2017’s Best Cities for Gamers
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Gaming is serious business. Globally, it represents nearly a billion players contributing to an over $100 billion industry. To put that in perspective, video games in 2016 dwarfed total movie-ticket sales around the world by a good $62.5 billion. But it’s just as lucrative of a cash generator in the U.S., where revenues are expected to exceed $25 billion this year.
Today, about half of U.S. adults play video games, and nearly two in three households are home to at least one gamer who plays an average of three to four hours per week. For some players, however, gaming is more than a hobby; the virtual world forms part of their identity. In fact, about 10 percent of adult players would label themselves “gamers,” according to the Pew Research Center. And while arguments can certainly be made against the negative effects of gaming, many players value the social aspect of the activity, evident in the gaming groups, forums and conventions sprouting online and across the country. Pro gaming, or “esports,” itself is growing into a popular career choice.
But some places are better than others for the gamer lifestyle, so WalletHub’s data team compared the 100 largest U.S. cities across 20 key indicators of gamer-friendliness. Our data set ranges from average internet speed to video-game stores per capita to number of esports tournaments. Read on for the winners, gamer advice and industry insight from a panel of experts, and our full methodology.
Main FindingsEmbed on your website<iframe src="//d2e70e9yced57e.cloudfront.net/wallethub/embed/36270/geochart.html" width="556" height="347" frameBorder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> <div style="width:556px;font-size:12px;color:#888;">Source: <a href="http://ift.tt/2t0RAvY;
|
Overall Rank |
City |
Total Score |
Effective |
Annual |
Difference |
Annual |
Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska | 5.69% | $3,066 | -46.85% | $4,237 | 6 | |
| 2 | Delaware | 6.02% | $3,246 | -43.74% | $3,830 | 1 | |
| 3 | Montana | 6.92% | $3,728 | -35.37% | $3,561 | 3 | |
| 4 | Wyoming | 7.45% | $4,015 | -30.40% | $4,312 | 2 | |
| 5 | Nevada | 7.72% | $4,161 | -27.86% | $4,028 | 7 |
Gaming can be both an expensive and a time-consuming habit. For advice on maintaining a healthy gaming lifestyle and insight on the industry, we asked a panel of experts to share their thoughts on the following key questions:
- What tips do you have for someone who wishes to indulge his or her gamer habits without breaking the bank?
- What tips do you have for parents looking to monitor video-game content and prevent children from spending too much time playing video games?
- Which is more cost effective: a subscription model akin to Netflix that allows users to access a catalog of games or purchasing games individually?
- Do you believe the popularity of esports will continue to rise? Will it ever rival major sports leagues such as the NFL or MLB?
- Should betting on esports be legal in the U.S.?
Alan Bester Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at Western University and Dota 2 Statistician, Host and Analyst
Timothy Derdenger Assistant Professor of Marketing at Carnegie Mellon University
Robert Rippee Director of the Hospitality Lab and Director of the eSports Lab at the International Gaming Institute at University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Randall P. Fitzgerald League of Legends/Starcraft 2 Caster, Author of 'My Black Beast'
Raiford Guins Professor of Cinema and Media Studies in The Media School at Indiana University and MIT Press "Game Histories" Book Series Editor
Judd Ruggill Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Public and Applied Humanities in the College of Humanities and Co-Director of Learning Games Initiative at University of Arizona
Craig A. Anderson Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Iowa State University
Colin Milburn Professor of Science and Technology Studies at University of California, Davis
Cathlena Martin Assistant Professor of Game Studies and Design at the University of Montevallo
Ben Reichert Founder and CEO of Game CoLab and Professor at University of Advancing Technology
Ben Aslinger Associate Professor of English and Media Studies at Bentley University
Alenda Y. Chang Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara
What tips do you have for a person that wishes to indulge his or her gamer habits without breaking the bank? First, figure out what games you're interested in playing. A $400 PC can run most popular online multiplayer games like Dota 2, CS:GO, and Overwatch. A PS4, now available for $250, offers great single player exclusives with some multiplayer options thrown in. There's tremendous value in indie games right now at the $10-25 price point (most on PC, but an increasing number are coming to consoles as well). For PC players, Humble Bundle is a great way to pick up multiple games at a significant discount. What tips do you have for parents looking to monitor video game content and prevent children from spending too much time playing video games? ESRB ratings are a reasonable guide. Unfortunately, most of these ratings don't cover multiplayer online interactions. I know some people won't like hearing this, but the only sure way to monitor kids' gaming experiences is for the parents to experience the games themselves -- either by playing or watching, at least occasionally. For particularly concerned parents, some mobile titles like Clash Royale offer great competition without the potential toxicity of text or voice chat. Which is more cost effective: a subscription model akin to Netflix that allows users to access a catalog of games or purchasing games individually? A Netflix like subscription service is complicated for gaming because of the different revenue models in the industry. For