Rise or should I say the return of the mature gamer

I was having dinner with a friend of mine the other night and being lifelong devotees of video games the topic naturally turned to how today's offerings have managed to achieve the status of dazzling mediocrity.

My impressions of the upcoming MOBA, Battleborn, helped spur the conversation.

Battleborn, just like DOTA, League of Legends, Battlefield and Call of Duty have a common trait.  That being that they are almost entirely focused on competitive gameplay.  Whether it's just for bragging rights or tournament prize money the outcome is the same.  These days games are less about fun than they are a manufactured status.

Which has led to the phenomenon of the "Pro Gamer."  A distinction that has grown out of a counter-culture population that feels that prowess with a video game should be on par with professional sports.  

An arguable position to be sure but one that fills the coffers of big game publishers trading on hungry egos.  It pervades game development and sidelines once common features like cooperative gameplay and immersive single player experiences.

But here's the thing.  Professional gaming is not the future of video games.  It can't be..

Even "Real" sports like Football and Basketball have far more amateurs than pros in their ranks.  It's the fans that keep the game relevant and prime the money machine that allow for the pros to turn a pastime into a career.

Amateurs are the ones that buy the team jerseys and branded coffee mugs.  They have a love of the game regardless of who plays it.  If they want to get a bunch of friends together to shoot a few hoops they don't have to worry about the Chicago Bulls showing up to make them look like fools either.  It's that love that allows your favorite player to make millions of dollars for doing something you've done for free since you were a kid.

It's not every sports fan that can play the game they love but it's a little different with a video game.  They're more accessible with simple rules and none of the variables that plague their real world counterparts.   Their purpose is to be an escape, a simple pastime but not a career.

The older guys know that and it's a big reason why mobile games are so much more popular than even the most successful triple-A title.  Mobile gaming hearkens back to the good old days of video games.  A time when playing the game was its own reward and leader-boards were only relevant so long as the power cord was plugged in.  

Oh and guess what, a huge percentage of the people playing those mobile games are over 30.  For them it's not about ego and bragging rights, it's about fun.  A fact not lost on all those overnight millionaires who've amused you while you waited for your flight to board.

One thing a mature gamer knows is that he/she is not alone.  Even a cursory examination of the planet's population demographic bears that out.  There's more folks over 30 than under and that's not changing anytime soon.  Eventually video game culture will have to reflect that reality.  

Oh and you tweens and hipsters?  You're getting older too.  You may revel in your mastery of keyboard and gamepad now but time will dull your senses and rob you of split second reactions.  What then?  You've been weened on the medium.  Without it you're adrift.  However, all is not lost if you can accept the premise that playing a game should never have been anything but a recreation.  

If video games are to survive they will have to return to their roots.  They will once again have to be about the gameplay, the fun and the experience.  Game development will eventually reflect that reality if the EA's of the world wish to survive.

Other kinds of games remain popluar precisely because they've either adapted to their player base or were never exploited to the point of losing the fun factor.

Take a lesson from Poker if the concept is difficult to grasp.  

Yes, there are professional Poker players and Las Vegas was built on the misplaced confidence of amateurs.  Still, far more people play the game for recreation than profession.  

Nobody has tried to change the rules or bias it toward the pros.  The game is largely the same as it always has been and like Billiards and Darts has been sustained by amateurs not professional leagues.

Here's what I'm getting at.  If you're a more mature gamer time is on your side.  You are the next target market and what makes video games fun for you has nothing to do with competitive sports or the lackluster development that comes with it.

If video games are to survive they'll eventually have to drop the whole "Pro" premise that's killing the industry.

Our time is coming.