- The average U.S. household owns at least one dedicated game console, PC or Smartphone.
- 49% of U.S households own a dedicated game console, and those that do, own an average of two.
- The average video game player is 30 years old.
- 31% of gamers are under the age of 18. 32% are between the age of 18 and 35. 37% are 36 and up.
- 53% of gamers are male, while 47% are female.
- The average age of the most frequent video game buyer is 35.
- Of the most frequent game purchasers 52% are male and 48% are female
- 42% of video game players believe that video games give them the most value for their money, compared with DVD's, music or going out to the movies.
To be honest I thought the number would be higher for the "most value for their money" thing. Simply because I really don't watch TV or movies that much anymore. I guess I'm in my own little world now. I'm also very surprised that the majority of gamers are older than 35 years old. I thought the majority would've been between ages 20 and 28. I guess I just forgot how long video games have been around.
Some of the top reasons gamers say they purchase a game is because of: Quality of the games graphics, an interesting storyline, a sequel to a favorite game, and word of mouth.
- 15% of the most frequent game players pay to play online games.
Nice, I'm one of the 15% who pay to play online games. Ha ha, that's what I get for being addicted to World of Warcraft.
The most played video games are:
- Puzzle, Board Games, Game show, trivia, card games at 42%
- Action, Sports, Strategy, Role-playing at 25%
- Downloadable games at 13%
- Persistent Multi-player Universe at 11%
- and Other at 9%
To say casual gamers are the minority would be a very stupid thing to say, especially with these numbers. I'm shocked to see that they are the majority by that far of a margin; I was expecting that 25% to be more of a 35%
Gamers who are playing more video games than they did three years ago are spending less time:
- 59% playing board games
- 50% going to the movies
- 47% watching TV
- 47% watching movies at home
Gamers who own dedicated game consoles use them for other entertainment media, in addition to video games.
- 40% use their console to watch movies
- 20% use their console to listen to music
- 17% use their console to watch TV shows
- 62% of gamers play games with others, either in person or online
Sounds about right. I use my XBox all the time to listen to music and watch movies. Thank you Netflix.
A majority of gamers play with their friends and family members:
- 40% play with their friends
- 34% play with other family members
- 17% play with their spouse or significant other
- 16% play with their parents
12 Years is the average number of years gamers have been playing video games. This seems a bit low for me, mainly because I've been playing video games my entire life. I was hoping for a "15 to 18 years"
Adult gamers have been playing for an average of 14 years while males average at 16 years, females average at 12 years.
A whopping 98% of parents feel that the ESRB rating system is very or somewhat helpful when choosing games for their children. I really wish this number would've been 100%
85% of parents are aware of the ESRB. This should've been 100% too in my honest opinion; I mean the damn logo is right there on the front AND back of the box. You have to be pretty out of it, or just ignorant to not see it and wonder what the hell it is.
73% of parents believe that the parental controls available on the current consoles are useful. I got a feeling the other 27% doesn't know that the parental controls on the current consoles even exist.
Top 5 reasons parents play with their kids:
- It's fun for the entire family 90%
- Because they're asked to 85%
- It's a good opportunity to socialize with their child 79%
- It's a good opportunity to monitor game content 56%
- They enjoy playing video games as much as their child does a 48%
I like these reasons a lot. Not to mention how high those numbers are.
There is a lot more info in this report as well. You can check it out here. What do you guys think about all of these statistics and numbers? I find them to be very interesting and eye opening.