traditional AAA titles, sites like Gamefly are a reasonable alternative. For free-to-play and/or microtransaction games it's not clear what value such a service would provide. Do you believe the popularity of eSports will continue to rise? Will it ever rival major sports leagues such as the NFL or MLB? Yes, absolutely. This has as much or more to do with the way millennials consume content as the content itself. ESPN and major sports leagues are already facing a decline in revenues as online streaming content steadily displaces traditional network television. eSports has always been primarily streamed and is in perfect position to fill the gap. While total eSports revenues are still an order of magnitude smaller than say the NFL or NBA (think $10-15 billion annually) I do think the two will be at least comparable within the next 8-10 years. Should betting on eSports be legal in US? Yes. The best estimates I've seen put eSports cash betting around $550-600 million in 2016, with about an order of magnitude more in "skin betting" (i.e., wagering of in-game cosmetic items, particularly prevalent in CS:GO). While some developers (e.g., Valve) have tried to control betting sites through their terms of service agreements (either the game itself or distribution platforms such as Steam), it's not realistic to ask game developers to police eSports betting. While some oppose gambling on moral grounds, people are going to bet. And with legalization comes regulation by entities like the Nevada Gaming Commission, who know what they are doing and will be much better able to deal with issues such as underage bettors. Timothy Derdenger Assistant Professor of Marketing at Carnegie Mellon University 
What tips do you have for parents looking to monitor video game content and prevent children from spending too much time playing video games? Xfinity by Comcast has a terrific new service for parents that allow them to control the internet access for specific devices within the home network. The service allows parents to set the hours the device can connect to Wi-Fi very easily (note most home routers already do this but Comcast made it particularly easy for the parent) and thus restrict the amount of time the child is able to play video games each day or week. Which is more cost effective: a subscription model akin to Netflix that allows users to access a catalog of games or purchasing games individually? It depends. Causal gamers tend to value variety more than hardcore gamers and so a subscription service like a Netflix would be most appropriate for them. It also allows consumers to play games in the long tail without occurring a large cost. Hardcore players on the other hand play specific titles and immerse themselves in the game. For these consumers, a Netflix like service provides little value. They are better off paying the unit cost for each game they like to play. Do you believe the popularity of eSports will continue to rise? Will it ever rival major sports leagues such as the NFL or MLB? Yes, eSports will continue to increase in popularity. This rise is not particularly due to the increase in the number of gamers, but is from a growing base of consumers who like to watch people play video games. Put differently, this rise is demand side driven, not supply side. I don’t think eSports will ever rival the NFL or MLB or the PGA Tour, but these leagues would be remise to pass over the opportunity to collaborate on events and/or cross-market each owns to capture potential synergies between events, e.g., Super Bowl and EA’s Madden Bowl. Robert Rippee Director of the Hospitality Lab and Director of the eSports Lab at the International Gaming Institute at University of Nevada, Las Vegas 
What tips do you have for a person that wishes to indulge his or her gamer habits without breaking the bank? Set goals and fences. In other words, play to achieve a certain level or outcome and on the reverse, be prepared to step away from the game if you don’t achieve your goal (hit the fence). Also, be cognizant of the time, in many video games the time factor is asynchronous, meaning the time of day is irrelevant to the time in the game. Players lose track to the time of day or how much time they are actually playing; be more cognizant and in control of your time. What tips do you have for parents looking to monitor video game content and prevent children from spending too much time playing video games? The simplest tip is to become involved, not necessarily as a player but as a spectator. Understand the game and the game mechanics. In some case, a single “round” of game play may take longer than you may think so become more familiar with the mechanics of the games your children prefer. If you understand the games, you will naturally develop a better understanding of how to help them manage the amount of time they devote to the games. Secondly, playing video games on a PC and spending time on the internet are obviously related. Perhaps the question is better phrased, how to help your children manage the amount of time they spend online. Do you believe the popularity of eSports will continue to rise? Will it ever rival major sports leagues such as the NFL or MLB? Absolutely. It is already growing at a pace faster than most professional sports. Additionally, it is closely aligned with the millennial and Gen Z demographic. The millennial is already the largest demographic group in the United States and will continue to be so for the next 20 years. The growth of eSports shows no sign of subsiding at this point. Should betting on eSports be legal in US? Certain forms of betting are already legal in Nevada where I live and teach. Randall P. Fitzgerald League of Legends/Starcraft 2 Caster, Author of 'My Black Beast' 
