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Study Finds That "Extreme Gamers" Play 48 Hours a Week
An anonymous reader writes "Think you're a big gamer? According to a new study from market research firm NPD Group, to be considered among the real hardcore you'll need to play an average of 48.5 hours a week — nearly seven hours a day. This group of gamers is, on average, '29 years old, and — perhaps surprisingly — one-third of them are female. They're more likely to play on consoles than on the PC, and on average they've purchased 24 titles in the past three months — a bill that could easily run over a thousand dollars. But dedicated though they may be, the Extreme Gamers are just a small minority: a mere 4% of the US's 174-million-strong gaming public. '"
I didn't do that everyday, but I do recall one 10 hour session on Manic Miner in the 80's sometime...
Task Mangler
8 hours work, 8 hours gaming, 6 hours sleep (many could live on much less) leaving two hours for other stuff -- plenty of time. Remember that you can eat while working and playing games.
What I found most interesting was the methodology section which reads:
I guess the most obvious way in which error could slip in is via the on-line nature of the survey - possibly their weighting forumla could use some tweaking too?
Amateurs.
No not really, I am in one of the top Warcraft Guilds and have been so since MC was the dungeon to raid (which I wear with pride) but at the same time, playing for about 40 hours a week has just gotten too much. I can totally corroborate that article.
To be in a guild like ours, you are expected to attend 4-5 raid nights a week, which generally last 3-5 hours. That's pure raid time though, so add a half hour before that to stock up on consumables, ensure that gear is enchanted/gemmed and that sort of thing. Then of course you need some time to make some cash to buy all this stuff, so generally add in at least a half hour a day for dailies - an hour if you want to do a random daily and get the extra badgers.
Oh yeah, then add in time for ALT runs, or weekend (our guild doesn't do official raids on Friday/Saturday night) booze runs, and that's another good few hours (drunken runs take the longest - but are generally most fun) and soon, you are very very easily up to around that 40 hour week or more.
For me, it just got to be too much time. I don't enjoy playing unless it's at the pointy end of the spectrum, so I have pretty much given it away. I still log on now and again to keep in touch, chat and have a giggle, but it's amazing how much time in your life you get back when you stop a schedule like that.
FYI, I chose to stop that raid schedule when I was struggling to wake up each morning (I work Mon-Fri and leave home at 7am) and it was becoming increasingly hard to wake up on time (read: started being late 2-3 times a week) after finishing raids at midnight or later. For me, the maths was really easy - raid and have fun with online friends or keep steady well paying job.
Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
There haven't been 24 games released in the past 3 months worth playing for 7 hours. Let alone 7 hours a day.
So what? There are countless old games still worth playing. Get yourself some emulators, a bunch of fullsets, and a decent USB controller -- you'll get years of gaming right there.
Circumcision is child abuse.
I find that extremely hard to believe. The population of the US is about 300 million, and 174 million is more than half that. However, the average US family size is just over 3, two parents and a single child in the most common case. There is no way that over half the members of most US families play computer games, and that's before we factor in all the millions that live in poverty.
Why play with others when you can play with yourself.
Too many plugins required? ;)
They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance. - Terry Pratchett