Gender and Age in Gaming: ESA Delivers Some Interesting Statistics
I’m not huge on dropping statistical bombs on our readers, but we just received a message from The Entertainment Software Association that I really have to share with you all. What it boils down to is CHANGE. The whole “us VS. them” (gamers vs. non-gamers) attitude of the past is slowly going away. Why you ask? Because, well… almost everyone is now a gamer. Trust me, this is GOOD news.
Who Is Playing – 72% of all homes play computer or video games
The Average Age – 37 years old
Gender in Gaming – 58% Male, 42% Female
Average Years Gaming – 12
If you have any interest in reading more, I’m going to link the PDF file that the ESA sent to us. There is amazing amount of information in the 14 page file. It’s incredible to see the landscape of gaming change so quickly. I’m glad to see that the world is finally catching on to the quality and value of electronic entertainment.
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Time to get Elena saddled up for Battlefield 3! “It’s the cool thing to do! Now give me covering fire!”
Micah, I think you and I discussed this before. I think the number of gamers is actually sub-dividing the culture. It also goes beyond casual and hardcore.
Yeah, how you define “gamer” is pretty important. I think polls like these are analogous to saying anyone who drives a car is a “race car driver.”
You can’t call anyone who plays farmville or Snakes XL 2034 on their Razor a gamer. I’m really not being an elitist, but if I start talking to someone, and they say, “Yeah, im a gamer…” I assume we can then talk about games and which ones are good and which are bad and for what reasons. I can’t have that discussion with my buddies at school who play Words with Friends on their iPhone.
This study says the majority of games that “gamers” play are puzzle, board games, trivia, and card games.” I think its more accurate to say that the majority of human interaction with games is with puzzle, board games, trivia, and card games… but I’m not sure that makes you a “gamer” in assumed meaning of the word.
You have a good point. Although, dealing with a lot of young people on a regular basis, I’ve seen a major shift in how people regard gaming in general. That, and a lot of young female-gamers that are very vocal about their passion. I don’t think I knew a single “out of the closet” female gamer when I was in high school.
yo, that’s crazy! i thought my dad was the oldest gamer (69) but maybe not
Al, it’s awesome that your dad plays games. I’ve been trying to get my dad to play my entire life, but he has the attention span of an 8 year old.
Over the past few weeks I’ve really started to believe that “hardcore” is a marking term invented to create a rift in the gaming community in order to sell (justify?) certain game experiences.
While I will admit that “casual” is more of meta-genre than sub-culture, I do not think “hardcore” is the antithesis to it.
I think the widespread demo data and penetration into the home is a testament that games do a better job of highlighting what makes us similar than different.