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Take the survey on here! It should be alot easier now
So I am doing a project/interview. And I thought that this would be quite helpful for me to understand gamers in general.
So if you would like To PM me with the answer to these questions that would be great. Please use quotes to answer each question!
This is for an unofficial study! Have fun!
I hope people understand this is just to help me understand a demographic. It is unoffical and you won't have to worry about much.
Though I hope people do take their time to do this.
I know this is an investment of time and resources, but just a response is good enough for me.
1. What games do you regularly play? What are a few of your all-time favorite games?
2. Why do you play games, generally? Why do you play the specific games from question 1?
3. With which game pleasures do you most identify?
(*LET ME EXPLAIN THIS*) These are all pleasures you have in games!
1. Sensation Game as sense-pleasure (Visual, auditorial senses are effected Such as transistor) 2. Fantasy Game as make-believe (like a power fantasy, but it doesn't just have to be this) 3. Narrative Game as drama 4. Challenge Game as obstacle course 5. Fellowship Game as social framework 6. Discovery Game as uncharted territory 7. Expression Game as self-discovery 8. Submission Game as pastime
4. Let’s discuss how your taste in gaming differs from my own. For instance I like narrative driven games. I like games that are based on character interaction and storylines.
5. To what extent do your gaming preferences follow the recognized gender trends? Meaning do you like the following?
PLEASE NOTE: Male and female traits can be interchangable! Males Like TRIAL AND ERROR They like learning things as they go. They are driven by competition. Men like to master their game. This means you like to able to play a game that is difficult and to be able to defeat it.... Destruction! You like to destroy things.... ALOT. But this also goes along with you like to make something yours. You like to become possessive of those games. You are interested in spatial puzzles, studies basically show that males generally have stronger skills of spatial reasoning than females. Females Emotions, you like to experience the richness of human emotion in games. Real world, you perfer something that you can be meaningful, such as learning a skill. Think Dinner dash. (Micromanagement etc) Nurturing, you enjoy being the care giver in terms of healing, or controlling and making it grow larger. Such as nurturing a dragon back to health. Dialog and verbal puzzles, it is often though that women have increased verbal skills (Though this doubted by many game designers including myself)
6. To what extent do your gaming experiences follow the age-based demographic trends?
0–3: Infant/Toddler. Children in this age bracket are very interested in toys, but the complexity and problem solving involved in games is generally too much for them. ● 4–6: Preschooler. This is the age where children generally show their first interest in games. The games are very simple, and played with parents more often than with one another, because the parents know how to bend the rules to keep the games enjoyable and interesting. 101 DEMOGRAPHICS ● 7–9: Kids. The age of seven has long been called the “age of reason. ” At this age, children have entered school, are generally able to read, are able to think things through, and solve hard problems. Naturally, they become very interested in game playing. This is also the age where children start making their own decisions about what kinds of toys and games they like and dislike, no longer just accepting whatever their parents choose for them. ● 10–13: Preteen or “ Tween ”. It is only recently that marketers have started to recognize this group as distinct from both “ kids ”and “ teens. ”Children this age are going through a period of tremendous neurological growth and are suddenly able to think about things more deeply and with more nuance than they were a few years back. This age is sometimes called the “age of obsession, ” because children this age start to get quite passionate about their interests. For boys especially, these interests are often games. ● 13–18: Teen. The job of a teenager is to start getting ready for adulthood. At this age we generally see a significant divergence between male and female interests. Boys continue to be interested (and often get more interested) in competition and mastery, whereas girls become more focused on real-world issues and communication. This makes boy and girl game interests very different at this age. Teens of both genders are very interested in experimenting with new kinds of experiences, though, and some of those can happen through gameplay. ● 18–24: Young Adult. This is the first “adult ”age grouping, and the mark of an important transition. Adults, in general, play less than children do. Most adults do continue to play, but at this point, with their teenage experiments out of the way, they have established certain tastes about the kind of play and entertainment they enjoy. Young adults usually have both time and money on their hands, which makes them big consumers of games. ● 25–35: Twenties and Thirties. At this age, time starts to become more precious. This is the age of “peak family formation. ” As the responsibilities of adulthood start to add up, most adults in this age bracket are only casual game players, playing games as an occasional amusement, or playing games with their young children. On the other hand, “hardcore gamers ” in this age bracket — that is, people for whom playing games is their primary hobby — are an important target market because they purchase a lot of games, and are often quite vocal about what they do and don’t like, potentially influencing the buying decisions of their social network. ● 35–50: Thirties and Forties. Sometimes referred to as the “family maturation ” stage, most adults in this bracket are very caught up in career and family responsibilities and are only casual game players. As their children become older, adults in this age group are often the ones who make decisions about expensive game purchases, and when possible, they look for game playing opportunities the whole family can enjoy together. ● 50: Fifties and Up. Often called the “empty nesters, ” adults in this age bracket suddenly have a lot of time on their hands — their children have moved out, and they will soon be facing retirement. Some return to games they enjoyed when younger, and others, looking for a change, turn to new game experiences. Adults in this age group are particularly interested in game experiences that have a strong social component, such as golf, tennis, bridge, and online multiplayer games.
