I have to wonder what sort of interestingly weird stuff this is going to do to the statistics as this cohort continues to age, since this will likely displace a lot of 'sitting around watching TV' behavior (even if it's just 'sitting around playing video games' instead). It feels like it will be a comparatively huge boost to mental engagement in old age.
It will be interesting. Discretionary funds being spent on virtual hats, instead of 'granny bait' catalogs. eBooks instead of physical books (bigger text for aging eyes!). Subscription services instead of vinyl records and VHS tapes. More interesting is if this will hit the property market, as will less physical stuff you need less space. My parents had to have a big house for all their stuff. I recently retired and and most of my stuff is in boxes in a shed awaiting sorting and donation to charity, the physical books I will never read, the DVDs I will never watch, the CDs I will never play, the obsolete electronics.
Only if you insist on buying the latest generation. It matters little to the 50+, who have enough life experience to, in general, not be the people who fall into the trap of buying the latest and greatest. To participate in gaming at the 'high end', you need a newish Playstation or XBox, or PC equivalent. Anything beyond that is an indulgence, and competing with lots of things for our discretionary spending. Gaming today is incredibly cheap compared to hobbies in the 80s. To those of us who remember when those primitive game consoles and TVs cost hundreds of 80s dollars and computers cost thousands of 80s dollars, the cost of the latest gen video cards seems rational, but common sense and frugality that comes with retirement planning means we don't buy them unless there is spare cash to burn.
