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New Study Shows Interactive Games are Here to Stay
LOS ANGELES, May 22, 2002 - Offering striking confirmation of the staying power of computer and video games as a force in popular
culture, the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) released new data today at E3Expo showing that six out of ten of today's computer and video game
players expect to still be playing games ten years from now.
"There's no doubt that video games are deeply imbedded in our society," said Doug Lowenstein, president of the IDSA, the trade group that represents U.S.
computer and video game publishers and the owner of E3Expo. "It's clear that the industry's surging growth is no passing fancy and that the millions of Americans who played video games yesterday play them today, and will still be playing them tomorrow."
Specifically, the data shows that 56 percent of the most frequent computer and video game players have been playing games for six or more years and that 60
percent expect to be playing games as much or more ten years from now as they do today.
According to Lowenstein, the explanation for both the continued growth of the $6.35 billion game industry and the connection so many consumers have with video
games stems from the emergence of two generations of Americans between the ages of 6-35 for whom interactive entertainment "is as natural and basic as watching
TV or listening to the radio were for previous generations."
Other results of the IDSA's seventh annual consumer survey, released today at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3Expo), show that people enjoy playing games
throughout their lives because they're fun and challenging, and because games can be played with friends and family. Specifically, the survey found that people who
play games do so because computer and video games: are fun (88 percent); are challenging (71 percent); can be played with friends and family (42 percent); offer a
lot of entertainment for the price (36 percent); and offer a way for players to keep up with the latest technology (19 percent).
Additional survey highlights include the following.
-- Mobile Gaming: More than one-third (37 percent) of Americans
who own consoles or computers report that they also play games
on mobile devices like handheld systems, PDAs, and cell
phones.
-- Online Games: Thirty-one percent of game players say they play
games online, up from 24 percent last year and 18 percent in
1999.
-- Types of Games Played Most Often: Console game players say
that their favorite games are: driving/racing games (39
percent); action games (38 percent); sports games (38
percent); and role-play/adventure games (31 percent). Computer
game players say their favorites are: puzzle/board/card games
(35 percent); action games (28 percent); sports games (23
percent); and simulations (23 percent).
-- Number of Games Owned: Consoles game players report that they
own an average of 14 games, while computer gamers report that
they own about 13 titles.
-- Player Demographics: Sixty-two percent of computer game
players are male, while 34 percent are under 18 years old, 26
percent are 18 to 35, and 40 percent are over 36. Seventy-two
percent of console game players are male, while 45 percent are
under 18, 36 percent are 18 to 35, and 19 percent are over 36.
-- Women Gamers Entering the Market: Sixty-two percent of people
who have been playing computer and video games for less than a
year are women, concrete evidence that more and more women are
being drawn to games.
-- Buyer Demographics: Ninety-six percent of those who purchase
console games are over the age of 18, and 90 percent of
computer game buyers are over 18. Forty-six percent of console
game buyers and 55 percent of computer game buyers are women.
-- Parental Involvement in Purchases: The vast majority of game
players under the age of 18 say they get their parents
permission before buying games (86 percent) and that their
parents are usually present when they make a game purchase (91
percent).
The annual survey was conducted for the IDSA by the Long Island Services Division of Ipsos-NPD. The study gathered data from more than 1,500 nationally
representative households that have been identified as owning a video game console and/or a personal computer used to run entertainment software.
The IDSA is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of the companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles,
handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. IDSA members collectively account for more than 85 percent of the $6.35 billion in entertainment software
sales in the U.S. in 2001, and billions more in export sales of American-made entertainment software. For more information, please visit www.idsa.com.
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