Games as Adult Entertainment

Hi Guys,

Just some musings while I sit here in Lockdown...

As mentioned in the CP2077 thread, I'm really enjoying the GOG release of Horizon Zero Dawn. This definitley deserved it's 9.5 scores in my book, a game made very close to perfection in all aspects, if you happen to like that kind of open-world action.

As I was describing it to a colleague who's a fellow Witcher 3 fan, I realized I ought to warn him that it has a distinct "Pixar" - as in, made (also) for teens - vibe to it. While there is combat, and human opponents, it's definitley one of the least violent titles I have currently installed. The way characters act, talk, and how the story progresses is closer to a Disney movie or other animated film than some kind of graphic adult novel.

Which got me to think, because HZD is pretty much a mix of the recent Tomb Raiders and Far Cry. And the recent Tomb Raiders have been very violent, very dark. By contrast, the first one had less than a handful of human enemies, and you were mostly shooting wild animals attacking you.

When did the industry actually start developing most of their blockbusters for the 18+ crowd? Not too many years ago, admitting that you played console or computer games as someone 30+ kind of got you weird looks. But nowadays, it actually appears the multi-million budget titles are aimed squarely at grown ups.

Not that I'm complaining. It's just interesting how a hobby that used to be "for kids" (or maybe that's just my perception as someone who was a teenager when the Gameboy came out) has turned into a full-on adult centered industry.

We grew up, and now we make games for ourselves. That's my best explanation.

Heck, I built a beach house over the Thanksgiving weekend in No Man's Sky, myself:

https://www.reddit.com/gallery/k3zqfy

I didn't shoot a single monster, or even kill any human players. But I had lots of fun! And my daughter gave input from time to time on some of the interior decorating.

There are a lot more adults than yutes and they tend to have more disposable income, plus I think your average adult oriented game is more appealing to kids than vice versa.

As a person in their 50's who has been accused of being an adult at one time or another, I can say I prefer to play a game rather than watch TV most of the time. I find the games are far more engrossing, and I have to be an active participant, mentally engaged. Whereas something like watching a TV show or movie is a far more passive act.

I've considered this at times because I have sometimes questioned whether a grown man should be sitting in front of a computer playing games, but then I go back to the TV example. Nobody would look down on you think you weren't "acting your age" if you sat in front of the TV for a few hours in the evening to unwind, so why would there be a stigma to playing a game - which, as I mentioned, is far more mentally challenging and engaging than staring at a TV.

I've also considered that someone my age has basically grown up along with the development of these games. When I was 10 or 11 we had a Pong system (well, not REAL Pong, the Sears version of it!). A few short years later, we were playing Pac Man and Asteroids in the arcade, and a few years after that, we were playing these games on our home TV's with an Atari (ok, Sears Atari but you get my point!). So the games developed as we grew, and they were always a part of our environment and life. As we matured (sort of), they matured (again, sort of).

For me, I would guess that games are made with adult themes in the knowledge that it won't stop a lot of parents buying it for their child. There isn't as much stigma to letting your child play a 18+ rated game, not much revenue lost for the missing younger market, and probably the 18+ rating gains it more than it loses overall.

It's been my experience that playing games on the consoles is what is associated with kids but PC gaming is associated with adults for the most part. As has already been mentioned by others here, kids today already have been playing games with adult themes and content so it's not so much that the game developers have changed but the teenage/kid market.

Totally also my way of seeing this. I've never felt a need to justify myself to anyone giving me a weird eye over my gaming habits, but if they were merely asking out of real curiosity, the nearest comparison I draw today is with the big-budget TV shows. Somehow there it's the totally grown up thing to spend 80+ hours passivley watching fictious people do fictious things, but if we do the fictious things ourselves, it somehow makes us childish.

Truth be told, I don't think it's a big deal anymore. Lots of girls playing these days, too.



Good point, and I guess even at the dawn of PC gaming (Atari, Commodore, x286...) it were mostly adults owning those expensive technical items.

And yeah, agree with DM and Crane that it's easier to make games for adults and have kids play them than vice versa.



I was trying to come up (without cheating via Google) with the game that first introduced quite graphical (i.e. not actual genitalia, but nudeness) sex scenes. Far Cry 3 definitley had one, but I believe it might have been one of the early GTAs? Specifically talking about mainstream games here, not dedicated erotic titles like Larry.

Yes, it's definitely changed over the last few years. The stigma, if that's what it was, is lifting.

I've had that thought several times over the years. My father in law poo poos games as a kids thing, but will watch tv half the day and all night. I've got no gripe against that for him, he just doesn't get it.

It's also amusing when you give people a 'go' on a game, like a flight sim. He had a quick turn in il2 many years ago and walked away saying where is the fun in that, it's too hard! Don't you want to relax after work? He clearly doesn't realise that every night i was single handedly saving the world from hordes of Luftwaffe bombers.

Lol ^

People just don't realise, when we come in from work our real task begins.

We are all that stands between them and the virtual annihilation of all they hold dear!!!

What gets me are the women who complain about "playing video games" is only for kids. Oh really? So posting pics of people using unicorn SnapChat filters and dresses on Pinterest for hours every day is such an adult activity? Good to know....

Some women are very hypocritical Panzer. I used to get 'demonised' for playing games yet they have their own time drains and interests.

What used to really pi$$ me off was getting dragged into their interests when they never once showed any interest in mine. I'm glad I'm single, and have been since 2004. Now I only have to please me.

Hey, sounds like we have that in common, my ex-wife would curl her lip at my flight sims, while never missing an episode of Coronation Street, Eastenders, Brookside etc.

Those are all UK soap operas right? I'm sure they are just as annoying as the US ones.

Yeah,Britain's finest soap operas. I'd rather pluck out my eyes with a spoon than watch any of them.

My last ex was addicted to 'Neighbours' and 'Home and Away' (thanks Australia) so much so that eventually she drew me into it.