Game Player/Buyer types

In this blog post i will discuss the various types of games and the buyers associated with them. So for this i will be discussing various game categories and the buyers associated to them.

First/Third person shooters 
The average age of players who participate in these games are approximately 18-40 year old. I believe this is the case because because the games tend to contain games which have graphic content which could be distressing for a younger audience. This is also down to the PEGI rating system giving games like 'Call of duty' a 18+ rating because it is widely agreed that it is too mature for kids which is why i have given an appropriate age range for this genre. The class most associated with the genre is middle-lower class. I think this because  lower classes may struggle to provide financial stability therefore may not be able to provide themselves with the hefty fees of consoles and their games. Middle class is the best associated class because these are the people who work lots which leads to the average person immersing themselves within the games to escape from reality. Traditionally males are seen as the larger group within the FPS/TPS community. This is because on average men produce more testosterone than women so playing these games provides them to live their violent fantasies.

Sports
Sports related games have the widest and most diverse target market within the industry because anyone can participate in a array of different sports with few limitations. I see the age range being from 8-60.  This is because of the many variations of sports with children being able to participate virtually and in real life. As well as this older generations have created variations which means they can still play like with walking football. All together sport is cherished worldwide therefore it effects and involves the most people. In addition to this it represents all classes with specific sports appealing to different classes due to equipment prices. Furthermore sports also represent and appeal to both genders as well all ethnicity's.

Fantasy
The age demographic for fantasy games is ages 12-30. This is because these games use violence but some usually contain less because the PEGI rating system is more lenient on fantasy violence. In addition to this the imaginative aspect appeals itself more to the younger audience with the game play and fighting aspect linking to the older part of the age range. Similar to action games i see a similar representation of class shown through the target market. This is because most fantasy games go against any realistic aspects in the worlds they create and can be as creative as they want when developing their games, and for a lack of realism i believe these games are so valuable to these classes and people because it gives them the best place where they can escape to.  I don't believe specific genders and ethnicity's can be associated with fantasy games as their main appeal is the escapism aspect of it.

Overall to an extent i agree that categorization and stereotyping are useful and serve a purpose when creating a target market. They are purposeful in the marketing industry because it associates a vague group of people who are most likely to want a specific product and from there it can be made to that group so it appeals to them so they will buy it. A key point about that is being vague about an target audience because if it was over developed and too specific it will lower the amount of people interested as specifics can exclude many types of people. However the use of categorizing audiences is a gray area because making assumptions about people and stereotyping them can be insensitive which could lead to back lash from the target market themselves, so overall  this can be good and effective provided those doing the market categorizing are careful creating a group who seem interested in a product.