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60% Of Kids Play Games Every Day

Next Generation has a piece up stating that, according to a JuniorSenior Research poll, something like 60% of all children play video games every day. From the article: "39% of the children polled said they were happy to pay a high price for games they especially wanted, and said they had saved up to buy a particular game. A third of children say their friends are the primary resource for information about new games, signaling the absolute importance of playground evangelists. Surprisingly a quarter of kids say advertising is a key source of information, while only 10% say they rely on TV shows."

31 comments

  1. remaining 40% of kids. by ikkonoishi · · Score: 4, Funny

    The study also concluded that 35% of kids live in caves, and an additional 5% lack opposable thumbs.

  2. Children Paying? by VJ42 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "39% of the children polled said they were happy to pay a high price for games they especially wanted"
    From my experience it's usually mummy and daddy doing the paying, despite what the children say.

    --
    If I have nothing to hide, you have no reason to search me
    1. Re:Children Paying? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It took me 2 years of saving to buy TI Extended BASIC when I was 11.

      I was writing games back then.

    2. Re:Children Paying? by Soul-Burn666 · · Score: 0, Troll

      Indeed.
      It's usually the parents paying for the broadband internet service, the burner and media. Though it's usually the children who pay the high price of sitting for hours looking for the best sources to download the game or just the price of waiting for it to download.

      --
      ^_^
    3. Re:Children Paying? by QuantumG · · Score: 3, Interesting

      ditto. I remember I saved up for a $10 phone and a $5 extension lead. My mum freaked out cause she couldn't understand why a kid would want a phone in their bedroom. After I told her how hard I worked to get the $15 she caved. Couple of months later I heard about modems and managed to save $30 for a 1200/75 baud one for my C64. Now that phone line had a dual purpose. I used it for almost a year before I learnt the fun of scanning 1800 numbers. Telstra sent me a nasty letter which my mum rang up and complained about. "It's not abuse to ring a number that is free. If they don't want people ringing it then don't make it free! No it doesn't matter how many calls he made, it's the principle of the matter!" Unfortunately 6 months later I called a few too many STD numbers and racked up an $800 phone bill. I never got an allowance again.

      --
      How we know is more important than what we know.
    4. Re:Children Paying? by cowscows · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Well, for me at least, when i was younger, I usually saved up some of the money. Or waited until a birthday or something. Back in the NES days, when I was 8 or 9, how much did games run? $40 maybe? That was a lot of money for a kid. I remember having a chore chart where I earned my allowance, each chore was worth maybe 25 cents, if I did it all week. Say that averages out to 5 cents per chore each day, maybe 10-15 chores on the list. Working for 75 cents/day won't get you very much in the US.

      Of course I was happy to pay that much for a game. I didn't have to spend my money on anything else. Now that I can earn enough for a new game in a couple hours, I've got about a zillion other things that I need to pay for. Ah, to be a child again...

      --

      One time I threw a brick at a duck.

    5. Re:Children Paying? by Soul-Burn666 · · Score: 1

      Seriously.
      I have talked with MANY people. Only one of them never copies games and always buys them. A handful of others have a console so they bought some games (and then a modchip). One that usually copies games but also buys a reasonable amount, for games they like. Also there are not a small number of people I know who bought Warcraft3 and HalfLife2, but only after finishing the single player aspect and getting annoyed from hacked bnet servers (for WC3).
      In my whole life, I bought only one game (and it was waaaay too short, fun tho), but I'm seriously considering buying HL2 (haven't pirated it, but I feel it's worth the money, especially for multiplayer, considering the time I spent online with HL1). Also i'm considering getting a DS but will most likely get a decent flashcard when one is available.

      It's a matter of convenience. Games _usually_ get here 2-3 months after other places (exceptions are really big titles) and require going to a store, getting corrupted media ("copy protection") and paying relatively high prices.
      My older brother makes a hefty salary, yet he never buys any software or music. He sometimes buys DVDs to play on his home theater setup.

      I seriously don't know what the game stores are living from. Probably console games.

      --
      ^_^
  3. It's a question of stating the obvious isn't it? by mysterious_w · · Score: 1

    Kids like games. Adverts pray on kids minds. Never would of guessed..

