Gamers are richer and have better lives than you

At this year's Wizard World Chicago, Alienware set up quite a booth showcasing their high-end (and very expensive) PCs and Notebooks running some of the latest games like Crysis.

SpartanLoneWolf has contributed a photo to this story.

This cabinet came about because my son wanted a stand-up arcade-style video game system and i was willing to have one as long as it didn't look like one. It need to fit in with our home's style. After a year of brainstorming this is what we came up with.

b.k. Watkins has contributed a photo to this story.

Gamers are a huge and diverse group - people of all ages and from all walks of life play computer games, nowadays, male and female alike. Old stereotypes and generalisations don't really apply.

Having said that... most of the gamers I know are still geeky boys, no doubt (sorry guys!!), albeit with vibrant social lives, girlfriends and a healthy interest in sport and outdoor activities. :)

Loving Earth has contributed a photo to this story.

$79,000 on average? Wow.

As gaming appeals to more and more people, it's only natural that the demographic will shift. Kids these days grow up with video games as a part of mainstream life.. games are no longer the niche market they used to be in the 80's.

Video games, like any other pasttime, is just one of many. People tend to forget that games are simply a hobby, and not a way of life. Being a video gamer doesn't preclude from participating in all the other interesting things in life. :)

i love my pic

daisy floral has contributed a photo to this story.

Paul The Wine Guy has contributed a photo to this story.

As a nerd with a good job, a hand built arcade machine that plays every videogame ever, and a habit of making geeky jewelry and art for others like me, i must say that this is no surprise.

manischewitzbacon has contributed a photo to this story.

Gaming has definitely come a long way into the mainstream since the days when I'd sit for 5 minutes waiting for a game to load from audio tape (with associated screeching-beepy noises) and the idea of even having a computer in the home was still outlandish to just about everyone.

I suspect many people who consider the stereotypical gamer of today forget that quite a few stereotypical gamers of my era are still into playing games, even if we now have jobs and families and homes to tend to first.

Paul Glover has contributed a photo to this story.

 This is quite funny and true. :-)

No idea if I'm smarter or fitter (I only hope), but the cash gets spent on getting the stuff I want like new phones, building this arcade machine or getting a new computer or laptop.

Love being a geek. I get to have music in every room in my house and my friends don't. :)

Leigh Barlow has contributed a photo to this story.

When I was in High School, my best friend had an Atari System. He wouldn't let me play it, so I broke his face. Moral of the story - even gamers' faces break.

Great story. Now I go play :-)

File under "Obviously but...: This is an sculpture of a Steampunk-ish Arcade. There are attribution notes in the photo notes.

TonyHsieh has contributed a photo to this story.

I love my XBOX 360!

pablosu has contributed a photo to this story.

being a guitar builder i need the computers for the memory/information/photos of guitars for reforence i did try Hp-IBM but Alienware is superiour for gaming and for eveyday use geeforce is totally on ! with klipsch 200 watt sound look out.
useing old hiwatt,marshall ,fender tube amps for my guitars got to have good tone/like the guiterist from,megadeth or tool,mahavisna cordless mouse is a must alienware rules..
used an Olympus 550 ultime zoom 7.1 megapixcal just as good as my canon/nikon any gamer will say alienware rules just as guitar player photographer say's gibson,fender,marshall,bogner,nikon,canon kick.alienware m5555 is fast but have to maintain it but is still the best for gaming and everyday use & killer,killer looks got to have another one thank you ! cuz i could not or not want to be without a good computer .

rayobeso has contributed a photo to this story.

Hi Jason, Good Stuff..

I was just wondering if there is a study on the other side of the coin meaning the game gurus, programmers and whatnots...game project managers ( with time to market scowls tattoed on their forehead etc.)

and the general kind of sorry life they lead!! Imagine spending all your waking hours figuring out an algorithm for x, y and z  or the binary eq of 63...(if ya know what I mean!!)

I received this image via Photoswap. It appears to be some sort of a development / debug version of the Nintendo Wii. I couldn't find a whole lot of information about it, but from what I understand, it has an internal hard disk, and no optical drive (note the missing slot).

In the background, it looks like there's an XBox 360 premium, and also a UPS (complete with UK-style power outlet).

This came from a fellow Photoswapper in the UK -- I don't know much about him or what he's working on, but it looks like a lot of fun!

red.stapler has contributed a photo to this story.