Video Games as ‘Kid’s’ Toys - Wordplay and the Discourse of Video Games - page 40

Although the types of people playing video games have diversifi ed, the
young are one of the largest audiences of game players. Recent research in
the United States indicates that 99% of boys and 94% of girls, 97% of chil-
dren overall, play video games, with most playing frequently. 7 As girls age
they are less likely to play video games, but more than half still play some
form of video game. The marked change in who is playing video games
over the past few decades is best seen when looking at older segments of the
population. Currently, over half of adults in the United States and four in
fi ve young adults are playing video games. 8 Over 20% of those adults play
at least almost every day and the more educated one is, up to having some
college education, the more likely one is to play video games. 9 Those adults
who do play are more likely to be avid game players and more likely to play
on a computer, while younger demographics tend to prefer other gaming
platforms, like consoles and handheld devices.
As the earliest generations to play video games have gotten older, the
average age of video game players has increased; the average gamer is now a
thirty-four-year-old with twelve years of gaming experience. 10 The debut of
additional gaming platforms, from the Wii to the iPad, and a general aging
of the population in key countries have led to a situation where the stereo-
typical young boy, the potential Nintendo zombie, is no longer the primary
target market for most video games. Those in or around the industry know
this; they feel it in their bones and see it on the faces of those they know
who play games. However, elements of the larger public discourse about
games has not changed, as those who are increasingly in the minority, those
who do not play video games, participate in recycling an antiquated image
of video game players to support certain political stances ostensibly in an
ef ort to protect the young. Understanding why the construction of audience
is important to wordplay requires three steps. First, it is important to look
to the primary concerns about kid's video game play habits. By focusing on
issues of violence in games and addiction to playing games video games are
often portrayed as a new moral panic where children could be brainwashed,
desensitized, or zombifi ed. Beyond an initial look at the broad issues sur-
rounding children and games, two case studies of er a deeper perspective
on issues of mature content and violence in video games and their ef ect
on the young. Finally, it is crucial to look at contemporary industry ef orts
to refi gure the audience of gamers and appeal to a broader, heterogeneous
group of players in the advertising for motion-based game systems and how
those campaigns can shift the terrain of words about video games.
VIDEO GAMES AND KIDS
Public discourse about video games and children or adolescents generally
revolves around a series of recurrent points. Initially it is noted that video
games are increasingly played by young people and that video games can