  4. Internet? by ZakuSage · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So did anyone who answered this say that they got most of their gaming info off the internet? I, for one, have been getting my gaming news from online sites for about 7 or 8 years now, since I was a lad not much older then 8 or 9.

    1. Re:Internet? by mysterious_w · · Score: 1

      The poll was aimed at kids, and I doubt many 10 year olds come on slashdot.

    2. Re:Internet? by syrinx · · Score: 3, Funny

      I doubt many 10 year olds come on slashdot.

      Don't browse at -1, do you?

      --
      Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
    3. Re:Internet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you had left the house in the past 7-8 years, you would know there are all sorts of different people outside.

  5. how appropriate! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful
    page footer motto:

    It now costs more to amuse a child than it once did to educate his father.

    1. Re:how appropriate! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      Most disturbing is how quickly parents just cough up the cash. This is their _savings_, being flushed down the toilet on some $150 West Coast Choppers car or $300 video game system, which excel at _idle_ entertainment.

      So many toys are very expensive, but have so little entertainment value that it amazes me that people still spend money on them. Even video games, often the most hyped, are so bad that parents must be blind to the fact their kids _aren't_ playing with them.

      Children are bored and, often, aimless, and they are eager for something (and someone) to fill their life with interesting things to do. Who better to set aside the newspaper and participate in these children's lives than their parents?

      Oh, I see, both parents are employed full time to afford that 4 bedroom house in the 'burbs, their two cars, preppy clothing, expensive toys, and satellite TV.

      Good thing they have all that stuff to maintain, because it's a good distraction from the fact thier children are rotting before them.

  6. The Poll by Hedonist23 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    First, this is a poll based out of the Netherlands, which would make this strictly applicable to Dutch children. Sadly, the percentage of American kids playing video games every day is probably much higher.

    Secondly, I give very little credence to polls like this inthe first place. Kids are much more likely to answer polls in untruthful ways, whether it be to impress their friends or because they don't quite understand the questions. Remember those drug surveys you had to take in high school (if you're in the 20 something crowd like me)? How many of your friends ever answered those correctly? Further, even the slightest change in the wording of the questions could probably change the answers significantly.

    Not an extremely useful survey at all, but definitely interesting for stimulating conversation of the topic at hand.

    1. Re:The Poll by hunterx11 · · Score: 1

      Actually I knew a bunch of kid who didn't take drugs but lied and said they did on the surveys because they thought it sounded cooler.

      --
      English is easier said than done.
    2. Re:The Poll by Rayonic · · Score: 1
      which would make this strictly applicable to Dutch children. Sadly, the percentage of American kids playing video games every day is probably much higher.

      Look, I know that's just your feeling about the situation, and that's okay. But I'm just wondering where this emotional opinion of yours came from. Sterotypes of the Dutch? Of Americans? Enlighten us.
    3. Re:The Poll by QuantumG · · Score: 1

      We did that. It wasn't to "sound cooler" though, it was to fuck up the guy's survey in the hope that it would actually have some effect on the world. Even as a kid I had no idea why drugs were illegal, and I still don't, although mind control appears to be the most attractive answer.

      --
      How we know is more important than what we know.
    4. Re:The Poll by Hedonist23 · · Score: 1

      Yes, it's just my feeling, and it's based solely on my stereotype of Americans, as an American just out of his teenage years. Believe me, my stereotype of the fine Dutch people is one of much higher esteem. I figure children in a country with legalized hash and prostitutes could find something better to do than play a videogame every day. Maybe my emotional opinion is faulty, but I'll stand by it until proven wrong. Or I won't, quite honestly, it's not an opinion I hold dear to my heart.

  7. You kids can just call me Abraham.- by Japong · · Score: 2, Funny

    Why, back in my day when I was a youngster, many many years ago, I was given two shillings per month allowance for feeding the Gobblins, before they became turkeys - we had to change the name because of the War. You always had to wear an onion on your belt, as was the style at the time.

    Our town had two video game shoppes on either end, Hanzel's Interactive Inn, and Paul's Pixel Purchasorium on the north end of town, but that was for high-class folk, what with their fammycoms.

    I myself was an Amiga boy, I got my joystick from my pappy, who got his from his grandpappy, who had to fight them Injuns for his. The joystick was about 10 cubits high and weighed about 40 stone, and we had to wake EARLY in the morning to make the walk to the games shoppe if we wanted to be there before it closed... 15 leagues to be exact.

