History PeripheryDemographic / VideoGames

* The ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games are primarily marketed towards children (and were almost ''exclusively'' marketed to them early on), yet the series has a large adult fanbase due to the Pokémon themselves and game mechanics having MultipleDemographicAppeal, and it's the second best-selling game series of all time next to ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'', below. There's also a sizable subset of fans that love playing the game on a competitive level due to the battle mechanics having a surprising amount of depth, whether using the official rules or the ones popularized by the Website/{{Smogon}} community. For the most part, newer games and other media in the franchise tended to become more inclusive towards the older fans as [[NostalgiaFilter nostalgia]] helped the fanbase grow, to the point that some Japanese children unfavorably compare the fanbase with that of ''VideoGame/YoKaiWatch'' due to it allegedly being filled with "old fogeys".

* The ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games are primarily marketed towards children, yet the series has a large adult fanbase due the Pokémon themselves and game mechanics having MultipleDemographicAppeal. There's also a sizable subset of fans that love playing the game on a competitive level due to the battle mechanics having a surprising amount of depth, whether using the official rules or the ones popularized by the Website/{{Smogon}} community.

* Although ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' is aimed at teenagers and young adults, the series has tons of fans in practically every single demographic imaginable. Two of the most prominent part of its online fandom are probably the {{Yaoi Fangirl}}s and {{Disney}} fans.

* ''PopNMusic'' was initially a game intended to be played for couples on dates. It ended up being as hardcore of a RhythmGame as its sister series ''{{beatmania}} IIDX'' and ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'', with most of its current fanbase playing it by themselves instead of with another person, all while retaining the cute and colorful graphics that may [[SurpriseDifficulty lead the uninitiated to believe that it's an easy game for kids]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Banjo-Kazooie}}'', despite its several innuendos, was designed for children. Still, many adults play it.

* 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 odd bit of GettingCrapPastTheRadar (often concerning [[SpyCatsuit Rouge]]).
** Also, for some reason it's extremely popular among people on the autistic spectrum. 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 pick a species, 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.

** As does its {{Spiritual Successor}}, ''VideoGame/{{Blazblue}}''.

* ''VisualNovel/MyGirlfriendIsThePresident'' is an {{eroge}} that has enjoyed some non-masturbatory success based on its [[WidgetSeries 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.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' was meant to be a MascotFighter as a last second joke, but it was popular enough with people that they made ''Melee'', which was a competitive paradise. ''Brawl'' alienated that demographic somewhat, however. The fourth installment is openly aiming for both groups, with separate game modes called ''For Fun'' and ''For Glory'' designed to satisfy everyone.

* The ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games are primarily marketed towards children, yet the series has a large adult fanbase due the Pokémon and game mechanics having MultipleDemographicAppeal. There's also a sizable subset of fans that love playing the game on a competitive level due to the battle mechanics having a surprising amount of depth, whether using the official rules or the ones popularized by the Website/{{Smogon}} community.

* Many ''Franchise/{{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 later entries]] [[VideoGame/PokemonHeartGoldAndSoulSilver 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 [[VideoGame/HeyYouPikachu cute]] [[VideoGame/PokemonChannel Pikachu]] [[VideoGame/PokeParkWii games]]. These games are more or less pure TastesLikeDiabetes adventures meant for ''very'' young kids. Really fun if they're your thing, though.
** The character design of the human characters and the Pokémon themselves tend to draw in plenty of people.

* Controversially, ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'' was ''initially'' meant for kids, but saw a sudden change in direction partway through development when critics complained of its [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks similarity to other games of its time]]. This change in direction involved turning it into a game for adults, while leaving most of the cute graphics intact. Both the box and the game explicitly says "This game is not for anyone under 17". Kids play it anyway (to be fair, they probably appreciated the addition of the [[ToiletHumor Great Mighty]] [[TalkingPoo Poo]]).

** Controversially, ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'' was ''initially'' meant for kids, but saw a sudden change in direction partway through development when critics complained of its [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks similarity to other games of its time]]. This change in direction involved turning it into a game for adults, while leaving most of the cute graphics intact. Both the box and the game explicitly says "This game is not for anyone under 17". Kids play it anyway (to be fair, they probably appreciated the addition of the [[ToiletHumor Great Mighty]] [[TalkingPoo Poo]]).

