What stops a huge percentage of the population from being into gaming?

[undercovergnome]

its a generation gap - people from the 80s and 90s grew up playing video games, getting games consoles for christmas and games for birthdays, being exposed to computers at school, Older people grew up just watching the TV, I would rather sit in an empty room than watch a tv, how can these people live, imagine having to wait for a show to come on, then having to deal with commercials, but i guess they just missed the boat

[lvlark]

My Mum, bless her soul, for example, watches TV for the opposite reason, despite her being as intelligent as me.

This rings true indeed. Hobbies (tv/music/film most of all) are for what Norwegians would call 'slappe av', translated as 'to relax', but literally it would translate to something like 'weaken down'. Gaming, be that hardcore or casual, is mentally too intense, or too active, for that. Just like reading a book. Alot of films are too engaging for it as well.

Now it's not as black-and-white as that, people have more active hobbies as well (sports for example). But these usually only take up a few hours per week, with the rest going to easier things like tv. Also, boundaries are different for different people. Some will say that casual gaming isn't too engaging, some will say even casual gaming is too 'easy-going' to spend time on. But I think that the majority of people will like their free time to be spent on 'easy-going' things like tv/music.

OTOH I'm pretty sure that there will be a time when almost everyone plays some sort of games. Be that on their smartphones whilst waiting for a train or something, on sites like kongregate.com, on facebook, or heavier gaming such as WoW, CoD etc. In a few years (20 at most imo) most people will have had enough time to get used to computers/smartphones/the like for it to be 'slappe av' regardless of it being more engaging than just hanging in front of your telly.

[AstroleonShadowflower]

One of them gets the chicks, the other doesn't.

What does this have to do with anything?

[Adam Jensen]

What does this have to do with anything?

It just goes to further illustrate that video gaming is still a hobby where the players are perceived as virgin no-lifers.

Yet kick a ball around you and you're an an instant success?

Its a perception issue with our current culture. Maybe it'll change as my generation gets older, but it still persists.

[Hraklea]

So if something requires some actual activity it is unfriendly? Do you realize how stupid this is?
Elitism isn't as big as it's hyped out to be, not to mention that it's irrelevant in most games. What kind of elitism goes on in Skyrim for instance? That's right, none.

The elitism is this position that anyone who find Skyrim complicated is stupid. Most gamers have this arrogant opinion that anyone that can't play games are dumb, retarded, etc.

I never said it is unfriendly because it requires physical effort. I wonder why the heck you think I said that. Maybe your english is worse than mine. What I'm saying is that you can't put cellphone games and RTS on the same bag, like some people here are doing. Just because people enjoy Angry Birds it doesn't mean playing World of Warcraft is "friendly" to them. Games are complicated for non-players.

Look at soccer, for instance. Kick the ball, score a goal, don't hurt the other players. It is simple, any person can understand that. Now ask someone that only plays Angry Birds to watch a raid or a SC2 match. You can't seriously suggest than those things are friendly as soccer.

[Senathor]

"Reality", socializing, educations/professions, physical activities etc I'd guess.

---------- Post added 2012-11-26 at 08:42 PM ----------

What does this have to do with anything?

Although his comment was immature and not accurate in every situation, you still know what he means, don't act like you don't...

---------- Post added 2012-11-26 at 08:43 PM ----------

The cost, the time, the community, and or just lack of personal appeal to the games these days.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

---------- Post added 2012-11-26 at 08:47 PM ----------

its a generation gap - people from the 80s and 90s grew up playing video games, getting games consoles for christmas and games for birthdays, being exposed to computers at school, Older people grew up just watching the TV, I would rather sit in an empty room than watch a tv, how can these people live, imagine having to wait for a show to come on, then having to deal with commercials, but i guess they just missed the boat

You have obviously never been a real fan of a TV show, the dedication and sacrifices you would force yourself into doing just to catch that one episode is stupid! Good ol' days of Stargate Atlantis when I was younger, I couldn't wait until Fridays when the next episode was finally released.

"NERD SHOW LOL" - fu biatches i dont give a shiet, im still proud!

---------- Post added 2012-11-26 at 08:49 PM ----------

it just doesn't appeal to them. It's not like everyone has to like playing games and if they don't it's weird.

True. I mean you can't blame someone for not enjoying basketball, I personally don't. Someone shouldn't critically judge me just becuase of that, same goes for gaming.

[Shootandkill]

Well if by huge percentage you mean people over 40, then it's because they didn't grow up with video games. Many males under 40 play video games, and there was a recent study that said that the doll was the toy most desired by girls, but now it's video games, which falls in line with boys. In 20 or 30 people in my generation will be in their 30s and 40s and then video games will be more accepted by society.

[HBpapa]

For the same reason other hobbies might not appeal to you or me.

They may be cost prohibitive or someone may not want to put in the time/effort/money into being adequate at that hobby or they just generally don't give a poo about engaging in the activity.

Also, many people want a tangible result for their time spent in their hobby.