Michael Pachter: Old Gamers Are “Doomed”

The prominent videogames analyst Michael Pachter has suggested that videogames are firmly for the young. In the latest “Adventures in Middle-Aged Gaming” column on Negative Gamer, Mr. Pachter stated that multiplayer videogames are full of ‘œsmack talk[ing]… 13 year-old boys’ and conceded that for older gamers: ‘œwe’re doomed’.

The involvement of young people in videogames has been a constant feature of the industry with Pachter likening it to extreme sports in having ‘œyoung… and idealistic’ people as the type who play games, suggesting that there’s no room for the old and cynical. Pachter himself admitted that his “reflexes are too slow to be competitive” in some multiplayer games.

He also picked up on the ‘œanti-profit’ and ‘œanti-establishment’ views that some of these young, idealistic gamers hold. But despite their passion, he points out that they still ‘œline up at GameStop at midnight to buy a mass market game like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2‘. Pachter remained resilient however; while not worrying about his care home standards, he maintained that ‘œmy goal is to be a gamer well into my 90s’.

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