I've got to run and won't be back on for a week (work trip) but wanted to post one final thought.
After seeing some of the responses and considering games that have come out with appeal to the demographic in question I think there two basic problems:
What to make? Game designers have to think outside of their normal box for this crowd.
How to get it into their hands? That's a big problem. 35+ crowd generally aren't looking at IGN or keeping up with what's coming out. Shelf space is almost nonexistant for Wii now (I see everyone from Walmart to EBGames having to put some games with only the side sticking out due to lack of space) so it's not easy to be seen there. Also a lot of companies have no clue how to sell their product with package design/name (looking at you EA!). So non-traditional marketing is required.
In a nutshell, it's not easy to connect game to gamer for this demographic - yet. But it's a large relatively untouched pool of cash sitting there waiting for some smart designers/publisher to exploit So far only Nintendo seems to have any ideas on this and they are stretched far too thin to supply this market adequately alone.
