Are you too old to play video games?

The simple answer is no. Who would put an age limit on playing video games? However most hardcore players are aware that a good percentage of society will frown upon people who are still playing games beyond their 30's.

You can ask those people, what do you do to pass time? Watch TV, listen to CD's, read a books? I believe in some cases there is a lot more neural activity and interaction while playing video games, especially with multi-player games. There are a lot of games these days that young children can't even buy due to the level of violence and nudity and therefore restricted to adults only.

Some positive points to gaming:

1. A very good stress reliever, especially instant satisfaction games - kill, destroy etc..
2. Speeds up the reflexes and even hand eye co-ordination.
3. With online multiplayer gaming, through our headsets we can actually talk/catch up with friends while playing.
4. Can be used as a reward for younger children, after they complete their homework etc.. But parents must carefully monitor the amount of hours used.
5. A very good career for people interested in the production side
6. Many games have map/costume/vehicle design functions so one can utilise their design skills, share and impress friends.
7. People like to hack games, but hacking is simply exploit programming. People will go out of their way to study and learn code for this.
8. In certain neighbourhoods it can keep young men off the street where they are likely to encounter danger.
9. Mobile phone (iPhone games) - Very good for killing time on long train journeys to work.
10. Educational - many game these days have a high education content approved by many boards of education.

If you girlfriend or wife is complaning about the gaming buy a Nintendo Wii, I can guarantee there are some games which she'd enjoy.

As many people are aware, Video gaming is very popular in Asia, especially Japan and Korea. Japan partcularly due to Nintendo, Neo Geo, Sega, Playstation etc and also many famous software development companies.

On the commute to and from work on the trains both morning and evening you will regularly see business men play games either on the PSP, Nintendo DS or their mobile/smart phones. Most Japanese would probably not put any age limit on playing games since so many adults do it. The women on the other hand, tend to be into the gaming up until around 13-14 yrs old before losing interest.

If you go to any game centre in Japan you will find out that it's either all or nothing. Not many people just play games to pass time, they really put 101% effort and serious playing into it. Competition tends to be at a very high level in Japan compared to the west when it comes to two player or online gaming.

Nowadays we have smart phones and similar devices. In Asia most commuters on the train are busy playing their phones etc..and around 50-60% are playing games, and that's adults on their way to work.