There’s also more games being made now than there ever have been. People have a lot of choices.
The big AAA blockbusters do tend to aim for a different demographic than they did in the 80s, though. Probably largely because so many people who were kids in the 80s and 90s still play games.
I don’t know what people mean by “the big AAA blockbusters” anymore. I mean, the biggest console around is the Switch, the biggest games on Switch are a kart racer and a laid back cozy town sim. This year’s big action game from Nintendo is Zelda but now it’s also Minecraft (or Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts, more accurately). Their latest blockbuster is a 2D Mario platformer cashing in on the hype for the billion dollar Mario animated movie by having every level be a musical showstopper. The biggest PS5 “AAA blockbuster” is a Spider-Man game. The big triple-A story this year was everybody shunning Fallout-but-Star-Trek for Dungeons-And-Dragons-But-Everybody-Is-Horny, and both games are huge productions with ridiculous budgets and insane amounts of content.
I don’t know what demographic all that is supposed to be for. Is that one demographic? I don’t think that’s one demographic beyond “humans who like it when they can see the money on their screen while playing their games”.
There’s also more games being made now than there ever have been. People have a lot of choices.
The big AAA blockbusters do tend to aim for a different demographic than they did in the 80s, though. Probably largely because so many people who were kids in the 80s and 90s still play games.
I don’t know what people mean by “the big AAA blockbusters” anymore. I mean, the biggest console around is the Switch, the biggest games on Switch are a kart racer and a laid back cozy town sim. This year’s big action game from Nintendo is Zelda but now it’s also Minecraft (or Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts, more accurately). Their latest blockbuster is a 2D Mario platformer cashing in on the hype for the billion dollar Mario animated movie by having every level be a musical showstopper. The biggest PS5 “AAA blockbuster” is a Spider-Man game. The big triple-A story this year was everybody shunning Fallout-but-Star-Trek for Dungeons-And-Dragons-But-Everybody-Is-Horny, and both games are huge productions with ridiculous budgets and insane amounts of content.
I don’t know what demographic all that is supposed to be for. Is that one demographic? I don’t think that’s one demographic beyond “humans who like it when they can see the money on their screen while playing their games”.