The battle between the Video Game and Movie industry continues on, driven by Generation Z's preference for video games over movies. According to a 2024 report by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), a staggering 63% of Gen Z individuals prefer playing video games to watching films (compared
In fairness, movies these days aren’t as good as they were in the eighties, and video games in the eighties… mostly weren’t amazing, and people still play the ones that were good. You can only watch a good movie every so often, but you can play a great game for ages. It’d be weird if we didn’t see this trend.
duh? One is a completely passive ‘experience’, while the other is more akin to a hobby: You perform an action, gain a skill and overcome obstacles that become more and more difficult.
I think this is more to have a look at a generational shift; Adults and elders may be still more familiar with movie stars, movie streaming services, Saturday cartoons, or things like those “Disney adults” I eared speak recently about, new generations just don’t seems to feel it anymore: all those paradigm may go into the background such as a play and opera.
The time of entertainment per dollar is probably a bit different too I think. Depending on the replayability of the game in question, one can buy a game and get enjoyment out of it for hundreds or in some cases over a thousand hours. Meanwhile, even if you really enjoy a movie and rewatch it like 10 different times, that’s still only like 20 hours. Movies tend to be cheaper to buy than games individually, but I suspect that buying enough movies to make up the time difference would make the movies significantly more expensive.
Same. Which is a shame because I could enjoy a silly game where you play soccer in a car. But not the way people play it in real life. Those ultra competitive types have to ruin anything with the littlest bit of competitive dynamic.
I remember my friends getting me to play LoL when it came out (we were big WoW people who were all very comfortable and good at WoW-style PvP). Didn’t stay there long!
Let’s be real. The type of movies that don’t suck total ass in 2024 are not the kind of movies conducive to watching if you have an attention span shot to shit by tiktok. Vidya games are just going to be more stimulating to younger people, blanket statement, and probably millennials for that matter as well.
We’re talking about why Gen Z prefers games to movies. Attention span is part of that equation. Gen Z is the predominant demographic on the social network famous for lowering attention spans.
Do I need to pre-qualify any other statements for you?
Gen Z is the predominant demographic on the social network famous for lowering attention spans.
The link doesn’t break it down by generation (lumping Gen Z in with both Gen Alpha and Millennials), but it still doesn’t look like they are the predominant group. And if they are, it likely isn’t to a major degree.
Surely it’s not due to the increased accessibility of good video games and the decreased accessibility of good movies. Young people bad, have tiktok brain.
Call me a grumpy old man but I’m not sure this is significant beyond “young people play (video) games”.
The report seems to show little difference in % of adults gaming between 2004 and 2024
I spend $12 on a movie ticket. I watch for 2 hours. $6/hr entertainment, maybe a little less if I think about the movie after I leave, maybe a lot more if i also buy a popcorn.
I spend $30 on a game for sale on steam. I play it for 100 hours over the course of 4-5 weeks. $0.30/hr entertainment.
Just the value math alone checks out, regardless of the fact that the video game is a more interactive and interesting experience compared to the vomit that Hollywood spits out these days.
That’s assuming you only see movies in a theater or rent them. You can get plenty of hours of movie watching by subscribing to a single streaming service.
Yeah, but some people need to take polygraphs and swear they don’t do little things like pirate media or smoke pot. I’m not even kidding. The stupidest little thing will be made a big deal of. It’s easier to mostly follow the rules. Mostly.
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In fairness, movies these days aren’t as good as they were in the eighties, and video games in the eighties… mostly weren’t amazing, and people still play the ones that were good. You can only watch a good movie every so often, but you can play a great game for ages. It’d be weird if we didn’t see this trend.
duh? One is a completely passive ‘experience’, while the other is more akin to a hobby: You perform an action, gain a skill and overcome obstacles that become more and more difficult.
I think this is more to have a look at a generational shift; Adults and elders may be still more familiar with movie stars, movie streaming services, Saturday cartoons, or things like those “Disney adults” I eared speak recently about, new generations just don’t seems to feel it anymore: all those paradigm may go into the background such as a play and opera.
Not to mention some (many) games include a social aspect which appeals to a significant portion of the audience (maybe not to all, but to many).
The time of entertainment per dollar is probably a bit different too I think. Depending on the replayability of the game in question, one can buy a game and get enjoyment out of it for hundreds or in some cases over a thousand hours. Meanwhile, even if you really enjoy a movie and rewatch it like 10 different times, that’s still only like 20 hours. Movies tend to be cheaper to buy than games individually, but I suspect that buying enough movies to make up the time difference would make the movies significantly more expensive.
Best skills from video games:
Puzzle solving / abstract thinking
Hand / eye coordination
Not flying into a blind rage when playing Rocket League, Apex, Deadlock, etc.
Still working on that last one.
I remember when Rocket League first came out and I thought it was going to be this silly, fun game. Boy, was I wrong. Totally not my crowd.
Competitive games always attract the most toxic people. I stick with co-op games for that reason.
Same. Which is a shame because I could enjoy a silly game where you play soccer in a car. But not the way people play it in real life. Those ultra competitive types have to ruin anything with the littlest bit of competitive dynamic.
I remember my friends getting me to play LoL when it came out (we were big WoW people who were all very comfortable and good at WoW-style PvP). Didn’t stay there long!
They’re remaking Beetlejuice? WTF is Beetlejuice?
-GenZ
He’s in Multiversus now so the awareness for gamers is probably at an all-time high
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Let’s be real. The type of movies that don’t suck total ass in 2024 are not the kind of movies conducive to watching if you have an attention span shot to shit by tiktok. Vidya games are just going to be more stimulating to younger people, blanket statement, and probably millennials for that matter as well.
Yay, ageism!
TikTok users are pretty evenly spread from age 10 to 50.
https://explodingtopics.com/blog/tiktok-demographics
The post is about Gen Z.
We’re talking about why Gen Z prefers games to movies. Attention span is part of that equation. Gen Z is the predominant demographic on the social network famous for lowering attention spans.
Do I need to pre-qualify any other statements for you?
The link doesn’t break it down by generation (lumping Gen Z in with both Gen Alpha and Millennials), but it still doesn’t look like they are the predominant group. And if they are, it likely isn’t to a major degree.
Surely it’s not due to the increased accessibility of good video games and the decreased accessibility of good movies. Young people bad, have tiktok brain.
I’m in my 40s and I’m with them. Movies can be cool, but I tend to like an interactive experience more.
Call me a grumpy old man but I’m not sure this is significant beyond “young people play (video) games”. The report seems to show little difference in % of adults gaming between 2004 and 2024
Must be a slow news day 😅😂
I spend $12 on a movie ticket. I watch for 2 hours. $6/hr entertainment, maybe a little less if I think about the movie after I leave, maybe a lot more if i also buy a popcorn.
I spend $30 on a game for sale on steam. I play it for 100 hours over the course of 4-5 weeks. $0.30/hr entertainment.
Just the value math alone checks out, regardless of the fact that the video game is a more interactive and interesting experience compared to the vomit that Hollywood spits out these days.
That’s assuming you only see movies in a theater or rent them. You can get plenty of hours of movie watching by subscribing to a single streaming service.
You know that there are free altwrnatives to streaming? I still enjoy (paid) games more than free movies/series.
Yeah, but some people need to take polygraphs and swear they don’t do little things like pirate media or smoke pot. I’m not even kidding. The stupidest little thing will be made a big deal of. It’s easier to mostly follow the rules. Mostly.
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I mean, the people making them, for one.
I mean, I rotate between games, movies, and series. But then again I’m a millennial on the wrong side of 35, so get off my lawn, you goddamn hooligans