Interesting: (http://www.theesa.com/newsroom/release_detail.asp?releaseID=26)

* 65 percent of American households play computer and video games;
* 38 percent of American homes have a video game console;
* The average game player is 35 years old;
* One out of four gamers are over age 50;
* 40 percent of gamers are female
* Women age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (33 percent) than boys age 17 or younger (18 percent);
* 41 percent of Americans expect to purchase one or more games this year;
* 94 percent of parents are present when games are purchased or rented;
* 88 percent of parents report always or sometimes monitoring the games their children play;
* 63 percent of parents believe games are a positive part of their children's lives.

Don't where they compiled the data from but those #s seem pretty optimistic to me.

Don't where they compiled the data from but those #s seem pretty optimistic to me.

Looking at from a console only perspective, agreed. When you add in the world of pc software and educational games for kids...I start to buy it.

Interesting: (http://www.theesa.com/newsroom/release_detail.asp?releaseID=26)

It would be nice if they broke down the % of gamers that put in more than 2-3 hours of gaming in per week and how that breaks down by demographic. It's easy to say something like 40% of gamers are women or 1/4 gamers are over 50, if there's no definition of what constitutes a gamer. If playing a video game once a month makes you a gamer then I'm sure a big % of americans are gamers. However knowing where the majority of gaming dollars and hours are spent is more critical information.

Brandon

I think the pc games like solitaire count. My mom and dad play light games like that. But I've never seen them play any fps or anything slightly more challenging. Also most of my friends wives play the wi occasionally. Weird. But I think the numbers don't reflect the true state of gaming. A small hardcore group followed by occasional and light gamers.

I think the pc games like solitaire count. My mom and dad play light games like that. But I've never seen them play any fps or anything slightly more challenging. Also most of my friends wives play the wi occasionally. Weird. But I think the numbers don't reflect the true state of gaming. A small hardcore group followed by occasional and light gamers.


I think your perception just disagrees with reality. The numbers seem pretty right to me. Especially the age ones.

* Women age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (33 percent) than boys age 17 or younger (18 percent);

Well no ****. I'm going to go out on a very thin limb here and say the 18+ female population dwarfs the male population of under 17. So of course they will represent a greater percentage, even if more males play games than females.

^^^ The stereotype is that gaming is mostly enjoyed by teenage boys who need to get a life. That stat counters the notion somewhat, but it's very likely that young male demographic plays more often than that older female demographic.

i have to wonder if that factors in handhelds... i have 5 nieces - each one has a nintendo DS.
plus, all three households have wii's. my sisters (and s-in-law)play wii with their kids, i have to think that the wii and handheld market factors into that hugely. plus consider that many nursing homes have been incoorporating the wii into a lot of physical therapy and occupational therapy.

just my 2 cents...

^^^ The stereotype is that gaming is mostly enjoyed by teenage boys who need to get a life. That stat counters the notion somewhat, but it's very likely that young male demographic plays more often than that older female demographic.

I think it's common knowledge that the average age of real gamers is older than what human nature would lead us to presume. The reality is that most gamers are generational, stemming from the earliest generations of modern consoles. Those guys (us guys?) get older each year, yet don't necessarily lose the thirst for good games to play. However, I don't buy that 1 of 4 gamers are over 50 at all. Not for one second...but I digress.

I grew up playing Madden and NCAA football in high school against friends in heated tourny competitions. To this day nothing has changed...except most of us are spread out across the country. Good thing gaming has adapted to suit our lifestyles :)

Brandon

Interesting info, but I'd rather see stats about how much time each demographic spends playing games / how much money they spend on the hobby.