UK Gamer Study
Wow. I'm not from the UK, but this recent study of videogame players in the UK is extremely revealing... and I think that a lot of the findings there could apply equally to the U.S. and much of Europe (I don't know about Asia, but Japan and Korea in particular are big into videogames).

http://crystaltips.typepad.com/wonderland/files/bbc_uk_games_research_2005.pdf

I'm still digesting this information, but there are some interesting highlights:

* The PC is still a VERY strong platform in the UK, probably due to the prevalence of web-based games.

* According to the study, 59% of the nation has played videogames "within the last six months." The UK is "a nation of gamers," according to the document.

* The assumed gender bias in games is illusionary. While more males than females play games in all age categories, the difference is never very large.

* Ovar half of people 36-50 (51%) play videogames. I expect this number dips down steeply as age increases across this range, as only 18% of people age 51-65 play games. This makes perfect sense... the kids who were around when the videogame revolution hit are now entering this demographic. Our parents had Woodstock. We had Pac-Man!

* RPGs become increasingly popular amongst the older age groups. This is fascinating to me - partly because I'm working on an RPG with something of a more "grown up" slant.

* The average gaming session for the 25-36 year olds is about 2 hours on a console or PC, which drops down to about an hour and 40 minutes for the 36-50 demographic. Between both demographics, somewhere around 75% play at least once a week. So - anyone creating a game for this market SHOULD be making a game that should be VERY playable in increments of between 1.5 and 2 hours. (Note: Ever notice how the popular Japanese RPGs have entire sub-quests that are completed in somewhere between 1 and 2 hours? Somebody's done their homework!)

* Simulations and MMOGs seem to be the most "gender neutral" game categories (I guess we're talking more about Tycoon games and "The Sims" than flight simulators for the first category). RPGs and strategy games are slightly more male-dominated, but still pretty even.

Interesting stuff. Seems like the gamers are taking over. We've come a long way since the industry was mainly pre-teen boys on their Ataris. (*Sniff, sniff* - I never had one. I felt really deprived, until they day we got one of the first Commodore 64's, hot off the factory floor...)
- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 1:34 PM (Permalink)