    When you got to the store you'd stand in line, and ask the developer to compile you up some code, yessir! And he would sit down, and COBOL you up some fine bits, and this was before that newfangled removable storage... you was just told a bunch of 1s and 0s, and had to remember what order they came in on the way back home.

    You'd come back, chop some trees, feed 'em into the old generator, and play your game in front of the stove fire. Oh, those were simple days, better days. Back when 8 whole bits was more than the King of England himself could afford.

    Hmph, and you try and tell this to those punk kids today, and they say you're making it all up. Bunch of no-good whippersnappers.

  8. It's just a matter of time by llamaxing · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I don't see the point in mkaing useless surveys about how many children play videogames. Something of greater use would be how many of those kids are playing the M-rated ones not meant for them. Or better yet, how many kids have been negatively effected by the M-rated games? I don't see the point in conducting surveys like these when there is no real point to it. Give me some useful statistics and I'll give out better comments... what a waste of an article.

    1. Re:It's just a matter of time by Gothic_Walrus · · Score: 2, Insightful
      This is a useful statistic, if you ask me.

      I'd say knowing how kids spend their time, and that old standbys like books and television have dropped so much in popularity is definitely worth knowing.

      As for your other suggested surveys? There would be no way to see how M-rated games "negatively affect" children, as it would be easy to lie about it. Beyond that, once you're past a certain age, you aren't really affected by it. You realize that it's just a game.

      If you ask me, that survey seems like an even bigger waste of time and money because it'd be damn near impossible to get meaningful results.

      --
      Goo goo g'joob.
    2. Re:It's just a matter of time by llamaxing · · Score: 1

      I made the mistake of not reading the article in the link first before making a comment. I believe you're right about this being a useful survey. Not that it shows how much TV and books have dropped in popularity, but by how much kids are influenced by them.

  9. So what by xboxdude123 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Of couse so many kids play games after a long day of school and doing your homework it is good to play a game to relax and have fun.

    1. Re:So what by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most kids just play the games and screw the homework. Ask any teacher--they can't expect any kid to come in with completed homework anymore.

      These kids don't know what responsibility is. They don't know how hard their parents and grandparents worked--and fought--to afford their lifestyle.

  10. Please be specific by mnmn · · Score: 1

    60% of all American children play games. Or all western children etc.

    Also gotta define the age of a 'child' and make SURE little girls are included.

    Also define a game. Flash shooters that say you'll win an ipod? Clicking them takes 2 seconds. Is that a 'hit' in this study?

    I suspect the vast majority of kids in India and China (even Russia) do not play games daily. I strongly suspect the vast majority of African and Papuan children do not play games daily. So I highly suspect this statistic as it is stated.

    --
    "Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
  11. Please RTFA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The study was done in the Netherlands.

    The picture is of a girl playing video games.

    It was a poll. Do you think of flash ads when I say video games?

    It was in the Netherlands.

    I highly suspect that you are an egocentric slashbot.

  12. And the other 40% by Kingrames · · Score: 1

    ...don't play games on Sunday. :)

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    If you can read this, I forgot to post anonymously.
  13. 30 year old kid by DigitalDwarf · · Score: 0

    30 year old kid STILL playing games. And probably will till the end of days.

    --
    Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -Albert Einstein
  14. Kids' stuff? by NaCl · · Score: 1

    The main mistake of that poll is the concept that videogames are kids' stuff. If it had a focus on kids, that would be ok, but it clearly has an industry focus.

    Sorry to turn your research into garbage, but The average game player is 30 years old and has been playing games for 9.5 years

    It gets even worse. The research states that "39% of the children polled said they were happy to pay a high price for games they especially wanted". That's a shame because, according to that same page linked above, "the average game buyer is 37 years old. In 2005, 95 percent of computer game buyers and 84 percent of console game buyers were over the age of 18."

    --
    I shot the sheriff
    1. Re:Kids' stuff? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "84 percent of console game buyers were over the age of 18."

      Hmmm...that is because the 60% of children who play games don't have a credit card or wads of cash laying around.

      Seeing that *most* parents are over 18...that statistic is obviously skewed...A good part of that 84% is the parents who are buying games for their children!