JSF said: But the adults aren't being called kiddie.

You haven't been around for too long, have you?

I suppose not. I mainly used to come here to take a quick glimpse at the sales figures and maybe occasionally read a thread or news item.

JSF said: BTW, I forgot to mention most romantic comedies are rated PG or higher. I don't think they were specifically made with children in mind. Just think of the masturbation-hairgel incident from Something About Mary. Not kid-friendly.

Bad analogy - Something about Mary was an R Rated adult comedy

Because I think most adults don't really like being called "kiddy" by 15 year-olds - it's annoying.

I'll think you'll find most adults are not bothered how people perceive them, as you get older you lose that feeling of awkwardness when you don't fit in with your peer group and learn to trust your own opinions and tases whilst being yourself.

I would think it's more likely teens and the early 20s that are most effected by the kiddy label... and 40 year old men that still live with their mums!! 

llewdebkram said: I'll think you'll find most adults are not bothered how people perceive them, as you get older you lose that feeling of awkwardness when you don't fit in with your peer group and learn to trust your own opinions and tases whilst being yourself.

They're not bothered, bothered, I'll give you that. But being constantly called "kiddy" does become mildly annoying, I don't know, itchy-like  annoying (don't know how the analogy works in English...). A lot of adults find "I'm very mature" teens annoying - ludicrous too, but pretty annoying.

I'd say Nintendo is strong ages 5-13, reasonably strong ages 13-18, moderate (at best) ages 18-25, reasonably strong again in the 25-30 age bracket, and strong for for ages 30+. When most people say that Nintendo doesn't have "adult" titles, they usually mean they don't have titles like Metal Gear Solid and God of War. Those aren't really for "adults," exactly, more like for "young men." Again: violent, action-packed video games dominate the 18-25 year old age bracket.

Nintendo is trying to maximise profits. Historically kids play much more video games than their parents ever did. They have more free time, and excellent buying power (i.e. "whinging"!). A game that targets adults only (i.e. 25yrs +), may only hit 10-20% of the total possible market. This severely restricts sales, and profits. Not smart. Of course as time progresses, more of us that grew up with gaming are becoming adults. The situation will starting to change, and we are seeing more games that adults (primarily) would buy rather than children. GTA is the perfect example... it is NOT a game targeted at adults. I know several children under the age of 10 who actively play it, and many, many teenagers around the 15yr bracket. It might deal with more mature themes (violence, drugs, sex, killing) - but it is not a game for adults. A daily/time organiser may be an example of an "Adult" piece of software. Its boring, and only had a practical, everyday use - primarily for adults. You don't see a lot of these released for game machines (surprisingly they wouldn't really sell).

shams said: Nintendo is trying to maximise profits. Historically kids play much more video games than their parents ever did. They have more free time, and excellent buying power (i.e. "whinging"!). A game that targets adults only (i.e. 25yrs +), may only hit 10-20% of the total possible market. This severely restricts sales, and profits. Not smart. Of course as time progresses, more of us that grew up with gaming are becoming adults. The situation will starting to change, and we are seeing more games that adults (primarily) would buy rather than children. GTA is the perfect example... it is NOT a game targeted at adults. I know several children under the age of 10 who actively play it, and many, many teenagers around the 15yr bracket. It might deal with more mature themes (violence, drugs, sex, killing) - but it is not a game for adults. A daily/time organiser may be an example of an "Adult" piece of software. Its boring, and only had a practical, everyday use - primarily for adults. You don't see a lot of these released for game machines (surprisingly they wouldn't really sell).

Yep, I largely agree with this, Shams. I always think it's odd when people suggest that Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto, God of War, or similar titles are for "adults." I certainly wouldn't say that they're focused on children, and I wouldn't deny that some adults play them, but I'd say all of those games (and similar titles) are focused on young men (specifically men) age 18-25. I'm not slandering them, by any means: I really enjoyed the original MGS, for example. I'm just saying they're not for adults anymore than, say, Mission Impossible or 300 are for adults (and I think those two movies align quite well with MGS and God of War in terms of theme and market direction). The 18-25 year old age bracket is huge. Not just in video games: 18-25 year old males are an enormous profit maker in any entertainment venue, be it TV or Movies or Music. And it's an even bigger deal in Video Games than in those other venues. So it makes complete sense to make games for that age bracket. Ultimately, I think Nintendo is better at making games for kids and adults than either Microsoft or Sony -- again, assuming by "adult" we mean "people age 25+" and not simply "something that has lots of sex and violence." What I believe Nintendo is weaker at is reaching the 18-25 year old age bracket. Again, that has its advantages and disadvantages: traditionally, it's mainly been a bad thing, because the 25+ market for games has been smaller than that of 5-18 or especially of 18-25. That's clearly changing, so it's not such a bad thing anymore, but we don't really know the full extent of it yet.

The male 18-25 market is huge, the problem is that Sony and MS are waged in battle over that audience while ignoring the rest. So Nintendo just has be respectable in that category and they have free reign over the rest of the population. What amazes me is the neither Sony nor MS put any real effort into expanding the market. It's like they had tunnel vision.

k, I'm a man, aged 19, I have friends 18-25, male and female, that I hang out with regularly. I hate getting grouped in with the crowd that would typically play "mature" games. We all enjoyed God of War, and the Grand Theft Autos, because they are quality games, but we probably had even more fun playing games like Viva Pinata or Wii games. But I suppose there's plenty of frat boys to fill the demographic.