History PeripheryDemographic / VideoGames

* Surprisingly, in the west, despite skimpy costumes and ecchi themes, HyperdimensionNeptunia has a sizable female following. Some of them like the fact that the women are not only strong characters, but also in positions of ruling power, and that girls being proud of their bodies isn't seen as a negative trait. Many are happy for the opportunities it provides for English female voice actresses who can rarely find work in video games due to most games being dominated by male characters, too.

* Most any adult player of ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'', ''VideoGame/Halo'', or any other mainstream, M-rated, online multiplayer FPS will tell you about the curious presence of children and tweens there, who pull no punches in their use of swearing and ethnic slurs. Arguably, the game being rated M - and thus traditionally out of their demographic - constitutes much of the appeal for them.

** Also, for some reason it's extremely popular among autistic people. And no, that's not a joke...the Sonic universe has a pretty heavy amount of [[WorldBuilding world-building]] to it, and since many of its characters adhere to a homogenized character design {two circles for head and body; stick limbs; just add a color and a special ability and you're done), it's easy for people to create their own personas and stick them into the world via fanfiction.

* ''AnimalCrossing'' is targeted at children, but has quite a few forums where most, if not all, of the people on it are mature adults or teenagers. Some fans even remark that the reason the community is mature is because it's meant for children but has no violence, so kids shy away from it.

* The ''NancyDrew'' computer games were developed with the intention of getting younger girls interested in gaming and technology ([=HerInteractive=], the company who makes them, originally had the slogan "For girls who aren't afraid of a mouse.") However, because the series is well-written, designed to be [[SceneryPorn aesthetically beautiful,]] and just plain good, they've developed several peripheries, including college-age and adult women (who've grown with the series over the past decade,) and a large number of boys and men (many of whom simply like point-and-click adventure games, a genre that's not currently booming.) [=HerInteractive=] quickly caught on and changed their slogan to "Dare to Play" in response.

** Similarly, ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' also has a sizable female fanbase for similar reasons.

* [[RatedMForMoney Many M rated]] video games, sadly, attract a fanbase among younger people. [[FlatWhat Most would say this isn't the periphery.]]

* ''DeadOrAlive: Extreme Beach Volleyball'' is a {{fanservice}}-loaded video game series that has gotten some female fans, and even a few actual volleyball fans.

** Similar to Xbox Live Gamerscore example above, PlaystationNetwork's [[CosmeticAward Trophy system]] has a similar effect for people who want a quick Platinum trophy in hours (AKA platinum/trophy hunters). Games that end up being exploited for the Platinums a include ''WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs'', ''[[Series/HannahMontana Hannah Monatana: The Movie]]'' (The most notorious of them all for becoming an OldShame for some trophy hunters) and ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}} Megamind: Ultimate Showdown]]'' (Which beat out ''Hannah Montana: The Movie'' for easy plat).

* BioWare games have a strong audience of adult women and LBGTQ gamers, and are very aware of it. David Gaider himself gave an epic dressing-down to a straight male gamer who was offended by the very ''idea'' of a GayOption in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' by reminding him that the gaming audience consisted of people who weren't straight, male, or under 35 and that there should be options that reflect that diversity.

* BioWare games have a strong audience of adult women and LBGTQ gamers, and are very aware of it. David Gaider himself gave an epic dressing-down to a straight male gamer who was offended by the very ''idea'' of a GayOption in DragonAge by reminding him that the gaming audience consisted of people who weren't straight, male, or under 35 and that there should be options that reflect that diversity.

* HumongousEntertainment's games have gotten a lot of older fans, many from those who grew up on them. The large amount of {{Parental Bonus}}es helps quite a bit.

** Similar to Xbox Live Gamerscore example above, PlaystationNetwork's [[CosmeticAward Trophy system]] has a similar effect for people who want a quick Platinum trophy in hours (AKA platinum/trophy hunters). Games that end up being exploited for the Platinums a include WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs, [[Series/HannahMontana Hannah Monatana: The Movie]] (The notorious of them all that became an OldShame for some trophy hunters) and recently, [[WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}} Megamind: Ultimate Showdown]] (Which recently beat out HM: The Movie for easy plat).

