Yesterday's New York Times article featuring the heartening words of our own Reggie Fils-Aime also included a few choice tidbits from analyst Michael Pachter, who still seems to think that the Nintendo DS is "a kid's device." Despite the release of a mature game last year, the move toward media and other DS uses in Japan, and the thriving all-ages homebrew community, the DS just can't seem to shake the image. Of course, we turn to you to give us the truth. Our best guess is that we've got readers who run the gamut of ages. Is that the case?DS Fanboy Poll: Only for kids?
Yesterday's New York Times article featuring the heartening words of our own Reggie Fils-Aime also included a few choice tidbits from analyst Michael Pachter, who still seems to think that the Nintendo DS is "a kid's device." Despite the release of a mature game last year, the move toward media and other DS uses in Japan, and the thriving all-ages homebrew community, the DS just can't seem to shake the image. Of course, we turn to you to give us the truth. Our best guess is that we've got readers who run the gamut of ages. Is that the case?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1-01-2008 @ 4:23PM
Joel Sanda said...
Michael Pachter, who still seems to think that the Nintendo DS is "a kid's device."
A kid's device? Hardly. My wife (43) is currently playing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. My son (9) is playing a whole slew of game. I (40) am playing Zelda and the Phantom Hourglass and Panzer Tactics.
Anyone who goes around proclaiming something is "kids' stuff" is far too full of his own adulthood. Growing up ... just grow up enough so you have a salary that can get you the things you want. After that? Play, play and play.
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1-01-2008 @ 5:01PM
ombraweb said...
Just your typical north American attitude toward "Games". Most people in north America see games as being for kids and that is that. For some reason these same people don't have a problem with adults playing Hockey, Baseball, Basketball, Football, ect which in the end are just games as well.
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1-02-2008 @ 7:47AM
Matdredalia said...
While I agree that a lot of North American's, especially in the US, have that mentality, I wouldn't say "most" anymore. The thing is, those of us who were raised on the Atari & NES are now adults and I would say most of us still play. Slowly but surely, the new mentality is taking over, and I know a lot of people who picture the typical gamer as a 24 year old bachelor who works at McDonalds to keep his bills paid and buy his games as opposed to some kid playing under the covers past bedtime.
The sad thing is, in my experience, stereotype #1 is closer to the truth. I don't mind that they pay their bills and game....I just think they should work at Pizza Hut instead.
1-01-2008 @ 5:04PM
Garst said...
Damn that statistics class and it's bell curves! They're everywhere!
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1-01-2008 @ 5:23PM
Fiefdom said...
One could just as easily generalize newspapers as only for the older generations as they're outdated in comparison to on-line news sources. It makes sense if you look at it from an ignorant and biased standpoint but it's entirely inaccurate.
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1-01-2008 @ 5:44PM
Zuggy said...
Funny that about half of the respondents so far are between 21 and 30.
Some other interesting stuff, my 18 year old sister has one, I'm 23 and my 53 and 55 year old parents each want one.
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1-01-2008 @ 6:04PM
Secre said...
It's not the system that should be considered "for kids." If some people would decide to develop more "for adults" or "for teens" games for a system that has a reputation as "for kids," it wouldn't have said reputation. Basically, what makes a system for a certain age group is the games played on it, not the system.
I swear, every time I hear someone say that the Gamecube was a "kiddy" system, or Wind Waker's graphics were too "childish," I wanna throttle that person.
For the latter statement, graphics don't make a game. The cell shading for Wind Waker was very appropriate for the games story and style. Just because it looks more like it was made for kids doesn't mean adults and teens can't play it and still have fun. In fact, it seems to me that most kids wouldn't be able to understand some parts of the storyline. This also enforces the "Gameplay over graphics" thing that Nintendo does.
As for the former statement, would the Gamecube have been considered a "kiddy system" if a bunch of games similar to Manhunt 2 had been made on it? If more of the games were T or M? I highly doubt it.
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1-01-2008 @ 10:14PM
Fiefdom said...
By the beginning of 2003, the GameCube had Eternal Darkness, Blood Rayne, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, three Resident Evil games, and probably a few others I can't remember off the top of my head. I don't know why the GameCube was seen as a system only for kids, especially after Capcom announced they'd release new Resident Evil titles only the GameCube (which they didn't hold to, but).... I think the GameCube just catered to the younger audience a bit better than its competitors with Nintendo (and Sega with Sonic and Super Monkey Ball) putting more easily approachable games on the system. It also came right after the N64 so Nintendo's younger fan-base at the time was more apt to buying a GameCube. It still inaccurate, though. I agree that it's stupid to generalize the audience for a system without regard for the games actually available for it.