What tips do you have for a person that wishes to indulge his or her gamer habits without breaking the bank? There are tons of free to play games these days that are easy on the wallet so long as you can avoid the siren call of loot boxes. Likewise, regular Steam sales and spots like Humble Bundle make it incredibly easy to bolster your library (at least on PC) for a very reasonable price. In the same vein, indie games have settled into a very affordable part of the market with average prices only occasionally running up to $20, most of them hitting $15 or so. And there are impressive experiences in just about every genre in for that price. What tips do you have for parents looking to monitor video game content and prevent children from spending too much time playing video games? I think that's a trickier question than most people give it credit for. As ever, though, the best way to understand your kids is to talk to them with genuine interest. The better you understand what your kids are into, the better you can understand what it is they're taking away from gaming and try to meet them on their level. I recommend any parent learn about gaming by doing it. It's a good family activity and games like Overwatch have a lot to offer, even if the learning curve for non-gaming adults might be a bit steep. Likewise, if you'd rather steer away from gaming, don't forsake your kids' interests. If they're not into sports or the outdoors, look into Dungeons and Dragons. It's a great game that teaches valuable social skills (honestly) and cooperation. It really is a fantastic stand-in for the social benefits of team sports. Which is more cost effective: a subscription model akin to Netflix that allows users to access a catalog of games or purchasing games individually? Cost effectiveness is only a part of the question, I think. While a Netflix style service might allow access to games you might otherwise not bother trying, it leaves out the ability to keep those games permanently. Servers going offline and games dying is already a massive problem in the current market and I can only imagine how depressing it would be to see your favorite games disappear forever because a license ran out or the company simply no longer felt like offering the game. Even then, for every game you might want to try, there will be hundreds you don't. And the fixed cost of a subscription means that the licensing service trends inexorably towards whatever games have the broadest appeal. The positives in money saving mean less selection, less choice in how your dollar is really spent, and, potentially, less enjoyment per dollar. Do you believe the popularity of eSports will continue to rise? Will it ever rival major sports leagues such as the NFL or MLB? I think there's a core problem with eSports rising on the level of NFL or MLB and that's the forward march of technology. Old games become less impressive with time, the control schemes change. Something that mercurial will have a hard time drawing lifelong fans as it fragments the fan base over and over again. While my favorite eSports right now might be CS:GO, in another decade it might be some VR shooter. That makes it a hard sell for the sort of cost investment you see in major league sports. Should betting on eSports be legal in US? I can't think of a reason why it shouldn't be. Adults should be able to bet on more or less anything they want to. Other sports haven't suffered under some imagined yoke of betting. And for anyone who thinks "Oh no, the children!" Kids play baseball. People bet on baseball. It's fine. Raiford Guins Professor of Cinema and Media Studies in The Media School at Indiana University and MIT Press "Game Histories" Book Series Editor 
What tips do you have for parents looking to monitor video game content and prevent children from spending too much time playing video games? Play with your children. Do not allow ESRB ratings to substitute the active role of parenting. I rarely adhere to ESRB ratings when deciding what games to play with my son. I encourage my son (age 5) to experience and think about challenging and difficult situations and experiences. If he feels uncomfortable or even scared, he's quick to say, "let's play something else." We often game together. We enjoying playing FIFA 2017 on the same team though he gets too many red cards! We also enjoy playing against each other. I want moments of defeat to become moments of learning. I recently beat him at FIFA 2017, Leeds United 2-1 Malmo FF. He was really pissed off. I told him that instead of being angry at me think about the technique and skill that I used to grab that winning goal. Later that evening his mother asked: "How was your match"? My son said, "Dad scored a brilliant goal!" Defeat is part of game play and video games help my son learn to gauge diverse situations. I also watch him play. When he plays, I like to question his game play to encourage him to think about his actions or to force him to defend an action committed. I use games as empathy devices. When he watches me play (e.g., Fallout 4) he enjoys playing the role of my "advisor" to help me through challenging missions. Such partnering demonstrates cooperation and the value of collaborative thinking. Most important of all, it allows parents and children to team up on an equal footing. We are reliant upon each other's knowledge and skill. Do you believe the popularity of eSports will continue to rise? Will it ever rival major sports leagues such as the NFL or MLB? Yes. I prefer not to think in terms of whether eSports will "rival" existing sports leagues. Comparisons between eGames and “real” sports with “real” athletes are tiresome. Instead, let's say that eSports will offer a different form of sports play, competition, and fan base. I see mutual benefits between both camps. For example, EA Sports pays a license to FIFA for its properties -- to acquire that realism and authenticity that fans desire -- and in return, FIFA enjoys another means to mediate football, another way to reach fans by allowing them to play as their favorite team or player. Judd Ruggill Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Public and Applied Humanities in the College of Humanities and Co-Director of Learning Games Initiative at University of Arizona 