* The rather... complicated storylines, the dozens of {{Estrogen Brigade Bait}}s and the ''buttloads'' of ShipTease (either {{het}} or HoYay, as well as some bits of LesYay) has made TheKingOfFighters '''extremely''' popular among female players. It does help that it's among the LongRunners, therefore many of the ladies who play it now likely grew up watching other people playing the earlier games.

* Although ''KingdomHearts'' is aimed to teenagers and young adults, the series has tons of fans in practically every single demographic imaginable.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has a whole following that doesn't care about weapon balance or mini-crits or even, God Forbid, '''hats'''. They just love to {{ship|ping}} [[YaoiFangirl the all-male]] cast [[note]] Besides some of the background characters, and the mystery of the Pyro[[/note]] together, draw art and write {{slash fic}}s about them. With in-game achievements like "Beaux And Arrows" (kill a Heavy-Medic duo with the Sniper's longbow), {{Valve}} are hardly discouraging this. "I LOVE THIS DOCTOR!"

* ''{{Banjo-Kazooie}}'', despite its several innuendos, was designed for children. Still, many adults play it.
** Controversially, ''ConkersBadFurDay'', was created for adults, and both the box and the game explicitly says "This game is not for anyone under 17". They play it anyway.

* Say, did you know that the ''KingdomHearts'' games (especially the first) are games to be enjoyed by children? And did you know that the majority of the fandom is composed by teenagers and young adults?

* As a credit to the gameplay, let it be known that ''DevilMayCry'', a series of ''single player'' action games, '''''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_DWmuXQ7Qk is tournament worthy.]]'''''

* First-person shooters are normally targeted towards the older male audience. However, they draw a teen and preteen crowd who want to appear more adult. Of course, anybody who uses XBox Live knows that some of these preteens try to do this by cussing up storm of bigoted gibberish.

* Many ''{{Pokemon}}'' fans continue to remain faithful to the games; the series is also one of the best {{RPG}}s out there that allow you to compete with other people, and so there's a significant crowd of hardcores and {{Stop Having Fun Guy}}s.
** Because of this, according to WordOfGod the [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite most recent entries]] [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver in the series]] are going for outright MultipleDemographicAppeal while still retaining their traditional core demographic of children.
** Perhaps exemplified by the Periphery Demographic ''within'' a Periphery Demographic: older fans of the three [[HeyYouPikachu cute]] [[PokemonChannel Pikachu]] [[PokeParkWii games]]. These games are more or less pure TastesLikeDiabetes adventures meant for ''very'' young kids. Really fun if they're your thing, though.

* ''SuperMarioBros'', although primarily marketed towards kids (at least for most of its life), has been a big hit with all ages and has become the best-selling game series of all time, with [[TheHero Mario]] arguably becoming the most recognized game character in the world. Similar to ''{{Pokemon}}'' above, it started going for MultipleDemographicAppeal at one point, and was marketed towards casual "non-gamer" audiences as well when it made its move to the {{Wii}}.
* Is there a museum of Science and Industry or other applied sciences museum near where you live? Does it have any kind of an "interactivity" focus? Was it around in the late 70s? If you search, they probably have a ''Lunar Lander'' arcade machine somewhere in there set to free play.[[note]] For those not in the know, ''Lander'' was a more or less accurate 2D simulation of what landing a Lunar Lander is like, inertia and all, making the '''museum''' the periphery demographic here.[[/note]]
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' has its intended fanbase of teenage boys and college aged men, and its unintended fanbase of women of ages 16-25 who are in it for the men in skintight sneaking suits, and the [[YaoiFangirl heavy amounts of]] HoYay. Some of them like the explosions and giant robots as well, of course. he has the highest level Pokemon for a NPC in the entire game. Even higher than the Pokemon league champion.