7. What demographic groups (age/gender primarily) do YOUR gaming peers generally belong?
8. What do you assume the “average gamer” looks like (age/gender/etc)?
You can use examples in this if you feel like you can do that.
As an example!
1. Regularly play at least three hours of video games per a day. My most favorite game of all time is probably Warcraft 3. It is mainly narrative driven and one that I will always remember of having as a great story, and great cinematics.
2. I play generally to make myself feel better, or just to play games just because I like to play games, it is my field and is one that I enjoy quite often. I like RTS games, basically anything I can get my hands on. I play that game in particular due to its replaybility
3. I mostly identify with the Narrative DRIVEN games. As I usually only ever play games if I know they are suppose to have good stories in them. I mainly do this because As a Kid I loved reading books.
4. (WORK IN PROGRESS) Basically list each game with a pleasure. If you need my help just PM me. I will do an example Bioshock Infinite - Sensation Skyrim - Fantasy Spec Ops The Line - Narrative Rouge Legacy - Challenge Diablo 3 - Fellowship Minecraft - Discovery Minecraft - Expression Hearthstone - Submission
5. I mainly follow the female trend a bit more than the male trend. I don't like destroying things, I don't like to be competitive. I just like to do things. I enjoy things that allow me to be able to apply it to the real world. So I can take some type of message from a game, not just an experience.
6. I play less than I used to, now I write and play more 'adult' games. Going away from childish games like Call Of duty.
7. Usually the same, but my peers are usually in the teenager trend. This is mostly because I much older than most of my peers.
8. I think they are just normal people. A gamer looks like a normal person, some are toned, some are not. Some are nerds, some are not. But most gamers are around the ages of 10 to around thirty years old. That is the usual age for gamers. But it is not unusual for gamers to be much older or younger.
This message was edited 7 times. Last update was at 2015/02/24 20:23:43
From whom are unforgiven we bring the mercy of war.
1. What games do you regularly play? What are a few of your all-time favorite games? RPGs (western and eastern) for a few hours per day, if I can find the time. Favourite games of all time are Silent Hill 2, Quest for Glory 4, Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines and the Baldur's Gate RPG series.
2. Why do you play games, generally? Why do you play the specific games from question 1? For escapism and relaxation. RPGs are generally long and story driven, and grinding in some RPGs can be soothing in a 'switch off the brain' way
3. With which game pleasures do you most identify? Fantasy (generally escapism is what I want)
Narrative (again, a good or just average narritive helps escapism if the atmosphere is good enough)
Submission (it's entertainment)
4. Let’s discuss how your taste in gaming differs from my own. For instance I like narrative driven games. I like games that are based on character interaction and storylines. OK - although I also like well-crafted narrative in games, I prefer the atmosphere of the game world and themes. Atmposhere draws me in.
5. To what extent do your gaming preferences follow the recognized gender trends? Meaning do you like the following? I think the gender trends might be a bit too broad?
6. To what extent do your gaming experiences follow the age-based demographic trends? Time is definitely at a premium for me, due to having a wife and child. However the types of games I enjoy haven't changed, I can just play less of them.
