Games without frontiers

Confronting stereotypes ... computer games not just for kids

UQ Business School academic, Associate Professor Frank Alpert, believes the stereotypical image of computer gamers is a long way wide of the mark. “When they think about computer games or entertainment software, many people picture a teenaged boy hunched over a console game and shooting, slashing, or punching whatever he meets on screen,” he said.

“In reality, the entertainment software industry is quite diverse demographically. “The average age of players is now around 30 and some estimates suggest up to 43 percent may be women. “And the games are not all violent – according to the Entertainment Software Rating Board, only 17 percent of all games sold in 2004 were classified ‘mature’.” He said the best-selling game franchise of all time was The Sims, a game with no violence.

 “Most people are also unaware of just how big the industry is. A PricewaterhouseCoopers forecast in 2005 suggested worldwide sales of US$55 billion in 2008,” he said. Dr Alpert said Queensland was well-placed to capture some of the economic benefits with several game-design companies located here. His paper was recently published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics.

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