What tips do you have for a person that wishes to indulge his or her gamer habits without breaking the bank? There are all sorts of free-to-play games available, from advertising or micro transaction-dependent mobile titles to the golden era classics housed in the Internet Arcade. Budget minded players would also do well to keep a weather eye on the major distribution platforms (e.g., Steam), which offer near constant sales on recent releases and older games. What tips do you have for parents looking to monitor video game content and prevent children from spending too much time playing video games? Playing games with your child is an excellent way to monitor game content and playing time. It’s also a great opportunity for spending quality fun time together. Which is more cost effective: a subscription model akin to Netflix that allows users to access a catalog of games or purchasing games individually? It depends on the player (just as the value of a Netflix subscription depends on the viewer). For power users or homes with multiple players, a subscription service might be the way to go. Casual or more selective players might find better value with individual purchases. Do you believe the popularity of eSports will continue to rise? Will it ever rival major sports leagues such as the NFL or MLB? Absolutely -- many game developers are now designing future offerings or retrofitting current ones with eSports in mind. As far as if eSports will ever rival professional sports, they have a way to go yet but it’s certainly possible. Should betting on eSports be legal in US? I don’t see why not -- sports betting is legal (with certain restrictions, of course). Craig A. Anderson Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Iowa State University 
What tips do you have for parents looking to monitor video game content and prevent children from spending too much time playing video games? To help control gaming time and reduce the likelihood of gaming or internet addiction, parents should not allow any electronic devices in their children’s bedrooms, or any other private space. Keep such devices in public space, such as kitchens and dining rooms, spaces that the parent can easily monitor. Studies show that allowing game devices, cell phones, computers and similar electronic devices in a child’s bedroom dramatically increases the amount of time the child spends on such devices, and is associated with sleep deprivation, poor school performance, and what is sometimes called internet gaming disorder or internet addiction. Many parents find it helpful to establish a game time budget for their children. That is, they place clear limits on when, for how long, and under what circumstances each child is allowed to play video games. Parents also need to help their children choose healthy games, which is games that do not cause harm. The most obvious and well-documented harm comes from playing games that involve some characters harming other characters. This includes games that do not have blood and gore, but that still have as a central focus game characters fighting other game characters. Many of the most popular games do not have such “violent” characteristics, such as many of the sports games and driving games. But many of the most popular games played by children are filled with fighting and killing. Colin Milburn Professor of Science and Technology Studies at University of California, Davis 
What tips do you have for a person that wishes to indulge his or her gamer habits without breaking the bank? Although keeping up with all the latest gaming hardware and the most recent AAA premium games can be an expensive habit, there are plenty of other ways to enjoy the pleasures of video game culture. Some public libraries now have collections of games and gaming hardware that patrons can borrow. Eventually, library game collections ought to become standard civic resources across the country. Playing games together with friends and sharing costs is another option. Holding on to older consoles and searching out classic games that you might have missed the first time around can also be more affordable than focusing on the newest releases. Personally, I spend most of my gaming time playing older games, digging deeper into the history of games, and I find that the costs for older games are often quite reasonable. There are specialty stores that offer a wide selection of older games and used games. There are also distribution platforms, such as Steam or GOG.com, that make it easy to acquire older games at modest prices (be sure to keep an eye out for sales on these platforms, as well). And let’s not forget, there are so many wonderful indie games developed each year, many of which are quite affordable. Some of these indie titles are among the most interesting, though-provoking games available today. The field of video games is vast, and there are countless hours of fun to be had with many different kinds of games. What tips do you have for parents looking to monitor video game content and prevent children from spending too much time playing video games? Video games are fun, of course, and extremely captivating. Like other art forms, they can provide intensely enriching experiences, provoking new ideas, even self-reflection. But not all games are equally valuable, in this regard, and not all games are suitable for everyone. For parents looking to monitor content, there are many resources available. The ESRB ratings and content descriptors issued for most commercial games in North America are a good place to start. There are also plenty of reviews, articles, and discussion forums