I read about as far as the Tacoma-Seattle thing in that report.  So, they had asked half a dozen people walking out of a GameStop a few questions, eh?  Consider how many games there are - how many gamers there are...

...why even bother with something like this other than to point out that is simply a further waste of our taxes?

Now if they had said that the best gamers are 35, overweight, and more likely to be depressed... but average?  Lol, oh well... just a little play on words.

I'd say a mayority of the western world if overweight :)

WARNING!

This is not as innocent as it might seems. Of course its a lot of bullsh1t but it's done with an intention. Someone is trying to create a new "treatable condition" or illness. Same as ADHD. Watch carefully how they might introduce a new set of shiny pills to help depressed gamers.

Medical industry needs to come up with as many new diseases as possible so they can sell you their cures. One of their latest insane proposals is to start treating post-natal-depression with ladies as illness that needs treatment. Something took nature millions of years to put in place is sudenly marked as illness. ADHD comes to mind again, where perfectly normal kids are pumped with drugs just because they can't sit still (I would say that there is something wrong with the child if it can sit still for more then 5 minutes).

 Im 31 and damn fit : )

And every gamer i know is over 30 except one who is 25. So i wonder why many game companys still try and make games for 9 years old kids. Dont they know a 30+ person have alot more money then a little kid?? More "M" and "R" rated games for the grow up.

Originally posted by Spiider

WARINING!

This is not as innocent as it might seems. Of course its a lot of bullsh1t but it's done with an intention. Someone is trying to create a new "treatable condition" or illness. Same as ADHD. Watch carefully how they might introduce a new set of shiny pills to help depressed gamers.

Medical industry needs to come up with as many new diseases as possible so they can sell you their cures. One of their latest insane proposals is to start treating post-natal-depression with ladies as illness that needs treatment. Something took nature millions of years to put in place is sudenly marked as illness. ADHD comes to mind again, where perfectly normal kids are pumped with drugs just because they can't sit still (I would say that there is something wrong with the child if it can sit still for more then 5 minutes).

 

Lol, this actually made me think of the insurance industry:

Smoker - Y/N?
Drinker - Y/N?
Gamer - Y/N?

Yep, imagine being a gamer affecting your ability to get health or life insurance...lol, twisted.

Games don't make me depressed. People make me depressed.

Games are where I go to get away from all those arseholes. Not that I'm saying I'm depressed - I'm not - but without gaming I might well be.

Gaming is just a good way of finding other people whom I can get along with - whereas in the real world such people are few and far between, and generally quite hard to find.

Originally posted by Jurzu

 I think thats a load of bull. No way average gamers are 35, I would say 13 or 18. Or even between those ages. I doubt the video games are making them depressed, but more like frustrated from not accomplishing a goal they wanted in a game. Other than that they should be more than mature enough to understand their priorities. I'm 16 years of age and games only frustrate me that moment that I'm playing. Then when I'm off, it's back to normal life o.o

 

-Jurzu

And your survey results are where?

Exactly.

Originally posted by pb1285n

No the average person is now overweight because portion size has doubled in the last 30 years.

The problem is that we keep telling people it's okay to be overweight, and not to worry about what other people think. Too bad not worrying can lead to major health problems down the road.

I'm sorry but there is just too much BS in this to ignore.

Most people in the United States (and Canada along with lots of Europe) are "overweight" because they live in very affluent societies where staple foods are ridiculously cheap and abundant; luxury foods are readily available; and they work in predominantly non-labor intensive jobs.

As for society tolerating it, again I call BS. No subgroup of the population is as constantly ridiculed, openly mocked and generally considered "fair game". If the level of vulgar, hateful comedy and commentary was levelled against any other segment of the population, the  person doing it would be a called a racist, bigot, hate-monger or worse.

The biggest thing that has changed in the U.S. in the last 30 yrs is that now a whole crop of tofu munching neo-socialist busybodies think it is okay for them to tell everyone else how wrong *their* lifestyle, diet, health etc is and to preach how much we as a "society" must act to rigidly control people "for their own good".

If we don't watch out and stomp on these little Mao-wannabes damn quick they will start taxing your Coke and Pepsi right alongside your hamburger and fries...and the taxes will go higher and higher just like the BS they pulled with cigarettes...unless they just outlaw them entirely and start legislating your entire caloric intake and diet..."for your own good".

Nothing in the world is more dangerous or self-righteous than an over-educated liberal dilletante trying to "do good".

Originally posted by ericbelser

Originally posted by pb1285n

No the average person is now overweight because portion size has doubled in the last 30 years.

The problem is that we keep telling people it's okay to be overweight, and not to worry about what other people think. Too bad not worrying can lead to major health problems down the road.

