There are pros and cons for either demographic: whilst being older may be ideal since not only you bypass age restrictions, you also have the capability on purchasing it with your own money without having to ask parents for that given that you have employment and recurring income. Gaming as a kid gives more time without having to dwell much on responsibilities that adults have to worry about but at the same time are held by school.
I think gaming as a kid was better simply because of the fact there was a bit of mystery to it.
you rarely knew about upcoming game releases unless it was a major title or was heavily advertised in like GamePro or EGM. most of the time you’d go to the store or a rental place and you’d discover a game right there on the shelf. Some of my favourite games I never knew existed until I rented them from Blockbuster. And many times recommendations game from previously said magazines or word of mouth via your friends. And if a game was cancelled prior to release chances are you wouldn’t be bummed about it simply because you probably didn’t know it existed in the first place.
We don’t have that now. now everything is covered from head to toe everywhere or in early access or whatever. takes the fun out of it.
Also there was nothing better than picking up a game and reading the manual on the drive home.