I don't personally put alot of weight on stats myself but it is something to consider:
http://grabstats.com/statcategorymain.asp?StatCatID=13
according to this, the avg gamer is 35 and has been playing for 13 years. In terms of sales specifically, that elevates the avg age to 40. That said, college-aged gamers while a large part of the target demographic may not actually be "the" target demographic. Personally, I didn't start gaming regularly until I was well out of college since during, I had little time nor money to do so.
Its a similar story for most of my friends as well who really started putting down money into gaming after college or towards the end of it. We all gamed beforehand but we didn't spend nearly as much money on it as we do now.
I tihnk realistically, the age range in which most sales are coming from is probably ALOT higher up. Mainly because its a situation of who has the economic means to buy games whether its for yourself or as a gift. Parents buying games for their kids probably pushes the average way up especially around holiday season and the fact that most good games are 18+. I don't know about stores elsewhere, but here my Gamestop always asks for ID which would definitely serve as a hindrance for younger-aged(highschool/early college) sales.
All that said, I can't really understand how its awful specifically for college-aged consumers. Its not all that great either for those that work fulltime jobs and have other crap to deal with day to day. Games usually come out on Monday at midnight or Tuesday. Its not like any of us can put everything else on hold and just miss work the next day. Also, at they very least, Skyrim is coming out on a Friday which gives most of us the weekend, so it could definitely be worse.