7. What demographic groups (age/gender primarily) do YOUR gaming peers generally belong? Not sure if I have peers
8. What do you assume the “average gamer” looks like (age/gender/etc)? I make no assumptions on who are gamers - I've talked Odin Sphere with young women, Persona 3 with older male workmates, and Skyrim with a married couple.
1. Generally anything that so conceals the lack of choice that I feel like I actually get to do whatever I genuinely want, along with a series of options so good and bad that they're outside even the realm I'd consider. Fallout 2 is a good example.
2. I mostly play games to see where the invisible wall is, and if I can find it and hit it, my sense of any sort of immersion dissipates. It's a self-defeating strategy, but it's sort of a way of life. I play stuff like Fallout 1/2 (oh, and Planescape) because those are the hardest to find that wall.
3. Let me murder children, sell my body, and get hopelessly addicted to drugs. I seldom do those things in games, but the fact that it's an option makes me forget the railroad I'm helplessly tethered to. Let's call it somewhere between narrative and exploration, with the self being the thing of exploration.
4. Okay. I'm surrounded by foes. I have this thing that will probably let me survive it, though I'll probably suffer consequences leading me into worse decisions further down the line, and I might be able to redeem myself if I'm not too far hosed by the end of it. Do I reload, or do I trigger the nightmare? That moment is when I look at the amount of Jet in my inventory and make that choice. If I don't get that moment, I will hate you in the morning.
5. Err. I played a character that spend about a month as a gimp to raise money for some ammo. Yes, in spite of not being yes-no questions, my answer is "yes".. Just don't make me feel like I'm suffering someone else's idea of a "teaching moment". I am okay with life being gritty, unfair, and terrible for anyone, and everyone, if appropriate. I am happy with emotion. I am perplexed by your association with emotion being something males don't do.
Maybe I'm just a giver. I'll remember that next time I have a hundred ball gags in Fallout.
6. I literally don't know how to answer this question. I'm going to say teen, because I don't have responsibilities beyond amusing myself and keeping myself employed, but at the same time, I don't really buy many games anymore because I haven't seen one that gives me any sense of agency since the aforementioned. What are "boy" games and what are "girl" games? Examples even, if possible.
7. That's even harder to answer. We'll go with somewhere between preteen and teen.
8. I assume the average gamer, by virtue of modern games and recent pop culture, is a misanthropic twenty-something that lives in his parents' basement, smokes too much pot, and gets upset when people accuse a Dead or Alive Volleyball game of being sexist.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/02/06 06:24:50
1. What games do you regularly play? What are a few of your all-time favorite games?
It depends on my mood and what other hobbies I decide to take precedent, along with work, friends, etc but I do try to fit in quite a bit of hours on time to play games. Genre of preference is RPG and Action/Adventure RPGs primarily western but also eastern with strategy themed games and fighters being tied for second. As per a few of my all-time favorites. Planescape Torment, FALLOUT 1, 2, and NV, Shadowrun Dragonfall, Bayonetta 2, and Morrowind.
2. Why do you play games, generally? Why do you play the specific games from question 1? I primarily play games of a RPG setting because they tend to be rich in world building creating a unique world and atmosphere to my own. I like a decent story and love when a game is designed to actually react to my actions (I will never grow to dislike how Planescape Torment made you dying a consequence system). Although that is so, I also have a tendency to hop into a game for a more special and reaction silly fun experience with games such as Bayonetta 2 and fighter games or playing Saints Row 3 or 4 to do silly things. Past that, I tend to use games as a way to have fun with friends.
3. With which game pleasures do you most identify? Fantasy
Submission
Narrative
Fellowship
4. Let’s discuss how your taste in gaming differs from my own. For instance I like narrative driven games. I like games that are based on character interaction and storylines. I don’t quite get 4 so forgive me if I mess up but I’ll try anyways.
