Last day of Paris Games Week. In the corridors of the Parisian video game fair, the average age is low. But older people are also passionate about controllers – they call themselves “silver gamers”, gamers with white hair. Some have even competed in a virtual bowling competition.
Before an electrified public, Marcel and Monique chained strikes. At 95 and 70 years old, they were proclaimed French champions of “Wii Bowling” in the senior category. “Seeing all these young people, who may be the age of my great-grandchildren […] cheering me up, it made me happy,” smiles Marcel, new champion of this virtual bowling game on the Nintendo Wii console.
“Everybody’s Playing”
These two new champions are no exception, because the practice is deeply entrenched among older people: 44% of those over 60, according to the Leisure Software Publishers Guild (Sell), or 7 million followers. . The video game came out of the teenage bedroom. “Seven out of ten French people play at least occasionally,” says Julie Chalmette, president of Sell.
38 million players
Among adolescents, it is full board: 95% of young people between the ages of 10 and 17 play video games. However, vigilance is required for the youngest: at its stand, the PédaGoJeux collective raises awareness about cyberbullying or the right age for each game, sharing, discussing, spending time together around the game”, which allows “very quickly to identify ” a problem, underlines Olivier Gérard, responsible for the group.
Today there are more than 38 million players in France. It is the leading cultural industry with a turnover of almost 6,000 million euros, far ahead of cinema and music together.
Source: BFM TV
