I have been a game and video game enthusiast as long as I can remember. You can see my earlier post on my Nerd Credentials for more. I favor the more strategic games and MMORPGs. However, the myth that the video gamer is a 16 year old boy playing at home is being shattered. World of Warcraft, or WoW, had 10 million subscribers as of February 2012 and is the largest teen boy game out there. The big gamers are – the ladies on their cell phones and on Facebook! Women gamers out number male gamers significantly. Let’s look at Angry Birds for instance:
Just how big is mobile game phenomenon “Angry Birds”?
Players have slingshotted more than 100 billion virtual birds in the game’s many versions, more birds than actually exist on the planet.
That’s according to Peter Vesterbacka, chief of Rovio, the Finnish developer behind the blockbuster game. Speaking on a panel Thursday at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference, Vesterbacka said the game has surpassed 300 million downloads and has set its sights on becoming the first entertainment franchise with 1 billion fans worldwide.
That is right, Angry Birds has 30 times as many users as WoW. Wow! Other popular games like Farmville are also huge, with Farmville having over 30 to 40 million virtual dirt turners every day.
It all started when some green pigs stole the birds eggs and pissed them off. If we can have an Arab spring, why not a Bacon Spring? Where is the President on the Bird vs. Pig war? It is probably because of the world-wide slingshot maker industrial complex.
So, next time you think “gamer” you might want to rethink your stereotypes…
Michael Bradley - Time Traveler 