VOA标准英语2014--More Millenials Unplug to Embrace Board Games

 

More Millenials Unplug to Embrace Board Games

LOS ANGELES — A big trend in the U.S. toy industry has more consumers switching off their high-tech¹ gadgets² to play with classic toys, like board games.  This is especially true among the so-called millenial generation -  those born in the 1980's and 90's.  

Unlike many cafés, the food and drinks here are an afterthought. There is also no wifi at GameH?us Café.  Many of the customers like it that way. Roxanne Lee and her husband Agassi Lai are spending a mentally stimulating³ evening here - without the interference of any phones of computers.

“I think it’s very interesting for spending quality time together so that’s why I like it," said Lee.

Opened November of 2013, GameH?us Café is dedicated⁴ to board games and business is booming says co-owner Robert Cron.

“We are in the black since month one," said Cron.

Out of more than 750 game titles here, Agassi Lai chooses one called “Escape The Curse Of The Temple.”

“You keep rolling the dice⁵ and try to move to different places and try to escape the temple," said Lai.

Lai used to be a big video gamer.  But everything changed after he discovered board games a few years ago.

“I would choose board games over video games any day," he said.

Lai and almost all of the customers playing board games at the cafe belong to the so-called millennial⁶ generation, which includes people between eighteen and 32 years old.  Market research firm Euromonitor International says this demographic is increasingly embracing board games and driving up U.S. sales.  Twenty-three-year-old Weland Bourne is one of them.

“I think more with my generation, they’re wanting to take time. They’re wanting to take it slowly and I think too video games have kind of lost their glamour," said Bourne.

However, these millenials are not playing the classic American games they grew up with, choosing instead new games from Europe.  GameH?us Café co-owner Terry Chiu says many of these strategy-based “Euro games” have become popular around the world because they are not language based.  They use symbols  and have simple rules.

“Because of the rise of European games, or Euro games or German games as they might also be known, in the last 15 to 20 years, it’s sort of become universal. There are certain titles that have crossed a lot of cultures to really capture the imaginations of a lot of different people," said Chiu.

In the next year, Euromonitor International expects global sales of board games and puzzles to grow by more than 1 percent.  Still no match video game sales, which are expected to grow 6 percent.

While many board games also have popular corresponding mobile apps, many millennials, including Kristie Nehme, say there is one thing a board game can offer that a video game cannot.

“The more personal aspect of just being with friends and see each other in person that’s probably the main difference, the main appeal," said Nehme.

 

Toy Industry Association’s Adrienne Appell says one of the biggest toy trends reported this year is that people are preferring more traditional toys. The reason for this, she says, is that the new generation just wants to put down the phone, put down the tablet and connect face-to-face with other people.

1 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

2 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

3 stimulating   

adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的

参考例句：

• shower gel containing plant extracts that have a stimulating effect on the skin 含有对皮肤有益的植物精华的沐浴凝胶
• This is a drug for stimulating nerves. 这是一种兴奋剂。

4 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

5 dice   

n.骰子；vt.把（食物）切成小方块，冒险

参考例句：

• They were playing dice.他们在玩掷骰子游戏。
• A dice is a cube.骰子是立方体。

6 millennial   

一千年的，千福年的

参考例句：

• Both Russia and America looked to the future to fulfill their millennial expectations. 俄国和美国都把实现他们黄金时代的希望寄托于未来。
• The millennial generation is celebrating the global commons every day, apparently unmindful of Hardin's warning. 千禧一代显然对哈丁的警告不以为然，每天都在颂扬全球“公地”。