I have a somewhat unique (there may be others but I haven't met you yet) perspective in that I am 55 years old and own a Slot Car racing track, Game and Hobby store.
I would have to say that games are the biggest area of potential growth and I get a lot of kids on game nights, mostly under 20. I am usually the oldest gamer (although friends in a nearby town keep threatening to come out and join us).
I have a "Stay and Play" philosophy rather than the "Buy it and Bugger Off" attitude I encountered so often as a kid and sadly still do more often than not. A lot of store owners are bloody rude to kids in spite of the fact that these are the future customers they need to start training.
I have game nights every Friday and of course the kids are welcome to come in and play other times as well. I don't charge the kids to play games (OK I sell a lot of pop and Ice Cream sandwiches; I am not
that noble). I buy extra copies of games I want to introduce or extra materials to make gaming more fun.
We play a lot of miniature based games like Heroclix and Star Wars Minis. I just got them (and myself) playing "Zombies" (hilarious) and I am just exposing them to Wings of War. Honestly, they are fascinated by Wings of War and once I get all the elements I need I doubt that I will have much trouble finding people who want to play.
Miniatures I think are great for promoting gaming. Warhammer; even though I think it is a bit of a rip-off, is hugely popular with kids (parents hate the cost) because of the Miniature figures and the fun of painting your own army (are you listening Nexus?).
Miniatures are uniquely tactile in a way that
Wii or
XBox will never be. Playing your opponent face to face (with a little friendly trash talking) adds just that little frisson of danger (like a punch in the nose) that Internet gaming will never have.
I think kids would love to get into gaming but for two things; They need a place to play and people to play with.
Games like
WoW are a great way to teach a little history and can be used as "gateway" (Tipper alert) games to other historical and tactical games and maybe they will even learn something along the way.
BTW I understand that the local library is playing "Ultimate Werewolf next week. I think I will check it out.
Gord
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