to be found with a quick Google search that address virtually any game in existence. There are innumerable “Let’s Play” videos and other gameplay recordings online, which can be a great way to see actual game content in action. When reading about a game or watching recorded gameplay, it is important to consider the aesthetics, the storyline, the gameplay mechanics, and whether it is a single-player game or a multiplayer game, all of which can significantly affect the meanings and implications of its contents. However, nothing really substitutes for actually playing a game yourself, or perhaps exploring it together with your children. Parents might wish to openly discuss their own values with their kids, explaining what they see as appropriate content. Games are everywhere, widely available, and if children know their own family's policies about certain kinds of games, then they can be better prepared if they want to play games in places other than home. Finding the right balance between gaming and other activities is also crucial if games are to contribute to a rewarding, healthy, and intellectually exciting life. As we all know, there are many elements involved in a well-balanced life, including work, sports and exercise, reading, spending time with friends and family, traveling and exploring the world around us, enjoying other forms of entertainment and recreation, and so forth. As one element among others, games can be deeply fulfilling. Some people have even found that playing games gives them a different perspective or a better appreciation for other aspects of their lives. But of course, everything in moderation. For parents, it can be worthwhile to make clear what the boundaries are, establishing the expectations about what might be a healthy amount of time to spend playing games, and making sure that games are not somehow detracting from the other elements of life. As a professional scholar of digital culture, I play a lot of games myself. But some days I don’t play games at all. Other days, I may poke around a game for only an hour or so. And yet other days, I may spend a rather good chunk of my waking hours immersed in a digital world. It really depends on the game: some games take longer than others, some games are more intellectually or emotionally captivating than others. It also very much depends on what else is happening in my life during a particular week, and I adjust my play time accordingly. When games are experienced as part of a full life, they can be very rewarding things, especially if they provide opportunities for meaningful conversations, if they help to strengthen human connections or encourage us to reflect on our world in more nuanced ways. A game can be a wonderful mode of recreation and an escape from routine, as well as an important tool for inhabiting our actual lives with pleasure, adventure, and imagination. But again, balance is crucial, and talking openly about these issues is good for everyone who enjoys games. Which is more cost effective: a subscription model akin to Netflix that allows users to access a catalog of games or purchasing games individually? I think different gamers will have different opinions on this question. For some gamers, a subscription model can provide access to a greater variety of games for a lower cost. For other gamers -- especially those who like to replay the same game more than once, or study a game in more depth by exploring it over a longer period of time, or revisit favorite game moments as often as desired -- owning a copy of the game can be very important. The stakes become especially clear if a subscription service or a game download service loses the rights to carry a particular game, or decides to stop supporting that title for any reason. In these cases, gamers might lose the ability to revisit that game, unless they then decide to go out and purchase another copy directly. Yet it might not even be possible to do so; if the game has gone out of print, the cost of acquiring a remaining copy can often be exorbitant. Likewise, there may be certain titles, or add-ons, or multiplayer capacities that are only available through subscription, and while these things are often very good incentives for players to remain loyal customers, if a player can no longer afford to keep up the subscription, or if the service itself goes out of business or changes its policies, then the player loses access to experiences that may have become deeply important to them. So when it comes to cost and value, it all really depends. Some gamers will be quite happy with a subscription service, others will prefer to own individual game titles in perpetuity, and others may want both options, or more. Whether or not one of these approaches proves to be more financially effective over the long run strongly depends on circumstances and personal preferences. Do you believe the popularity of eSports will continue to rise? Will it ever rival major sports leagues such as the NFL or MLB? The popularity of competitive eSports is growing rapidly, attracting more players each year -- as well as more and more spectators. The success of Twitch, the growth of Major League Gaming, the crowds that turn out for The International (the annual Dota 2 tournament), the enormous cultural impact of eSports in South Korea and elsewhere: these are signs. The valuation of computer games is changing worldwide. The legions of passionate fans who want to watch eSport competitions both online and offline are surging. Right now, it remains an open question whether eSports in North America might eventually come to rival major professional sports. Nevertheless, I think it’s clear that the communal experience and excitement around eSports speaks to the significant role of computational media in our lives today in a way that other spectator sports do not -- and this will only continue to escalate in the foreseeable future. Should betting on eSports be legal in US? The legalization of sports betting in general in the U.S. has been a complicated issue, and it has become especially fraught with the expansion of online gambling opportunities over the last couple of decades. I think it’s fair to say that we are on the verge of a major reassessment of sports betting in the U.S., both online and offline. So if a widespread legalization of sports betting does happen across the country, then certainly eSports ought to be included as part of this revaluation. I would see no reason to distinguish eSports from other sports, in this regard. Cathlena Martin Assistant Professor of Game Studies and Design at the University of Montevallo 
