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Study Debunks Gamer Stereotypes
Ars Technica reports on a recent study by Ipsos MediaCT which evaluated gamers with respect to a large variety of social parameters. Among their findings: "55 percent of gamers polled were married, 48 percent have kids, and new gamers — those who have started playing videogames in the past two years — are 32 years old on average." Also, "In terms of hard dollars, the average gaming household income ($79,000) is notably higher than that of nongaming households ($54,000), but the value of the gamer as a marketing target can be seen in a variety of ways. 39 percent of gamers said that friends and family rely upon them to stay up-to-date about the latest technology." The press release for the study is available at IGN.
Where's the data from?
Since my wife is the market research manager for Latin America for a 'Fortune 500' company, I am quite familiar with Ipsos. They do all sorts of market research, and are among the best in their field. Of course without seeing the actual design of the study neither she nor I can comment on how accurate the information is, but knowing how this company works I assume they are not pulling numbers out of their backsides. They usually don't, unlike other market research firms I could mention.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
I'm 35 and an avid (Linux) gamer. I don't go into game shops because: they don't sell Linux games, they don't sell the kinds of games I like, they try and sell me stuff I don't want, they are full of annoying kids (often that includes the staff). Come to think of it I don't think many of my game playing friends go into those shops either.
I go back even farther. Genesis games can be had for peanuts. And they are far more complex than this Guitar Hero business that my roommates spend large quantities of money on.