Adults Love Video Games 257
flabbybuns writes "For those of you who feel you may waste too much time behind a controller fret no longer. According to a recent report on adult gamer statistics, it turns out that the adults are more hardcore about gaming than the kids are. "
Article text (Score:5, Informative)
Every time I do a report on computer or console video games I wonder if I am targeting the correct market. I personally have been known to get addicted to a computer game here and there-- *cough* Unreal Tournament, Counter Strike, Halo 2 --and admit that I have been upset with myself many a time for wasting too many hours behind a controller or mouse. Heck, at one point I think I pulled in twenty-four hours in a two week period for Counter Strike; or was it Unreal Tournament?
Anywho, based on the latest survey it now looks like it is the adults, not the kids, who are more likely to be found behind a joystick.
Adults are Gamers
According to a report by the Consumer Electronics Association [businesswire.com], about one-third of adult gamers spend ten hours or more playing video games per week. Compared to only eleven percent of teens, some have to wonder where we find the time.
The Consumer Electronics Association finds the statistics startling while the people working on PS3 rejoice. According to the report put out by the CEA, adults will purchase 19 million of the next-generation consoles in the first year.
"The fact that adults are racking up more gaming hours than teens is startling, but there are several associated findings that shed light on this," said CEA's Senior Manager, Industry Analysis Steve Koenig. "Interestingly, a greater percentage of 12-14 year olds spend time gaming than older teens ages 15-17. Older teens simply may not have the free time for extra hours of gaming or they could be gaming on wireless handsets since 81 percent of teens own or use a wireless phone."
Through the new study, CEA also investigated gaming platform ownership and behaviors and found the data revealed the PC dominates the adult game market while teens spend more time using game consoles. For households owning a PC and a console, 58 percent consider the console to be their primary gaming platform despite its lower engagement. Additionally, the study showed portable gaming to be decidedly more popular with teens than adults. Only 25 percent of adult gamers who own a portable game device have used it in the past six months compared to 77 percent of teens.
Additional adult vs. teen behavioral differences emerge in the study when online game play is evaluated. The majority (64 percent) of adult gamers either mostly or always play console games by themselves and just over half (55 percent) play online. Conversely, teens are five times as likely to engage in multiplayer gaming with their consoles, especially teenage girls - an unexpected result. Teens also are much more likely to game online, but here males outnumber females - some 78 percent of teen male's game online in a given month compared to 58 percent of teen females.
The survey results also suggest female gamers outnumber male gamers in the 25-34 age category. This result stems from high rates of play of online games, many of which are free of charge (i.e. Yahoo! Games), among female gamers. The 25-34 age group also comprises the largest concentration among overall female gamers (29 percent).
In a promising trend for consumer electronics (CE) retailers, CEA found that some adult gamers purchase additional CE products specifically to enhanc
Simple reasons. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Play Sudoku, Kakuro or Chess! (Score:2, Informative)
humans are scarely more capable of applying the brute force method of solving a remotely-challenging sudoku than they are of playing chess in the same manner (like a calculating chess computer).