* Many Xbox360 games have a Periphery Demographic in Achievement hunters, who only play the game because it has a reputation for an easy 1000G. Two well-known examples are Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie (1000G just for playing through the game once, and cheat codes are allowed) and the WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender game, in which you can literally get 1000G in less than a minute.
** And need we even mention [[Barbie's]] Horse Adventure? A game where you can get an easy 1000G for ''starting the game for the first time.''
* The Playstation2 in general had a colossal periphery demographic when it first came out. Many people bought one with no intention of playing games - because at the time, it was pretty much the best, most featured, most cost-effective DVD player you could buy.

** Controversialy, ''{{Conker's Bad Fur Day}}'', was created for adults, and both the box and the game explicity say "The game isn't for anyone under 17". A lot of gamers play it not being 17.

* ''VideoGame/TheIdolmaster'' is a pop star raising simulation game with an all female cast (That is, until [[WholesomeCrossdresser DS]] and ''THE iDOLM@STER 2'') that was intended for male otaku. However, due to it being very girly, with there being a focus on fashion and the VirtualPaperDoll aspect, songs about girl power, and well, the fact that the cast is all female, there is quite a lot of female fans, especially in the west. Namco even acknowledged this and added three {{bishonen}} male idols as rivals in ''THE iDOLM@STER 2''. Unfortunately, while the female fans were pleased, it provoked a massive backlash against the game from the male otaku audience, in part because some of the original cast didn't make it into the sequel and the {{Bishonen}} males were [[ReplacementScrappy seen to be "replacing" them]].
* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has a whole following that doesn't care about weapon balance or mini-crits or even, God Forbid, '''hats'''. They just love to {{ship|ping}} [[YaoiFangirl the all-male]] [[note]] Besides some of the background characters, and the mystery of the Pyro[[/note]] cast together, draw art and write {{slash fic}}s about them. With in-game achievements like "Beaux And Arrows" (kill a Heavy-Medic duo with the Sniper's longbow), {{Valve}} are hardly discouraging this. "I LOVE THIS DOCTOR!"

* In South Korea, ''{{Starcraft}}'' has a very large fanbase in terms of female audiences who like to watch pro-gaming a lot. Majority of the contestants are young men after all.

** The Periphery Demographics are, in fact, the reason for most of the popularity the series has accumulated. The games themselves are fairly standard BulletHell {{Shoot Em Up}}s, however fanartists became obssessed with ZUN's (often conceptually brilliant, always technically flawed) character designs and sought to improve upon them, the doujin communities saw incredible potential in an elaborate setting with piles of FanficFuel, {{Fanfic Magnet}}s and {{OC Stand In}}s, and the musical arrangers fell in love with the music, to the point where they managed to turn [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLGW4-pgGXc this]] into '''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-eensMhO_k this]]'''.

* ''{{Minecraft}}''. Although official forum traffic tends to strongly imply that Minecraft's primary demographic is male and probably 13-17 years old, there is visible evidence on Website/YouTube and other places, of the game having both a female and adult playerbase as well.
* WeCheer: It may be a casual game that you would expect [[StopHavingFunGuys hardcore gamers]] to hate, but it turns out to be popular among males. Because, you know, AllGuysWantCheerleaders.

* The SonicTheHedgehog series has many teenage and adult followers as well as child fans, due to nostalgia from the Genesis/Saturn/Dreamcast days, and for the sexily-designed female characters like Rouge, Wave, and Blaze.
** Also, for some reason it's extremely popular among autistic people. And no, that's not a joke...the Sonic universe has a pretty heavy amount of worldbuilding to it, and since many of its characters adhere to a homogenized character design {two circles for head and body; stick limbs; just add a color and a special ability and you're done), it's easy for people to create their own personas and stick them into the world via fanfiction.

* ''MyGirlfriendIsThePresident'' is an {{eroge}} that has enjoyed some non-masturbator success based on its [[WeirdJapaneseThing incredibly, incredibly weird plot]] and funny writing. This leads to a certain amount of SelectiveSquick surrounding the sex scenes for those who are not into [[PerverseSexualLust 2D characters]] or women at all, as well as the constant FanService of the AllMenArePerverts setting and [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero sexual-harasser main character]] - awful if you're playing for the plot, but fairly benign as a pure sexual power fantasy.