This Is Not Your Father's Video Game
Television networks are at a loss for words. TV shows are losing viewers to video
games. Television companies have spent millions to discover why fewer people are
watching TV and why more are playing video games.
Everyone knows that kids everywhere play video games, but TV research has shown
that the average age of a video gamer is over 30 years old and that gamers are not
primarily male as once believed. In fact, almost half of all reported video gamers are
now female. Research also shows that people play video games more often during
early to late evenings. These are prime-time television hours. The results of this
research must be very alarming to TV executives.
So, what have they done about it? There is little that they can do, but more prime-
time television shows have taken on elements of the fantasy genre. TV networks have
littered the airwaves with shows about superheroes, psychics, spies, angels and
demons, and supernatural investigators. This is so that the programs can compete
directly against the fantasy worlds created by video games. In addition, TV networks
have released the video game versions of some popular TV shows. Viewers can now
watch their favorite TV characters on the air, and they can log on and play as those
characters in a video game, too. Through these efforts, TV executives hope to bring
more viewers back to prime-time and their favorite TV shows.
By writing this passage, the author attempts
A. to entertain the reader with reviews of popular TV shows.
B. to describe the successful video games on the market.
C. to persuade people to start watching more television.
D. to explain the loss of prime-time television viewers.