What tips do you have for a person that wishes to indulge his or her gamer habits without breaking the bank? Libraries are a superb resource for checking out games without spending any money. My local public library has a wonderful, up-to-date collection of both board games and video games available for check out. Game meet-ups are another resource. These are particularly useful for board game players as only one person needs to own a copy for several people to play. Finally, I recommend that gamers find and attend local gaming conventions. For example, PlayOnCon is a local four-day gaming convention near me where for the cost of a weekend pass participants can go and play as many games as they want. Gaming conventions of this type typically include a large library of games available for open play. They also usually include tournaments and demos. What tips do you have for parents looking to monitor video game content and prevent children from spending too much time playing video games? Each child is going to require different levels of supervision, but the best blanket advice for parents is to actually play the games with their children. That way they are familiar with the content and they are bonding over a shared experience while having fun. Which is more cost effective: a subscription model akin to Netflix that allows users to access a catalog of games or purchasing games individually? This depends on the kind of video game player you are and what type and genre of game you like to play. If you want to play ten to twenty hours of a title and then move on to the newest release, then a subscription service may be the most cost effective for you. But if you are a completionist who is going to put a hundred plus hours into a single game, then purchasing it individually seems the best route. The industry has responded with a new cost model in the rise of free-to-play games, which can be exceedingly cost effective as long as the player does not purchase add-ons. Do you believe the popularity of eSports will continue to rise? Will it ever rival major sports leagues such as the NFL or MLB? Yes, the popularity of eSports will continue to rise. The first college degree program focused on eSports is beginning this fall in the United Kingdom. According to GameCareerGuide, “Staffordshire University's Stokes-on-Trent campus is now accepting applications for a three-year eSports degree program, one that kicks off next September and focuses on the business of eSports.” The second part of this question can be answered by looking at simple viewership data. More people tuned in to watch the latest League of Legends Championship than did to watch the NBA finals, as reported in several locations including the games and entertainment site Kotaku. And this is not an anomaly. For example, going back to 2013, USA Today cites 32 million viewers of the League of Legends Season 3 World Championship versus 26.4 million viewers of the BCS National Championship. In a 2015 article, ESPN succinctly answers the question in their headline, “Resistance is futile: eSports is massive ... and growing.” Ben Reichert Founder and CEO of Game CoLab and Professor at University of Advancing Technology 
What tips do you have for a person that wishes to indulge his or her gamer habits without breaking the bank? Honestly, I'm more interested in seeing game developers get paid for their craft, especially independent game developers. However, for the sake of the player's wallet I'll give a few suggestions. The first thing is to look for the regular sales that occur. They're the best time to go back and get that game you had meant to bet before, but put off. Second, grab a game (or many) that you want through a bundle. There are many sites online that offer bundles of independent and AAA games for cheaper that you could get the individual games for. Finally, go back and replay games you enjoyed, or heck, you can even mod many games that are out there today and make your own levels and challenges. And, by the way, making mods for games is a great way to get into the game industry if you're looking to make games for your living. What tips do you have for parents looking to monitor video game content and prevent children from spending too much time playing video games? My daughter is only two and a half years old so I don't need to worry about this yet, but I think it's kind of like a lot of things in life. Look into the individual platforms -- console, PC, mobile, etc. -- and see what kind of settings there are. And, on the other side, interact with children to both get them into other activities than video games, and also engage them in their video game playing. If a parent or teacher understand more about the video game, they can have a reasonable conversation with the child about their playing schedule. Which is more cost effective: a subscription model akin to Netflix that allows users to access a catalog of games or purchasing games individually? On a general level, having a subscription to a catalog of games with a flat fee would be more cost effective than purchasing games individually. This would be especially so if the latest games on the market were included in the catalogue. Keeping games evergreen and modern can be expensive, so they often drop in price rather quickly. Do you believe the popularity of eSports will continue to rise? Will it ever rival major sports leagues such as the NFL or MLB? I'm a fan of eSports and their rise. I do believe that they will continue to rise and, yes, at some point rival all of major sports leagues. We're seeing growth across the board, and because it's based in the digital world it will spread fast. eSports gaming events still generate a fraction of the billions made by the NFL, NBA and MLB. As demographics shift and individuals who have grown up with professional gaming make more money, eSports will rise. Ben Aslinger Associate Professor of English and Media Studies at Bentley University 
