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Gen Z, Generation Alpha, & 10th Gen Gaming - What is a "video game" to them?

Let me set the table first.

If you are a Gen Y, you are considered a Millenial who was born between the years 1981 to 1996. As of 2022, The oldest millennial is 41.
If you are Gen Z, a Zoomer( a coined term to opposed Boomers, their great grandparents) are born between 1997 to 2009. The oldest Gen Z is 25.

In order to keep the Millennial generation analytically meaningful, and to begin looking at what might be unique about the next cohort, Pew Research Center decided a year ago to use 1996 as the last birth year for Millennials for our future work. Anyone born between 1981 and 1996 (ages 23 to 38 in 2019) is considered a Millennial, and anyone born from 1997 onward is part of a new generation. - Pew Research

What is A "Video Game"?

Today, gaming is a lot different for the oldest Millennial from when he was 25: His concept (he is the most dominant gender in gaming at this time) of a video game is that of a physical software on an optical disc physical media storage (with the complete data of the actual game on it) that he played on a PS2, GameCube or Original XBOX.

As for Gen Z at 25, their concept of gaming is very different. Video games are more of a service than a commodity (even for offline, single players games). Video games in their eyes, should be able to be played anywhere, regardless of hardware as he or she are not bound to brand loyalty (Fanboyism) of past generations.

10th Generation of Video Games and... Gen Alpha.

In 2038, the Oldest Zoomer will be 41, and Generation Alpha will be in their early teens. If the 41 years Zoomer thinks of video games as a service, now fully invested in the concept as an adult, then what will a GenA think of video games at the age of 25? (Will Video games become a human right? lol)

It is hard to predict precisely what games, franchises, and IPs will be here or what new ones will appear by then.

Our own understanding of traditional console Hardware showcasing exclusive video games from exclusive 1st and 2nd party development studios seems less and less of a demand. Will this gaming innovation cycle go away if Zoomers and GenA don't see a need?
 
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Grildon Tundy

Gold Member
10 years from now, there will have been another new genre "discovered" that becomes massively popular in the way that Battle Royales and Survival/Crafting game have in the past 10 years of so. No one knows what this genre will be, but it will be blindingly obvious in hindsight why it became so popular

My money is on it being an AR game like Pokémon Go but with more staying power
 
10 years from now, there will have been another new genre "discovered" that becomes massively popular in the way that Battle Royales and Survival/Crafting game have in the past 10 years of so. No one knows what this genre will be, but it will be blindingly obvious in hindsight why it became so popular

My money is on it being an AR game like Pokémon Go but with more staying power
AR might be the best bet of the next big thing
 

laddergoat89

Neo Member
10 years from now, there will have been another new genre "discovered" that becomes massively popular in the way that Battle Royales and Survival/Crafting game have in the past 10 years of so. No one knows what this genre will be, but it will be blindingly obvious in hindsight why it became so popular

My money is on it being an AR game like Pokémon Go but with more staying power
I think AR is a good prediction. VR is excellent but still tied into the ‘old’ idea of a standalone experience via a box. AR will interact with peoples day to day lives in a more extreme way.
 

yurinka

Member
Let me set the table first.

If you are a Gen Y, you are considered a Millenial who was born between the years 1981 to 1996. As of 2022, The oldest millennial is 41.
If you are Gen Z, a Zoomer( a coined term to opposed Boomers, their great grandparents). Zoomer are born between 1997 to 2009. he oldest Gen Z is 25.



What is A "Video Game"?

Today, gaming is a lot different for the oldest Millennial from when he was 25: His concept (he is the most dominant gender in gaming at this time) of a video game is that of a physical software on an optical disc physical media storage (with the complete data of the actual game on it) that he played on a PS2, GameCube or Original XBOX.

As for Gen Z at 25, their concept of gaming is very different. Video games are more of a service than a commodity (even for offline, single players games). Video games in their eyes, should be able to be played anywhere, regardless of hardware as he or she are not bound to brand loyalty (Fanboyism) of past generations.

10th Generation of Video Games and... Gen Alpha.

In 2038, the Oldest Zoomer will be 41, and Generation Alpha will be in their early teens. If the 41 years Zoomer thinks of video games as a service, now fully invested in the concept as an adult, then what will a GenA think it is at 25 a video game? (Will Video games become a human right? lol)

It is hard to predict precisely what games, franchises, and IPs will be here or what new ones will appear by then.

Our own understanding of traditional console Hardware showcasing exclusive video games from exclusive 1st and 2nd party development studios seems less and less of a demand. Will this gaming innovation cycle go away if Zoomers and GenA don't see a need?
When the oldest millenial was 25 years old, in 2006, there were already downloadable digital games, mobile games and the first games as a service or F2P game even if they weren't as big as they are now.

Many of the most popular IPs back then are still big today. Now digital games (vs retail), F2P, GaaS and mobile gaming grew a lot but retail games, paid games, non-GaaS games and pc+console continue being big. Things didn't change that much.

