If you’re reading this, while the subject matter is Games, the chances are it’s filed in the Technology section (you might be surprised to find it filed under media) on the OTMFN site.

Sure Games use technology – often the latest most bleeding edge types and there is a hardcore of gamers who want to water-cool their PCs and have graphics chips that are capable of heating a house but the majority of gamers don’t.

The majority of games these days are playing on a tablet or phone. Often while an ad break is on or while they wait for a friend to arrive – possibly on a bus or train journey. Its a casual thing.

There’s another huge set of gamers that bought GTA V. It did $1 Billion at retail in 3 days making it by far the biggest entertainment property of any type. It cost £170 million to make and paid for itself with pre orders alone. It’s made in Britain by the way – Edinburgh to be precise.

There were 3 million copies sold in the UK – that’s one in 8 households. These games were bought to play on a games console that’s 7 years old. To stick that in context there wasn’t an iPhone 7 years ago. Hardly bleeding edge or niche.

I think most people have got the hang of the idea that games are played by more than geeks and nerds these days – they’re cross gender, have broad age appeal and are international and classless.

So why then do the 150,000 people at Glastonbury get multiple digital channels round the clock and yet the 350,000 at Gamescom get a tiny article in the BBC technology section listing the release date of the PS4 and Xbox One? My belief is that there are more consumers interested in what the next generation of console games can offer rather than watching some bloke off his face in the middle of a field tuning a guitar.

Games are grown up, bona fide Entertainment. Occasionally they’re Art, sometimes they’re groundbreaking, often they’re derivative or contentious. Much like music, film or books.

The naysayers that preached about what games were or weren’t without having played them or only having played one distorted end of them have nearly gone as the generation that grew up with Playstation pushes out the one with their own parents spouting the same ignorant arguments about TV.

Footnote

I’m often asked, “What should I play then smartarse?” and discovery is a massive problem these days as I’ll cover in a future article.

Tablet – if you want to think try Device 6, Machinarium, Quarrel or The Room. If you want something less demanding try our own CSR Classics, Candy Crush or Super Stickman Golf 2

If you want to try and wrestle the console off the kids try Brothers, Limbo (warning 2D and B+W but very violent) or if you have the more “arty” PS3 perhaps Journey or Unfinished Swan

None of them have any shooting in I promise. Message me directly if you want some tuned recommendations.