Sensation- Morrowind, Shadow of the Colossus, Transistor, Odin Sphere
Fantasy- Elder Scrolls, FALLOUT, Deus Ex, Shadowrun, Wasteland 2
Narrative- Dark Souls 2, FALLOUT (only 1, 2, and NV), Planescape Torment, Transistor, Shadowrun Dragonfall, Persona
Challenge- Dwarf Fortress why! Dark Souls 2 and, at maximum difficulty, Bayonetta 2
Fellowship- Super Smash Bros
Discovery- Dwarf Fortress
Expression- Minecraft for self but I want to mention two others. Spec Ops the Line for grey morality but This War of Mine for being about something controversial but doing it even better because I am the one that ends up doing all of it. Spec Ops forces you to, this game becomes even murkier.
Submission- Hearthstone
5. To what extent do your gaming preferences follow the recognized gender trends? Meaning do you like the following? I can’t tell on this one. On the one hand my favorite playthrough of Fallout NV and even 1 and 2 was that of the social character. Planescape Torment was something to me because of how you could avoid death because every time you died it stole another person’s life. Even when it came to Skyrim I have attempted to play merely as a blacksmith (which only works after a ton of mods). I sometimes wish that games could be more social with the ability to talk to others, to let them be organic characters rather than stilted beings, games that allow me to avoid killing another (Deus Ex Human revolution as an example). Emotions are great, nurturing is good (especially if it involves dragons!), the ability to play with a friend, and dialogue puzzles are fun. At the same time I like a little bit of competition every once and a while and I like games that give me spcial puzzles and I have to learn from mess ups and mistakes.
6. To what extent do your gaming experiences follow the age-based demographic trends? Pretty much spot on. Only exception is arguably that I still hop around frequently. Despite my highest two games played being both RPGs and the next two being one strategy and one fighter game, the three games I have spent the most time on in the past two weeks have been 4 FPS, 1 whatever Hotline Miami is, and one spectacle fighter so a bit more open to all genres than normal but only a bit.
7. What demographic groups (age/gender primarily) do YOUR gaming peers generally belong? 18-24
8. What do you assume the “average gamer” looks like (age/gender/etc)? What is a gamer? That’s the catch isn’t it. It depends on how we are defining it. If we speak average gamer then I’ll assume somebody using a iphone or ipad to play a game or possibly playing CoD or WoW on a console/pc respectively both due to being the most common factor ignoring more niche interests and having a rather neutral value that’s probably a 36 year old male (but only by a slight majority). That said, when I think of gamer I tend to think of the “core gamer” group. It’s not necessarily right but I tend to think of that first. Usually around 23 plus or minus 6 and likely a male.
Gamer is a word that both means something and doesn’t. In reality though nothing is a surprise. Anything is possible and really it comes down to a variety of complex factors and my only expectation is that an individual is less likely to play a certain niche than play CoD/fps and is even more likely to at least at some point play some ipad or phone game.
1. Generally anything that so conceals the lack of choice that I feel like I actually get to do whatever I genuinely want, along with a series of options so good and bad that they're outside even the realm I'd consider. Fallout 2 is a good example.
2. I mostly play games to see where the invisible wall is, and if I can find it and hit it, my sense of any sort of immersion dissipates. It's a self-defeating strategy, but it's sort of a way of life. I play stuff like Fallout 1/2 (oh, and Planescape) because those are the hardest to find that wall.
3. Let me murder children, sell my body, and get hopelessly addicted to drugs. I seldom do those things in games, but the fact that it's an option makes me forget the railroad I'm helplessly tethered to. Let's call it somewhere between narrative and exploration, with the self being the thing of exploration.
4. Okay. I'm surrounded by foes. I have this thing that will probably let me survive it, though I'll probably suffer consequences leading me into worse decisions further down the line, and I might be able to redeem myself if I'm not too far hosed by the end of it. Do I reload, or do I trigger the nightmare? That moment is when I look at the amount of Jet in my inventory and make that choice. If I don't get that moment, I will hate you in the morning.
5. Err. I played a character that spend about a month as a gimp to raise money for some ammo. Yes, in spite of not being yes-no questions, my answer is "yes".. Just don't make me feel like I'm suffering someone else's idea of a "teaching moment". I am okay with life being gritty, unfair, and terrible for anyone, and everyone, if appropriate. I am happy with emotion. I am perplexed by your association with emotion being something males don't do.