 

I'm sorry but there is just too much BS in this to ignore.

Most people in the United States (and Canada along with lots of Europe) are "overweight" because they live in very affluent societies where staple foods are ridiculously cheap and abundant; luxury foods are readily available; and they work in predominantly non-labor intensive jobs.

As for society tolerating it, again I call BS. No subgroup of the population is as constantly ridiculed, openly mocked and generally considered "fair game". If the level of vulgar, hateful comedy and commentary was levelled against any other segment of the population, the  person doing it would be a called a racist, bigot, hate-monger or worse.

The biggest thing that has changed in the U.S. in the last 30 yrs is that now a whole crop of tofu munching neo-socialist busybodies think it is okay for them to tell everyone else how wrong *their* lifestyle, diet, health etc is and to preach how much we as a "society" must act to rigidly control people "for their own good".

If we don't watch out and stomp on these little Mao-wannabes damn quick they will start taxing your Coke and Pepsi right alongside your hamburger and fries...and the taxes will go higher and higher just like the BS they pulled with cigarettes...unless they just outlaw them entirely and start legislating your entire caloric intake and diet..."for your own good".

Nothing in the world is more dangerous or self-righteous than an over-educated liberal dilletante trying to "do good".

Your first statement that there is an overabundance of food is a paraphrasing of what they said.

Your 'it is ok to be fat' rant is another paraphrasing.

Can't work out if you are an irony fail or are so self obsessed over your weight that you can't see this.

I can only do LOL@ this thread.

I,m 32 years old and i have 3 kids , and i'm totally UNDERWEIGHT :P , i play a lot of games and i will be play them, well maybe then i'm not average gamer .

Food for thought...

A few years ago, I went to a roleplaying convention in Paris. I was surprised how slim and healthy many of the attendees were.

In february of this year I went to a roleplaying convention in england. I couldn't help noticing how fat and unhealthy many of the attendees were. And I'm someone who's been a gamer for decades - I'm used to what gamers look like.

I'm not sure what conclusions to draw. Maybe the Paris case shows that french society as a whole is healthier than England. Better food or something. And what does the UK case show? Why did I notice fat and unhealthiness this year and not previous years? Is it my perception that's changed? Or was it because this already geeky crowd of roleplayers was spending more and more time playing computer games as opposed to more physical activities (such as Larping).

I can't help thinking there are trends taking place. And I can't help thinking, when I read forums such as this one, and see the amount of negativity on display, that many people involved in the hobby are borderline depressive.

Wrong wrong =)

The average gamers are 14 1/2 named Fredrik, spots all over, rabbits tooths and on redbull.

The number of games in the world continues to increase, and the percentage of OVERALL overweight people is increasing even faster. Overweight leads to depression.

Therefore, this survey says nothing about gamers, but it does speak about the population in general.

Personally, I'm slim and trim, with a beautiful wife and a high paying job at age 31. But really.. I'm actually quite depressed ;).

Originally posted by tupodawg999

Originally posted by pb1285n

Originally posted by tupodawg999

"The average gamer, who took the survey, is 35, overweight, and more likely to be depressed"

Not that surprising.

I'm sure the younger crowd are less likely to take surveys.

The average person is now overweight apparently (according to the mind-f**kers who seem to want everyone to be constantly worried and depressed about everything).

Depressed people are probably a bit more likely to take surveys as they'll be more of them at home with spare time.

 

No the average person is now overweight because portion size has doubled in the last 30 years.

The problem is that we keep telling people it's okay to be overweight, and not to worry about what other people think. Too bad not worrying can lead to major health problems down the road.

Oh and you have a major misconception of depression if you think they sit at home on their computer all the time.

 

There's a mixture going on. People are maybe eating too much and not exercising enough + there's bossy mind f**kers who'll always be bossing about something, if people were 100% fit they'd be saying we're all too thin and need to eat more + the BMI bugs me because I used to be heavily into sports and people using the BMI as a measure is dumb and annoying.

Depression is on a wide spectrum. Mildly depressed people will be (at least a bit) more likely to be sat at home on the computer than a non-depressed person imo.

I sit on my arse in front of my computer 24/7 and stuff my face as much as possible (sometimes eating more than my 40 year old muscle built father).  I do not work out or exercise at all, I otherwise do no physical activity at all aside from running around my house looking for food. (Well, I do help at his job sometimes, which is manual labor.)  I am male, 21 years old and weigh 96 pounds on average.

It's all in the food, almost nothing more. (Metabolism is what you make it, though genes help.)

Simply put: Eat organic and you'll have little problems with weight.

I like being blunt! /flame shield on.