My Dad (who taught me how to play the Pokemon Trading Card Game and was my primary StarCraft teammate for three years) has his own GameCube and Wii (and he loved Wind Waker). He feels I've betrayed Nintendo by having a PS2 and a PSP alongside my GCN and DS. :P
I'm 18 by the way, as if my age makes any difference to the validity of my opinion on this matter.
1-01-2008 @ 6:09PM
John Montgomery said...
"Growing up ... just grow up enough so you have a salary that can get you the things you want. After that? Play, play and play."
My thoughts exactly, couldn't have said it better. I'm 44 and am finishing up Phantom Hourglass, my wife (37) is addicted to Brain Age 2 and my 15 year old son is playing Phoenix Wright T and T for the second time since he got it Xmas day. Heck, even my 62 year old mother-in-law was rocking Brain Age, Flash Focus and Clubhouse Games at our Xmas party. She never goes anywhere without her DS Lite. At least in my family the DS knows no age boundaries.
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1-01-2008 @ 10:39PM
Swampgirl Inez said...
I keep saying they must think we are since you can't find any accessories without extra stylus included. I'm old enough to keep track of my stuff. Anyone know of a good foster home for unwanted styli?
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1-01-2008 @ 11:54PM
Miranda said...
Well, not all adults can keep track of their stylus. I've gone through a few of them myself. :-)
1-02-2008 @ 7:51AM
Matdredalia said...
Hehe, while I can keep track of my styli, I gotta beg to differ.....not all adults can. My husbands are notorious for losing their styli.
1-01-2008 @ 10:49PM
Brian said...
I think the DS is for everyone. It's got games adults can play like Brain Age and Flash Focus. There are also some challenging puzzle games adults can play too.
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1-01-2008 @ 11:52PM
Miranda said...
I'm 38 and have owned almost every Nintendo handheld (except the Gameboy Micro). Yeah, that includes Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, Gameboy Advance SP, DS, and now a DS Lite. (I'm totally, totally Nintendo's b*tch.)
Also, my in-laws, who are in their 60s, bought a DS in October (with the idea that they would share it, ha) and have since bought a second. :-)
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1-02-2008 @ 12:40AM
Alisha Karabinus said...
Glad to see I'm not alone in thinking this was just ridiculous. Sure, kids can enjoy the DS... but so can everyone else. With the average age of all sorts of gamers continuously rising, people -- especially these "analysts" -- need to realize that games have moved beyond being only for children.
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1-02-2008 @ 1:34AM
Frastoglegnia said...
It's nearly impossible to judge the long-term demographic of a popular and relatively new art form. Too many older people stick to what they know, and not necessarily for bad reasons -- why devote time from your declining years to something you missed learning when you were most adaptable? Jonathan Swift learned to read Greek in his 70s, but not every senior is that spry intellectually.
We'll have a more accurate picture of the real age demographic when current adolescents are ready to retire. Only then will we learn the difference between impaired adaptability and age-based preference.
(Though perhaps older people wouldn't be as discouraged if kids and teens on message boards didn't spend so much time laughing at their fathers trying to play Rome: Total War.)
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1-02-2008 @ 7:39AM
Matdredalia said...
Under 16 83 (7.3%)
16-20 323 (28.5%)
21-25 359 (31.6%)
26-30 201 (17.7%)
31-40 135 (11.9%)
40 and up 33 (2.9%)
Those were the poll results when I voted. Now, is it just me or do we have a lot less kids reading than adults? ~_^
I also just wanted to drop in and note that I'm 20, one of my husbands is 22, and the other is 30, and we are all very proud DS Owners. My little brother plays, too, and he's 13, but hes the only person under the age of 20 that I personally know that has one. Our "adopted cousin" was the first of us to get a DS to show off to us all, and he's 29.
So...I could be wrong, but I'm inclined to say that there are a whole lot more adults with DS's than kids, probably because little hands + LCD touch screens = tears.
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1-02-2008 @ 12:13PM
Alisha Karabinus said...
No one likes jam hands on the DS.
1-05-2008 @ 7:27PM
Secre said...
Haven't you heard? People are blaming video games for kids not reading as much. Maybe they're not willing to read articles like this because it takes away from video game time. After all, there's no possibility of that not being a fact xP.
1-02-2008 @ 10:30AM
3cubed minus 3squared plus1 said...
Yeah, I'm pretty sure you can guess my age by looking at my user name :).
Great to see its more adults on here than kids.
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