Plus side as a kid, although no money to buy games, I didn't have any morals either back then, nor did anyone else. Piracy was the norm and it was as easy as copying a cassette tape. On early PC and Amiga 500 regular copy parties did the trick. I had way too many games to play. Copying games at school wasn't even frowned on. Or maybe they had no clue what the kids were doing with those fancy new inventions. The PCs seemed to just be there as part of a budget initiative, I never got any classes or anything around them. (Nor was there anything like internet, not even lan, late 80s)

My kids are spoiled too with an over abundance of games, although nowadays it's all legit from my collection. They have already developed apathy towards trying new games :/

Been gaming since NES. I can still instagib railgun you from the air in Q3DM17 without today's lame aim assist aimbot garbage.

But I prefer older games myself. Everything today is watered down follow the HUD arrow hand holding and blow everything up. I grew fond of JRPGs and adventure games on the SNES/PS1 generation.

You don't have sold out world wide concert tours playing COD or Minecraft music do you?  LMAO.

I'm fairly diverse and open minded, most certainly not a get off my lawn type but good god today's generation of Minecraft, COD, Angrybirds, and Temple Run gamers just make me throw up in my mouth that these are the people game companies cater too now for the mainstream dollars to the detriment of other genres and serious games.  

It really scars my soul to try to introduce younger gamers to RPGs and stuff other than Minecraft/COD and they get get bored because they can't skip the cutscenes or immediately start blowing shit up 3 seconds after loading a new game, or they get frustrated and quit because they get stuck on a boss or get thrown out in the open world to explore and don't know where to go.

Currently playing The Division. I was level capped < 24 hours from launch and have almost 200 hours in it.  Semi regretting it mostly because I hate online games with large whiny communities that constantly beg the devs to patch everything every week. This is OP, this is too strong, this needs to be balanced, this needs to be removed, blah blah blah blah cry cry cry cry. This is the current generation of gamer.

It was a much better day when you didn't have any of this online shit and constant weekly knee jerk nerfing of shit.

Today gaming technology is stale as well.  8>16>32 bit we got to experience the most rapid evolution and progress we will ever see.  The first CD ROM systems, the first voice acting, the first cut scenes, the first parallax scrolling, the first digitized audio, the first 3D polygons, the rapid expansion of memory capacity and capability for deep story telling, the first everything.  

Games were also built by small studios with a passion for creating worlds and telling stories. Now it's big money all run by investors banking on milking and exploiting safe estasblished mainstream franchises with copy paste engines.

All the innovation is done and gone now forever.  All future generations will have to look forward to from 7th gen on is a 25% bump in resolution every 8 years so we can play Call of Duty 19 1/2 and Halo 78 with more pixels and therefore "moar realiztic gunz and 'nade splosions bro"

We have long passed the peak.

I just hit 37.  I'll gladly take on todays ADHD COD kiddies in Quake 3 or UT2004 with a mouse and no aim bots er I mean aim assists.

I prefer to vedge out in single player melodrama JRPGs as I did as a preteen and teen in the SNES/PS1 era because that was the Golden Age of gaming.  But using analog sticks in a multiplayer FPS is like keyboard turning.

I can deal with the compromise and convenience of sitting on the couch with a controller with Fallout or Borderlands playing coop but never in an online competitive oriented game.  Fuck that.  Mouse or go home.

I'm only in my 30s, but honestly, even if I was a "gamer in my 50s", I wouldn't agree with that argument.

For one thing, not to sound shitty but a I feel a bit sad for young gamers who, say, started with Xbox/PS2/Gamecube, at a very young age. You know, the ones who are super nostalgic for shit like Mario Kart Double Dash. I agree that gamers in their 30s have it good, just because we actually got to encounter the arcades when that was a thing that meant something in the US. We actually got to experience major upgrades in arcade, home console and PC gaming, all while getting to enjoy some of the best classics ever made. We grew up in an era when, outside of some neat Nintendo Power type strategy guides once in awhile, games held your hand FAR less, and you really just had to play them, figure that shit out yourself, and get GOOD to beat them. An era before Quicktime Events, and over-long tutorial sections, infinite lives/continues, and games basically constantly telling you where to go, became the norm of game design.

We lived in an age before the internet, before online gaming. Online gaming is neat, and can be fun. It's cool to be able to play with friends who live far away, etc. But nothing beats going and hanging out at the arcades, or having PC LAN parties, or crowding around a Nintendo 64 to marvel at the notion of 4-player gaming in your own home. Nothing will ever replace gathering together with your friends and playing what they quaintly refer to now as "local multiplayer".

I dunno. Even if I were in my 50s, I'm not entirely sure, judging at where mainstream "AAA" gaming has gotten to by 2016, that I honestly want or NEED to see where gaming is going to be 30 or 40 years from now. If it even still exists then.

Today's generation couldn't play SMW without claiming the warp whistle is an exploit and is overpowered and needs to be nerfed.  Ugh online game communities can be so toxic.  It always ends up being a political power struggle to take something away.

I much prefered when once a game was released, it was well defined and that was it.

I can still go back to SMB1 and bounce on a turtle shell just right and get infinite lives.  Or use the Konami code.  Or Vanish + XZone.  Today those would be called exploits and  patched in response to whining crybabies who bitch about things even in SINGLE PLAYER GAMES.  

McCready Killshot perk in Fallout 4 perfect example.  People actually whined about it and cried out for nerfs and it got patched. IN A SINGLE PLAYER OFFLINE GAME ffs. Maybe they just like Bethesda's shitty RNG where you can miss 3 times in a row from 3 feet away with 85% chance, something the 95%+ accuracy from Killshot actually fixed and made the game enjoyable instead of eye rolling annoying.

