The “Break it Down” Blog

Having been a gamer for over 20 years it was not until recently that I began to notice gaming become more popular and main stream.  While it is not something I’ve really spent a lot of time thinking about it seems pretty obvious that casual games have found a way to get people into gaming who otherwise would never pick up a controller or download WoW.

Even among my own friends and family I’ve noticed a change in attitudes towards gaming.  Those who use to think of gaming as something for kids or adults living in their parents basement have jumped on the Rock Band and Wii Sports bandwagon.  Because of this I was not surprised to see ars technica reporting that the average demographic of a gamer has change quite a bit over the last few years.

Ars technica points to a study by IGN Entertainment and Ipsos MediaCT that lists some really interesting statistics.

• 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
• More than 75 percent of videogamers play games with other people either online or in person
• More than 47 percent of people living in gaming households saying that videogames were a fun way to interact with other family members
• 37 percent of gamers said friends and family relied upon them to stay up-to-date about movies, TV shows and the latest entertainment news, compared to only 22 percent for nongamers
• 39 percent of gamers said that friends and family rely upon them to stay up-to-date about the latest technology
• 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
• Gamers are 13 percent more likely to go out to a movie, 11 percent more likely to play sports, and 9 percent more likely to go out with friends than nongamers
• Gamers are twice as likely as nongamers to buy a product featuring new technology even if they are aware that there are still bugs
• Gamers are also twice as likely as nongamers to pay a premium for the newest technology on the market
• Gamers also consume media in different ways than nongamers, with hardcore gamers spending five more hours on the Internet, two more hours watching television and two more hours listening to music than nongamers per week
• Gamers are twice as likely to go out on dates as nongamers in a given month

So, if you’ve got friends or family who still look down on the ever growing gaming culture don’t give up hope.  Just give them another year or two and they could be joining you in being proud to be called a gamer.