In 2038 things will be different. Cloud gaming, subscriptions, play to earn (NFT games) will be the norm. Serious games and AR/VR games, while still a minority will be way bigger market than now. Paid games, local gaming, games outside subs will be a minority but will continue there, same as dedicated gaming devices.

In 15 years from now, most of the current top IPs will continue being same top IPs we have now, specially because of the market consolidation we're seeing these years will mean that these top publishers will want to milk the acquired IPs and the big games take several years to be developed.

We'll all be priced out of gaming and will only be available for the very rich.
The games are now cheaper than ever: even the $70/80€ games are cheaper than the big games were in all the previous generations when adapted with inflation. On top of that, today they get more and bigger discounts and price cuts than ever had and now there are more smaller and cheaper games than before.

And this isn't considering that over half of the gamers play F2P games, which make over half of the gaming revenue. And in F2P games, 80-90% of the players never pay anything. The portion of games that are F2P keeps growing, which also grows the gaming population, so also the amount of people who don't play.

We're seeing a transition from paying to play games to a free to play model. The next transition that will start in the next generation or so will be from "free to play" to "play to earn". To get the games will be free and players will be able to sell other players un-needed loot, user generated content like character skins, Minecraft/LBP/Dreams/Roblox-like houses/levels/minigames/etc or crafted and items who had a certain story or value (like being crafted/leveled up until certain level, or been owned by certain celebrity as could be a popular streamer or a winner of a popular eSports tournament).
 
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64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
play to earn (NFT games) will be the norm.
Funny GIF
 

yurinka

Member
This is what many gamers thought about F2P some years ago, and -even if many still didn't realized it- today F2P is the big majority of the market both in amount of players and revenue.

In the same way people prefer to play for free than having to pay to play, people will prefer to earn money by playing over to don't earn money by playing. The tech is there and they are starting with the first iterations (which as always most of them will suck) but after some years of iterations they'll find game design and monetization strategy that will work very well, and a few years laters the big publishers will start to move there and copy it becoming the norm. And it will take less than 15 years.

The next generation will think of video games as an unobtainable luxury which people had in the days of plenty before everything collapsed.
No, because most of the big games, now including many big AAA, will be F2P. And if needed, playable via streaming via web browser of any potato PC, tablet or phone. This will help the gaming market to continue growing.
 
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64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
This is what many gamers thought about F2P some years ago, and -even if many still didn't realized it- today F2P is the big majority of the market both in amount of players and revenue.
NFTs are dead, the companies stopped forcing them down our throat. Even Square Enix is burning money with symbiogenesis. Play to earn isn't gonna happen.
 

Kataploom

Gold Member
NFTs are dead, the companies stopped forcing them down our throat. Even Square Enix is burning money with symbiogenesis. Play to earn isn't gonna happen.
Well, it's been happening since forever... casinos are basically that, but I think you're right, this time around at least NFTs are dead and SE is just embarrassing themselves out of even trying it
 

ACESHIGH

Banned
A more interesting question is: Millennials will be the first generation that was basically born with videogames.

Videogames is not an age matter to many people in my generation but a habit. What will happen when millennials retire and have lots of time to game (and more money than kids) will videogame studios cater to them?
 

yurinka

Member
NFTs are dead, the companies stopped forcing them down our throat. Even Square Enix is burning money with symbiogenesis. Play to earn isn't gonna happen.
Lol! Yes, people said the same about mobile gaming and F2P. Or 3D games, or dual analog sticks, or games in cd, or digital games and so on. No, they are not dead: they are starting. They only need time.
 
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64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Lol! Yes, people said the same about mobile gaming and F2P. Or 3D games, or dual analog sticks, or games in cd, or digital games and so on. No, they are not dead: they are starting. They only need time.
nonono, they literally are dead. Ubisoft quartz isn't a thing anymore, any company that would have hopped on the concept is slowly backing away and Square enix are bleeding money with them. We haven't had much NFT related news since like.... september. They are gooone.

also, people actually wanted 3d games, dual analog, CD and digital games. Hell people even wanted mobile games. Nobody wants NFTs. that's the main reason for their downfall
 
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yurinka

Member
nonono, they literally are dead. Ubisoft quartz isn't a thing anymore, any company that would have hopped on the concept is slowly backing away and Square enix are bleeding money with them. We haven't had much NFT related news since like.... september. They are gooone.

also, people actually wanted 3d games, dual analog, CD and even digital games. Hell people wanted mobile games. Nobody wants NFTs. that's the main reason for their downfall
Ubisoft and Square still didn't release their NFT games. Ubisoft Quartz was an early test, they will continue with NFTs later. NFT is only a technology, not items. What people is going to want will be what they will do with that technology once it matures, not the technology itself.

NFT gaming is on its infancy, as as happens with any new technology or paradigm shift on its early stages the big publishers aren't the ones betting hard on them: it's smaller studios instead. In the case of games designed for NFTs they already started to make many of them, but as always the first ones suck until they keep iterating and find a successful way. The first successful ones started to appear, but they have to continue iterating and growing.
 
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Happosai

Hold onto your panties
Let me set the table first.