What tips do you have for a person that wishes to indulge his or her gamer habits without breaking the bank? I would research games more. I’d also look more at game journalism, not only from traditional news outlets but publications such as Kill Screen, who are doing a lot to redefine games and to publicize the work of a greater diversity of designers and types of games. I would look at services such as Steam. I would go to things like PAX and make connections with indie developers. I would make friends with other game players; while we think of games as a solitary activity, they are a great social activity, and can be cheaper than always going out. I’d also encourage people to put their gaming dollars into their entertainment budget -- how much you spend for going out, movie tickets, Netlfix, etc. What tips do you have for parents looking to monitor video game content and prevent children from spending too much time playing video games? The ratings from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board are a pretty good guide. Also, Adult rated games are usually not sold by big box retailers, so parents can have some confidence that if they buy a game at Walmart or Target, there might violence, but less sexuality. There are now so many good gaming sites and publications (IGN, Kill Screen, Gamasutra, Metacritic, and others) that game players and parents can do research on a game before purchase. I would recommend that parents play with their kids on occasion, and that they follow other recommendations on screen time. Parents might even use games such as Pokemon Go or other location-based games or pervasive games to get their kids outside and in their communities. If you’re in a major city, chances are there are indie developers, museums, or other cultural institutions that have made games tied to particular sites or places. Colleen Macklin is a designer at Parsons who directs PETLab and Mary Flanagan have done incredible work in this area. Which is more cost effective: a subscription model akin to Netflix that allows users to access a catalog of games or purchasing games individually? Games from the major publishers are expensive, and I don’t see major publishers doing that much in terms of innovation and new play experiences. I am drawn to indie developers and services such as Steam. Braid, Limbo, Flower, and Journey of some of my favorite games of the last several years, and most these are pretty affordable. Netflix-like services are a good deal. You have to ask yourself, do I really like this game enough to spend $50 or more on one game? How best can I spend my gaming dollar, and maximize the number of games I can play and how long I will want to play a particular game? I think you really have to know that you’re going to love a game and play it for a long time to pay full retail for most console games. Do you believe the popularity of eSports will continue to rise? Will it ever rival major sports leagues such as the NFL or MLB? eSports will become more popular, but I don’t think it will ever become as popular or as profitable as professional athletics. This is in part due to cultural anxieties and moral panics surrounding technology in general and games in particular in the U.S. In other national markets where eSports has taken off, these anxieties don’t exist, and if they do, they certainly don’t inspire the same fear, dread, and panic that they do in the U.S. Too often, we connect technological use to pathology or to pathological behavior. We still have tons of narratives about how games make us antisocial and violent or narratives where playing games is connected to pathetic displays and performances of masculinity, despite the fact that game players are older than they have ever been and that more and more women actively play games. One of the things I try to stress to my students is that something can be marketable in particular cities and territories without being a commercial hit at the national or global scale. I can see eSports being really popular on the West Coast and possibly in the New York area. This would be an outgrowth on the popularity and profitability of esports in South Korea. So I think this might continue to emerge as an Asia-Pacific phenomenon, or it might be connected to communities that are connected to Asian diasporas. Game ethnographers such as TL Taylor at MIT have done amazing work from a sociological and anthropological perspective, and it’s clear that eSports is a culturally rich activity even if it doesn’t ever rival professional athletics. Should betting on eSports be legal in US? This depends on how betting becomes institutionalized and regulated within the eSports sector. Betting on eSports seems to be a bad proposition, because it opens up the door to graft and corruption. It also doesn’t square well with growing attempts to address player quality of life, compensation, and treatment. Alenda Y. Chang Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara 
What tips do you have for a person that wishes to indulge his or her gamer habits without breaking the bank?
