Gaming is changing so why isn’t marketing?

News of the arrival of Nintendo’s Professor Kawashima’s Brain Training game in the UK (MW January 26) is indicative of a continued evolution of the gaming industry. It is no longer correct to assume that the typical gamer is a spotty male teen in his bedroom, sacrificing sleep and personal hygiene for hand-to-hand combat with Orcs.

While it’s doubtful that Grand Theft Auto – Shady Pines will be seen on a release schedule any time soon, the popularity of Professor Kawashima’s Brain Training among “grey gamers” doesn’t come as too much of a surprise – the Entertainment Software Association has already reported that 19 per cent of gamers are aged over 50.

With online “casual” games also attracting a vast number of women gamers, advertisers have a growing range of opportunities to reach some of the most desirable consumers while they are at their most engaged.

Now that the television remote is being increasingly overlooked in favour of the console controller, it’s time the big brands and agencies started looking to the virtual world as the next frontier in consumer connection.

Ed Bartlett

GM Europe, IGA Worldwide

London W1