playstation game I have played EVER. It's a testament to how late in the console release cycle, developers are just now mastering internals. It's the ideal video game: open world, 13-century feudal Japan, Age of the Samurai. High contrast "Kurosawa" mode, 4K HDR is cinematically photoreal. I really hope it remains a Major IP for many years to come ;) https://blog.selfshadow.com/publ…

I just finished playing through Horizon Zero Dawn which had been untouched, collecting dust on the shelf for a couple years. Found more time in the pandemic and I'm wondering what else I've missed out on! The only other titles I've played with great acclaim are God of War and Zelda: Breath of the Wild. From a brief wiki search, it seems outside of Nintendo, studios only tend to have one-hit wonders. I never played th…

Metal Gear Solid 5 remains one of the most fun games I played this generation. The storyline is dumb even by MGS standards, but the gameplay is absolutely phenomenal. Every feature just clicks together.

It also manages to avoid, for the most part, the pitfalls open world games fall in to (huge spans to cross with nothing happening, fetch missions, collect missions etc).

Infiltrating and exfiltrating a compound, whichever way you can think of, in the Afghan desert with none of the fancy SONAR or gadgetry of other MGS titles is what the series has clearly wished it was since day one.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#207

Post by luckylion »

Godel_unicode wrote: post #77
harimau777 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My point is that "people who play video games" doesn't mean much if you define it so broadly that it includes both people who play primarily core games and people who play exclusively casual games. From a business perspective, they are unlikely to be the same target market. Gaming related memes and similar cultural artifacts are unlikely to be shared. Etc.

It certainly means that if you're a video game making company, the market of potential customers is huge. That seems valuable. This argument seems popular with people who like Very Serious Video Games, and are affronted by being associated with filthy casuals (the gamers, not the brand).

What potential customers, though? You wouldn't know whether they are 1% mobile games or 99% mobile games. Given that any company wouldn't "just make a game", this statistic isn't useful.

Similarly "all people eat food" isn't really helpful if you're wondering how large the market for artificial meat is.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#208

Post by icu »

danjc wrote: post #175
ArtWomb wrote: post #80

Ghosts of Tsushima may be the best Playstation game I have played EVER. It's a testament to how late in the console release cycle, developers are just now mastering internals. It's the ideal video game: open world, 13-century feudal Japan, Age of the Samurai. High contrast "Kurosawa" mode, 4K HDR is cinematically photoreal. I really hope it remains a Major IP for many years to come ;) https://blog.selfshadow.com/publ…

I got excited when I saw this - I don't game much but my son is obsessed with samurai and would love this. However, I think it's a bit violent for him - anything similar you could recommend for a 13y/o?

Perhaps watch a few Samurai films by Akira Kurosawa with your son and discuss the violence that happens on film in the context it arises?

It's also worth watching a couple of YouTube reviews of Ghost of Tsushima. I recommend the ACG and SkillUp reviews.

I think if you do this you'll be better placed to judge if he's emotionally ready or not.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#209

Post by squeaky-clean »

danielheath wrote: post #139
maroonblazer wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Keep in mind that 1/3 of the population suffer from motion sickness, so for them (I'm in this group) VR isn't an option for the most part. Of course if this is a solvable problem - those who otherwise suffer from motion sickness are symptom-free in any VR application - then I agree VR could have a bright future.

I get quite motion-sick. Boat rides are - at best - mildly unpleasant. After trying the oculus dk1 roller coaster demo, I was incapable of doing anything for 4-5 hours and still felt sick days later. I play beat saber regularly; taking off the vive after an hour I feel mildly disoriented for about half a minute and then I am fine. The tech has progressed tremendously and no longer gives me any trouble (which may not…

A big part of it is does your ingame motion match your real world motion. In games like Beat Saber the only movements are from you physically moving. I've had a VR headset for maybe 4 years now and can still only play racing games for about an hour before motion sickness starts to settle in. I bet the roller coaster demo would be much less disorienting if one sat in a motion simulator. I'd love to own one eventually for my sim-racing setup.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#210

Post by dageshi »

neixidbeksoxyd wrote: post #74
bitxbit wrote: post #36

This is a trend that will continue to accelerate. And I think we grossly underestimated how much time and money people are willing to spend on video games. Although, I think production has somewhat plateau’d in the past five years. There’s VR, but I believe there will be a new category introduced within the next five years that will change the gaming landscape.

> There’s VR, but I believe there will be a new category introduced within the next five years that will change the gaming landscape. I have been dreaming of better interfaces (controllers) for games for decades. The Wii, despite it's limited power, was a huge leap forward in how we played games. Unfortunately Nintendo is the only gaming company taking risks while Microsoft and Sony keep doubling down on graphics wit…

So long as FPS remains the most popular genre in console gaming nobody is going to deviate from existing controller designs, they are ideally suited for shooters.
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