That link lol, I was sure it should be topped off with soccer moms tapping on their phones or ya know, at least one girl, list is rather filled with the stereotype gamer regardless of how many people have ventured into farmville and then bought a "gamer" tshirt.

Baby Boomer generation? Crikey! That's from 1946 to what, 1965?? I'd say they are, in general, way out of the equation 51-70 year olds?! That was my whole point, those folk don't seem interested as they weren't brough up on them.

There's no doubt in my mind, that the reason there are so many older gamers is that people have grown up with them, from mainly the mid Eighties onwards. That's 30 years of gaming history drilled into people. I see so many blokes in their thirties now who game, and it increases all the time as they get older. Games are more and more catered to be inclusive of all ages, keeping people involved.

I'm guessing, but the type of person who bu inclination would be a gamer, doesn't necessarily include the casual COD / FIFA GTA types who play nothing else. I reckon they'll probably tire of gaming.

Millenials & Gen X, two very broad age ranges there, I'm straddling both and that cover a 40 year span..

Yeah, they most certainly aint much physically appealing but their super gaming skills cannot be denied ;).

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Also, some of the people in here have a biased criticism toward the young and new generation tbh. You can't just judge a small group of vocal annoying kids and think that is the whole generation. That's generalizing. There are lot of talents and skillful players in their 20s or even younger. Infact, as i just showed in previous comment, all top 10 highest paid gamers are all within their 20s or younger. 

Last but not least, is the golden age of gaming. Tbh, this "golden age" is debatable. Lot of you would argue that the golden age is the 80s, or 90s. But i beg to differ. For me, the golden age will always be the Present.

1. Becuz let's be honest here, gaming is become more mainstream and socially acceptable than ever.  Y'all 30s and 40s know how it feel, Right ? When you playing video games back in the days, let's admit it, it wasn't a proud thing to claim that "I am a Gamer" or told your parent  "I want to playing video games for a living". Sure people still criticizing on gaming, but only if it's on an extreme level like that's ALL you do for life or just being a lazy F! and aint getting a job.

2. You have plenty of choices. Range from Arcade to home consoles to handhelds to smartphone and ofc, PC! P.E.R.S.O.N.A.L C.O.M.P.U.T.A.R.R.R! Heck, and now we have VR! A legit Virtual Reality!

Yes, we have PC games in the 90s like Starcraft, Age of Empire, DOOM but it aint a STEAM era!

3. Reviews and walkthrough.  Those who live in the 80s or 90s, know that lot of the time the reason u bought a video games becuz some friends told you that 'it's a great game" or just buy it cuz the cover looks nice. And with that, lot of the times, you come out with disappointment and frustration becuz the game is either not your type or just straight RIP-OFF. Ofc, Games can be rip-off or just plain bad  and buggy these days too. But atleast you will get warned. Like for instead, The Order 1886, Animal Crossing Amiibo, etc.

So don't blame on anyone for your ACTION! That's just as bad as some parent let their kids watch deadpool and blame it for "too violent" or 'too sexual" "gone wrong", "gone deadly" ....

LEL.

4. Online Multiplayer!  Try to play "multiplayer" with your friends on PC.... yeah, good luck with your LAN games, lol.

But ofc, this is nothing more than my humble opinion. You're more than welcome to diagree but please be respectful :). Thanks, (if you actually have the time to read everything XD!)

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift, which is why we call it the present.” - Bill Keane

I am 31 and I may not be as twitchy but I'll tell you what. When I decide on an action it's more than not the right action and I don't spend nearly as much time over correcting or fixing a problem that would have be made.

Young gamers don't appreciate single player modes and great story telling.

They want just another rehashed first person just to call themselves gamers.

Ok, I'll respectfully disagree because I know how to spell because :p

1. Never had that issue, games were seen as something new, exciting and great. My dad invited friends over to play a text adventure together in the living room, pretty much how his parents invited the neighbours to come watch tv. Games didn't start off for kids, I don't know how they got that stigma. Leisure suit Larry and Police Quest weren't targeted at kids.

2. Arcades are gone. I used to have several arcades near me to marvel at new tech. Arcades nowadays are mostly retro except in amusement parks.
Plus the excitement of new types of games and new tech on a yearly basis or even faster is long gone. There used to be yearly trade shows in my local town with all the new gadgets, tech, and games on display. I used to go there to pick up some new games or a new soundcard etc.
Lol Steam era, we didn't have copy protection! Plus we had the demo scene, mod music scene, shareware versions, magazines with game discs, harmless viruses that did silly things, no adds!!!

3. We had reviews in the 80's and 90's via magazines and word of mouth ofcourse. Plus all games were ahem 'free'. We didn't have morals back then, combined with no copy protection or easy access to remove that and plenty of deep copy tools. It was exciting to try new games without knowing anything about them. I used to go over to a friends house and try out a bunch of new games together on Amiga 500, and try out a bunch of new pc games when he came to visit me. The best reviewer is yourself. Zero prior knowledge, best way to experience something new.
For example, my nr 2 best game of all time, Civilization. A friend from school brought it over (I had never heard of it before), copied it onto my hdd, we played untill 7AM in the morning crowding behind the keyboard, then had to go to school, oops.

4. We played multiplayer daily, together behind the same pc or console. Most games had local co-op or competitive play and solo games were enough fun to watch and take turns. Later on LAN play >>>>>> online multiplayer. Online multiplayer, even with friends, is a poor substitute.


But true, VR is finally here, about damn time. Plus it took forever to download dithered porn pics at 9600 baud, that is if you could connect to your favorite BBS first, busy tone, try next one until you finally got in.