Maybe I'm just a giver. I'll remember that next time I have a hundred ball gags in Fallout.
6. I literally don't know how to answer this question. I'm going to say teen, because I don't have responsibilities beyond amusing myself and keeping myself employed, but at the same time, I don't really buy many games anymore because I haven't seen one that gives me any sense of agency since the aforementioned. What are "boy" games and what are "girl" games? Examples even, if possible.
7. That's even harder to answer. We'll go with somewhere between preteen and teen.
8. I assume the average gamer, by virtue of modern games and recent pop culture, is a misanthropic twenty-something that lives in his parents' basement, smokes too much pot, and gets upset when people accuse a Dead or Alive Volleyball game of being sexist.
I am insulted. You forgot that they need to be super grumpy, always on the internet, and be super violent with a plan to go shooting their local school or join gangs because of their games
That aside stop stealing my list of favorite games (for the top 3 in my head at least)!
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/02/06 07:03:39
StarTrotter wrote: I am insulted. You forgot that they need to be super grumpy, always on the internet, and be super violent with a plan to go shooting their local school or join gangs because of their games
You also have to hate women. That's apparently what a gamer is these days.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/02/06 07:14:39
1. What games do you regularly play? What are a few of your all-time favorite games?
I rarely play video games these days, but when I do it is usually assassin's creed or call of duty.
the halo games are some of my favourite, mainly for the narrative rather than the game play.
2. Why do you play games, generally? Why do you play the specific games from question 1?
to pass time, enjoy a story, or to see cool things and feel that I did them.
3. With which game pleasures do you most identify?
probably fantasy. Alot of my gaming tends to lean towards power fantasy.
4. Let’s discuss how your taste in gaming differs from my own. For instance I like narrative driven games. I like games that are based on character interaction and storylines.
I like character driven stories, and I like doing things in games I can't do in real life.
5. To what extent do your gaming preferences follow the recognized gender trends? Meaning do you like the following?
yes I do follow the male demographic I suppose.
6. To what extent do your gaming experiences follow the age-based demographic trends?
● 13–18: Teen. The job of a teenager is to start getting ready for adulthood. At this
age we generally see a significant divergence between male and female interests.
Boys continue to be interested (and often get more interested) in competition and
mastery, whereas girls become more focused on real-world issues and communication.
This makes boy and girl game interests very different at this age. Teens of
both genders are very interested in experimenting with new kinds of experiences,
though, and some of those can happen through gameplay.
7. What demographic groups (age/gender primarily) do YOUR gaming peers generally belong?
the same as me.
8. What do you assume the “average gamer” looks like (age/gender/etc)?
1. What games do you regularly play? What are a few of your all-time favorite games?
Generally RPGs and fps games - though on PC I used to love RTS games too. Especially if they have a good single player campaign. Favourite games include red alert, skyrim/oblivion/morrowind, fallout 3, GTA (most of them), half life (all of them), halo, halo odst, halo reach.
2. Why do you play games, generally? Why do you play the specific games from question 1?
To do something I could never do in real life. To live the story. To fill time and have fun either by myself or with others.
3. With which game pleasures do you most identify?
1. Sensation - only as part of 2, 6 and 7.
2. Fantasy - not as a power fantasy, though some games can be entertaining as such. However more as an "i can now be or do x which I could never do IRL".
3. Narrative - I enjoy a game more if it has a good story.
4. Challenge - if I am in the mood. Sometimes I just want to play for the story or experience so I turn difficulty down. Other times I wànt the challange so will turn it up.
5. Fellowship - not essential but most games with mipultiplayer are better playing with people you know
6. Discovery - a game is always better if it is a new experience and new story
7. Expression - games should make you grow as a person wherever possible.
8. Submission - prefer to be playing for interest rather than just to kill time.
4. Let’s discuss how your taste in gaming differs from my own. For instance I like narrative driven games. I like games that are based on character interaction and storylines.
Not really sure what there is to discuss
5. To what extent do your gaming preferences follow the recognized gender trends? Meaning do you like the following?
I think gender norms are as useful as racial stereotyping.
