The acne-ridden teenage 
slacker gamer has long been a media cliche, but new demographic data shows just how far off those assumptions were.
Today’s average gamer is 34 years old, according to a study of 1,200 households by the Entertainment Software Assn. The most frequent game purchaser is 40 — old enough to remember the early days of Atari.
The videogame industry has one mission 
in mind during next week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo: It needs to impress.
Sales are down across the board for hardware and software so far this year, with overall revenue for the games biz down more than $560 million over 2009, or 11%, according to NPD Group. Industry earned $20.2 billion last year.
The founders of two of the Internet’s
highest profile ventures are getting into the music business.
Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, co-founders of Kazaa and Skype, are teaming once again to unveil Rdio (pronounced “r-dee-o”), which kicks off a limited launch today. The service aims to blend social media, online music and portability.
Core gamers are the lifeblood of the video game industry, buying more titles and playing more frequently than anyone else. They are the film world’s equivalent of the equivalent of the film world’s superfan, who visits the cinema multiple times each weekend. According to a study from the NPD Group, which also tracks retail sales of videogames, “extreme” gamers spend 48.5 hours per week playing games, while repping 4% of the total gamers in the U.S.
On the whole, U.S. gamers spend 13 hours per week playing games — 42 minutes more than last year. That’s still considerably less than the average American’s TV viewing habits, which clock in at 35 hours per week, according to Nielsen. But games are gaining.
Two of the most visible faces in Microsoft’s entertainment 
and devices division are leaving the company. Microsoft today announced the departure of president Robbie Bach and chief experience officer J Allard.
Bach is retiring after 22 years with the company effective this fall. He has headed the entertainment and devices division since its inception five years ago and is a regular presence at major Microsoft press events. Allard, the driving force behind the Xbox and Zune media player, is leaving, but will remain as an advisor to CEO Steve Ballmer.
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Five years ago, the relationship between the videogame world 
and major studios was pretty straightforward. Hollywood made movies — and game companies licensed those films to create games.
The “Tomb Raider” and “Resident Evil” games reversed that order, as games were transformed into film franchises. But no matter which came first, gamemakers were generally in the less powerful position.
That’s quickly changing as entertainment tastes evolve — and game companies are sending the word to studios that it’s time to rethink the relationship.
Stereoscopic 3D gaming hasn’t really caught on, but it has certainly captured its share of headlines over the past 12 months. Now, one of the videogame industry’s largest publishers says it expects the technology to break through into the mainstream within two years.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, in a recent earnings conference call, said he expects up to 50% of all games published to be 3D by 2012.
Story is typically an afterthought in videogames. The intense focus on gameplay elements (and often graphics) leaves little room for a well-thought-out tale, let 
alone a nuanced one. “Alan Wake” is an exception — offering a carefully crafted saga that still manages to be one of the better titles put out in the past year. A suspenseful mystery-thriller, set in the same style as “Lost,” the game is one of Microsoft’s big bets of 2010 — and has been one of the industry’s most anticipated titles for several years; today is the day the wraps come off.
Developer Remedy is well respected in the industry and among players, having created the “Max Payne” franchise (which Fox adapted into a 2008 film). Any Remedy game is going to appeal to the sweet spot for gaming’s core audience (typically males 18-24). But with Microsoft’s marketing machine behind it, the title may reach beyond that to a mass audience, as did the “Grand Theft Auto” franchise.”Alan Wake” blends a spooky atmosphere with tremendous combat elements, adding some creative storytelling to keep the player riveted from beginning to end.
“FarmVille” seems an unlikely competitor to games 
like “Grand Theft Auto” and “Modern Warfare 2,” but start counting the number of regular players, and the unassuming Facebook game might surprise you.
More than 32 million people tend their virtual crops each day, and the game has a total user base of 80 million. That’s roughly seven times the number of people who play the online smash “World of Warcraft.”
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to review a California law banning sale or rental of violent games to children is raising concern within the videogame industry, which has a great deal at stake in the outcome.
The law has never taken effect because of lower court rulings. But a decision from the high court that sides with California could impact a major source of revenue for the industry, since many of the titles targeted by the law are among its biggest sellers.
Chris Morris: Journalist 