* A great many ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'' fans are people who grew up playing said games. This qualifies because the series in general is and was designed to be for beginners. These people might have moved on in terms of skill but many of them gleefully return for each new installment, no matter how short or easy it is. Sometimes, some surprisingly difficult things can make it in, though ([[BossRush The True Arena]], for instance, is certainly no cakewalk). The [[SurpriseCreepy surprisingly]] [[VileVillainSaccharineShow creepy bosses]] that some games have may also have something to do with it.
** ''VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn'' also attracted the viewers due to its unique visual presentation.

** Because of this, according to WordOfGod the [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite most recent entries]] [[VideoGame/PokemonHeartGoldAndSoulSilver in the series]] are going for outright MultipleDemographicAppeal while still retaining their traditional core demographic of children.

* ''Franchise/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 ''Franchise/{{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}}.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' was meant to be a MascotFighter as a last second joke, but it was popular enough with people that they made ''Melee'', which was a competitive paradise. ''Brawl'' alienated that demographic somewhat, however. The fourth instalment is openly aiming for both groups, with separate game modes called ''For Fun'' and ''For Glory'' designed to satisfy everyone.

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' is shaping up to this in a similar vein like ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. The intended audience for this game is for young children, but it happens to be very attractive to a young adult demographic, mainly because the character designs have strong similarities to the 90s cartoons they grew up watching. Also, in a rare in-universe example, a song that is at the core of Inkling society actually has [[spoiler:Octarian commander DJ Octavio]] jamming to it.

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' is shaping up to this in a similar vein like ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. The intended audience for this game is for young children, but it happens to be very attractive to a young adult demographic, mainly because the character designs have strong similarities to the 90s cartoons they grew up watching.

* FiveNightsAtFreddys seems to have a load of fans that are among the FurryFandom, and it shows. [[RuleThirtyFour A lot]].

* ''{{Catherine}}'' has a scene amongst, of all things, ''competitive gamers'', thanks to its versus mode. It's become a staple at some fighting game tournament events, to the point where there are money matches.

* PriPara is a {{Toyetic}} arcade game aimed at little girls. Due to the friend card feature encouraging interaction with friends that also play the game, the VirtualPaperDoll aspect (from the makers of StyleSavvy!), and just being [[KawaIsa so damned cute]], it has a large amount of adult women that play, affectionately referred to as "Obasan".

* The rather... complicated storylines, the dozens of MrFanservice guys 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.

* ''VideoGame/Splatoon'' is shaping up to this in a similar vein like ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. The intended audience for this game is for young children, but it happens to be very attractive to a young adult demographic, mainly because the character designs have strong similarities to the 90s cartoons they grew up watching.

* ''VisualNovel/MyGirlfriendIsThePresident'' is an {{eroge}} that has enjoyed some non-masturbatory 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.

* ''{{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.

* ''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.

* BioWare games have a strong audience of adult women and non heterosexual 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.
* 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.

* Believe it or not ''HarvestMoon'' was originally aimed at a male, or at least neutral, demographic. The first few titles didn't even have female protagonists, or they got shafted compared to the men (in that a game with a female player character would end after they got married). You wouldn't know this by the fandom, which consists mostly of (pre)teen girls and young women. The fact the games have increasingly have CastFullOfPrettyBoys you can marry doesn't help, along with the farming and animal aspects.

* 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. In fact, RonGilbert even stated in an interview that parents would oftentimes play the games [[GuiltyPleasure in secret]] after their kids went to bed.
* Although ''KingdomHearts'' is aimed at teenagers and young adults, the series has tons of fans in practically every single demographic imaginable. Two of the most prominent part of its online fandom are probably the {{Yaoi Fangirl}}s and {{Disney}} fans.

* 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.]]'''''

* The ''Franchise/SlyCooper'' franchise has many fans within' the FurryFandom.

** Also, for some reason it's extremely popular among people on the autistic spectrum. 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 pick a species, 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.

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_Loopy Casio Loopy]] was one of the few consoles targeted towards little girls. The system itself was a Japan-exclusive and a huge flop, but the rarity of the console and the fact that it is in general just a very odd console (with only one controller port, a game-library of dating sims, a device that can print stickers etc.) made it a console that every console collector can appreciate having in its video game console library.