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Randy Pitchford Talks Gaming's Generation Gap
Our country's older generation seems to be terrified of the video game medium, but this should come as no surprise. New technology and new forms of entertainment have always scared those that didn't grow up with it, as Randy Pitchford discusses in a GameSetWatch interview.
"We are in an interesting time right now. Video games have created the largest generation gap in the history of all entertainment on earth," says Pitchford. "The older generation thought rock and roll music would bring about the downfall of a generation. They banned 'Louie Louie' because they thought it would corrupt the youth -- and they couldn't even understand the lyrics."
Elaborating on why video games are having an even tougher time than rock and roll, the Gearbox CEO says "At least they understood what music was, and they might not approve of that [rock and roll] concept, but at least they thought that music had value. We have evolved a bit since then, but it's interesting because [video games] do have a much larger generation gap."
It won't always be this way, he explains. "So we have this ginormous generation gap, but it'll go away, because we will get older -- and as gamers get older, they keep playing games. Soon we'll have a president who has a Gamertag. And every news anchor will have a Gamertag."
I hope that happens before I become one of the "older generation," because that would mean we'd see far less hyperbolic stories from Fox News and other outlets about the poisons of the gaming industry.
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