FF/RPGs/Gaming Demographics (Split from the other thread)

[darkchrono]

Wolf Kano you can not base something off of the very small percentage of people you see posting on some message board. Message board populations generally represent a very small niche of the overall number of people who actually buy the game. As with anything message board populations are not a very good way to judge things off of. For instance if you went by what message boards said you would think some of the most horrible television shows there have been that got cancelled for a reason were actually the best thing on t.v. because that is what the small niche of people on that message board thought.

While this is true, I didn't base my information completely on just the census and I'm sorry if I made it sound that way. If you look at any long lasting franchise like say Star Trek or Star Wars, you'll find that the demograph that supports it is all over the place and isn't just the youngest generation that the bulk of the franchise is targeted towards, namely kids with all the collectibles and toys and games. Seeing how FF is a 25 year old franchise this year, I would say it's very likely that the series is still being supported by older fans just as much as the younger audience that it's targeted to. Gaming in general is actually being dominated more by older people than younger people. The average age range of a gamer is around 30. So I would argue that game developers that feel they still need to make writing appeal to a younger demographic like teen is kind of silly, especially with long lasting franchises barring games that are designed to be family friendly like Mario. Maybe what FF really needs in it's writing is the balls to tackle real mature themes, I mean we had games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Xenogears, that really brought up some more adult themes concerning religion and politics, and these games were released when the age range of the average gamers was in their teens. So I say it still stands that FF could write a more mature love story with an older group, and it would not be lost on the audience.

Wolf Kano you also are making a mistake by trying to compare video game appeal to movie appeal. Movies are something that everyone of all ages tend to enjoy. They may like different types of movies but nobody really gets tired of movies in general. Video games on the other hand are something that most folks tend to grow out of after a while.

The link you gave say 33% play on their smartphones and 20% play on their handheld devices. Most older folks who play video games tend to play real simple games that don't take much effort and a 'game' can be played very quickly. I don't think you will find a very high percentage of those adult gamers who play rpg's any longer. And sorry but you need more evidence to merit video game indrustries making games 'for them' then saying simply that they aren't playing rpg's because the storylines are childish.