Whether you’re a video game player curious about other gamers or a non-gamer wondering why people play, this survey is for you. “2021 Essential Facts About the Video Game Industry,” from the Entertainment Software Association, answers all your questions and does so with lots of colorful graphics instead of dense text. I’m just sad I didn’t get to participate in this survey.
It seems 7% of video game players are 65 and older — more than I’d have guessed — and at 78, I’m one of them. Not a terribly exclusive group. However, most of them/us play casual games like Solitaire (81%) or arcade games like PacMan (17%). It seems I’m still something of an anomaly since I prefer roleplaying, shooter, and action games. (Currently, while waiting for new content for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, I’ve gone back to Red Dead Online.)
Why people play, where and how they play, etc. It’s all in there. I’ve mentioned before that I started gaming as a way to stay in touch with my son when he went off to college. I was hooked immediately, and have been playing one game or another ever since. I’ve played on PlayStations, desktop and laptop computers, and Xbox consoles (currently on my third one, an Xbox Series X). Lots of people play on their phones, but I find the screen too small to be any fun, except for WordHero, where you need a small touch screen to be fast.
My guess is that if you aren’t a gamer, you’ll be surprised by how many people play, who they are, and why they play. I didn’t see a figure for how many people started playing video games last year because they were trapped at home by Covid, but that would have been interesting.
Or maybe, as the survey shows, most people are already well aware of and likely to be playing video games.
“I’m Not A Player, I’m A Gamer“
“Players Get Chicks,
I Get Achievements“
7%? That is more than I would have thought, too. I am puzzler, not a gamer. LOVE solving puzzle-type games. Not jigsaw puzzles. Not crossword puzzles. Any app that allows me to use logic to solve, and definitely as much time as I need. I’m horrible when it comes to games that only allow so much time. lol… I love Jeopardy. And more often than not, if it’s an question, well, technically an answer, that I know, I can never get it out of my mouth in time. It’s up spinning around in my head, not forming into words, until after the time runs out. Then I come up with the answer, well, technically the question.
My favorite app is KAMI 2. And it has endless puzzles to solve because it allows users to create puzzles, which I love. I won’t go into explaining it. Just look it up if you’re curious and like to solve puzzles.
Depends on my mood. I’ve tried various games on the phone, but the only one that has ever stuck is WordHero. I used to play some trivia games, but I can’t play the ones where you have to type the answers fast. I rarely type on the phone, so am still a slow hunt-and-peck. Mostly I just dictate. Love voice-to-text.