An earlier popular post on video gaming being three times music and twice the movie industry begs the question why? The answer will be apparent if you try this experiment with millennials i.e. those born between 1981 to 2000. Here is the experiment:
- Put a bunch of millenials in a room with each in front of a computer that has the Internet. Give them a few minutes to check their email,get on Facebook and do any type of surfing on the Internet.
- After about ten minutes ask people setting next to each other to talk with each other on a defined topic or to just get to know each other – face to face.
- Will they stop the Internet ? And focus on the face-to-face conversation….
- Or after the initial ten minutes try switching on a moderately interesting TV program like news and ask the millenials to focus on watching/listening to the news.
- Will they stop the Internet ? And focus on the TV news ….
Probably not.If the Internet access and speeds are good chances are that neighbors will not talk and also will not watch TV news. Is it because face to face discussions involve a much slower interactivity than interacting with the Internet? Or is the TV just an idiot box that really does'nt want and also cannot take your input? Either way millenials do clearly prefer the Internet and its interactivity.
Add the special graphics,experience and great hardware (like PlayStation) and you have moved several notches above the Facebook experience. Video gaming is just much more interactive and exciting than conversation. Particularly in the US where 43% of the population are reported single and 38% of the millenials are happy to be single. Clearly for the millenials interactive forms of entertainment like video games help as do pets. Both offer interactivity….without the complications of human interaction !
Millenials and those younger will should find more companionship from interactive video games so that industry should continue to grow compared to one way entertainment like music and TV. Contact StratoServe.
New : See Innovation in video gaming to go mobile and social: the monetizing challenge.