- Don't buy into the industry's cycle of perpetual innovation and obsolescence -- meaning, you can use that PlayStation or Xbox or 3DS for a good, long time, and don't need to rush out to get the next gen console just because it's new and shiny and... new. Personally, I'm still loyal to PC gaming, because powerful PCs are cheaper to build and repair and you can get a lot of games for PC cheaper than you can for consoles. Web and mobile games are even cheaper, if not free to play (but with lots of prompting to buy upgrades).
- Play indie. Support up-and-coming game developers and artists on sites like itch.io or Twine.
- Buy used. A new AAA game loses something like 40-60% of its opening day value within three days of release (I'm getting this from James Newman's excellent research in Best Before). If you keep your eyes open, you can get a used console and all the games someone used to play on it for a pittance, on sites like Craigslist.
- Buy games with high replay value. Do your research beforehand. Buying a $60 AAA game might be worth it if it's the Anna Karenina of game narrative and design, but not if it's the equivalent of a paperback you'd get at the airport.
In order to determine the best cities for gamers, WalletHub’s analysts compared 150 of the most populated U.S. cities across three key dimensions: 1) Gaming Environment, 2) Internet Quality & Coverage and 3) Gamer & Developer Opportunities.
We examined those dimensions using 20 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for gamers. For metrics marked with an asterisk (*), the square root of the population was used to calculate the “Number of Residents” in order to avoid overcompensating for minor differences across cities.
We then calculated the overall score for each city based on its weighted average across all metrics and used the resulting scores to construct our final ranking.
Gaming Environment – Total Points: 50- Video-Game Stores per Capita*: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
- Arcades per Capita*: Half Weight (~2.50 Points)
- Computer Stores per Capita*: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
- Electronics Stores per Capita*: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
- Share of Adults Owning a Smartphone: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
- Share of Households Owning a Computer: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
- Number of Annual Comic-Book, Video-Game, Anime, and Sci-Fi/Fantasy Conventions: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
- “Sci-Fi & Games” MeetUps: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
- Presence of a Major League Gaming Event: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
- Share of Young Children with Excessive Watching & Gaming Habits: Half Weight (~2.50 Points)
- Share of Population Aged 18 to 49: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
- Average Internet Speed: Double Weight (~12.00 Points)
- Share of Households with Broadband Connection: Double Weight (~12.00 Points)
- Internet Cost: Full Weight (~6.00 Points)
- Video-Game Jobs Openings per Capita*: Full Weight (~3.64 Points)
- Number of Video-Game College Programs: Full Weight (~3.64 Points)
- Number of Video-Game Companies: Full Weight (~3.64 Points)
- Presence on “Top 50 Best Game Design Schools & Colleges” Ranking: Half Weight (~1.82 Points)
- Number of Esports Tournaments: Full Weight (~3.64 Points)
- Average Prize Money Awarded at Esports Tournaments: Full Weight (~3.64 Points)
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from U.S. Census Bureau, Yelp.com, Esri's Updated Demographics - 2016 estimates (Market Potential: GfK MRI), International Costumers' Guild, Major League Gaming, The Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, BandwidthPlace, MeetUp.com, Numbeo.com, Indeed.com, The Entertainment Software Association, Lake House Media and e-Sports Earnings.
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