The Rise of the Badass Old Man

Quick name some of gaming’s biggest icons currently. You probably answered; Ezio Auditore, Captain Price, and Solid Snake. These are only just a few of the big names in the field of recognizable game characters, but I single them out specifically. Every one of these characters is old. They may not have started that way, but in their most recent installments, all sit pretty above the age of 50. It is an interesting trend in modern gaming culture that the newest wave of characters is these heroic, incredibly Badass Old Men.

Think back to the very beginning of this console generation. Without making too much of an exaggeration, it appeared as if every game had a “space marine” in it. Games of the like of Halo, Killzone and Gears of War propagated this trend. The character type became so prevalent that what was once a guaranteed game seller became trite. People lost interest in continually saving the galaxy. The only current games with “space marines” that sell well today are those whose series was established during the heyday of “space marines”. Halo 4, Gears of War 3 and Mass Effect 3 are considered some of the best games out there and they have the sales to prove it. But of all the other “space marine” games that were not able to find continued success have been replaced with the Badass Old Man.  

But why is this? What is it about the Badass Old Man that attracts so many people? The answer does not lie in the interests of gamers, but in their age. The ESA (Entertainment Software Association) lists the average age of American gamers as 30 years old. On average they have been playing videogames for twelve years. That means that where I grew up with an original PlayStation, they grew up with the original Nintendo Entertainment System. These are gamers that no longer have the young adult constraints of school or money to dictate their videogame buying purchases. That gives the 30-something gamers power in the Industry, not just because they are the majority but because they purchase the most games. It is the elder gamer that has given impetus to the rise of the Badass Old Man.

There are two real reasons for this development. Firstly it is easier for the majority of American gamers to connect with a character who is their peer. For the same reason that children find it difficult to connect to an older character, older gamers do not want to play as younger characters. They cannot make any connection to the central character and therefore lose interest in the game. Even some of the perceived to be younger main characters form popular franchises are actually in their mid-30s. The prime examples being Nathan Drake of the Uncharted series and most of the playable characters form the Borderlands series. The rise in the age of the modern gamer directly links into the popularity of characters in that age range. 

But if characters in a similar age range are popular, then why are the most recognizable heroes of today’s videogames nearly twenty years older than the average gamer? Why is it that the most prevalent character is the Badass Old Man and not the Badass Mid-30s Man? The answer is wish-fulfillment. Games have always been an escapist medium; they allow the gamer to live out fantasies that could never happen in real life. And part of those fantasies involve a little bit of wish-fulfillment. Female characters in games are often over sexualized because, unfortunately, a large portion of male gamers only want something pretty to look at. On similar grounds, a majority of male videogame characters are extremely macho-men with ripped abs and busting muscles because the same proportions of male gamers want to look like that. They get a kick out of playing as an action hero because they themselves are not. But now the largest portions of gamers are in their 30s and they still want to be the action hero. They also want to know that as they get older they will still be able to kick ass. The Badass Old Man character is deliberately older than the majority of players because it allows for the players to believe that they can still be awesome once the years pass them by. It is wish-fulfillment to play as a character that is 50 years old and still fit the action hero role of silently taking out guards, defeating terrorists and unraveling a major conspiracy. The Badass Old Man is an ideal that the games industry proudly offers to elder gamers. For anyone that had concerns or doubts of deteriorating with age, the Badass Old Man is there for them to live vicariously through because almost all gamers at heart still want to be the action hero.

The final question left to be asked about the Badass Old Man character is whether or not it will fall to the same fate as the “space marine”. Going into the future that much is unknown, but the prevalence and perseverance of the character will most defiantly insure him a place for at least the next few years. My beloved Spec Ops: The Line for every genre redefining thing it does still has a Badass Old Man character in the form of Riggs, the 50 plus CIA agent who single handedly takes out a roof full of snipers. Whether for better or worse, the Badass Old Man character is here to stay.