Slashdot Mirror
More Women Than Men Play Games After 25
GameDailyBiz is running an article on a study recently conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association. They found that, in the demographic of people aged 25-34, more women than men play games. This is largely the result of the 'casual' games market. From the article: "The CEA study found that 65 percent of women in the 25-34 age bracket play videogames, while only 35 percent of men in that group said that they play videogames. Apparently, the key factor involved with these findings is the increasing popularity of casual games, especially among women. Women were found to be slightly less likely than men in the 25-34 bracket to play traditional console games on systems like the PlayStation 2 or Xbox, while they gravitated more heavily towards simple types of games like Tetris or other puzzle games and card games like solitaire."
Women are more likely than men to be stay-at-home parents, so wouldn't that give women more opportunities to play casual games during their free time (and not get in trouble for doing the same thing in the office)?
Millions and millions of people play these pre-installed MS games. Most of them women in an office setting.
From my experience it is a time thing. Most guys of or about that age used to play time intensive (either in learning curve or actual gameplay) games but no longer find time to do so. Further more these same guys do not find satisfaction playing solitaire, bejewelled, whatever. I mean how many of us/we/me still find Konami games satisfying? I don't. The only short term game I play is settlers online.
However I find a lot of ladies of my age prefer the immediate intellectual satisfaction of a short term, intensive game satisfying. Perhaps it is a gender preference (I knew a lot of girls that loved Doom, but I haven't kept in touch with them), but almost all the lady gamers I know play short, intense type games or social games.
Rambling rant over
I don't think solitaire, bejewelled, mahjongg, etc. are worth putting in the same category.
It's not gaming, it's killing time.
Women love pogo.com
nothing
When I was 18-20, I played games constantly. I was poor, an I could play a $40 video game for weeks of entertainment. At 21-23 my habits varied, work, bars and parties when I had contracting gigs, MMOs and ramen when I was unemployed.
Now I'm 26 and play less video games than my wife. Instead of wasting away infront of the screen I work on my house and my other toys. Why blow $60 on the newest NFS game when I can drop $800 on a new 5 speed manual tranny for the fiero? Why sink $1200 into a new gaming rig when I can sink $2500 on a new HO TDI for the car? Why stare at the flat screen listening to speakers hum an exhaust note when I can fire up the beast, drop the top, and smell the glory of burning tires and diesel?
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
I'm about halfway through a sabbatical year (away from a fairly high-end programming job). During this year, my main activities consist of looking after the house and my two four year old twins.
:-/
If you think I have time to play games during the day, you've got some serious misconceptions !
On the other hand, my wife gets home from her job as a government economist and still manages to play video games most nights.
Really I think what's going on here is that the 35% is total nonsense. They must have surveyed all the guys in a golf club lounge or something.
Lots of people (ie: me) like better easy, quick, intelligent and fun games than long lasting games with a story. It's the case with most women I know and knew. My girlfriend loves playing tetris, mariobros and super monkeyball. And I think these are the games I'll be playing the most. Why? 2 words: Quick & Fun.
http://www.soundclick.com/g1mike
It's all about methodology:
Do you play video games? "No."
Do you play cards? "Yes."
What kind? "Solitare."
Where? "On my computer."
"We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." --The American President (20.1.2009)