The youth is no longer interested in just gaming

MUMBAI, INDIA: There’s good news for worried parents of teenagers.

Those who thought that their wards (aged 18-24) simply ogled at the computer or the idiot box and played games need to rethink!

A new survey by IEEE and time conducted online says that the younger generations is playing video games for shorter period—5-8 hours compared to the older age group which is hooked to the games for atleast 15 hours a day!

The average amount of gaming in one sitting as reported by timeline participants was approximately eight hours, the survey report says. It also reveals that the majority of gamers prefer to play alone more than online; and that AR/VR will be the future of video games.

Fifty-eight percent participants said they prefer gaming in campaign over online mode. Solo game-playing in campaign mode, a continuous storyline in a fictitious world is the hot favorite compared to online gaming where the gamer is connected to opponents through the Internet.

When asked about the next big innovation for gaming, 51 percent of respondents globally believe that (AR/VR) is the future of gaming. Open-source gaming (21 percent), which allows the user to customize their game play and formatting because the game’s source codes are publically available, and second-screen gaming/smart glasses (18 percent) rounded out the top three next big innovations for gaming responses from participants.

The survey also throws up some interesting observations.

Forty-six percent feel that rom-cartridges were the most impactful technology developed during the second generation of gaming (1977-1983).

Helping with system speeds, the fourth generation of gaming (1987-1994) brought CD-ROM gaming consoles to the forefront, but 53 percent of participants actually feel that the most impactful technology during that generation was 16-bit microprocessors.

During the sixth generation of gaming (1997-2005), 31 percent of survey respondents believe that advancements in gaming consoles’ central processing unit/graphics processing unit (CPU/GPU) speeds were the most impactful technology of that generation.

According to Todd Richmond, IEEE Fellow and Director, Advanced Prototypes, University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT), this statistic seems to follow a trend that will only continue to grow.

“Game developers are already starting to embrace AR/VR and blended reality. There is no doubt that these immersive technologies will be the most important innovation of the next gaming generation, and will also impact every other aspect of our lives. The gaming industry will be an early adopter and help figure out how the technology is viable. By 2017, AR/VR/blended reality technologies will be easily and affordably brought into consumer homes thanks largely to video games.”

Industry expert Elena Bertozzi, IEEE Member and Associate Professor, Game Design and Development, Quinnipiac University, believes, “Advancements throughout the eight generations of gaming have not only improved user experience and overall gaming quality, but have allowed gaming technology to be parlayed into other applications. These additional uses, like aerospace and military training, or motivating employees in the workplace, have changed the connotation of gaming and expanded the industry’s consumers.”

“Younger generations of gamers are spending less time gaming due to the ever-growing and ever-present social considerations around them,” said Stu Lipoff, IEEE Fellow and President, IP Action Partners.

The researchers note that advancements in technology such as cell phones, tablets, wearables and social media channels like Facebook and Twitter are vying for the attention of young adults and children. This new generation’s means of social interaction has shifted from online game play where they can interact via gaming with friends or strangers, to these other social communication methods.