To an outsider, British people can be seen as a peculiar bunch. There’s an assumption that we spend all our time drinking tea or watching cricket but we actually engage in all sorts of leisure activities. Many British pastimes from years gone by have been maintained and passed down the generations. Things that were popular decades ago are still enjoyed.
Going to football or rugby matches, for example, are activities enjoyed by a large percentage of the population every weekend. Other activities are now enjoyed differently due to the technology available. For example, you could look at things like film and cinema and how people can almost recreate the cinematic experience in their own homes.
Old Habits Can Die Hard
Many other hobbies have retained their popularity in Britain throughout the decades. In the 1960s, the games took off massively in the country and arcades became huge as millions of Brits flocked to their local venue. Today, these games are generally still popular but people engage with it in several different ways now.
Alongside those who prefer to visit their local game shop or arcade, many now play the game online. There are several iterations of the classic game to choose from, and one UK bingo website even offers a version based on the game show Deal or No Deal. Memories of this widely popular show hosted by Noel Edmonds will come flooding back to you.
Game Night
Board games such as Monopoly started to become popular across the UK many years ago. For years, people up and down the land sat around the dining or coffee table to play the game. Monopoly, alongside Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit and Cluedo are still among the UK’s most popular board games.
Even in 2021, game night is still a thing. The launch of the Nintendo Wii in 2006 changed the way we spend nights with our loved ones. The sight of a family huddled together to play a game of Wii Sports or Mario Kart became a common sight.
Staying Connected When We’re Apart
If you ever moved away, the way of communicating with friends and relatives back home was a phone call or even the written word. Social media platforms are now how people tend to stay in touch. Many people also engage in their favorite game online with their close friends and loved ones. It has even become a selling point for games like Animal Crossing.
Are We Spending All Our Time Online?
We spend a lot of time online. Whether it’s playing our favorite games or on our preferred social media platforms. Those games we choose to play online will more than likely be similar to what we played with our friends in years and decades previously. Thinking more widely, some of those old stereotypes about British people are true. Around 84% of the population are estimated to enjoy a cup of tea each day so the classic stereotype of an afternoon tea must still be enjoyed by many.
I don’t think the British demographic is really that different from any other demographic, especially when it comes to gaming. Sure, there are stereotypes associated with them (tea, rugby, etc.), but the same could be said about the American demographic (American football, fast food, etc.).
I think on a general level, games are universally enjoyed by everyone. Now if we mention something specific, like gaming consoles, I feel like the United States is the oddball. For example, Xbox is very popular in the United States, but not so much elsewhere since PlayStation is a behemoth outside of the United States.