What a dumb survey and sad to say even dumber for posting it.  Completely WRONG from my experience.  Sure I know a few overweight people who play, but the vast majority are not.  Please crawl back in your hole now.

Originally posted by Ozmodan

What a dumb survey and sad to say even dumber for posting it.  Completely WRONG from my experience.  Sure I know a few overweight people who play, but the vast majority are not.  Please crawl back in your hole now.

The reason people do surveys is that it's impossible to tell anything from personal observations.  Congrats on failing at basic intelligence.

LOL, I just turned 35 a few weeks ago.  I'm not overweight, because I take the time to do some exercising in my house.  I also either go for jogs a few times a week or at least take a nice long walk.  I don't really watch what I eat, but I do at least don't gorge myself with junk.  It's all about balance, just pay attention to that and you can play all the games you want and not become a pre-Jarred.

Originally posted by Sunioj

LOL, I just turned 35 a few weeks ago.  I'm not overweight, because I take the time to do some exercising in my house.  I also either go for jogs a few times a week or at least take a nice long walk.  I don't really watch what I eat, but I do at least don't gorge myself with junk.  It's all about balance, just pay attention to that and you can play all the games you want and not become a pre-Jarred.

Happy birthday!!!!!!

Originally posted by DAOWAce 

Eat organic and you'll have little problems with weight.

Organic food has the same amount of calories as non-organic food.  That's terrible advice.

Originally posted by rikilii

Originally posted by Ozmodan

What a dumb survey and sad to say even dumber for posting it.  Completely WRONG from my experience.  Sure I know a few overweight people who play, but the vast majority are not.  Please crawl back in your hole now.

 

The reason people do surveys is that it's impossible to tell anything from personal observations.  Congrats on failing at basic intelligence.

Statistics without meaningful analysis are misleading at best. Any thorough analysis will require verification of the underlying theory by, you guess it, personal observation. So no, neither surveys nor personal observation are the be all and end all of truth. They're just tools that need to be used properly. Congrats on failing to grasp the essential facts. Both of you.

I think it's funny that there are two yahoo games links at the bottom of the article.

Originally posted by zymurgeist

Originally posted by rikilii

Originally posted by Ozmodan

What a dumb survey and sad to say even dumber for posting it.  Completely WRONG from my experience.  Sure I know a few overweight people who play, but the vast majority are not.  Please crawl back in your hole now.

 

The reason people do surveys is that it's impossible to tell anything from personal observations.  Congrats on failing at basic intelligence.

 

Statistics without meaningful analysis are misleading at best. Any thorough analysis will require verification of the underlying theory by, you guess it, personal observation. So no, neither surveys nor personal observation are the be all and end all of truth. They're just tools that need to be used properly. Congrats on failing to grasp the essential facts. Both of you.

The problem is is not with the statistics, it's with all the idiots on this thread reading more into them than they purport to show. 

The stats show a correlation between being overweight, depression, and being a gamer in Seattle.  Nothing more.  Shocker!  There's no claim of causation one way or the other.

Oh wait i live in America where they say America is to fat and even the kids..But sad to say it was not cause by playing Games..

And as for the Depression..America is known as the Pill popping Country way before they set foot in the gaming  world..Now that depressing...

Sound like to me someone wants some of that tax payer money...Yet another bull shit, lets blame the game for our default..

Maybe just maybe for once you see someone at there job, behind the computer and there getting fat and depress should i blame work for it? Lets do a survey..haha

Mod edit

 I would like to confirm this information with this Blizzon 2009 Photo

http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/august/blizzcon_day0_009.jpg

You're welcome. 

Originally posted by Jurzu

 I think thats a load of bull. No way average gamers are 35, I would say 13 or 18. Or even between those ages. I doubt the video games are making them depressed, but more like frustrated from not accomplishing a goal they wanted in a game. Other than that they should be more than mature enough to understand their priorities. I'm 16 years of age and games only frustrate me that moment that I'm playing. Then when I'm off, it's back to normal life o.o

 

-Jurzu

Sorry to burst your bubble but the average age of the average gamer in the United States was 33 in 2006, and it is inching up every year. The average age of someone that bought a videogame was 39 (some studies report 40).

The notion of the average gamers being children is an old myth. Guess who bought Pong in the 70s? "Old people". Guess who bought Atari 2600s and Colecovision in the early 80s?  "Old people". Guess who bought Commodore 64's for gaming? "Old people". Guess who buys Xbox 360s and video cards and MMOs, yep... you guessed it... "Old people". The main reason that so many people seem to think it is 13 year olds playing all these games is because for so many years video game publishers only openly marketed to this very under-represented demographic.

Are there kids playing computer and video games? Yes. Are they the norm? No. And year by year they are becoming LESS the norm than ever before.