6. To what extent do your gaming experiences follow the age-based demographic trends?
Much like a horoscope, the definitions you give are so inclusive as to be utterly meaningless.
7. What demographic groups (age/gender primarily) do YOUR gaming peers generally belong?
No idea. Most are male, though some are female. They probably range in age from teens to 40s.
8. What do you assume the “average gamer” looks like (age/gender/etc)?
Another meaningless concept - there is no average gamer, just as there is no definition as to what makes someone a gamer other than they play games.
1. What games do you regularly play? What are a few of your all-time favorite games?
Generally RPGs and fps games - though on PC I used to love RTS games too. Especially if they have a good single player campaign. Favourite games include red alert, skyrim/oblivion/morrowind, fallout 3, GTA (most of them), half life (all of them), halo, halo odst, halo reach.
2. Why do you play games, generally? Why do you play the specific games from question 1?
To do something I could never do in real life. To live the story. To fill time and have fun either by myself or with others.
3. With which game pleasures do you most identify?
1. Sensation - only as part of 2, 6 and 7. 2. Fantasy - not as a power fantasy, though some games can be entertaining as such. However more as an "i can now be or do x which I could never do IRL". 3. Narrative - I enjoy a game more if it has a good story. 4. Challenge - if I am in the mood. Sometimes I just want to play for the story or experience so I turn difficulty down. Other times I wànt the challange so will turn it up. 5. Fellowship - not essential but most games with mipultiplayer are better playing with people you know 6. Discovery - a game is always better if it is a new experience and new story 7. Expression - games should make you grow as a person wherever possible. 8. Submission - prefer to be playing for interest rather than just to kill time.
4. Let’s discuss how your taste in gaming differs from my own. For instance I like narrative driven games. I like games that are based on character interaction and storylines.
Not really sure what there is to discuss
5. To what extent do your gaming preferences follow the recognized gender trends? Meaning do you like the following?
I think gender norms are as useful as racial stereotyping.
6. To what extent do your gaming experiences follow the age-based demographic trends?
Much like a horoscope, the definitions you give are so inclusive as to be utterly meaningless.
7. What demographic groups (age/gender primarily) do YOUR gaming peers generally belong?
No idea. Most are male, though some are female. They probably range in age from teens to 40s.
8. What do you assume the “average gamer” looks like (age/gender/etc)?
Another meaningless concept - there is no average gamer, just as there is no definition as to what makes someone a gamer other than they play games.
For future reference can you guys pick one gaming pleasure.... Not all of them?
Otherwise I can't really use the information you have given me.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Updated OP please take the survey!
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/02/24 20:23:55
From whom are unforgiven we bring the mercy of war.
1. What games do you regularly play? What are a few of your all-time favorite games?
I prefere RPG single player, Final Fantasy 6 ATF
2. Why do you play games, generally? Why do you play the specific games from question 1?
Escape, Umm Magic and Monsters
3. With which game pleasures do you most identify?
Fantasy, Challenge, storyline with side quests...however I find all the games the last few so absurdly easy I'm starting to hate them.
4. Let’s discuss how your taste in gaming differs from my own. For instance I like narrative driven games. I like games that are based on character interaction and storylines.
Not much to disscuss since other than a challenge we're not that different
5. To what extent do your gaming preferences follow the recognized gender trends? Meaning do you like the following?
Humm, I prefer a healthy mix of both, which is lacking from most games in production now IMHO
6. To what extent do your gaming experiences follow the age-based demographic trends?
● 35–50: Thirties and Forties. Sometimes referred to as the “family maturation ”
stage, most adults in this bracket are very caught up in career and family responsibilities
and are only casual game players. As their children become older, adults
in this age group are often the ones who make decisions about expensive game
purchases, and when possible, they look for game playing opportunities the
whole family can enjoy together.
Yep pretty much me now
7. What demographic groups (age/gender primarily) do YOUR gaming peers generally belong?
Mostly the same a few with no kids are in the heavy gamer catagory
8. What do you assume the “average gamer” looks like (age/gender/etc)?
Male, out of shape, which does not mean overweight all the time, but leans that way, poor people skills
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/02/25 18:33:59
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