If you are a Gen Y, you are considered a Millenial who was born between the years 1981 to 1996. As of 2022, The oldest millennial is 41.
If you are Gen Z, a Zoomer( a coined term to opposed Boomers, their great grandparents). Zoomer are born between 1997 to 2009. he oldest Gen Z is 25.



What is A "Video Game"?

Today, gaming is a lot different for the oldest Millennial from when he was 25: His concept (he is the most dominant gender in gaming at this time) of a video game is that of a physical software on an optical disc physical media storage (with the complete data of the actual game on it) that he played on a PS2, GameCube or Original XBOX.

As for Gen Z at 25, their concept of gaming is very different. Video games are more of a service than a commodity (even for offline, single players games). Video games in their eyes, should be able to be played anywhere, regardless of hardware as he or she are not bound to brand loyalty (Fanboyism) of past generations.

10th Generation of Video Games and... Gen Alpha.

In 2038, the Oldest Zoomer will be 41, and Generation Alpha will be in their early teens. If the 41 years Zoomer thinks of video games as a service, now fully invested in the concept as an adult, then what will a GenA think it is at 25 a video game? (Will Video games become a human right? lol)

It is hard to predict precisely what games, franchises, and IPs will be here or what new ones will appear by then.

Our own understanding of traditional console Hardware showcasing exclusive video games from exclusive 1st and 2nd party development studios seems less and less of a demand. Will this gaming innovation cycle go away if Zoomers and GenA don't see a need?
Many have grown up with mobile gaming which is something most of us...Yoomers...wouldn't touch. We grew up with P.C. gaming, arcade or console gaming as what we'd define as platform and games is a bit more broad.

I'd say for Zoomers seem less as intrigued by video games than Millienials. I used to teach years before I moved into business marketing management. One of my earliest classrooms was mostly students born in Gen Z. I always bring up video games and asked what the favorites were (this was in 2017). The answers I got were numerous mobile games and Fortnite, Roblox and Minecraft. When I was pre-teen and a teen, everyone wanted the Mature titles games and those who had them on a console or P.C. would loom over them. Someone mentioned Pokemon being a fairly common one. Pokemon will always have an audience the same way Mario games will. However, how many Zoomers do you know that are looking forward to GOW? How many read gaming articles? How many have own a console or play games on Steam? How many have stood in line at 5AM on a launch day? Not sure lol but I'd say very few.

It's the job of us old farts to show them the value in games beyond their ding dong cell phone.
 
I hate that stupid name convention to refer to the population.....
My following reply goes a bit off-topic: May I ask why you think its stupid? The naming of generation is strictly for the purpose of data of a given period and for a future generation to have a term to refer to. They are never intended for the host generation to self-identify (though maybe try in a derogative sense).

On the contrary, studies show people who are negatively stimulated by their own generation's naming (ie "I hate being called a millenial") tend to be more like that generation, almost stereotypical. Whereas people who are positivley stimulated (ie "As a millennial, we are misunderstood") to their own generation naming tend to be less sterotypical. food for thought ..and another thread.

 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
I'd say for Zoomers seem less as intrigued by video games than Millienials.
bingo
the few gamers in my class do talk about quite a few of the tentpole releases (one guy here really loves elden ring and terraria) but the vast majority are more interested in social media, and their phones specifically. They aren't that enthusiastic because they're much more enamored with tiktok and instagram
 

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
You can game on phones, there’s bidding on collectors editions of video games on eBay, you could also go to an arcade it’s a great hobby in the end it’s just as big as Hollywood.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
bingo
the few gamers in my class do talk about quite a few of the tentpole releases (one guy here really loves elden ring and terraria) but the vast majority are more interested in social media, and their phones specifically. They aren't that enthusiastic because they're much more enamored with tiktok and instagram

Frfr those games hella mid no cap
qnKwPYh.jpg
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
to be fair how the fuck are you expected to game on a PC/Console when 8 hours of your existence every day is spent at a place far from home, and you've gotta spend 3 hours a day clearing up homework? it's difficult for me to get like 2 hours in sometimes
 

OZ9000

Banned
I don't know other than the fact the current gen of gamers are nothing more than pansy cunts that bitch, moan and complain over every little thing.
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
bingo
the few gamers in my class do talk about quite a few of the tentpole releases (one guy here really loves elden ring and terraria) but the vast majority are more interested in social media, and their phones specifically. They aren't that enthusiastic because they're much more enamored with tiktok and instagram
If TikTok and Instagram are buzzing...I always think of my business pipeline and with regard to video games for a Zoomer like that...not target prospect.

I think it's the older gen gamers who need to influence the younger too. Seems like with instant access to everything, they'd be less likely to read gaming articles (especially as we did through Game Informer & the like), check out a demo disc (all demos are DLC now) or spend money on a console soley for gaming. Makes me wonder if I knew anyone who even used web browsers on a console.
 

Mobilemofo

Member
To learn what games are and where they came from, (our bedrooms) go back to the late 60s. Everything you need to know.
 
im 23 and i say fuck all this gen bullshit, i love games and thas all

and that other thing there is bs too, I love my brandos
 
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